Introduction of multiple choice questions at the end of lecture for medical undergraduate students- A pilot study

Background: The graduate medical students often get less opportunity for clarifying their doubts and to reinforce their concepts after lecture classes. Students forget much of what they learn, therefore students could benefit from learning strategies that yield long-lasting knowledge. In this study we studied the value of multiple choice tests with no test (control) to determine their value as aids to retention learning. Aims and objectives • To assess if post lecture multiple choice question test helps retention learning. • To compare the effect of post lecture MCQ tests with no test (control) on delayed retention learning. Method: The study was conducted on 60 medical undergraduate students. 30 study group and 30 control group. The investigation involved initial testing at the end of the lecture (post instruction), followed by an unannounced delayed retention test on the same material three weeks later. The delayed test scores were statistically analyzed using SSPS (Version 16). Results: Mean delayed retention score of MCQ group is 10.97 and the control group is 6.71. The MCQ group had a higher mean delayed retention score compared to control group.