The Efficiency of Online “Inked” Videos Versus Recorded PowerPoint Lectures on Teaching Pathophysiology to Medical Students in Pre-Clerkship Years: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND: As online learning develops an increasingly important role in medical education, new online teaching modalities are arising all the time. One such teaching modality that is gaining popularity among medical students is the “inked” video, a type of animated video that utilizes a virtual blackboard. Student reviews suggest that the dynamic style of the inked video allows it to teach more efficiently than traditional teaching modalities, but currently there is no quantitative evidence to support or guide the use of this teaching modality. HYPOTHESIS: When compared to the traditional recorded PowerPoint lecture, online inked videos teach the same pathophysiology concepts to pre-clerkship medical students in a shorter amount of time. METHOD: A randomized, crossover-design study was conducted with second-year medical students at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (n = 22). Students were randomized to 2 groups. Each group received 2 lessons on 2 different pathophysiology topics: one via a shorter inked video and the other via a longer recorded PowerPoint lecture. Two sets of dependent variables were used to test modality effects: immediate post-tests scores and delayed retention post-test scores. A perceptions survey was also administered to assess student preferences between the 2 teaching modalities. RESULTS: Students performed similarly on immediate and delayed post-tests for the shorter inked videos and the longer recorded PowerPoint lectures (P > .05). Students reported greater engagement (P < .05) and greater satisfaction with learning (P < .05) with the inked videos than the recorded PowerPoint lectures. CONCLUSIONS: This study, although limited by its small-scale and single-institution design, provides preliminary evidence that online inked videos may be a more efficient and non-inferior alternative to recorded PowerPoint lectures.