Retained mind mapping skills and learning outcomes in medical students: a mixed methods study

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. Background: Mind maps (MM), is a learning method assisting learners in the visualisation of relationships between theoretical concepts. Studies showed the enhancement of data retention, overall comprehension, and creativity in MM users. Thus, MM has been implemented in many medical schools to facilitate medical students' learning experiences. However, retained mind mapping skills and its effect on the learning outcomes in the long-term follow-up remain unknown. Methods: A concurrent mixed-methods design with convenience sampling method. All (48) second-year medical students joined a three-day MM workshop in 2016. One year later, we surveyed the students who still use MM and those who did not. Mind Map Assessment Rubric (MMAR) and Grade Point Average (GPA) were compared between the two groups. Content analysis with data triangulation method was used to explore their preferences and MM skills. Results: We achieved a 100% response rate. 39 (81.2%) of participants were female. The mean age of participants was 20.6 years (SD = 0.5). 37 students still use MM (77.1%). With MMAR, participants in the MM group scored 28.9 higher than participants in the MM-free group significantly (p = 0.01). There were no differences in the median GPAs to both groups. However, there was a significant correlation between using MM in learning and the second trimester (year1) (r=0.29, p<0.05). Majority of participants in the MM groups stated the advantages of using MM to help to organise data and their thought process. But the students in MM-free group saw the disadvantages of MM as a time-consuming process and the potential of missing information from lectures. Conclusions: Without revision in MM, participants' skills deteriorated immensely. There was a non-statistically significant trend toward increased learning outcomes with MM group. Further studies to examine whether more frequent MM use or workshop revision can boost their learning outcomes or not is recommended.