Nipping an education myth in the bud: Poh's brain activity during lectures. (August 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Masters, Ken
• Is Part Of: Medical teacher. Volume 36:Number 8(2014)
• Page Start: 732
• Page End: 735
• Publication Date: 2014-08
• Subjects: Medical education -- Periodicals; 610.711
• DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2014.916785
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0142-159X

Abstract

Abstract: The debate around the value of lectures is raging strongly, and new empirical data arguing against the value of lectures comes from a chart showing student brain activity during lectures. The evidence from the chart, however, suffers from crucial problems. These include a small and unspecific sample, mislabeling of the student activities, and a misinterpretation of the type of measurement. This chart has appeared on the Internet, in education conferences and journals, and recently at a medical education conference. For medical education to be taken seriously, it is crucial that researchers apply the same standards that they would to clinical research. As a result, this chart should be avoided in the debate on the value of lectures before it has a chance to follow a pattern in medical education set by other myths.