Do Voluntary Lab-Based Active Learning Sessions Impact Medical Student Knowledge Retention?

Background: Despite recent evidence demonstrating the benefits of case-based and active learning strategies in medical education, many medical schools have reduced or entirely eliminated teaching laboratories in medical microbiology courses. The objective of our investigation was to analyze the impact of a voluntary hands-on microbiology laboratory session on students' knowledge retention and ability to apply the underlying principles to exam questions in our Introduction to Infectious Diseases (IID) course.

Methods: We compared the performance of students participating in the wet labs with those who did not, analyzing scores on exam questions directly related to the concepts presented in the laboratory session and their overall scores on the IID module exam. The voluntary nature of our microbiology lab session provided a unique opportunity to assess its impact on knowledge retention independent of other factors, such as lecture and exam content, etc. Data were collected for 7 academic years and analyzed in aggregate.

Results: Students who attended voluntary lab sessions scored higher on exam questions related to lab exercises than students who did not attend (Mann-Whitney,  = 0.0074). These results support the benefit of reexamining material originally presented during classroom sessions in an active, collaborative learning environment. Course evaluation responses indicted that students valued the opportunity to visually reinforce concepts they had previously read in a textbook or heard in lectures.

Conclusions: At a time when many medical schools are reducing or eliminating hands-on lab sessions in microbiology and other basic sciences, our results highlight the benefits of this teaching strategy. The laboratory session provided an opportunity for students to revisit concepts initially presented in the traditional classroom setting and to actively engage in applying these concepts to case-based scenarios. The improved educational outcomes will benefit students in future standardized exams as well as in their professional practice.