Lecturio
Active Learning Strategies: Elaboration
Professional Development
Learning Objectives Educators will be able to: 1
Medical educators will distinguish between the varying definitions of elaboration.
2
Medical educators will identify methods for elaboration in their teaching.
Definition
Elaboration is an active learning strategy that involves the learner’s enhancement of information to be remembered. These amplifications, or elaborations, can be formed by the learner creating an inference, image, comparison, illustration, or overall summary in an effortful manner.
Why elaboration works
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Elaboration is part of the encoding process (1).
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Uses “how” and “why” questions to elaborate on a given topic
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Enhances schema development by connecting new content to established content in long-term memory (scaffolding)
1.
American Physiological Association. APA Dictionary of Psychology [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 Nov 4]. Available from: https://dictionary.apa.org/
Why elaboration works
Illustration of how an elaborative thought process supports schema building and retention of knowledge in health professions education
Cognitive & Neuroscience
1. 2. 3.
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The effectiveness of elaboration as an active learning scaffold is theorized to be due to learners generating multiple cues for retrieval and adding new layers of meaning to already known concepts.(1, 2)
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A study highlighted the success of requiring elaboration for medical learners who used it to restudy a concept when initial retrieval methods failed.(3)
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Elaboration is thus a promising method for the innovative educator to employ among other active learning strategies.
Brown PC. Make it stick: the science of successful learning. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 2014. 313 p. Pressley M, McDaniel MA, Turnure JE, Wood E, Ahmad M. Generation and precision of elaboration: Effects on intentional and incidental learning. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 1987 Apr;13(2):291–300. Bartsch LM, Oberauer K. The effects of elaboration on working memory and long-term memory across age. J Mem Lang. 2021 Jun;118:104215.
Practical Applications
In the classroom
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Learners can create an inference, image, comparison, or illustration in response to an instructor’s proposed scenario.
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Learners can engage in group project-based learning using elaboration techniques.
Online delivery
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Students can engage in cooperative online learning groups after initial delivery of instruction (breakout rooms).
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Medical educators can conduct live polling to gauge learning and student engagement (synchronous).
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Medical educators can implement the use of discussion boards for students to respond individually and to one another (asynchronous).
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Active learning techniques have been shown to enhance schema development and the retrieval and retention of information.
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Elaboration can act as a strong foundation for the goal of durable learning.
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Health professions educators should pursue evidence of the effectiveness of active learning techniques.
Practice Questions
Practice Questions 1.
Which of the following are elements of the definition of elaboration (choose all that apply). a. b. c. d.
2.
Elaboration is an active learning strategy that involves the learner’s enhancement of retaining information. Elaboration is used in the reflection process. Elaboration involves generating an idea for future use. Learners elaborate on criteria by creating an inference, image, comparison, or illustration.
Choose the response that is an incorrect completion to the statement “Elaboration is… a. formed by asking how and why questions. b. is part of the encoding process. c. creates new schema from new content in long term memory. d. can be considered “scaffolding.”
Answer: 1. a, d, 2. c
Practice Questions 3.
Learners form elaborations by creating: a. b. c. d.
4.
illustrations, tables, inferences, comparisons illustrations, notes, inferences, comparisons inferences, comparisons, illustrations, tables illustrations, images, inferences, comparisons
In what context could a medical educator conduct project-based learning? a. Online learning (synchronous) b. Online learning (asynchronous) c. In the classroom d. All of the above e. Both A and C
Answer: 3. d, 4. e
Reflection Question How can medical educators use active learning techniques to explicitly guide and monitor student learning - both in the classroom and in an online learning environment?