The Impact of Supplementing PowerPoint with Detailed Notes and Explanatory Videos on Student Attendance and Performance in a Physiology Module in Medicine

PowerPoint is widely used in higher education with reported advantages on student learning. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of detailed notes and videos as a supplement to PowerPoint slides on student attendance and performance. First-year medical students’ opinion on whether the supplementary material assisted their learning of Physiology in addition to demographics was collected in a survey. Attendance was similar for participants who used notes and videos to those who did not, for male vs. female and for participants from biomedical vs. non-biomedical backgrounds. However, within the non-biomedical cohort, attendance of male respondents was significantly higher (95 ± 3 vs. 81 ± 6%, P < 0.05), although both groups used notes and videos. Similarly, attendance of female participants of biomedical background was higher (P < 0.05) than female participants of non-biomedical background (biomedical vs. non-biomedical: 94 ± 3 vs. 81 ± 6%) even though both cohorts used notes and videos. Providing notes and videos had no adverse impact on attendance (90 ± 2%, 8 lectures) and tended to enhance exam scores for low-performing students in the class when compared with those of previous years’ cohorts (2018 vs. 2017 and 2016: 61 ± 5% vs. 55 ± 6% and 47 ± 8%, respectively). There was an increase in the immediate gain of knowledge following watching/listening to videos (after vs. before: 65 ± 3% vs. 48 ± 3%). The survey revealed a positive student perception of supplementary material mainly because they felt it reduced the time required to search for relevant information.