Transfer of Learning in Histology: Insights from a Longitudinal Study

Darici, Dogus; Flägel, Kristina; Sternecker, Katharina; Missler, M

Abstract

All anatomical educators hope that students apply past training to both similar and new tasks. This study investigated the development of such transfer of learning in a histology course. Medical students were longitudinally assessed and compared to a control group without the course. After 0, 10, and 20 sessions of the 10-week-long course, all participants completed theoretical tasks, examined histological slides trained in the course (retention task), and unfamiliar histological slides (transfer task). The results showed that students in the histology group gradually outperformed the control group in all tasks, η2 = .268 (P < 0.001). While their theoretical knowledge increased primarily in the first half of the course (+18%), the greatest improvement in transfer occurred in the second half (+25%). Moreover, the best predictor of transfer performance was students’ retention performance after 10 sessions, β = .32 (P = 0.028)⁠, and theoretical knowledge after 20 sessions, β = .46 (P = 0.003). Results of eye tracking methodology further revealed that the eye movements of both groups differed over time, with the histology group showing a greater increase in fixation counts, η² = .103 (P = 0.014). This study provides evidence that students learn to apply acquired competencies to solve unfamiliar tasks during a 10-week-long histology course but cautions that positive transfer effects develop relatively late in the course. Thus, course time and the complex relationship between theory, retention, and transfer performance hold critical implications for anatomical curricula seeking to foster the transfer of learning.