Edgar Dale'sPyramid of Learningin medical education: A literature review

Abstract

Background: Edgar Dale's Pyramid of Learning and percentages of retained learning are cited in educational literature in a range of disciplines. The sources of the Pyramid, however, are misleading. Aims: To examine the evidence supporting the Pyramid and the extent to which it is cited in medical education literature. Methods: A review of literature based on a search utilising Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, Medline and Google Scholar conducted from September to November 2012. Results: A total of 43 peer-reviewed medical education journal articles and conference papers were found. While some researchers had been misled by their sources, other authors' interpretations of the citations did not align with the content of those citations, had no such citations, had circular references, or consulted questionable sources. There was no agreement on the percentages of learning retention, in spite of many researchers' citing primary texts. Discussion and conclusion: The inappropriate citing of the Pyramid and its associated percentages in medical education literature is widespread and continuous. This citing undermines much of the published work, and impacts on research-based medical education literature. While the area of learning/teaching strategies and amount of retention from each is an area for future research, any reference to the Pyramid should be avoided.

Effectiveness of a structured teaching program on anxiety and perception regarding toxoplasmosis among seropositive pregnant women in Northern Upper Egypt

“…This is in line with Edgar Dale's or the NTL's Pyramid of Learning, [45] as the pyramid illustrated that individuals can retain 10% of what they read and 20% of what they see and hear (audiovisual). People can retain 50% of what they learn by discussion.…”

“…People can retain 50% of what they learn by discussion. [45,47] In the same line, 63% reduction in toxoplasmosis seroconversion and health education in a Belgian study, reinforcing the importance of providing health education as a tool in the prevention of congenital toxoplasmosis. It is important that the educational materials be complete and accurate and that they are made available in a culturally and linguistic appropriate format.…”

“…This improvement in women's perception may be a result of the women's keenness to attend all program sessions and positive reinforcement or the long-term retention of knowledge. In this respect, Masters [45] and Yeh et al [46] have said that people will remember about 10% of what they hear, and about 20% of what they read. On the other hand, higher scores from the post and retained knowledge tests may be due to wide varieties of educational methods used such as audiovisual materials, videos, lectures,…”

Using a Novel Student-centered Teaching Method to Improve Pharmacy Student Learning

“…6,7 However, there are various methods a student can engage in which will allow them to learn information at Maine, illustrated the percentage of learner recall that was associated with various approaches. 8,9 The lecture, reading, audiovisual and demonstration are passive learning methods. In contrast, the discussion group, practice by doing and teach others are active learning methods.…”

Learning pyramids in health students

“…Some researchers studied the types of educational and learning methods in schools and universities (Usón-Gargallo et al, 2013;Tormey, 2015;Sood and Singh, 2012). Many methods were introduced for learning subjects and educational materials (Singh and Modi, 2013;Masters, 2013).…”