Title

Learning Scientific and Medical Terminology with a Mnemonic Strategy Using an Illogical Association Technique

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2008

Publication Source

Advances in Physiology Education

Abstract

For students pursuing careers in medical fields, knowledge of technical and medical terminology is prerequisite to being able to solve problems in their respective disciplines and professions. The Dean Vaughn Medical Terminology 350 Total Retention System, also known as Medical Terminology 350, is a mnemonic instructional and learning strategy that combines mental imagery and keyword mnemonic elaboration processes to help students recall the scientific meaning of Greek and Latin word parts. High school students in Anatomy and Physiology classes at a career technology center were divided into experimental (Medical Terminology 350), control (rote memorization), or combination (Medical Terminology 350 and rote memorization) groups and completed pre- and post-tests of standardized word recall tests. Students in the Dean Vaughn Medical Terminology 350 Total Retention System group achieved significantly greater pre- to post-test word recall improvement compared with students in both the rote memorization (P ≤ 0.0001) and combined rote memorization and Medical Terminology 350 (P ≤ 0.05) groups. There appeared to be a dose-dependent response as the pre- to post-test gain in word recall scores increased as exposure to the treatment increased.

Inclusive pages

219-224

ISBN/ISSN

1043-4046

Publisher

American Physiological Society

Volume

32

Issue

3

Peer Reviewed

yes

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