[18] No pain, no gain: The importance of desirable difficulty in medical education

05/13/25 • 37 min

Description: In this episode of KeyLIME+, Adam speaks with educational psychologist Anique de Bruin, exploring the concept of desirable difficulty in medical education. They discuss how well-designed challenging learning conditions can enhance long-term learning and knowledge transfer, despite the initial struggles that learners might face. The conversation delves into practical techniques such as retrieval practice and interleaved practice, the importance of self-regulated learning, and the new S2D2 framework. They also touch on the paradox of procrastination and its potential benefits, as well as the unique challenges of learning in clinical settings.

Length of episode: 37:00 minutes

Resources:

Make it stick: The science of successful learning by Peter C Brown, Henry L Roediger III, Mark A McDaniel 1st edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2014.

Worth the Effort: the Start and Stick to Desirable Difficulties (S2D2) Framework | Educational Psychology Review

Resources to check out:

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10648-024-09852-7.pdf

Study Smart - Study Smart

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211368120300279

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211368120300590

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10459-022-10149-z

Follow: Dr. Adam Szulewski https://x.com/Adam_Szulewski

Length of episode: 37:00 minutes

Resources:

Make it stick: The science of successful learning by Peter C Brown, Henry L Roediger III, Mark A McDaniel 1st edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2014.

Worth the Effort: the Start and Stick to Desirable Difficulties (S2D2) Framework | Educational Psychology Review

Resources to check out:

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10648-024-09852-7.pdf

Study Smart - Study Smart

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211368120300279

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211368120300590

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10459-022-10149-z

Follow: Dr. Adam Szulewski https://x.com/Adam_Szulewski

Previous Episode

[17] Retour à l’essentiel – La théorie de la charge cognitive en formation médicale

Dans cet épisode, le Dr André Tricot, psychologue spécialisé en formation et chercheur, se joint à Adam pour explorer en profondeur la théorie de la charge cognitive. Ils discutent des répercussions de cette théorie sur l’enseignement et l’apprentissage de différents groupes d’âge dans des contextes variés, dont celui de la formation médicale en particulier. Ils se penchent aussi sur des stratégies pour optimiser l’apprentissage, sur le rôle essentiel de l’attention ainsi que sur l’incidence de la surcharge et de la « sous-charge » cognitives sur le rendement – et les erreurs – d’experts et d’expertes.

Durée de l’épisode : 56:04

Ressources à consulter

Read, D. W., Manrique, H. M. et Walker, M. J. (2022). « On the working memory of humans and great apes: Strikingly similar or remarkably different? » Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 134, 104496.
Kristin Fraser sur la théorie de la charge cognitive et la simulation en formation médicale

Fraser, K., Ma, I., Teteris, E., Baxter, H., Wright, B. et McLaughlin, K. (2012). « Emotion, cognitive load and learning outcomes during simulation training ». Medical education, 46(11), 1055-1062.

Sweller, J., Van Merrienboer, J. J. et Paas, F. G. (1998). « Cognitive architecture and instructional design ». Educational Psychology Review, 10, 251-296.
Fraser, K., Huffman, J., Ma, I., Sobczak, M., McIlwrick, J., Wright, B. et McLaughlin, K. (2014). « The emotional and cognitive impact of unexpected simulated patient death: a randomized controlled trial ». Chest, 145(5), 958-963.

Coordonnées : [email protected]

Suivre le Dr Adam Szulewski : https://x.com/Adam_Szulewski