Trial reportBMC medical education2025
Teaching a single manual therapy technique at a time reduces cognitive load in physiotherapy students: a randomized controlled educational study.
Trial report in BMC medical education, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundManual therapy is a fundamental component of physiotherapy education, requiring students to develop complex procedural skills through structured instructional methods. Sweller's cognitive load theory can provide a framework in manual therapy education on how teaching design affects learning efficiency, especially in the acquisition of procedural skills. This study examines the impact of different teaching approaches on students' cognitive load in manual therapy education.
methodsA randomized controlled educational study was conducted with 48 physiotherapy students from two cohorts in spring 2022 and 2023. Participants were randomly assigned to an individual practice group (learning one technique at a time) or a series practice group (learning 3-4 techniques simultaneously). A questionnaire assessed global cognitive load as the primary outcome and intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load as secondary outcomes.
results477 questionnaires were analysed. Global cognitive load was significantly lower in the individual group than in the series practice group (MD = -0.55, 95% CI -0.87 to -0.22). Compared to the series practice group, the individual practice group had lower intrinsic cognitive load (MD = -0.29, 95% CI -0.40 to -0.18), slightly lower extraneous cognitive load (MD = -0.07, 95% CI -0.13 to -0.01), and reduced germane cognitive load (MD = -0.29, 95% CI -0.43 to -0.17).
conclusionTeaching manual therapy one technique at a time may reduce cognitive load, potentially enhancing student learning and performance. This approach underscores the value of applying cognitive load theory in instructional design for physiotherapy education, offering practical benefits for teaching strategies.
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