ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Healthcare Professions Education
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1639475
This article is part of the Research TopicInsights in Healthcare Professions Education: 2025View all 9 articles
Preclass Video Nanolearning or Microlearning in Blended Medical Education
Provisionally accepted
- National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Abstract Background: Short educational videos, including microlearning (multi-concept) and nanolearning (single-concept), are increasingly used in blended medical education. Objective: This study examined medical students' preferences, learning behaviors, and outcomes when engaging with nanolearning versus amalgamated microlearning videos. Methods: A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was used. Fifth-year medical students accessed core concept videos in both formats and completed a questionnaire on format preference and learning experience. Data included questionnaire responses, online activity logs, and assessment scores, analyzed using statistical tests and thematic analysis. Results: Of 156 students, 140 responded; 79 preferred microlearning, 18 preferred nanolearning, and 43 had no strong preference. While video engagement time did not differ, nanolearning-preferring students more often completed individual concepts. The "either" group reported higher satisfaction, and the microlearning group performed better on essay assessments. Regardless of format, students found the short videos convenient and effective. Conclusion: Students valued both nanolearning and microlearning formats for pre-class preparation. Incorporating short, flexible video formats may enhance engagement and learning in medical education.
Keywords: Video length, Microlearning, Nanolearning, blended medical education, mixed-methods design
Received: 02 Jun 2025; Accepted: 15 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ho, Yeh, Wang, Hu and Lee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Cheng-Maw Ho, miningho@ntu.edu.tw
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.