Animation is increasingly incorporated into multimedia teaching tools in medical education. Despite enthusiasm about animation among learners and educators, evidence is limited and conflicting regarding the effectiveness of animation in medical education. In this how-to guide and pilot study, a team of clinician-educators have cataloged their efforts to learn the art of animation and understand how to most effectively integrate animation into a flipped classroom curriculum. In this pilot, internal medicine residents responded that an animated video series using anthropomorphic characters and metaphorical dialogue and narrative was an accessible, acceptable, and effective method of teaching the antihyperglycemic medications for type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study paves a path for further exploration of the intersection between multimedia, entertainment, and cognitive theory in graduate medical education.
Keywords: Advance organizers; Animation; Cognitive load; Graduate medical education; Multimedia learning.
© International Association of Medical Science Educators 2020.