Efficacy of mind maps and concept maps in enhancing academic performance among undergraduate medical students in the preclinical stage: a systematic review.

Purpose: This systematic review aims to evaluate the impact of mind maps and Concept Maps on academic performance among undergraduate medical students in the preclinical stage.

Methods: Our protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42024529458). We followed PRISMA guidelines in conducting our systematic review. We searched PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library from inception to June 2024. We included only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that involved undergraduate medical students in the preclinical stage, evaluated mind mapping and Concept Maps as the intervention, and compared it to traditional methods or no intervention, with academic performance as the primary outcome. A qualitative synthesis of the results was conducted, and where possible, effect sizes (e.g., Cohen's d) were calculated to quantify the impact of mind maps and concept maps on academic performance. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool.

Results: A total of six RCTs were included. Four studies reported significantly higher assessment scores with the use of mind maps or concept maps. Teli et al. (Indian Journal of Clinical Anatomy and Physiology 7(2):243-246, 2020) observed a significant improvement in knowledge retention in the intervention group (mean score: 82.4% vs. 69.8%, p < 0.0001). Concept maps demonstrated moderate-to-large effect sizes, with Ho et al. (Medical Education 48(7):687-697, 2014) reporting Cohen's d = 0.7-0.8 for improved test scores. Two studies found no significant differences in performance (p > 0.05), but students consistently expressed a preference for these methods due to their utility in understanding and summarizing information. Overall, mind maps and concept maps prove to be effective tools for enhancing academic performance, especially in terms of knowledge retention and comprehension.

Conclusion: This systematic review shows that mind maps and Concept Maps are effective methods in helping undergraduate preclinical medical students achieve better performance, especially in terms of knowledge retention and comprehension. While not all studies showed significant differences, the overall preference for these methods indicates their potential as valuable learning tools. We recommend integrating these tools into preclinical curricula and providing training sessions to enhance their effectiveness.