Effects of a Blocked Versus Full-Length Semester Design on Doctor of Physical Therapy Student Performance and Retention.

Introduction: Restrictions on in-person gatherings during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic required educational programs to explore alternative educational formats. The nature of physical therapy education as a blend of cognitive and psychomotor skill presents additional challenges. During a gradual return to in-person learning, the authors' institution chose to break a full-length 15-week semester into 3, 5-week blocks. The first aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of semester design on course performance. The second aim was to assess the effects of semester design on knowledge and skill retention.

Review of literature: In undergraduate studies, blocked courses or semesters held over a short period of time may result in equal or better performance compared with courses performed over a longer time. Few studies have been performed on the graduate student population. Most studies have focused on short-term cognitive knowledge acquisition.

Subjects: Three cohorts of Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students were eligible to participate.

Methods: Two DPT courses (1 first year and 1 second year) were selected to assess cognitive and psychomotor performance. Examination results were compared at the end of a full-length semester and blocked semester. A third course was selected to assess retention at 4 time points. Students were assessed on their cognitive retention using computer-based quizzes and psychomotor retention using in-person skills quizzes.

Results: Median cognitive performance scores for both courses were slightly better during the blocked semester. There were no significant differences in median psychomotor scores. There was no significant interaction effect between semester structure and retention of cognitive knowledge or psychomotor skills, although there were significant changes in scores over time.

Discussion and conclusion: A blocked semester design may favor immediate cognitive performance. However, there is no significant effect on knowledge or skill retention over a 6-month period. Programs faced with the potential for in-person closures can select either semester structure based on their needs without compromising knowledge or skill retention.