A comparative evaluation of text formats in a medical school course.

Information mapping, a system of instruction design for categorizing, sequencing and graphically presenting printed information for highly technical communication in business, seemed ideally suited for presenting the technical procedures of the general screening physical examination to medical students. To evaluate the impact of this new text format one half of the class received a conventional text for those procedures and the other half used an information mapped text. Cognitive test scores were not significantly different. However, the information mapped text was rated significantly more favorably on six dimensions. Students using the mapped text also spent significantly more time studying it than those using the conventional text.