Scientific Background
Megunto combines three well-researched learning effects: people who say what they know out loud, actively test themselves and get immediate feedback retain more and can actually recall it in the exam. Together with the university medical centers in Magdeburg and Leipzig, we have studied whether this works in real exam settings. The results are currently being evaluated.
Production Effect: What you say out loud sticks
We remember content better when we say it out loud than when we only read it silently. MacLeod and colleagues described this effect in a series of experiments in 2010, and it has been confirmed many times since. Speaking adds motor and auditory processing to the information, which makes it more distinctive in memory.
That's why learners on Megunto answer orally, just like they will in the exam.
Source: MacLeod CM, Gopie N, Hourihan KL, Neary KR, Ozubko JD. The production effect: delineation of a phenomenon. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2010;36(3):671–85.
Testing Effect: Retrieval instead of rereading
Testing yourself leads to more lasting learning than reading the same material again. In their 2011 review, Roediger and Butler summarize that repeated retrieval from memory anchors knowledge in the long term, and does so considerably better than rereading. What matters is active retrieval, not repetition as such.
That's why Megunto asks open questions without answer options. Learners have to formulate the entire answer themselves, guessing doesn't work.
Source: Roediger HL, Butler AC. The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention. Trends Cogn Sci. 2011;15(1):20–27.
Feedback: Knowing where you stand
Feedback is one of the most effective levers for learning success. That's what a 2020 meta-analysis by Wisniewski, Zierer and Hattie shows, covering more than 400 studies. According to it, feedback helps most when it carries a lot of information, meaning it doesn't just say right or wrong but shows what is missing and how to do better.
Megunto compares every spoken answer with the reference answer and your marking criteria and reports back immediately what worked and where there is room for improvement, both in content and in expression.
Source: Wisniewski B, Zierer K, Hattie J. The Power of Feedback Revisited: A Meta-Analysis of Educational Feedback Research. Front Psychol. 2020;10:3087.
Megunto in research
Learning effects in the lab are one thing. Whether Megunto helps learners in real exams is the subject of two studies, both of which are currently being evaluated.
AINS study at the University of Magdeburg
Megunto was tested in practice together with the University Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. Starting in August 2025, around 100 final-year medical students from all over Germany used it to prepare for the oral M3 exam, the final state examination, in the elective subject of anesthesiology. They were surveyed before and after the study phase and after the exam. The data is currently being evaluated. The contact person is Prof. Dr. med. Robert Werdehausen.
SMART-PREP at Leipzig University
SMART-PREP stands for Structured Medical Active Recall Training for Preparation. At the Institute of Anatomy at Leipzig University, medical students used Megunto during the dissection course to prepare for their oral anatomy tests. Starting in April 2026, around 300 students took part in a randomized crossover design investigating whether they learn better with Megunto. The data is currently being evaluated. The study is led by PD Sabine Löffler.
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