Construction of Knowledge Through Doing: A Brachial Plexus Model from Pipe Cleaners

Medical students often struggle with the complexity of the brachial plexus, so instructions were developed for making a model of the brachial plexus from pipe cleaners following a didactic presentation of the material. Providing students the opportunity to construct the brachial plexus reduced cognitive overload, thus allowing students' working memory to attend to pertinent information and create mental schema of the structures. This activity allows the students to actively engage with the material and have a model from which to study with minimal cost requirements. The model was initially utilized in the final unit of a stand-alone gross anatomy course, followed closely by both a unit exam and a cumulative standardized exam. The following year, the curriculum was significantly changed so that the activity was presented during the first unit of the course followed closely by the unit exam and the cumulative final exam several months later. Students were surveyed on their opinions of the activity, perceived understanding of the material, and utilization of the model. Results demonstrated that students enjoyed the activity and felt it improved their understanding of the brachial plexus, especially in the second scenario. Students responded positively to the activity and felt that it would make a good study tool. In the second scenario, students also reported using the model to study throughout the semester. These results indicate that this low-cost model was helpful to the students, particularly if they need to study the material over an extended period of time.