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Learning of Human Anatomy: Man versus Machine
Author(s) -
Ang Eng Tat,
Yip George,
Lim Erle,
Sugand Kapil
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.lb9
Subject(s) - cadaveric spasm , summative assessment , disadvantage , gross anatomy , medicine , anatomy , multimedia , psychology , computer science , mathematics education , artificial intelligence , formative assessment
Objectives The primary focus of the project is to investigate if learning human anatomy is achieved best using 1) Cadaveric prosections, or 2) Multimedia interactive programs. Materials and Methods A total of 62 first year medical (M1) and 15 first year Life science students (LSM) were recruited for this study. All students learnt anatomy from cadaveric prosections weekly but were also given access to web‐based programs ad libitum. The approaches were not mutually exclusive so as not to disadvantage either group. A questionnaire was distributed to collate their opinions of the pedagogies at the end of the academic year. Results There were different learning habits between the 2 cohorts of students. M1 students reported favorable results with the cadaveric prosections approach compared to the multimedia with the exception of 3D appreciation ( p < 0.05). LSM students reported that they appreciated learning with the multimedia program more than cadaveric prosections. To understand physiology, these students voted in favor of multimedia (73%) versus cadaveric prosections (69%)( p < 0.05). However, when it came to organs and tissue recognition, they voted in favor of cadaveric prosections (94%) versus multimedia (75%)( p < 0.05). Conclusion Student perception on optimal modality for learning gross human anatomy depends on the structure of expected summative assessments. Overall, cadaveric pedagogy was preferred for organ and tissue recognition whereas multimedia programs and interactive animations were favored in appreciating physiology. There will be more revelation with further research.