The Potential of Anatomy Ontology in Anatomy Education

Anatomy students frequently use a superficial study strategy when learning anatomy content. Superficial studying is characterized by a reliance on memorization, and a lack of connections between topics. One way to help students form connections and a deeper understanding of anatomy is to explicitly demonstrate the interconnectedness of anatomy topics. This explicit demonstration is rarely used in lectures, or if it is demonstrated, students fail to understand the utility of making mental connections. The Foundational Model of Anatomy is an anatomy ontology which makes explicit the relatedness of anatomical entities. The original purpose of the FMA was to create a computational tool for bioinformatics work, but I believe it has educational significance, and can help students to build a more connected and useful mental framework of anatomy. In the constructivist theory of education, a student must build their own mental framework to make sense of a complicated topic, but many students lack the tools to do this when presented with the seemingly endless content in an introductory anatomy course. Using the FMA as an organizing principle for anatomy content, students may feel less overwhelmed, and will have a starting point for building their own mental frameworks for anatomy content. This presentation will introduce the philosophical concept of ontology, and discuss the background of the FMA. A review of the literature involving the FMA will be included, and pedagogical implications will be discussed. Support or Funding Information None to disclose.