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Student Attitudes Toward a Flipped Classroom Design for Circulatory System in Medical School Gross Anatomy
Author(s) -
Curran Shan,
Royer Danielle
Publication year - 2017
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.31.1_supplement.581.2
Subject(s) - gross anatomy , curriculum , test (biology) , medical education , session (web analytics) , likert scale , multiple choice , psychology , medicine , mathematics education , computer science , anatomy , pedagogy , paleontology , developmental psychology , significant difference , biology , world wide web
Flipped classroom strategies are implemented with growing prevalence in medical school. With an emphasis on active learning, these strategies promote deeper understanding and retention. The goal of this study was to develop a flipped classroom curriculum for circulatory system learning objectives in medical gross anatomy, and determine student attitudes toward the new instructional strategy. A total of six circulatory self‐study tools were developed for medical gross anatomy: Unit 1 (upper limb, lower limb), Unit 2 (thorax, abdomen, pelvis), and Unit 3 (head & neck). The PowerPoint tools displayed static and animated line drawings of typical vessel branching patterns and anastomoses, with prompts for students to draw along and text pop‐ups, followed by ten multiple choice and six fill‐in‐the‐blank blood flow questions. Students were asked to complete each tool in advance of its accompanying classroom session. The 1–2 hour classroom sessions sought to apply content from the self‐study tool; each featured blood flow cases for practice and interactive image‐based activities focusing on vessel identifications, landmarks, and relationships facilitated with an audience response system. First year medical students (N=184) at the University of Colorado were invited to complete an anonymous online IRB‐exempt survey after each of the three units. Each survey included seven Likert items (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) measuring student views of the effectiveness of the new curriculum. Summary statistics were calculated for each item. A nonparametric Mann‐Whitney U test was used to compare ratings between units, and a Spearman's Correlation test was used to measure the association between select items. Average survey response rate was 37.5% with mean ratings for all items ranging from 4.3 to 4.6. Specifically, students rated the study tools very highly for facilitating learning (Unit 1 mean= 4.63 ± 0.60) and strongly agreed that the new flipped classroom approach was effective (Unit 1 mean= 4.45 ± 0.90). No significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed between identical questions on the three Unit surveys, indicating high student satisfaction with the new curriculum across all regional units. Responses on the Unit 1 survey showed a significant positive correlation (p < 0.001) between student ratings of the in‐class blood flow activities (mean = 4.26 ±0.97) and the image‐based activities (mean = 4.31 ±0.82); the same significant association was noted in each Unit. These results indicate the perceived effectiveness of both in‐class activities, although student comments were split with about half requesting more time for blood flow practice versus more time for image‐based activities. Students perceived the circulatory system flipped classroom strategy as highly effective for learning. In the next phase, exam scores from traditional and flipped classroom curricula will be compared to evaluate the educational impact of the new strategy.