Abstract
Abstract Introduction Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have become increasingly popular for remotely delivering education to global audiences. MOOCs can provide an online platform for participants coming from a variety of professional backgrounds and international locations. Our systematic review investigated current literature surrounding MOOCs, and identified the value of such courses with respect to anatomical and medical education. Method Our literature search strategy involved exploring the PubMed database for the terms ’MOOC + Anatomy’ and ‘MOOC + Medical Education’ identified 290 relevant articles. Following implementation of the PRISMA criteria, 24 articles out of 290 were selected for inclusion in our systematic review. Results Participants completing MOOCs in anatomical and medical education generally showed increased knowledge and skills. We found that MOOC discussion forums encourage participants’ social learning development. MOOCs have shown to address participants’ needs and expectations while supplementing traditional learning approaches. However, the majority of experimental research studies did not include pre-post testing or appropriate controls. Furthermore, high levels of participant attrition, inability to address all learning approaches were identified as limitations with respect to MOOCs. Conclusions Although MOOCs have shown success in providing an excellent platform for learning, it has yet to show definitive improvements when compared to traditional teaching methods.
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