An Analysis of Anki Usage and Strategy of First-Year Medical Students in a Structure and Function Course.

Abstract

It is well known that undergraduate medical education demands learners to master large amounts of material. To help cope with learning, medical students have resorted to e-learning resources that include video lectures, visual mnemonics, and flashcard systems. The purpose of the current study was to determine the usage of Anki (Damien Elmes, https://apps.ankiweb.net/) among first-year medical students in an integrated first-year module consisting of anatomy and physiology. Additionally, this study aimed to elucidate how students used Anki in conjunction with their lectures. Sixty first-year medical students were recruited in a twelve-week longitudinal study consisting of three surveys (Weeks 1, 7, and 13) about usage of Anki and their perceptions of how to use it with formal lecture. About 70% of participants utilized Anki in the course and the usage increased significantly from Week 1 to Weeks 7 and 13. There was variation to how many days a week students used Anki. Survey data shows that students value formal lectures and prefer to supplement their studies with Anki. A large proportion of first-year medical students use Anki to supplement their studies. Faculty should consider ways to incorporate Anki into their teaching to facilitate student learning through active recall and spaced repetition.