An Inclusive Approach Toward Success in Undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology

Abstract

With a diverse group of students taking undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology (A&P), it is imperative to find methods that enable every student to be more successful. At National University, we have been applying a new approach in our online and onsite classes that includes more learners: offering multiple attempt homework assessments. The A&P homework is scaffolded to be done with either unlimited attempts or limited to 10 attempts, depending on the specific section. The homework is given online, while subsequent assessments are either given onsite or online. The homework assignments precede more traditional, single-attempt quizzes and/or exams. Some students only complete a homework assessment once, while other students complete the homework assessment multiple times (occasionally over 50 times) in order to achieve their desired grade. The number of attempts per student is specific to each student and not to the specific topic of the homework; some students routinely carry out multiple attempts while others do not. Although making multiple attempts available may seem to allow for grade inflation, our results show that is not the case. Analysis of the number of homework attempts in relation to homework assessment grade had no correlation. Further, the number of homework attempts has no correlation with the grade students earned on quizzes or the entire course. However, a positive correlation has been established between the achieved homework grade in relation to quizzes, exams, and course grade. This positive correlation exists in both online and onsite classes. Our results indicate that enabling students to work through homework assignments according to their needs until they master each topic increases their opportunities for success in the A&P course. Our approach of offering multiple homework attempts is inclusive because it provides any learner with an opportunity to succeed. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.