Abstract
Drawing can be a useful tool to elicit student thinking and is a widely-used method for communicating scientific ideas. The task of drawing requires students to identify and recall necessary pieces of information they assimilated over a period of time and construct a mental model. However, millennial generation learners, owing to their immersion in 3D technologies, lack interest in practicing and learning from diagrams. This impairs learning and retention of visually-oriented subjects. In this perspective, we reflect on the cognitive and metacognitive processes associated with drawing to emphasize the important role of drawing in present day anatomy education.
Highlights
Drawing can be a useful tool to elicit student thinking and is a widely-used method for communicating scientific ideas
The task of drawing require students to identify and recall the necessary pieces of information they had assimilated over a period of time and construct a ‘mental model’
Limitations for inculcating drawing skills in present day classrooms While comparing a ‘line by line’ anatomical diagram with its corresponding 3-D image, it is essential to consider the impact of the “imagination effect.”
Summary
Drawing can be a useful tool to elicit student thinking and is a widely-used method for communicating scientific ideas. The task of drawing require students to identify and recall the necessary pieces of information they had assimilated over a period of time and construct a ‘mental model’.1 This mental model was translated into a manual task (drawing by hand), which was a constructed response that indirectly reflected the student’s knowledge.[2] Existing curricula, at the present time, requires students to communicate their content understanding via theoretical and pictorial representations.
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