Effects of Using Superheroes in an Undergraduate Human Anatomy Curriculum

Abstract

Anatomy is a course that is sometimes considered intimidating, confusing, or boring, with others finding the material difficult due to the amount of content that is covered at a fast pace. Collectively, this can result in students failing to retain the information or not succeeding in the class. Superheroes are at the forefront of today’s popular culture, with many students identifying with specific characters in these universes. Utilizing aspects of students’ lives that they resonate with, such as their interests in superheroes or personal connections to characters, can help drive students’ motivation to learn the course content. Superheroes can be included in the classroom by discussing the characters powers and how they parallel different clinical conditions and modern scientific innovations. The purpose of this study is to explore if the use of superheroes in an anatomy curriculum helps undergraduate students learn, apply, and improve their anatomical knowledge base.This study utilized students in Anatomy 1300 SuperAnatomy and Anatomy 2300 Human Anatomy at The Ohio State University to explore the use of superheroes in an anatomy curriculum. This study will utilize a cumulative pre‐test and post‐test to compare scores between Anatomy 1300, which utilizes superheroes in the classroom, and Anatomy 2300, an average anatomy course. These examinations cover content that is covered in both courses. Survey and demographic data will be used to see if students are able to identify more with the course material due to the variety of characters that are used as examples in class discussions. Data is currently still being collected for this study, but preliminary data supports the hypothesis that students will do better at learning and retaining anatomical content when superheroes are used as examples while teaching the course material. On the pretest, the average scores between Anatomy 1300 (63%, n= 16) and Anatomy 2300 (55%, n= 95) were similar (t = ‐.819; p = .21). On the post test, the average scores between Anatomy 1300 (89%, n= 16) and Anatomy 2300 (74%, n= 14) were statistically different (t =3.48; p< .001). The use of superheroes in an anatomy curriculum improved students’ performance on the post‐test, supporting the claim that students will do better at learning and retaining anatomical content when superheroes are used as examples while teaching the course material. Typical anatomy course content can still be taught and explained through discussing these “marvel”‐ous examples. This study suggests ways for educators to incorporate creative teaching into their classroom using characters that can help students connect the material to their own agency and drive their motivation to learn the material. The results from this study can also be applied to multiple levels of education (e.g., high school, graduate, etc.), as well as explored in other curriculums and disciplines. The superhero examples can also be used to connect to underrepresented populations and hopefully increase diversity in the health sciences. This method of teaching can also be utilized to attract students from outside the health sciences to the field of anatomy and be used to form relationships through outreach programs within the community.