Moving hands-on anatomy teaching online: a reflection on creative solutions

Abstract

As part of any UK-based pre-registration Speech and Language Therapy programme, all students are expected to gain knowledge and understanding of general anatomy and physiology, along with specifics related to speech and language production and processing (RCSLT, 2021). Although immensely important, it is often a challenging subject due to both the amount of information to learn and the methods of teaching (Singh et al., 2019). While traditionally the teaching of anatomy is presented as a set of lectures and rote learning by students, there have been increased attempts to innovate within this area, particularly in Allied Health subjects such as Occupational Health and Speech and Language Therapy teaching where there is less access to laboratories and cadavers. This has included the use of creative, active, and flipped learning techniques designed to engage and increase positive learning responses from students (Skinder-Meredith, 2010; Martin, Bessell and Scholten, 2014; Zimanyi, Emtage and Megaw, 2019).