Student Approach to Learning in a Bachelor Level Cadaver Dissection Course

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine how students' approach to learning changes through a semester‐long cadaver dissection course and if in‐class and online integrative drawing and concept‐mapping exercises can shift student approach to learning and diversity of study methods employed. Study participants were 67 fourth‐year bachelor students from two cohorts of a semester‐long anatomy course with lecture and cadaver dissection. At the beginning and end of the course students completed the revised two‐factor Study Process Questionnaire (Biggs, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 2001, 71, 133–149) to assess deep and surface motivation and strategies in their approach to learning. At the same time students responded to open‐ended questions regarding study methods. Course exercises included demonstrations of concept mapping, time in lecture for group work, and online forums where students posted diagrams responding to prompts asking students to integrate sympathetic and parasympathetic innervation, or the muscles, innervations, and secretions within the digestive system. Some individual students showed major shifts in their approach to learning however there was not a significant overall trend toward either deep or surface learning over the course and no influence of participation in the class exercises on approach to learning. There was a modest positive correlation between deep approach to learning at the end of the course and overall performance (r=0.30, p<0.05). In conclusion, the class exercises did not measurably alter student approach to learning, but open‐ended questions indicated that students enjoyed the integrative exercises and felt the skills they learned were applicable in other courses. This perceived value of the exercises could be more generally attributed to an increased awareness of the learning process.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.