Student Attitudes Surrounding Active Learning in an Online Anatomy Class

Abstract

Anatomy classes can be challenging for students due in part to the nature of anatomy course material, in that students are required to learn a large amount of information in a short amount of time. Students who have not identified their study style or have yet to take classes that are materially‐intensive may perform poorly. Additionally, when anatomy courses are presented online, students’ learning can be impacted further due to the lack of access to typical in‐class learning experiences such as peer interaction and dissection. To address these challenges, this study introduces an active learning technique called Jigsaw to supplement peer‐to‐peer learning in an online, graduate anatomy course. Jigsaw was implemented into an online anatomy course in the Spring of 2021. During Jigsaw, students were split up into expert groups in which they were expected to master a specific topic assigned to them. Students from the expert groups were then put into teaching groups, where each student would teach the other students about the material mastered in their expert group material. A previous study had evaluated Jigsaw within an in‐person classroom environment with positive outcomes. The present study included 72 students who were split into 3 expert groups with 24 students per group. Two students from each expert group were assigned to one of 12 teaching groups, 6 students per group with 2 from each expert group A, B, and C. Students’ attitudes surrounding Jigsaw were then evaluated using post‐unit surveys and a final post‐course survey. Results from the post‐course survey indicated that 77.3% of students were either somewhat satisfied or very satisfied when asked about their satisfaction with Jigsaw. The remaining percent were neutral or negative. The satisfaction score took into account student’s likelihood of using Jigsaw again, as well as how they felt Jigsaw improved their understanding of the material. Jigsaw can serve to provide an outlet for peer interaction and learning that is absent is online classrooms, where students do not meet face‐to‐face and do not have hands‐on dissection. Future studies should also take into account grades as well as student attitudes in an effort to evaluate the usefulness of Jigsaw as a supplemental learning resource. Understanding students’ attitudes surrounding active learning techniques in the classroom can inform future anatomy educators as well as other instructors on assisting students in their learning process, especially in material intensive courses such as anatomy and as online learning becomes more commonplace.