The art of demonstration in anatomy instruction

Abstract

As an educator, have you ever wondered why the students in the classroom learn so little despite the innumerable hours you have spent perfecting the lecture? Why, after a brief period of time, do students start losing attention and focus? Many lecturers have experienced this phenomenon, some more than others. To address this issue, in the setting of a fifty minute lecture we’ve included several demonstrations involving volunteer students and/or economical home created models. Several anatomical concepts, such as the configuration of pleura and thoracic structures and peritoneum and abdominal/pelvic structures, were demonstrated in the classroom using transparent plastic sheets and sleeves, cardboard boxes, plastic bottles and balloons, and often even the students themselves. Such activity was designed to spike the students’ curiosity, involvement, interest, and engagement for the length of the fifty minute lecture. These changes were implemented over several lectures during each eight week academic block, and the lectures with such demonstrations were interspersed between other traditional didactic lectures. To our satisfaction, not only did such non-traditional lecturing appear to help the students understand and learn better, but there was better attendance in these non-mandatory lectures, coupled with great enthusiasm, attention, and engagement during the lectures. Our goal in the classroom was to create an environment that helps students to learn effectively. This article presents a teaching approach that engages students by making them part of a classroom activity, which attracts the students’ attention and invokes their curiosity with inexpensive home-made anatomy models. Keywords: Active learning; Anatomy Models; Student engagement. Revista HUPE, Rio de Janeiro, 2014;13(4):46-51 doi: 10.12957/rhupe.2014.13947