The Effectiveness of a Student‐Centered, Experiential Learning Curriculum on Musculoskeletal Anatomy of the Lower Limb Using Yoga Asanas

Abstract

Background and purposeTraditional human anatomy pedagogy has been experiencing paradigm shifts over the years as curricula evolve to better engage students with student‐centered, experiential learning. Today, these conceptual strategies are integrated into Dance Technique Education, as a way to increase dancers' knowledge and understanding of how to use their own bodies. The same active learning approach has a future in applications to other physical activities including yoga practice. Using the three representations (Iconic, Symbolic, and Enactive) of curriculum design from Bruner's Theory and Kolb's two‐fold Experiential Learning Theory, the primary purpose of this study was to fashion a new teaching curriculum dedicated to the learning and understanding of the anatomy of the lower limb. The secondary purpose was to document and assess improvements in participants' Range of Motion (ROM), flexibility, strength, and balance in the lower limbs post completion of the experiential learning curriculum.MethodFollowing literature reviews on the successful impact of Active and Experiential Learning, 17 experimental participants were recruited to participate in a two‐hour, lower‐limb musculoskeletal anatomy learning session using yoga asanas and inspired by Bruner's three Representations. In contrast, 17 control participants were recruited to participate in yoga sessions lacking anatomical instruction. All participants were assessed on anatomical knowledge retention, ROM, flexibility, strength, and balance performance over a two‐month time period. Participants attended two follow‐ups sessions where the researcher documented changes in lower limb mobility. Participants' qualitative feedbacks were used to study the overall impact of a learner‐centered and experiential learning experience.ResultsBased on participant feedback and documented results, the Experiential Learning program was well received, effective in teaching anatomical concepts, and notably increased participants' ROM, flexibility, and strength. Experimental participants outperformed control participants in knowledge retention and overall improvement in lower limb mobility over two months.Discussion and ConclusionBruner's theory on curriculum design and Kolb's theory on experiential learning proved effective when implemented into a two‐hour anatomy‐yoga learning session. The positive outcomes yielded from the two‐hour learning session and the two follow‐ups sessions over the span of two months holds promise for this curriculum's future application using any movement‐based practice. Future work should focus on the development of anatomical experiential learning curricula to compliment traditional didactic teaching approaches.Support or Funding InformationQueen's UniversityThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.