“This Is How You Do It, Right?!” Practical Suggestions for Designing and Implementing Education Research Projects within the Anatomy Classroom

Abstract

Anatomy educators have become leaders in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) within the biomedical sciences. Our classrooms and laboratories are learning hubs filled with innovative, evidence‐based pedagogies that we commonly systematically evaluate for learning effectiveness. As we continue to push the boundaries of innovative teaching, we must be careful to ensure we are developing, implementing, and disseminating education research projects with strong and resilient designs. Within the broad field of SoTL and education research there are common design flaws that can be avoided with careful preparation and forethought. Specifically, this presentation will focus on six themes of education research each with common concerns: 1) selecting an appropriate methodology and data collection strategy that best aligns with the specific research question(s), 2) establishing appropriate and informative comparison groups, 3) using randomization to control for between‐student factors (and to avoid self‐selection bias), 4) including appropriate considerations of power differential when using one's own students as research participants, 5) obtaining informed consent in a manner that respects student autonomy, and 6) selecting robust statistical analyses that fit the research design. Each theme will be thoroughly expanded upon in the context of the anatomy classroom/laboratory with concrete, practical suggestions for effective and meaningful SoTL projects. Positive examples will be extracted from recently published works to showcase exemplary research designs in the field. Ultimately, the goal of this presentation is to initiate and fuel constructive conversations on education research design elements; a conversation that will benefit junior and senior anatomy educators alike. By encouraging and facilitating strong, resilient, and thoughtful education research projects, anatomy educators can continue to be at the forefront of innovative SoTL practices that enhance learning for our students and positively impact biomedical education at large.Support or Funding Informationn/aThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.