Anatomy Academy Online: Tips and Tricks for the Anatomy and Physiology Educator and Student

Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) is a subject that most health science students must take at some point in their coursework. Many educators who teach the subject would like to find better ways to instruct their students and to increase student knowledge retention and performance. Recent research has shown that college-level A&P has a pass rate of around 52% and that a large proportion of students taking A&P at any given point are repeat students (Hughes, 2011). Therefore, this blog is dedicated to both the A&P instructor and student to try and find ways to increase not only their performance in A&P classes, but also their ability to transfer this knowledge to future classes and careers.

First, some explanation of what this blog is not: This blog is not meant to be a refresher or a tutoring guide to specific A&P topics. I will not be going over the nephron loop, the neuromuscular junction, or the origin and insertion of the long head of the biceps brachii. What this blog is meant to do is provide you with some tips and tools for approaching the study of a very difficult topic. Mainly, I intend to cover three specific topics that are emerging in higher education and to help relate them specifically to anatomy and physiology. These topics are Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and how it relates to learning A&P, using the blended learning format for teaching A&P, and using the adaptive learning tools that many higher education publishers have created for use by A&P instructors and students.


Before we get into the topics I mentioned above, let me just start with some tips that I give to all of my new students. I have been teaching at the college level for several years now, and one of the most common questions I get is just how should the student study for anatomy and physiology? This is a great question and the answer is very similar to the question “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The answer for both is practice, practice, practice. Learning A&P comes from repetition, repetition, repetition. There is a vast amount of information that must be taken in, sorted, organized, and remembered. This information retention is accomplished through practice! However, there are many different ways to take in this information and to practice the material. This fact is precisely what this blog is all about; ways to use new technology to your advantage in either teaching A&P or learning it as a student.

Information and Communication Technology

ICT encompasses the entire realm of personal computers, smartphones, tablets, and internet technology that has allowed us to communicate materials and ideas over great distances. We are no longer restricted by geography or location to who we may communicate with or seek help in answering complex questions. We now live in a global environment and communication technology has allowed for the study of A&P that is not associated with a strict schedule. Even scientific teleconferencing may take place across continents (Safar & AlKhezzi, 2013).

One remarkable aspect in this explosion of new technology is the creation of the smartphone and tablet for personal use. As the user of an iPhone, I know personally how wonderful, and vital, this tool has become to everyday life. Of course, as any sales rep will tell you, it isn’t the smartphone itself that is so wonderful, but the apps that are designed for the phone that really let this tool shine for educational applications.

One app, or actually class of apps, for the smartphone are A&P tools. One such app, the “Anatomy Lab” is a cadaver dissection app developed by researchers at the University of Utah (Tutton, 2009, n.p.). The app is designed for medical students and medical professionals. However, a quick search of the Apple Store yields well over 800 results for apps related to anatomy and physiology. Many of these apps are geared towards muscle and bone identification, but there are quite a few that provide quizzes and system physiology information as well. Another great thing for the student is that many of these apps are free. The quality may not be as good as some of the higher-end apps, but they do allow the student to study material and topics while out of the classroom and lab. And remember, one of the keys to success is repetition and review. Many of these A&P apps are geared towards helping the student review the material they received in their lecture class. So for you educators or students with a smartphone, do a quick search in the Apple Store or Android Market for A&P apps. You will see that there are many apps to choose from. You can narrow your list down by looking for quiz applications, cadaver photos, or systems physiology. Look around and have fun. Use these apps to help transition into our next topic for consideration: Blended learning.

Blended Learning

Blended learning is the combination of traditional face-to-face instruction that most educators and students are familiar with, but also combines the use of ICT and computer-aided learning to augment and increase student learning. This method of instruction is useful as the instructor goes from lecturer to facilitator and the student becomes more responsible for their own learning (Safar & AlKhezzi, 2013). This method of teaching and learning is known as learner-centered teaching and has been shown to increase student knowledge and retention (Doyle, 2011).

Recent research has also looked into using blended learning formats for anatomy and physiology instruction. When two groups of undergraduate students were taught using the traditional face-to-face method and compared to students who learned using the blended learning format, the students who received the blended learning format had significantly higher test scores and lower dropout rates (Pereira et al., 2007).

Additional research conducted by Poon (2013) looked at using blended instruction from an institutional point of view. Poon was able to summarize the benefits and challenges to using blended learning, which I have reproduced below (Poon, 2013, p. 276):

Benefits	Challenges
Enhanced student learning outcomes	Unrealistic student expectations
Greater flexibility for students and teachers	Student-perceived isolation
Improved autonomy, reflection, and research skills	Technological problems for students
Reduced student withdrawal rate	Invasiveness into other areas of life
Ability to foster a professional learning environment	Time commitment
Potential cost and resource savings	Lack of support for course redesign
	Difficulty in acquiring new teaching and technology skills

The unrealistic expectations of students may be created when students believe that the online portion of the class will take less time than a traditional class. Also, from an institutional point of view, the school or university must be on board with blended learning, as the changeover from the traditional format requires a great deal of time on the part of the educator. However, once the online components are developed, there is a time and cost saving associated with blended learning, which makes it an attractive program for the school (Poon, 2013).

Another aspect of blended learning is that many of the modules created for the course may be given to distance students to complete asynchronously. An asynchronous format is where the material may be covered at any time based on the needs of the student and does not require face-to-face contact with the instructor (Stewart & Wright, 2004). However, most asynchronous teaching is accomplished with distance education courses, not with blended learning courses.

Most blended learning formats use computer assistance to augment the material being covered and to provide practice exams and quizzes to the student as well as online assignments. Usually, this online content take the form of a Learning Management System (LMS). The LMS is, for the most part, developed and maintained by the publishing company that published the textbook used in the course (Safar & AlKhezzi, 2013). This aspect of blended learning brings us to our last topic: Adaptive Learning.