|
|||||
|
|
Enhancing Anatomical Instruction: Impact of a Virtual Canine Anatomy Program on Student Outcomes |
|
| Authors: | Andrea Linton Andrew C Garrett Kenneth R Ivie Jr Jay D Jones Jason F Martin Jeremy J Delcambre Christianne Magee |
| Institution: | 1. Virtual Veterinary Educational Tools, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado;2. Virtual Veterinary Educational Tools, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado Contribution: Data curation (equal), ?Investigation (equal), Writing - original draft (supporting), Writing - review & editing (supporting);3. Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado Contribution: Data curation (equal), ?Investigation (equal);4. Virtual Veterinary Educational Tools, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado Contribution: Formal analysis (equal);5. Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado Contribution: ?Investigation (equal), Writing - review & editing (supporting);6. Virtual Veterinary Educational Tools, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado Contribution: ?Investigation (equal) |
| Abstract: | Innovative reforms in medical education will require instructional tools to support these changes and to give students more flexibility in where and how they learn. At Colorado State University, the software program Virtual Canine Anatomy (VCA) was developed to assist student learning both inside and outside the anatomical laboratory. The program includes interactive anatomical photographs of dissected canine cadavers, dissection instructions with accompanying videos and diagrams, radiographs, and three-dimensional models. There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of instructional tools like VCA so that decisions on pedagogical delivery can be evidence-based. To measure the impact of VCA on student outcomes in a dissection laboratory, this study compared student attitudes, quiz scores, dissection quality and accuracy, and instructor reliance between students with and without access to VCA. Students with VCA needed less time with teaching assistants (P < 0.01), asked teaching assistants fewer questions (P = 0.04), felt that the dissection was easier (P = 0.02), and were in stronger agreement that they had access to adequate resources (P = 0.02). No differences were found in the dissection quality or accuracy, quiz scores, or attitudes regarding overall enjoyment of the activity between the two groups. This study shows that VCA increases student independence and can be used to enhance anatomical instruction. |
| Keywords: | veterinary anatomy education anatomy software students' performance dissection quality anatomy pedagogy computer-assisted learning |