The influence of anatomy app use on chiropractic students' learning outcomes: a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Anatomy apps supplement traditional learning; however, it is unknown if their use can improve students' outcome. The present study examined whether the use of anatomy apps improved student performance on a neuroanatomy assessment. METHODS: Second-year anatomy students, enrolled in a Bachelor of Science with Chiropractic Major program, were randomly allocated to experimental and control groups in July 2015. Students completed the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS). The experimental group had access to iPads with four anatomy apps for three weekly classes (1.5 h each). One week after the last class, students were assessed by an online 30-question neuroanatomy test. Linear regression was used to examine the association between test scores and app use, gender, previous anatomy unit score and SDLRS scores. Students' views on apps were collected by focus group discussion immediately after the test. RESULTS: Completed questionnaires were obtained from n = 25 control and n = 25 experimental students. There was no association between app use and neuroanatomy assessment score (B = 1.75, 95 % CI: -0.340-3.840, p = 0.099). Only previous anatomy unit score (B = 0.348, 95 % CI: 0.214-0.483, p < 0.001) affected neuroanatomy assessment scores. Students favored apps with clinical images and features including identification pins, sliding bars and rotatable 3D images. CONCLUSIONS: App use did not enhance learning outcomes in a second-year anatomy unit.

Immunology knowledge as one of the basic sciences that forms the foundations to developing sound clinicians.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to (1) generate a valid questionnaire to determine immunology knowledge, (2) compare immunology knowledge across 3 different cohorts of chiropractic students that had already studied immunology, (3) examine the attitudes of chiropractic students to the study of immunology, and (4) examine whether students' attitudes affected their knowledge levels. METHODS: Factor analysis was used to refine an immunology knowledge and perceptions questionnaire that was generated by a group of experts that was then completed by 90 students. Immunology knowledge level of each of the cohorts was compared using a 1-way analysis of variance. Kappa statistics were used to measure agreement between 2 statements, and logistic regression was used to determine whether students' attitudes were associated with their knowledge levels. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the immunology knowledge levels across the 3 year groups (F[2, 87] = 4.78, p = .011). Fifth-year students (n = 26) demonstrated 25% less immunology knowledge than third-year students (n = 35; p = .005). Of 90 students, 64 agreed that immunology knowledge was important to chiropractors, and 53 agreed that immunology knowledge was important for the average person. No relationship existed between their value of immunology knowledge and their score on the multiple-choice questions. CONCLUSION: Third-year students' immunology knowledge was significantly higher than that of the fifth-year students. Students value immunology knowledge, but this does not translate to retention of this knowledge. The validated questionnaire is a useful tool for assessing immunology knowledge retention for undergraduate students.

Student performance on practical gross anatomy examinations is not affected by assessment modality.

Anatomical education is becoming modernized, not only in its teaching and learning, but also in its assessment formats. Traditional "steeplechase" examinations are being replaced with online gross anatomy examinations. The aims of this study were to: (1) determine if online anatomy practical examinations are equivalent to traditional anatomy practical examinations; and (2) to examine if students' perceptions of the online or laboratory testing environments influenced their performance on the examinations. In phase one, 10 third-year students were interviewed to generate perception items to which five anatomy lecturers assigned content validity. In phase two, students' gross anatomical knowledge was assessed by examinations in two modes and their perceptions were examined using the devised survey instrument. Forty-five second-year chiropractic students voluntarily participated in Phase Two. The two randomly allocated groups completed the examinations in a sequential cross-over manner. Student performance on the gross anatomy examination was not different between traditional "steeplechase" (mean ± standard deviation (SD): 69 ± 11%) and online (68 ± 15%) modes. The majority of students (87%) agreed that they felt comfortable using computers for gross anatomy examinations. However, fewer students found it easy to orientate images of cadaver specimens online. The majority of students (85%) agreed that they felt comfortable working with cadavers but there was less agreement on the effect of moving around the laboratory during practical examinations. This data will allow anatomists to confidently implement online assessments without fear of jeopardizing academic rigor or student performance.

VARK learning preferences and mobile anatomy software application use in pre-clinical chiropractic students.

Ubiquitous smartphone ownership and reduced face-to-face teaching time may lead to students making greater use of mobile technologies in their learning. This is the first study to report on the prevalence of mobile gross anatomy software applications (apps) usage in pre-clinical chiropractic students and to ascertain if a relationship exists between preferred learning styles as determined by the validated VARK(©) questionnaire and use of mobile anatomy apps. The majority of the students who completed the VARK questionnaire were multimodal learners with kinesthetic and visual preferences. Sixty-seven percent (73/109) of students owned one or more mobile anatomy apps which were used by 57 students. Most of these students owned one to five apps and spent less than 30 minutes per week using them. Six of the top eight mobile anatomy apps owned and recommended by the students were developed by 3D4Medical. Visual learning preferences were not associated with time spent using mobile anatomy apps (OR = 0.40, 95% CI 0.12-1.40). Similarly, kinesthetic learning preferences (OR = 1.88, 95% CI 0.18-20.2), quadmodal preferences (OR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.06-9.25), or gender (OR = 1.51, 95% CI 0.48-4.81) did not affect the time students' spent using mobile anatomy apps. Learning preferences do not appear to influence students' time spent using mobile anatomy apps. Anat Sci Educ 9: 247-254. © 2015 American Association of Anatomists.