Engagement Patterns of High and Low Academic Performers on Facebook Anatomy Pages.

Only a few studies have investigated how students use and respond to social networks in the educational context as opposed to social use. In this study, the engagement of medical students on anatomy Facebook pages was evaluated in view of their academic performance. High performers contributed to most of the engagements. They also had a particular preference for higher levels of engagement. Although the students were deeply involved in the educational element of the pages, they continued to appreciate the inherent social element. The profound engagement of the high performers indicated a consistency between Facebook use in the educational context and better student performance. At the same time, the deeper engagement of high performers refutes the opinion that Facebook use is a distractor. Instead, it supports the notion that Facebook could be a suitable platform to engage students in an educational context.

Exploring the use of a Facebook page in anatomy education.

Facebook is the most popular social media site visited by university students on a daily basis. Consequently, Facebook is the logical place to start with for integrating social media technologies into education. This study explores how a faculty-administered Facebook Page can be used to supplement anatomy education beyond the traditional classroom. Observations were made on students' perceptions and effectiveness of using the Page, potential benefits and challenges of such use, and which Insights metrics best reflect user's engagement. The Human Anatomy Education Page was launched on Facebook and incorporated into anatomy resources for 157 medical students during two academic years. Students' use of Facebook and their perceptions of the Page were surveyed. Facebook's "Insights" tool was also used to evaluate Page performance during a period of 600 days. The majority of in-class students had a Facebook account which they adopted in education. Most students perceived Human Anatomy Education Page as effective in contributing to learning and favored "self-assessment" posts. The majority of students agreed that Facebook could be a suitable learning environment. The "Insights" tool revealed globally distributed fans with considerable Page interactions. The use of a faculty-administered Facebook Page provided a venue to enhance classroom teaching without intruding into students' social life. A wider educational use of Facebook should be adopted not only because students are embracing its use, but for its inherent potentials in boosting learning. The "Insights" metrics analyzed in this study might be helpful when establishing and evaluating the performance of education-oriented Facebook Pages.

YouTube: An emerging tool in anatomy education.

The use of online social networks in medical education can remodel and enhance anatomy teaching and learning; one such network is the video-sharing site YouTube. Limited research in the literature exists on the use of YouTube as a platform for anatomy education. The aim of this study is to assess student's perceptions and patterns of usage of this resource, as well as the effectiveness of YouTube videos within a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. The study was conducted on 91 second-year medical students for whom video links were suggested throughout the academic year. In addition, the Human Anatomy Education (HAE) Channel was launched on YouTube to support classroom teaching with videos that emphasized applied aspects of anatomy. The results demonstrated that 98% of the students used YouTube as an online information resource, albeit in different frequencies. Out of the 86% who have been to the HAE Channel, 92% agreed/strongly agreed that the channel helped them learn anatomy. The study also reports the popularity of and awareness about using YouTube as a social network as well as in learning. Based on these findings, YouTube can be considered as an effective tool to enhance anatomy instruction if the videos are scrutinized, diversified, and aimed toward course objectives. Faculty of average computer literacy should be enabled to produce videos on their own YouTube channels to support independent learning and integration in a PBL curriculum. The methods described for capturing and editing the videos can be used as a prototype.

The propensity of common peroneal nerve in thigh-level injuries.

BACKGROUND: Sciatic nerve lesions comprise the largest subset of lower extremity nerve injuries. Military gunshot injury reports in civilians are not as predominant as wartime experience. Most sciatic nerve injuries result in deficits to the peroneal component. This study aims to report experience with civilian sciatic nerve injuries and to suggest the mechanism behind the peculiarity of the common peroneal component in thigh-level injuries. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 1,463 civilian patients with military gunshot sciatic nerve injury diagnosed and evaluated by neurophysiologic studies during a period of 3 years. RESULTS: Most of the patients (95.4%) presented with thigh-level injury in which 95% suffered complete but isolated common peroneal territory palsy. The rest of the patients had either solitary complete tibial division palsy or complete tibial and common peroneal deficits. CONCLUSIONS: The propensity of the common peroneal nerve in thigh-level injuries inflicted by military-type weapons in civilians is consistent with wartime injury reports. Because of its special anatomic situation, entrapment of the common peroneal nerve whether distally or proximally may render its axons more prone to mechanical damage. Moreover, the smaller contribution of the common peroneal component to the main nerve may result in its damage more readily than the tibial component whose larger contribution may spare some of its fibers. Finally, the components of the sciatic nerve diverge at a variable distance from the knee. Thus, distal thigh injuries may involve the diverging common peroneal nerve where it has a superficial position and is more prone to injury.