Multidimensional approach to teaching anatomy-Do gender and learning style matter?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anatomy Training
• Surgical Simulation

Background:

• Peer teaching (PT) is a valuable pedagogical approach in medical education.
• Assessing novel teaching interventions is crucial for enhancing anatomy instruction.
• Understanding the influence of student characteristics like gender and learning style is important.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of ultrasound and arthroscopy teaching interventions within a peer teaching framework on anatomy examination scores.
• To investigate the effects of gender and learning style on student performance and subjective evaluations in anatomy education.

Main Methods:

• 484 second-year medical students were randomized into musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS), arthroscopy (ASC), or control (CON) groups.
• Intervention groups received additional training sessions; the control group did not.
• Kolb's Learning Style Inventory was administered, and anatomical knowledge was assessed via multiple-choice exams; subjective evaluations were also collected.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in multiple-choice anatomy exam scores were observed across the MSUS, ASC, and CON groups.
• Students generally preferred ultrasound over arthroscopy, reporting greater perceived learning despite lower instructor competence ratings and longer time investment.
• While gender had no significant effect, learning styles showed varied impacts: accommodators benefited most in spatial conceptualization, while divergers reported significant learning from ultrasound.

Conclusions:

• Quantitative anatomical knowledge acquisition was not significantly impacted by the ultrasound or arthroscopy interventions.
• Qualitative findings indicate that learning styles influence subjective experiences and perceived learning gains, warranting further investigation.
• The study highlights the need for deeper exploration into how learning styles interact with different teaching modalities in medical education.