Students' Perception of Newly Experimented "Rangoli Art" in Anatomy Education: A Pilot Study

Art and drawing have a well-established history with the teaching and learning of anatomy, as symbolized by Leonardo Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. However, its efficacy relatively declined in modern anatomy education. The purpose of this study was to survey students' views regarding the "anatomy Rangoli-making activity" and to discern if this art form may be implicated in anatomy education. In this group activity, the basic anatomical drawing of the specific structure was made on the floor, and then the different structures in the illustration were filled with relevant powdered Rangoli colors. The present study was conducted on seventy-eight first-year medical students who were willing to participate in the study. A mixed questionnaire regarding their opinion on the "anatomy Rangoli-making activity" was designed and feedback was taken from the students. The majority of the students replied that the Rangoli-making activity was interesting, promoted team spirit, and improved confidence to draw and understand the concept of the diagrams. The students agreed that it is an innovative method of anatomy learning. Almost 99% of students suggested incorporating such art activities in anatomy learning for future students. The enthusiastic response of the students to this activity is encouraging to introduce such art base activities in anatomy education and learning. Future multicenter studies on this learning method may be planned to check its efficacy.