Meyer, Amanda J., Stomski, Norman J., Losco, C. Dominique, and Armson, Anthony J. (2016) The influence of anatomy app use on chiropractic students’ learning outcomes: a randomised controlled trial. Chiropractic and Manual Therapies, 24. 44.

Preview

PDF (Published Version) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (370kB) | Preview

Abstract

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.

Item ID:	84993
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2045-709X
Copyright Information:	© 2016 The Author(s). Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Date Deposited:	26 Mar 2025 00:23
FoR Codes:	39 EDUCATION > 3901 Curriculum and pedagogy > 390110 Medicine, nursing and health curriculum and pedagogy @ 100%
SEO Codes:	16 EDUCATION AND TRAINING > 1603 Teaching and curriculum > 160301 Assessment, development and evaluation of curriculum @ 100%
Downloads:	Total: 2 Last 12 Months: 2
	More Statistics