ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND STUDENT SATISFACTION: MOVING ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY TEACHING ONLINE

Abstract

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic had a large impact on tertiary education content delivery, driving university programs to replace face-to-face teaching and practical hands-on experience with digital learning through online platforms. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in academic achievement and overall student satisfaction in a first-year undergraduate student cohort in response to Zoom-delivered ‘dissection workshops’. Methods A comparative analysis was carried out on two first year undergraduate student cohorts (2019 and 2020) studying introductory anatomy and physiology. Student exam marks for questions relating to knowledge gained from the dissections were utilised to compare academic achievement and student feedback was collected to assess how digital learning affected student satisfaction. Results and Conclusion The student cohort that participated in the Zoom dissections (2020) had comparable academic achievement however student feedback indicated that a face-to-face, hands-on learning experience is preferable to digital learning in an introductory anatomy and physiology course.