Allied health professionals concur that a sound knowledge of practical gross anatomy is vital for the clinician, however, human anatomy courses in allied health programs have been identified as high-risk for attrition and failure. While anatomists and clinicians agree that learning anatomy via human cadaveric instruction is the preferred method, students vary in their reaction to the cadaveric learning experience and have differing levels of anatomy self-efficacy. This study investigated whether student self-efficacy had an effect on student usage of supplemental instructional videos and whether the use of videos had an impact on student self-efficacy and/or learning. Anatomy self-efficacy differed based on gender and prior performance. Student usage of the videos varied widely and students with lower self-efficacy were more inclined to use the resources. The provision of the videos did not improve overall cohort performance as compared to a historical cohort, however, those students that accessed all video sets experienced a greater normalized learning gain compared to students that used none or one of the four sets of videos. Student reports and usage patterns indicate that the videos were primarily used for practical class preparation and revision. Potentially, the videos represent a passive mode of teaching whereas active learning has been demonstrated to result in greater learning gains. Adapting the videos into interactive tutorials which will provide opportunity for feedback and the development of students' self-evaluation may be more appropriate. Anat Sci Educ 11: 461-470. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.

The ability to distinguish between effective and ineffective study strategies based on feedback is of utmost importance for secondary school leavers transitioning to tertiary education (Brinkworth et al., 2009; Salisbury & Karasmanis, 2011). Often accompanying this learning environment transition is academic difficulty and an increased possibility of failure, and it is therefore essential for undergraduate students, in particular those studying the disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), to establish a solid repertoire of learning strategies early in their academic career. Self-regulation is a key component of learning that can be fostered to encourage a successful transition from secondary school to university (Vosniadou, 2020). Self-regulated learning refers to learning that is fostered by one’s metacognition, strategy adaptability, and motivation. Of these constructs, metacognition is fundamental, as having self-awareness allows one to identify the requirement for corrective action in the learning process, allowing learners to monitor their behaviour and reflect on the success of their learning strategies, where the motivation to do this should lead to strategy adaptation. In addition, students must make accurate self-efficacious judgements about their learning in order to evaluate the effectiveness of their learning strategies or to decide when they have sufficiently completed a learning task. Therefore, in order to develop a means of improving students’ transition from secondary school to university, one must first appreciate the impacts of self-regulated learning and self-efficacy on academic performance. This review aims to focus on self-regulated learning and self-efficacy, of which self-regulated learning is a construct of metacognition, motivation and strategy adaptability. This review will also evaluate self-regulated learning with an emphasis on Zimmerman’s model, the calibration of self-efficacy, and how students might break the cycle of poor learning with a focus on STEM.

The transition from secondary to tertiary education can be challenging, as students must adapt to independent learning. For students in the allied health and nursing disciplines, this transition may coincide with compulsory first‐year courses in anatomy, which are traditionally difficult to master. Students' agency—their capacity to make intentional choices to alter the path of their learning—may play a role in their successful completion of first‐year anatomy courses. This study aimed to develop a measure for agency and to determine whether agency is associated with academic achievement. First‐year students (n = 131) completed open‐ended questions measuring each aspect of agency. Student responses were quantified using rubrics and then combined to create an overall agency score. Three factors of agency were determined: action, metacognition, and self‐efficacy. Students with higher agency scores were significantly more likely to have higher academic achievement in anatomy compared to students with lower agency scores. The relationship between agency and academic achievement was strongest for action. These results suggest that encouraging students to be active participants in their learning may help them to achieve at university.

Learning analytics can be used in conjunction with learner dispositions to identify at-risk students and provide personalized guidance on how to improve. Participants in the current study were students (n=192) studying a first year anatomy and physiology course. A two-step cluster analysis was performed using learning analytics data from the learning management system and self-regulated learning behavior from meta-learning assessment tasks. Three clusters of students were identified – high, medium and low self-regulated learners. High self-regulated learners were engaged with the meta-learning tasks, reported the most self-regulated learning strategies and used new strategies during semester. They also had the highest academic achievement. Compared to low self-regulated leaners, medium self-regulated learners were more engaged in the meta-learning tasks and used more learning strategies during semester, including new strategies; however, both medium and low self-regulated learners had similar levels of academic achievement. It is possible that the medium self-regulated learners represent students who were attempting to improve their learning, but had not yet found strategies that were right for them. Future evaluation of academic performance may determine whether the attempts to improve learning by medium self-regulated learners distinguishes them from low self-regulated learners in the later years of their study.

Anatomical dissections and prosected cadaveric specimens are currently believed to be the most beneficial delivery method for tertiary anatomy education. However, there is increasing demand within the tertiary medical education community for alternative delivery methods to complement current teaching practices, particularly in the complex field of neuroanatomy.  To ensure that students learning of neuroanatomy is effective, it is necessary to take an evidenced-based approach. Therefore, this review will compare and contrast the different factors involved in learning neuroanatomy and the different modalities that can be used to teach this complex topic. Further, this review will also highlight the differences between individual and mixed-model delivery systems, which may influence the current pedagogies surrounding tertiary neuroanatomy in the dynamic educational setting.