Blended Learning in Anatomy Education: A Study Investigating Medical Students' Perceptions

Abstract

The present study examines levels of satisfaction and perceptions of the students taking the blended anatomy course in Turkish Higher Education System. 15 students selected from 213 medical students participated in the study. An interview form was designed to identify the views of the students about the present study. The interview results were analyzed in the NVIVO program using the content analysis technique. Based on the results, the medical students' views on the blended anatomy course were classified into 8 categories: 1) visuality 2) content 3) effective learning 4) expectations from blended learning 5) accessibility 6) motivation 7) new perspective for the students and 8) continuity. Results indicate that medical students perceive blended learning environment positively. As a factor promoting learning, this study makes suggestions for taking advantage of the opportunities in a blended anatomy course successfully.Keywords: anatomy education, blended learning, perception, medical students INTRODUCTIONThe rapid changes in the information era affect the medical education along with the rest of the world. Medical sciences require the use of educational technologies in the field (Ward, Gordon, Field, & Lehmann, 2001). As Arman, Cankur, Çelik, Ersoy, İçke, Kopuz, Özbek and Pınar (2002) argue, it is not possible to give all the expanding knowledge to a medical student in a six-year period. Educators inevitably must select what they will and will not teach, and give the student the capability to use that information. At the very foundation of medical education lies anatomy. Anatomy is the oldest known medical science. Regardless of the division or specialization, every medical student must learn anatomy in order to become a successful doctor. According to the Department of Anatomy in the Faculty of Medicine at Kocaeli University (2011), the anatomy course analyses human anatomy, the various structures in the body and how these structures relate to each other. The anatomy studies include many areas of sub-specialization from topographical anatomy and dissection to microscopic and ultramicroscopic methods, which are the latest methods.The clinical sciences are becoming more dominant in medical education and the time for basic medical sciences is becoming precious. The studies on the cadaver dissections and living human models that would help the students gain skills and positive attitudes cannot be carried out sufficiently due to reasons such as an inadequate number of cadavers, the high number of students, lack of technical equipment and infrastructure, and inadequate number of instructors, etc. (Arman et. al, 2002).Different methods are required to solve the existing problems in anatomy education, which has an important place in basic medical education. Sayek, Odabaşı and Kiper (2010) indicated that alternative methods that would support anatomy education should be used more commonly. One of the methods that can be used to support anatomy education might be blended learning environments. This method includes the ...

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