Monday, November 16, 2015

URSP Student Maggie Araneo Determines if Living AnatoMe Yoga and Pilates Active Learning Modules Increase the Understanding of Human Anatomy and Physiology

The goal of my research is to determine if Living AnatoMe yoga and Pilates active learning modules increase the understanding and retention of human anatomy and physiology course content. Human anatomy and physiology requires extensive amounts of memorization as students must have knowledge of the entire human body. One would think that the immense amount of material embedded in this course would lead to copious methods of teaching and studying said material. However, this has not been the case for universities across the country. This conundrum has led me to question why one method of instruction alone has been used for such a vital course. Researching how multiple learning methods can impact student learning and retention is crucial not only for human anatomy but for all university courses as it could enhance the undergraduate experience for all students. At George Mason I am a biology undergraduate student with the hopes of pursuing a doctorate and career in physical therapy. The field of physical therapy caught my attention when I was a patient myself after multiple knee surgeries.

Living AnatoMe offers an innovative way to actively and kinesthetically learn about the various parts of human anatomy. This method of learning is different than traditional methods used for human anatomy and physiology and I am interested to learn about how this method impacts understanding and retention of the material. Through this project I hope to expose students to a new method of learning human anatomy and gain a better understanding of the effects of this method.


My research is currently in the waiting process as I await the completion of the students’ bone practical which they will be surveyed after in order to determine the effectiveness of the modules. 
This surveying process will happen three times after each practical and I will obtain grade information at the end of the semester. This means that my weeks are spent collecting as many relevant sources as possible and I constantly add to my annotated bibliography. In addition to this, I also meet with my course mentors every week in order to discuss and reaffirm our goals for the duration of the research.