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.
