Mastering the complexity of the nervous system is essential for education programs in physiology, anatomy, and neuroscience. Students often struggle when learning somatosensory pathways, which convey information from sensory neurons to the somatosensory cortex in the brain. Active learning activities incorporating physical models have been shown…

Mnemonic devices are memory aids that make it easier to recall information and are widely used by students studying anatomy and physiology. Simple musical instruments and toys can serve as mnemonic devices for students learning the functional anatomy of the larynx: balloons can help learners understand and recall how sound is produced; tuning pegs…

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) large language models have become sufficiently accessible and user-friendly to assist students with course work, studying tactics, and written communication. AI-generated writing is almost indistinguishable from human-derived work. Instructors must rely on intuition/experience and, recently, assistance from…

This article describes the implementation of alternative grading (AG) strategies in an upper-division kinesiology and functional human anatomy course. Traditional point-based grading systems can negatively impact student mental health, decrease intrinsic motivation, and hinder learning. To address these issues, a proficiency-based grading approach…

Heartwheels! STEM Mobile Outreach is a scientist-led collaborative, innovative, and reproducible experiential educational program and mobile lab developed to engage people young and old in the cardiovascular sciences, improve health literacy and awareness of heart-healthy living, and spark curiosity in the science, technology, engineering, and…

Many publications describe use of ultrasound imaging in teaching of clinical courses, primarily integrated with clinical applications. More recently there have been increasing numbers of papers describing ultrasound as a tool primarily for teaching basic anatomy and physiology concepts rather than clinical applications. Of these, many have…

Human anatomy education serves as a gateway for entering the intricacies of health science. Human cadavers have been the gold standard for learning regional and gross anatomy. However, increasing barriers in acquisition, maintenance, and longevity have pushed anatomy education toward technology-based alternatives such as the Anatomage Table (AT),…

Medical schools were incorporating active learning strategies in anatomy teaching to accommodate diverse student bodies. Formative assessment and art as a hands-on learning method had been explored as alternatives to traditional teaching methods. Those methods allowed students to practice and assess their understanding of anatomy as they progress.…

Gamification is a dynamic tool for educational transformation useful to encourage student interest and enhance learning. Here we present a study conducted to investigate the effectiveness of an educational card game developed by us in veterinary anatomy practicals to reinforce knowledge acquisition in veterinary students. A total of four sets of…

The field of anatomy is often seen by nonanatomists as concerned primarily with the tasks of locating, naming, and describing structures; these tasks, in turn, are often assumed to require only lower-order cognitive skills (LOCSs), i.e., the Knowledge or Comprehension levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Many nonanatomists may thus believe that studying…

Introductory anatomy and physiology courses are either taught as discipline-specific courses (human anatomy and human physiology) or integrated sequences [combined human anatomy and physiology (A&P I and A&P II)]. This variation suggests there is no agreed upon pedagogical standard for teaching introductory anatomy and physiology. We…

Anatomy and physiology courses are sometimes seen as difficult, which can lead to a lack of motivation in students to learn and engage in the course material. Students may also see the material as "dry," have issues forming personal connections, or struggle to connect the content to the real world. These issues may lead to students not…

The revised two-factor Study Process Questionnaire and the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students are two instruments commonly used to measure student learning approach. Although they are designed to measure similar constructs, it is unclear whether the metrics they provide differ in terms of their real-world classification of learning…

Undergraduate programs related to allied health are often pursued by students to prepare for entrance into professional programs, but many students also ask about what types of employment options they may have upon completion of the bachelor's degree. This experiential learning course in cardiovascular and sleep technology was designed to provide…

There is a widely variable breadth of coverage of skeletal muscle content across both undergraduate human anatomy and undergraduate anatomy and physiology (A&P) courses. In response to the need for a more global understanding of the content taught in undergraduate anatomy courses, we developed an online survey (administered through Qualtrics)…