Digital report in an anatomy laboratory: a new method for team-based dissection, reporting, and evaluation

Abstract

Purpose

Digital report (DR), a new method for students’ dissection report, has been introduced to replace the traditional method in the anatomy laboratory.

Methods

Laboratory tasks were assigned to groups of five students, and each group was asked to make a DR of their dissection tasks and upload it on the website for the anatomy course developed by the authors’ institution. For creating the DR, students were instructed to take photographs of their findings with digital cameras, to mark the orientation and label the structures on the photograph. Students were assessed as a group by evaluating the DR. All the photographs of the DR were saved to construct a database that can be used by the students who will take the anatomy course in the following years. A questionnaire consisting of 14 questions was administered at the end of the anatomy course to evaluate the effectiveness of the DR.

Results

The results of the student survey showed that the DR was useful for making the students participate more actively in the teamwork for dissection, and for making dissection reports by referring to the DR made by the students from previous years. The DR was also more helpful for the anatomy teacher to assess student learning in the anatomy laboratory than conventional practical examinations and paper-based dissection reports.

Conclusions

DR, a paperless report of team-based dissection, is concurrent with the ‘digital’ age and is in line with the need for a more systematic and objective evaluation of students’ dissection.