McNulty Margaret A, Lazarus Michelle D
Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Senior Lecturer, Center for Human Anatomy Education, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
J Vet Med Educ. 2018 Fall;45(3):330-342. doi: 10.3138/jvme.0317-039r. Epub 2018 Jan 18.
Little to no correlation has been identified between previous related undergraduate coursework or outcomes on standardized tests and performance in a veterinary curriculum, including anatomy coursework. Therefore, a relatively simplistic method to predict student performance before entrance would be advantageous to many. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether there is a correlation between performance in a veterinary anatomy pre-course and subsequent performance within a professional anatomy curriculum. Incoming first-year veterinary students at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine were asked to participate in a free weeklong pre-course, before the start of the semester. The pre-course covered the musculoskeletal anatomy of the canine thoracic limb using dissection-based methods. Student performance, as evaluated by test grades in the pre-course, did indeed correlate with test grades in professional veterinary anatomy courses. A significant and positive correlation was identified between pre-course final exam performance and performance on examinations in each of 3 professional anatomy courses. Qualitative analyses of student comments pertaining to their experience within the pre-course indicated differences in the perceived benefits of the pre-course between high-, middle-, and low-performing students. These varied perceptions may provide predictive feedback as well as guidance for supporting lower performing students. Together, these results indicate that performance in a weeklong pre-course covering only a small portion of canine anatomy is a strong predictor of performance within a professional anatomy curriculum. In addition, the pre-course differentially affected student perceptions of their learning experience.
以往相关的本科课程作业或标准化考试成绩与兽医课程（包括解剖学课程）的表现之间几乎没有发现相关性。因此，一种相对简单的入学前预测学生表现的方法对许多人来说将是有利的。本研究的目的是评估兽医解剖学前课程的表现与专业解剖学课程后续表现之间是否存在相关性。路易斯安那州立大学兽医学院即将入学的一年级兽医学生被要求在学期开始前参加为期一周的免费预科课程。该预科课程采用基于解剖的方法讲授犬胸肢的肌肉骨骼解剖学。通过预科课程考试成绩评估的学生表现确实与专业兽医解剖学课程的考试成绩相关。预科课程期末考试成绩与三门专业解剖学课程各自考试成绩之间存在显著正相关。对学生关于他们在预科课程中的经历的评论进行的定性分析表明，高、中、低成绩学生对预科课程感知到的益处存在差异。这些不同的看法可能会提供预测性反馈以及支持成绩较差学生的指导。总之，这些结果表明，仅涵盖犬类解剖学一小部分的为期一周的预科课程的表现是专业解剖学课程表现的有力预测指标。此外，预科课程对学生对其学习经历的看法有不同影响。
