School of Medical Sciences (Education Innovation), Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
School of Education and Social Work, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Anat Sci Educ. 2023 Mar;16(2):252-265. doi: 10.1002/ase.2230. Epub 2022 Nov 3.
Visuospatial skills are considered important attributes when learning anatomy and there is evidence suggesting that this ability can be improved with training techniques including drawing. The Mental Rotations Test (MRT) has been routinely used to assess visuospatial ability. This study aimed to introduce students to drawing as a learning strategy for anatomy. Undergraduate speech science anatomy students took part in a drawing tutorial (n = 92), completed an MRT test, pre- and post-tutorial tests, and surveys regarding their use and attitudes toward drawing as a study tool. The impact on their examination performance was then assessed. Regardless of MRT score or attitude to drawing, students who participated in the drawing tutorial demonstrated immediate improvement in post-tutorial test scores. Students in the drawing group performed better in most anatomy components of the examination, but the result did not reach statistical significance. There was only a positive correlation between MRT score and one type of anatomy question (non-image-based) and speech physics questions (r = 0.315, p = 0.002). The unexpected finding may relate to the MRT which assesses spatial rather than object visualization skills. Students who liked drawing also performed significantly better in word-based and speech physics questions. It is likely that the style of identification question did not require the mental manipulation ability assessed in the MRT. This study demonstrated that students with lower MRT scores are not outperformed in all aspects of anatomy assessment. The study highlights the importance of a more nuanced understanding of visuospatial skills required in anatomy.
空间视觉技能被认为是学习解剖学的重要属性，有证据表明，这种能力可以通过包括绘图在内的训练技巧来提高。心理旋转测试（MRT）已被常规用于评估空间视觉能力。本研究旨在向学生介绍绘图作为学习解剖学的一种策略。本科言语科学解剖学学生参加了绘图教程（n=92），完成了 MRT 测试、课前和课后测试以及关于他们将绘图作为学习工具的使用和态度的调查。然后评估其对考试成绩的影响。无论 MRT 得分或对绘图的态度如何，参加绘图教程的学生在课后测试中的得分都有了明显提高。绘图组的学生在考试的大多数解剖部分表现更好，但结果没有达到统计学意义。只有 MRT 得分与一种解剖问题（非图像基础）和言语物理问题之间存在正相关（r=0.315，p=0.002）。这一意外发现可能与 MRT 有关，MRT 评估的是空间而不是对象可视化技能。喜欢绘图的学生在基于单词和言语物理问题上的表现也明显更好。很可能识别问题的风格不需要 MRT 评估的心理操作能力。本研究表明，MRT 得分较低的学生在解剖学评估的所有方面都不会表现不佳。该研究强调了对解剖学所需空间视觉技能有更细致理解的重要性。
