'If you build it, they will come?': The nature of student engagement with online anatomy resources

Purpose: One of the major pedagogical benefits of providing online resources is the ubiquity of learning opportunities. This discussion paper collates research into the online study habits of medical students at the University of Tasmania and their engagement with in-house produced online histology and gross anatomy resources.

Method: Medical students were surveyed about their mobile device usage. Usage of online histology resources for year 1, and gross anatomy resources for years 1-3, MBBS students was collected from the learning management system and analysed for correlation between engagement and student performance. Students were also surveyed on their satisfaction with these resources.

Results: Mobile devices are virtually ubiquitous with 97% of students owning at least one device. Fewer than half of the students accessed online resources prior to, or shortly after, the corresponding lab session. The numbers of students accessing online quizzes peaked just prior to major assessment tasks, while about 20% of students never accessed a particular resource. Weak positive correlations were found between the number of dissection resources viewed and scores on cadaver exam questions (r=0.155 and r=0.226 in years 2 and 3, respectively) and with histology results and access to virtual microscopy resources (r=0.183 in year 1). The vast majority of students replying to surveys rated the in-house online resources highly.

Conclusion: There is a wide range of usage of online resources, and many students may not be meaningfully engaging with the content. Factors relating to student engagement with online resources will be discussed.