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. 2022 Jan;35(1):129-134.
doi: 10.1002/ca.23806. Epub 2021 Nov 10.

Teaching histology and anatomy online during the COVID-19 pandemic

Daniele Saverino  1   2 , Emanuela Marcenaro  3 , Daniela Zarcone  1
Affiliations

Teaching histology and anatomy online during the COVID-19 pandemic

Daniele Saverino et al. Clin Anat. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze differences in participation, and in the results obtained in the anatomy and histology exams, over two academic years of the Sport Sciences degree course. During the first semester of the academic year 2019/2020 both the lectures and the exam took place face-to-face, while during the academic year 2020/2021 everything was done online. Statistical analysis revealed that the online modality was especially advantageous for the anatomy exam. Students' opinions were also assessed through a short questionnaire. The results showed that teachers involved themselves in both groups. Students needed to interact socially with teachers and colleagues and to ask them questions. Even if the differences were not significant, the difference was greater for face-to-face students in most comparisons. Finally, the most common methods of peer communication were by social media.

Keywords: education; histology; human anatomy; sport science students.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Outline of the organization of the course of anatomy and histology. Lessons in Histology and Human Anatomy (Locomotor Apparatus and Splancnology) are held during the first semester of the first year. During the second semester of the first year, there are lessons in Neuroanatomy. Students can take the first part of the exam in the winter session (January, February), while the Neuroanatomy part is examined in the summer session (June, July). The final grade is based on the weighted average for the entire course of studies
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The online group obtained a better final histology score (p = 0.0063)
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The online group obtained a better final anatomy score (p < 0.0001)
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Analysis of the final histology and anatomy scores (average of the two independent scores) shows that the online group obtained a better final score (p = 0.0024)
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Frequency of student–student communication methods reported as mean ± SD
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