Nikola Vucinic; Sara Strbac; Nikolina Pupovac; Dragana Radosevic; Milica Prtina & R. Shane Tubbs

Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic immediately changed teaching anatomy from in-person to online. Our study aimed to compare the results of anatomy exams, examine the students' attitudes to these two different teaching models, and propose a more desirable model. In the retrospective part of the study, the anatomy exam results of 211 students studying in person in 2018/2019 (before the pandemic) and 214 students studying online in 2020/2021 (during the pandemic) were analyzed. The cross-section study comprises a comprehensive survey of the students' attitudes towards in-person - 136 students, and online teaching model - 118 of the respective academic years. 76.3 % of the students passed the anatomy exam after in-person teaching, compared to only 49.1 % after online teaching. The survey showed that within the in-person model, teachers were more available (χ2(2, N=254) = 39.705, p < .001), examinations were useful for knowledge assessment (χ2(2, N=254) = 7.307, p = .026), students were more satisfied with the exam (χ2(2, N=254) = 9.587, p = .008), more confident about their knowledge (χ2(2, N=254) = 23.464, p < .001), and overall appreciated the quality of this model more (χ2(2, N=254) = 50.263, p < .001) than the online group. About half of the students in the online group believed that remote studying prevented the spread of COVID-19. Attitudes expressed in open-ended questions were more positive about in-person than online teaching, where the absence of in-person practical exercises received the most significant criticism. The in-person model was shown to be undisputedly superior. However, teaching aids, such as voice-over PowerPoint presentations and video recordings of practical exercises, applied in online teaching should be incorporated into future teaching models. KEY WORDS: Anatomy; Undergraduate education; Assessment; Recommendation; Pedagogy.

How to cite this article

VUCINIC, N.; STRBAC, S.; PUPOVAC, N.; RADOSEVIC, D.; PRTINA, M. & TUBBS, R. S. Anatomy teaching models before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: Teaching models assessment. Int. J. Morphol., 43(2):410-421, 2025.