Joseph Crafton

• MBBS
• Designing and developing robust digital resources and assessment tools to enhance and test the short- and long-term retention of complex anatomical knowledge across the healthcare sciences.

Human anatomy, a subject taught across many healthcare professions, is a vast and challenging topic. Studies have shown that assessment drives learning for students, and good assessments should reflect learning environments and accurately measure how much knowledge students retain. At Newcastle University, anatomy education has changed alongside technological advances, but assessment methods have remained largely untouched. Dental students, for example, are regularly tested on their anatomical knowledge using ‘spotter’ exams that require them to identify structures on cadavers. This process is often unreliable, resource inefficient, and time-consuming. The aim of this project is to (1) investigate current assessment methods in anatomy education, focusing on technology enhanced learning (TEL), (2) use the findings to guide the development of a digital assessment tool for the anatomy department of Newcastle University, and (3) design a study to holistically evaluate its use as a new way of examining anatomical knowledge.

Funding source: Newcastle University

Project supervisor: Dr Joanna Matthan