Evaluating the bones of adaptive learning: Do the initial promises really increase student engagement and flexible learning within first year anatomy subjects?

Abstract

[EN] Knowledge of human anatomy is essential in first-year undergraduate allied health courses. Traditionally this discipline has used time and resource intensive laboratory classes, however recent changes in resourcing and student learning preferences have led to a combination of pedagogical approaches being used. The aim of this study was to examine whether the use of Smart Sparrow adaptive and interactive online resources provided real flexibility in learning and influenced both student engagement and motivation to learn for allied health students studying first year anatomy. Twenty adaptive online anatomy lessons were created. These adaptive lessons were evaluated with (i) a student survey amd (ii) inbuilt learning analytics (n = 157). Our results showed that a total of 96% of students agreed or strongly agreed that the resources enhanced overall engagement in the subject and 96% found the resource easy to access. Overall our findings revealed that students overwhelmingly engaged with the lessons, and self-reported improvements in their learning through repeated use of flexible and adaptive learning resources.