Exploring 3D anatomy: A free online course supporting novice learner inquiry and spatial conceptualization

Application of three-dimensional anatomical knowledge is essential for patient examination, diagnosis, and treatment and is crucial in the training of medical and healthcare students. Moreover, critical observation and spatial awareness are vital for learner understanding of three-dimensional anatomical structures and relationships. However, there are logistical barriers to curricular integration of teaching that explicitly targets these skills. Exploring 3D Anatomy is an open online course, collaboratively produced at two universities in the United Kingdom and South Africa, and available free of charge to institutional and non-institutional users via Canvas (Instructure Europe, London, UK). The course is designed to develop three-dimensional spatial awareness remotely, using accessible household objects and art-based learning. Exploring 3D Anatomy is underpinned by pedagogical principles including multimodal, experiential, and social learning; critical observation and visualization; and evidence-informed art-based learning approaches including Haptico-visual observation and drawing and Observe-reflect-draw-edit-repeat. A phenomenological study was implemented to investigate learner perceptions of the pedagogical, social, and practical elements of Exploring 3D Anatomy. Undergraduate medical students (n = 8) at a United Kingdom medical school participated in two focus groups. Combined themes were constructed using double-coding and interpretative phenomenological analysis. A nested set of four themes was produced, each comprising a dichotomy or spectrum of views between opposing sub-themes: Inquiry (Strategic-Exploratory); Dialogue (Knowledge-Understanding); Cognition (Compartmental-Conceptual); Experience (Novice-Advanced). This work provides insights and implications for educators seeking to provide training in important but neglected skills beyond the boundaries of formal curricula, through implementation of flexible, accessible, and remote learning and training strategies in anatomical education.