Perceived Efficacy Of An Interactive Quizzing Tool For Learning Histology And Pathology Of George Washington University School By Medicine And Health Sciences (GWU‐SMHS) Medical Students
Authors: Jurjus Rosalyn A. , Munday Adam R. , Latham Patricia R. 
Published: April 2020

A move toward blended teaching in medical school curricula often results in decreased in‐class time for disciplines such as Histology and Pathology, as it has at GWU‐SMHS. This study proposes to balance loss of in‐class time with a self‐study quizzing tool to increase medical student learning and comprehension of these disciplines, which are foundational in preclinical organ system studies. Since many studies have shown that quizzing increases learning, we developed an online, interactive, quizzing tool that allows students to test their ability to recognize visual features and to recall information. This study reports on the perceptions of medical students concerning the effectiveness of this tool as measured by survey.

Images for the quizzing tool were derived from the MicroAnatomy and Pathology Atlas (MAPA) currently used by students for studies of histology and pathology (
http://microanatomyatlas.com). The on‐line quizzing tool was designed to display representative images without annotations or descriptions until activated by the student, allowing students to quiz themselves on the findings. The quizzing tool was provided to students in the class of 2022 near the beginning of each system block and used by them at their discretion. Students were invited to complete a survey asking if and how they used the quiz tool, and feedback about what they liked and did not like about the tool. A Likert scale (1–5) was used to rate the usefulness of the tool for their learning. The survey was given upon completion of the pulmonary organ block and again on completion of their first year.

The quiz tool survey was first completed by 29.8% of students (56/188) after the pulmonary organ system block in 2019. The quizzing tool was rated by 60.7% of students at 5 (most useful) on the Likert scale, 30.4% rated it at 4, 7.1% at 3, 1.8% at 2, and 0% at 1. In answering the question ‘Did using the quizzes make you more comfortable about answering histology questions on your exam?’, 96.4% of respondents answered yes (54/56). After one year, the survey was repeated with a 17% student response rate (32/188), at this time 62.1% of the respondents rated the tool’s usefulness at 5, 34.5% rated it at 4, and 3.4% rated it at 3. In answering ‘Did using the quizzes make you more comfortable about answering histology questions on your exam?’ 92.9% responded yes (26/28).

These results indicate that the majority of students who completed the survey perceived that the quizzing tool had a positive impact on learning. The findings suggest that quizzing can enhance learning in histology and histopathology, as it has been shown to do in other fields of learning. Future studies will use the quizzing tool to investigate not only perceived learning by students, but also the impact of using the tool on exam performance.

Support or Funding Information

Thank you to AEIUCM for the histopathology atlas platform creation and continued maintenance at
https://www.aeiucm.com/aeiucm/en/.