Investigating the effect of an innovative educational tool of the hand on learning the anatomy: brief report

Background: Understanding hand structures is necessary to diagnose its diseases and injuries. Several methods have been used to teach the anatomy of this body part. In this article, we introduce a new educational tool and examine the impact of its use in learning anatomy. Methods: Color images of different layers of hand structures were connected with a spring. On each page, the desired structure was cut and that part could be turned from another direction so that the tool was beyond a booklet and could create a three-dimensional image of the region. In this way, a multi-layered structure was made that looking at each part of it and going to the next part was equivalent to removing a layer from the palm of the hand and observing the layer beneath. After making the educational tool, 280 students who participated in the study were divided into two groups: control (A) and experimental (B). Both groups participated in a pre-test. After teaching the theory of hand anatomy for both groups, the control group received practical training using the traditional method and the experimental group using the proposed educational tool, and both groups participated in a post-test and the scores of the pre and post-test groups were compared. Data were analyzed using SPSS 24 statistical software using Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests. Results: The pre-test scores of groups A and B were 3.48±1.197 and 3.49±1.481, respectively. The post-test scores of groups A and B were 6.97±1.504 and 10.54±1.303, respectively. Therefore, although the pre-test scores of groups A and B were not much different (P>0.05), the post-test scores of the two groups showed a significant difference (P<0.001). Students also expressed that using this educational tool has made learning hand anatomy more interesting for them. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the proposed educational tool is effective in the field of hand anatomy education.