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Effect of Self-Explanation Techniques on Students’ Understanding of Human Anatomy

Abstract

The study examines the effect of self-explanation techniques on students’ understanding of human anatomy, with emphasis on how encouraging students to explain anatomical concepts and relationships in their own words may improve comprehension and retention. Human anatomy involves the understanding of complex structures, spatial relationships, terminology, and functional associations that may be difficult to master through passive reading or memorization alone. Self-explanation provides an active learning approach that requires students to organize information, identify relationships, and clarify their understanding while studying anatomical concepts. The study will assess the effect of self-explanation techniques on students’ understanding of human anatomy. The specific objectives will include determining students’ level of anatomy understanding before exposure to self-explanation activities, assessing their understanding following the intervention, comparing the performance of students exposed to self-explanation with those receiving conventional learning activities, and identifying anatomical concepts that remain difficult for students to understand. The study will also assess students’ ability to explain structural relationships and apply anatomical knowledge to selected questions and practical situations. A quasi-experimental research design will be adopted for the study. An appropriate sample of undergraduate students studying human anatomy or related health science courses will be selected using an appropriate sampling technique and assigned to relevant study groups. Data will be collected using standardized anatomy knowledge tests, structured questions requiring anatomical explanations, and appropriate image-based or practical identification tasks administered before and after the intervention. The data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, while appropriate inferential tests will be applied to determine differences in students’ understanding between the study groups. The study is expected to reveal improved understanding of human anatomy among students exposed to self-explanation techniques. Students may demonstrate better comprehension of anatomical structures, spatial relationships, and functional associations because the technique requires them to actively organize and explain what they have learned. However, highly detailed structures, complex anatomical relationships, and topics involving multiple interconnected systems may remain challenging for some students. The findings will be useful to anatomists, anatomy educators, curriculum planners, and health science educators involved in undergraduate anatomy teaching. The study may provide evidence on the value of self-explanation as an active learning strategy for improving students’ understanding of complex anatomical concepts. It may also support the incorporation of guided self-explanation activities, explanatory questions, anatomical diagrams, peer discussion, and practical learning resources into anatomy teaching and revision. The study will conclude by determining the effect of self-explanation techniques on students’ understanding of human anatomy. It is recommended that self-explanation should be incorporated appropriately into anatomy learning alongside lectures, practical sessions, anatomical specimens, models, diagrams, and other active learning approaches. Further studies involving larger student populations and longer follow-up periods are recommended to determine the sustained effect of self-explanation on anatomical understanding, retention, and practical performance.

Keywords: Self-explanation, human anatomy, anatomy education, undergraduate students, anatomy learning, anatomical knowledge, active learning, knowledge understanding, anatomical structures, spatial relationships, anatomy comprehension, anatomical terminology, practical anatomy, learning strategies, medical education.