159 - Visuospatial Ability Does Not Correlate with Academic Performance on a Written Spatial Task

Poster Board Number: 159
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Co-authors:

Kristina Marrelli - University of Guelph; Lorraine Jadeski - University of Guelph

Abstract Body : Visuospatial ability (VA) is a heavily researched metric in anatomy education and is used to effectively predict academic performance, particularly in spatial and relationship-based assessments. A validated tool to provide empirical and replicable evidence of one’s VA is the Mental Rotations Test (MRT). Past research at the University of Guelph Human Anatomy Laboratory has demonstrated that VA is highly correlated with academic performance in both online and in-person practical examinations. This finding is consistent throughout the field of anatomy, where practical examinations and drawing tasks have been proven to rely heavily on VA. However, regarding written assessment modalities, no correlation between VA and performance has been detected thus far.

This preliminary study aimed to elucidate if VA was correlated with academic performance on a written anatomy assessment. We hypothesized that students with high VA would achieve high academic performance on a written anatomy assessment and specifically, on a written spatial and relationship-based task.

A total of 342 non-medical undergraduate students were enrolled in the third-year Human Anatomy: Dissection course. Two hundred and one students voluntarily completed Vandenberg & Kuses’s MRT in the Fall 2022 semester. Students then wrote an in-person written anatomy assessment worth 12.5% of their overall grade that consisted of a drawing and a written spatial and relationship-based task. Demographic and study habit questionnaires were voluntarily completed in the Winter 2023 semester. Of 201 students, 186 met all the requirements and were included in the study.

Linear regression and multiple linear regression were run using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 29.0. When controlling for covariates, the results of the regression indicated that the MRT score explained 9.5% of the variation in total score on a written assessment [F(6, 178) = 3.123, p = 0.006]. Contrarily, there was no significant effect of the MRT score on the performance of the written spatial and relationship-based task [F(11, 173) = 1.107, p = 0.358]. As such, other factors may be in play such as reading comprehension and communication skills.

Future research should investigate the impacts of case-based learning to increase student engagement and encourage student reading comprehension and communication skills. Additionally, a more detailed investigation into the role of laboratory and lecture attendance, particularly concerning student engagement, on academic performance is necessary. In light of these results, educators can feel assured about integrating multi-modal assessment strategies, including written assessments, into undergraduate Human Anatomy courses.