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An exploration of students’ perceptions regarding medical illustrations as a learning tool

Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013.

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Other Authors: Van Zyl, H. M.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2014
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Van Zyl, H. M.
author_browse Van Zyl, H. M.
author_facet Van Zyl, H. M.
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:42.457Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2014
publishDateRange 2014
publishDateSort 2014
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/37383 An exploration of students’ perceptions regarding medical illustrations as a learning tool Van Zyl, H. M. marinda.pretorius@up.ac.za Pretorius, Marinda Medical students Learning styles User-centred design Design characteristics Qualitative research Constructivism Grounded theory Media Drawing abilities Collaboration UCTD Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. Modern medical students are exposed to a variety of anatomical and physiology textbooks and atlases as part of their medical training. Although little has been written on how these students interact with medical illustrations during learning, several scholars allude to the importance of combining visual and textual information in the learning process. Medical illustrators have the ability to proficiently organise visual and textual elements in such a fashion to communicate a certain message. However, medical illustrators should be aware of students’ needs when designing visual material for learning purposes. The gap that this study aimed to address is one often experienced in South Africa, where illustrators know very little about the user, in this case medical students’ use of illustrations as a learning tool. The importance of this study derives from the development of user-centred knowledge to improve the quality of work produced by medical illustrators. The aim of the study was to explore how design elements and principles influence the use, comprehension and preference of medical illustrations as part of the learning experience. Two other aspects selected for this study are the relevance of labelling techniques in medical illustration as well as the quality of the reproduction of images, especially for learning purposes. This study was conducted through exploratory qualitative research in order to develop a deeper understanding of the way medical illustrations are used during learning. Constructivism was selected as the epistemological approach for this study as it focuses on new knowledge constructed by students from previous experiences. Data was collected by means of semi-structured in-depth interviews and open-ended questions. Six second year and six fifth year medical students of the School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria were purposively selected and interviewed. The discussion guide used for interviews consisted of 15 sets of medical illustrations with three or four images per set. Each illustration contained a different application of the same design characteristic, but similar in content or nature of information. The largest part of the interview was an adaptation of the repertory grid method to compare and analyse rich data. Data were transcribed verbatim and organised following the principles of grounded theory. Data sheets were listed, compared and analysed through the application of open and axial coding to determine the relationship between students’ learning styles, and the attributes of the design characteristics selected for this study. This study shows that design elements in medical illustrations influences second- and fifth-year medical students’ comprehension and learning of anatomy when illustrations are used as teaching material. Deeper understanding regarding their learning styles, drawing abilities and preference for drawing styles were gained. Furthermore, second- and fifth-year medical students’ preferences for media, labelling methods, as well as the quality of the reproduction of the illustrations for learning purposes were illustrated. This information is imperative when designing illustrations for learning and teaching purposes. This study accentuates the importance of collaboration with medical illustrators in South Africa and abroad, as well as with physicians and educators. gm2014 Visual Arts unrestricted 2014-04-01T12:17:21Z 2014-04-01T12:17:21Z 2013-09-05 2013 Mini Dissertation Pretorius, M 2013, An exploration of students’ perceptions regarding medical illustrations as a learning tool, MA dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/37383> F13/9/1085/gm http://hdl.handle.net/2263/37383 en © 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Medical students
Learning styles
User-centred design
Design characteristics
Qualitative research
Constructivism
Grounded theory
Media
Drawing abilities
Collaboration
UCTD
An exploration of students’ perceptions regarding medical illustrations as a learning tool
title An exploration of students’ perceptions regarding medical illustrations as a learning tool
title_full An exploration of students’ perceptions regarding medical illustrations as a learning tool
title_fullStr An exploration of students’ perceptions regarding medical illustrations as a learning tool
title_full_unstemmed An exploration of students’ perceptions regarding medical illustrations as a learning tool
title_short An exploration of students’ perceptions regarding medical illustrations as a learning tool
title_sort exploration of students perceptions regarding medical illustrations as a learning tool
topic Medical students
Learning styles
User-centred design
Design characteristics
Qualitative research
Constructivism
Grounded theory
Media
Drawing abilities
Collaboration
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/37383