(438) Using hand drawings as a visual learning tool to encourage medical students' understanding of complex contents of innate and adaptive immune responses
Professor Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Disclosure(s):
Giovanna Degasperi, PhD: No financial relationships to disclose
Introduction/Rationale: Understanding how the innate and adaptive immune systems work to protect the body from infectious diseases, cancer, or autoimmune diseases is indeed challenging for medical students, especially in their first semester of Immunology. Most classes involve the professor delivering content through slides, such as PowerPoint. For some topics, clinical scenario-based questions are introduced at the start of class, asking students to consider what is happening at the cellular level. Despite this approach, many key concepts remain misunderstood. Therefore, new learning strategies are continuously being introduced to improve conceptual understanding in Immunology classes.
Methods: The learning practice developed aimed to evaluate whether drawing representations of immune cells in the context of innate and adaptative immune responses improves understanding of topics and engagement in the class.
Students who have already taken the class are responsible for preparing the hand drawings. Examples of hand drawings include cytotoxic T lymphocytes that can be represented by an angel that recognizes antigens presented by an antigen-presenting cell. These scientific drawings are made available to new students before the class takes place.
Results: We do not have a measure of the effectiveness of this practice, but we have had positive feedback from the students. Collectively, students have commented that they find it easier to understand and retain a wide variety of complex topics. In addition, they use these drawings as an initial scenario that can be altered as new information is acquired, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of the subject.
Conclusion: We have observed that students get the most out of this visual learning strategy in classes where it is applied. Ultimately, we believe that a similar approach can be useful for students in a situation of communication with patients to explain medical conditions, such as the mechanisms of the disease that the patient faces, and therapeutic strategies..
