Transforming musculoskeletal anatomy learning with haptic surface painting

Abstract

Anatomical body painting has traditionally been utilized to support learner engagement and understanding of surface anatomy. Learners apply two-dimensional representations of surface markings directly on to the skin, based on the identification of key landmarks. Esthetically satisfying representations of musculature and viscera can also be created. However, established body painting approaches do not typically address three-dimensional spatial anatomical concepts. Haptic Surface Painting (HSP) is a novel activity, distinct from traditional body painting, and aims to develop learner spatial awareness. The HSP process is underpinned by previous work describing how a Haptico-visual observation and drawing method can support spatial, holistic, and collaborative anatomy learning. In HSP, superficial and underlying musculoskeletal and vascular structures are located haptically by palpation. Transparent colors are then immediately applied to the skin using purposive and cross-contour drawing techniques to produce corresponding visual representations of learner observation and cognition. Undergraduate students at a United Kingdom medical school (n = 7) participated in remote HSP workshops and focus groups. A phenomenological study of learner perspectives identified four themes from semantic qualitative analysis of transcripts: Three-dimensional haptico-visual exploration relating to learner spatial awareness of their own anatomy; cognitive freedom and accessibility provided by a flexible and empowering learning process; altered perspectives of anatomical detail, relationships, and clinical relevance; and delivery and context, relating to curricular integration, session format, and educator guidance. This work expands the pedagogic repertoire of anatomical body painting and has implications for anatomy educators seeking to integrate innovative, engaging, and effective learning approaches for transforming student learning.

Body painting, ultrasound, clinical examination, and peer‐teaching: A student‐centered approach to enhance musculoskeletal anatomy learning

“…Body painting has emerged over the past decades as a valuable tool to teach students surface anatomy in practical hands‐on courses (Op Den Akker et al, 2002; Bennett, 2014; Finn, 2018), which may be further enhanced as augmented reality (Barmaki et al, 2019) or haptic body painting (Shapiro et al, 2023). In our course concept, which Shapiro and co‐workers (2023) may designate as “haptic surface painting,” activities may enhance learners' spatial awareness, defined as a cognitive ability constructed from the experience of studying three‐dimensional objects and concepts.…”

“…Secondly, to explore how medical students describe the influence of these activities on their applied learning of anatomy, and thirdly, how they would appreciate the integration of these activities in the anatomy curriculum. These goals were addressed from an interpretivist epistemological approach, using a broadly phenomenological methodology, where learners' perspective of different tasks was the activity under investigation as described recently for body painting (Shapiro et al, 2023). We hypothesized that medical students would perceive that team and individual activities influenced their application of anatomy knowledge.…”

“…Body painting has emerged over the past decades as a valuable tool to teach surface anatomy from an innovative approach in anatomy textbooks (e.g., Lippert et al, 1990) to practical hands‐on courses for students (Op Den Akker et al, 2002; Bennett, 2014; Finn, 2018; McMenamin, 2022; Shapiro et al, 2023). Benefits included promoting knowledge retention and recall, particularly learning for clinical practice by not only combining the use of color and kinesthetic learning with anatomical theory but also diffusing the formal curricula as cost‐efficient adjunct to multimodal anatomy.…”

Using represented bodies in Renaissance artworks to teach musculoskeletal and surface anatomy

“…Art‐based pedagogies, such as body painting (Op Den Akker et al, 2002; McMenamin, 2008; Nanjundaiah, 2012; Aka et al, 2018; Shapiro et al, 2023), drawing (Kotzé et al, 2012; Backhouse et al, 2017; Shapiro et al, 2020), and clay modeling (Bareither et al, 2013; Kooloos et al, 2014) use artistic methods to enhance learning. A common finding in many studies using art‐based pedagogies is increased student engagement in the learning activities, assessed as increased enjoyment, interest, motivation or time on task (McMenamin, 2008; Finn & McLachlan, 2009; Nayak & Kodimajalu, 2010; Naug et al, 2011; Diaz & Woolley, 2015; Anderton et al, 2016; Jariyapong et al, 2016; Nicholson et al, 2016; Barmaki et al, 2019).…”

“…Further, manipulating an artistic medium may even divide attention between the manual task and the actual learning task (Kooloos et al, 2014). Finally, many studies using arts‐based activities report results based on a single workshop or a small number of learning experiences, or on a limited number of musculoskeletal structures (Op Den Akker et al, 2002; McMenamin, 2008; Naug et al, 2011; Kooloos et al, 2014; Jariyapong et al, 2016; Nicholson et al, 2016; Backhouse et al, 2017; George et al, 2019; Shapiro et al, 2023), so the impact of sustained use of the pedagogical approach throughout a course, particularly with regards to the whole body, is rare (Bareither et al, 2013).…”