Role Play Active learning strategy to improve retention and comprehension in the anatomy and physiology laboratory

Anatomy and Physiology is a large course that serves over 700 pre-health students in the Fall and over 600 students in the Spring. Students spend 3 hours in the lecture and 2 hours in the lab per week. The course is fast-paced, and there are few opportunities for reflection available to students on the material covered during the semester to get comprehensive knowledge about human body systems. To connect lecture and lab material more closely and to provide clinical relevance, we designed a clinical case study lab to use at the end of the semester that incorporates a role-play active learning strategy. These active learning assignments introduced reflections on the previous lab activities, improved retention, and comprehension of the material of the knowledge, enhancing opportunities for active student engagement. The presentations were 15 min long, and groups were assigned a case study related to one of the body systems. Each group member had a separate role, with one being a patient explaining symptoms, one being a nurse practitioner asking questions and performing different clinical tests, and one being a physician presenting diagnosis and treatment to the audience. This assignment accounted for 5% of their lab grade and replaced two in-class quiz assignments. Students are provided ahead of time with assignments and detailed rubrics on how to present their assignments. Teaching assistants provided feedback to students and in addition used the peer-to-peer feedback method. Surveys were collected during two semesters (Fall 2023, and Spring 2024) from over 880 students. When students evaluated their experience during the case study lab, on a scale 1-5, with 5 being the best, data showed that students highly graded this approach: with grades 4.07+/- 0.94 (mean+/SD; Fall 2023) and grades 3.87+/-1.0 (mean+/SD; Spring 2025). In addition, 608/882 students who submitted a survey thought that this new lab enhanced their understanding of the clinical relevance of the material covered in the lab course. We are currently collecting data from this semester, and analyzing impact of the lab on their final practical exam grades. In conclusion, we received positive feedback from students about using case study presentations to provide clinical relevance in the anatomy and physiology lab course. This pedagogical approach promoted students' participation in laboratory activities and enhanced their critical thinking. College of Liberal Arts and Science This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.