Equity Gaps in First-Year Anatomy and Physiology at an Australian University: A Bayesian Multilevel Analysis of Laboratory Attendance and Digital Engagement

Students from international, first-in-family and non-English-speaking backgrounds often achieve lower grades at university, yet whether common learning behaviours narrow or widen these equity gaps is unclear. This retrospective study examined institutional and learning management system (LMS) data from 2,157 enrolments across six offerings of three first-year Anatomy and Physiology units, which have high failure rates, at an Australian university. Bayesian multilevel regression models examined associations between final unit score and laboratory attendance, LMS page views and adjusted Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), and whether gaps associated with international enrolment, first-in-family status and home language varied with these behaviours. International and first-in-family students scored 6.9 (90% credible interval 5.6–8.3) and 2.0 (0.8–3.2) percentage points lower than their peers after accounting for engagement and prior attainment. Adjusted ATAR was the strongest predictor, with a 5-point increase associated with a 2.6 (2.4–2.9) percentage-point higher score, while a 10-percentage-point increase in attendance and 1,000 more page views were associated with 1.1 (0.9–1.3) and 1.0 (0.8–1.2) percentage-point higher scores, respectively. However, these two behaviours were associated with equity gaps in opposite directions. The international–domestic gap decreased from 9.9 (7.1–12.8) at 1,000 page views to 5.5 (3.5–7.6) percentage points at 5,000, but increased from 2.1 (−0.6 to 4.8) at 50% attendance to 8.9 (7.0–10.9) percentage points at full attendance. For institutions, these findings suggest that accessible online materials may help narrow equity gaps, whereas face-to-face teaching may need adapting so that all student groups benefit equally.