Effect of Supplemental Online Resources on Undergraduate Animal Science Laboratory Instruction

supplemental online resources (SOR). The use of SOR may enhance the learning opportunities for topics that may not be taught or expressed as well with traditional methods (Schittek et al., 2001). Supplemental Online Resources may also enhance student learning by allowing students to learn at their own pace, as well as permit interactions between the student and content or learning material (Schittek et al., 2001). Mahmud et al. (2011) conducted a quasiexperimental study showing dissection videos to firstyear undergraduate medical students and analyzed their test score performances. It was concluded that while the videos did not significantly improve the students’ final examination scores, the majority of the students preferred regular use of the videos to assist with studying and review. Those results were also true for first-year students who used instructional anatomy videos as a supplement to their gross anatomy course (Saxena et al., 2008). Students found that the videos were a useful preparatory tool that had the capability to enhance student anatomy performance if used (Saxena et al., 2008) In evaluating the use of SORs in the form of practice quizzes within the Animal Science discipline, Grizzle et al. (2008) examined whether or not exam grades were influenced by the number of times a practice quiz file was accessed and used in preparation for taking an examination in an undergraduate reproductive physiology course. While the use of the practice quiz files did not influence exam grades, the authors concluded that the use of online resources offered students a means of review after the lecture and traditional dissection laboratories were completed (Grizzle et al., 2008). The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of SOR on student learning in an undergraduate domestic animal anatomy laboratory. The hypothesis was that student learning would be enhanced when using the available SOR material compared to learning without the availability of SOR. Abstract The objective of this study was to determine if supplemental online resource (SOR) availability in a distance education (DistEd) format could enhance student learning. Students (n=137) in an undergraduate animal science laboratory course completed an anatomy pretest and pre-survey to assess their experience with, and attitudes towards, SOR. Supplemental Online Resource modules were made available for randomly selected laboratories. Two laboratory practical exams were administered and included questions from labs for which SOR was made available as well as labs that had no SOR. Questions from the pre-test were included in the exams and used to generate “posttest” scores. Student learning and performance was evaluated using a hierarchical design that included test scores, SOR availability and their interactions. Results are presented as mean±SEM. Posttest scores (87±2%) were higher (P<0.0001) than pretest scores (34±2%), indicative of student learning. On Laboratory Practical 1, students scored higher (P=0.0012) on questions from laboratories with SOR compared with laboratories without SOR (80±1% and 75±1%, resp.). In contrast, on Laboratory Practical 2, there was no effect of SOR supplementation on student scores (83±1% and 83±1%, for SOR and no SOR, resp.). A majority of students (93/137, 68%) surveyed indicated that SOR was at least somewhat useful for improving their grade.