Fritz, Kaylyn Anastacia2026-01-062026-01-062025https://hdl.handle.net/10566/21605Background: Human anatomy forms the basis of all undergraduate medical and health science degrees; however, the content-heavy nature of the discipline is often a challenge. Therefore, it is imperative that higher education institutions understand how students prefer to assimilate new information and adapt content delivery approaches to their unique experiences and needs in order to support academic success. Hence, in an effort to enhance the teaching and learning process, this research study aimed to investigate how student engagement, learning strategies, and challenges influenced the anatomy learning experience of first-year students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). The Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) Science theoretical framework was used to inform the study aims and objectives. Study design: Using a concurrent mixed-methods approach by means of an online Google Form questionnaire, qualitative and quantitative data were simultaneously collected and then analysed to draw comprehensive conclusions. The study examined independent variables including age, home language (HL), method of payment (MOP) for tuition fees, and degree programme in relation to the dependent variables including student engagement (access, use and preference) with pedagogical approaches, perceived effectiveness of pedagogical approaches, perceived benefits of pedagogical approaches, learning strategies, and perceived influences that affect the anatomy learning experience. Data was obtained from 126 participants (during 2022 - 2023) who were randomly assigned to the pilot study group (n = 20) and main study group (n = 106). All procedures were approved by the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee (HS21/10/38) at UWC. Main study results: Participants predominantly accessed and used the face-to-face theory lecture teaching method and the teaching slides (ppt/pdf) resources. They also preferred face-to-face teaching methods (theory lectures, 29.2%; practicals, 16.0%), and also found it to be more effective learning measures (theory lectures, 91.5%; practicals, 98.1%) than the alternative live online methods. In terms of teaching resources, the majority of participants preferred teaching slides (ppt/pdf) (10.4%) and found it to be an effective learning measure (92.5%). When studying anatomy, participants commonly made use of teaching slides (92.5%), narrated pre-recorded lectures (69.8%), and textbooks or e-textbooks (55.7%). Learning strategies such as spaced practice (27.4%, 3.70 ± 1.91) and elaboration (19.8%, 4.13 ± 1.40) were strongly preferred among participants.enAnatomy educationStudent engagementPedagogical approachesLearning strategiesMBE ScienceThesis