Higher education in the 21st century contends with a greater variety of conditions than ever before. Classes can operate in a full-time, part-time, hybrid, seated, or online format. This diversity in modality can lead to inconsistent curricula with inconsistent rigor. Instructors are challenged with designing a curriculum they believe to be rigorous but at the same time engaging to their students. This research focused on the evaluation of the higher education software program Mastering Anatomy & Physiology (MAP) from Pearson Education. The research included an analysis of student scores who had repeated an identical introductory anatomy course in a strictly online format. Quantitative data for this research included student performance on identical assessments over a period of two and a half calendar years, or eight academic grading periods. The research also included data collected from a focus group which consisted of anatomy instructors who have used the software as a critical part of their course instruction. The results of this research were inconclusive. Some data suggested that MAP is an effective tool in online instruction of anatomy curricula while other data suggested it had little/no effect. Additional studies of the software including larger sample sizes are recommended.
","abstract_html":"<p>Higher education in the 21st century contends with a greater variety of conditions than ever before. Classes can operate in a full-time, part-time, hybrid, seated, or online format. This diversity in modality can lead to inconsistent curricula with inconsistent rigor. Instructors are challenged with designing a curriculum they believe to be rigorous but at the same time engaging to their students. This research focused on the evaluation of the higher education software program <em>Mastering Anatomy & Physiology</em> (MAP) from Pearson Education. The research included an analysis of student scores who had repeated an identical introductory anatomy course in a strictly online format. Quantitative data for this research included student performance on identical assessments over a period of two and a half calendar years, or eight academic grading periods. The research also included data collected from a focus group which consisted of anatomy instructors who have used the software as a critical part of their course instruction. The results of this research were inconclusive. Some data suggested that MAP is an effective tool in online instruction of anatomy curricula while other data suggested it had little/no effect. Additional studies of the software including larger sample sizes are recommended.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Moir, Jason L."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education (EdD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Michelle Collay","Jacqueline Lookabaugh","Shannon Landrum"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:21:27Z","subjects":["Educational Methods","Higher Education","Online and Distance Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dune.une.edu/theses/282","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Michelle Collay","Jacqueline Lookabaugh","Shannon Landrum"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Moir, Jason L."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-04-24T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Educational Methods","Higher Education","Online and Distance Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dune.une.edu/theses/282"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Higher education in the 21st century contends with a greater variety of conditions than ever before. Classes can operate in a full-time, part-time, hybrid, seated, or online format. This diversity in modality can lead to inconsistent curricula with inconsistent rigor. Instructors are challenged with designing a curriculum they believe to be rigorous but at the same time engaging to their students. This research focused on the evaluation of the higher education software program Mastering Anatomy & Physiology (MAP) from Pearson Education. The research included an analysis of student scores who had repeated an identical introductory anatomy course in a strictly online format. Quantitative data for this research included student performance on identical assessments over a period of two and a half calendar years, or eight academic grading periods. The research also included data collected from a focus group which consisted of anatomy instructors who have used the software as a critical part of their course instruction. The results of this research were inconclusive. Some data suggested that MAP is an effective tool in online instruction of anatomy curricula while other data suggested it had little/no effect. Additional studies of the software including larger sample sizes are recommended.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of The Higher Education Anatomy Educational Software Mastering Anatomy & Physiology"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Michelle Collay","Jacqueline Lookabaugh","Shannon Landrum"],"dc:creator":["Moir, Jason L."],"dc:date.available":["2020-04-24T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Higher education in the 21st century contends with a greater variety of conditions than ever before. Classes can operate in a full-time, part-time, hybrid, seated, or online format. This diversity in modality can lead to inconsistent curricula with inconsistent rigor. Instructors are challenged with designing a curriculum they believe to be rigorous but at the same time engaging to their students. This research focused on the evaluation of the higher education software program Mastering Anatomy & Physiology (MAP) from Pearson Education. The research included an analysis of student scores who had repeated an identical introductory anatomy course in a strictly online format. Quantitative data for this research included student performance on identical assessments over a period of two and a half calendar years, or eight academic grading periods. The research also included data collected from a focus group which consisted of anatomy instructors who have used the software as a critical part of their course instruction. The results of this research were inconclusive. Some data suggested that MAP is an effective tool in online instruction of anatomy curricula while other data suggested it had little/no effect. Additional studies of the software including larger sample sizes are recommended.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dune.une.edu/theses/282"],"dc:subject":["Educational Methods","Higher Education","Online and Distance Education"],"dc:title":["An Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of The Higher Education Anatomy Educational Software Mastering Anatomy & Physiology"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:21:27Z"}