The Effect of Crossword Labs on Knowledge and Attitudes of Nursing Students in Learning Anatomical Terms: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Background: The use of active learning methods in teaching anatomical terms is becoming increasingly widespread. Students often struggle with learning anatomical terms, but digital learning tools can make learning easier.
Aim: This study was carried out to determine the effect of Crossword Labs (CL) on the knowledge and attitudes of nursing students in learning anatomical terms.
Methods: A quasi-experimental pre-post test study was conducted with 99 first-year nursing students. The students were divided into traditional (n=47) and CL (n=52) groups according to whether the last digit of their student number was even or odd. Data were collected between December 2021 and January 2022. Students completed the Descriptive Characteristics Form, Anatomical Terms Knowledge Test, and Anatomy Lesson Attitude Scale. The CL exercises were prepared by the researchers using the “CL” program for terminology learning. Students in the CL group solved the exercises and shared their solutions on the “Padlet” platform with their peers and researchers. Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to analyze the data.
Results: The CL group had a pre-knowledge score of 11 (10-13) and a post-knowledge score of 13 (12-15). A statistically significant difference was found between the post-knowledge scores of the CL and traditional groups (p=0.008). However, no statistically significant difference was found between the post-attitude scores of the two groups (p=0.961).
Conclusion: Students can be tutored outside the classroom at any time and place when learning anatomical concepts. It is recommended that active learning methods be incorporated into the curriculum to help ensure the retention of difficult-to-learn information.