Visual‐spatial abilities are considered a successful predictor in anatomy learning. Previous research suggest that visual‐spatial abilities can be trained, and the magnitude of improvement can be affected by initial levels of spatial skills. This case‐control study aimed to evaluate (1) the impact of an extra‐curricular anatomy dissection course on visual‐spatial abilities of medical undergraduates and (2) the magnitude of improvement in students with initially lower levels of visual‐spatial abilities, and (3) whether the choice for the course was related to visual‐spatial abilities. Course participants (n = 45) and controls (n = 65) were first and second‐year medical undergraduates who performed a Mental Rotations Test (MRT) before and 10 weeks after the course. At baseline, there was no significant difference in MRT scores between course participants and controls. At the end of the course, participants achieved a greater improvement than controls (first‐year: ∆6.0 ± 4.1 vs. ∆4.9 ± 3.2; ANCOVA, P = 0.019, Cohen's d = 0.41; second‐year: ∆6.5 ± 3.3 vs. ∆6.1 ± 4.0; P = 0.03, Cohen's d = 0.11). Individuals with initially lower scores on the MRT pretest showed the largest improvement (∆8.4 ± 2.3 vs. ∆6.8 ± 2.8; P = 0.011, Cohen's d = 0.61). In summary, (1) an anatomy dissection course improved visual‐spatial abilities of medical undergraduates; (2) a substantial improvement was observed in individuals with initially lower scores on the visual‐spatial abilities test indicating a different trajectory of improvement; (3) students' preferences for attending extracurricular anatomy dissection course was not driven by visual‐spatial abilities.

中文翻译：

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解剖解剖学课程可提高医学本科生最初较低的视觉空间能力水平。

视觉空间能力被认为是解剖学学习的成功预测指标。先前的研究表明，可以训练视觉空间能力，并且空间技能的初始水平可能会影响改善的幅度。这项病例对照研究旨在评估（1）课外解剖解剖课程对医学生视觉空间能力的影响，以及（2）最初视觉空间能力较低的学生的进步幅度，以及（3）课程的选择是否与视觉空间能力有关。课程参与者（n  = 45）和控件（n = 65）是第一和第二年的医学本科生，他们在课程开始之前和之后10周进行了心理旋转测试（MRT）。在基线时，课程参与者和对照组之间的MRT分数没有显着差异。在课程结束时，参与者取得了比对照组更大的进步（第一年：∆6.0±4.1 vs. ∆4.9±3.2； ANCOVA，P  = 0.019，Cohen d  = 0.41；第二年：∆6.5±3.3 vs ∆6.1±4.0；P  = 0.03，科恩（Cohen）d  = 0.11）。在MRT预测中最初得分较低的个人表现出最大的改善（∆8.4±2.3 vs.∆6.8±2.8; P  = 0.011，Cohen d = 0.61）。总之，（1）解剖解剖学课程提高了医学专业本科生的视觉空间能力；（2）最初在视觉空间能力测试中得分较低的个体中观察到了显着改善，表明改善的轨迹不同；（3）学生选择参加课外解剖解剖学课程的偏好不是由视觉空间能力驱动的。