Anatomical Sciences Education OCTOBER 2018 Anatomical Sciences Education 0:1–9 (2018) Guided Hands-On Activities Can Improve Student Learning in a Lecture-Based Qualitative Biomechanics Course Robert D. Catena, 1 * Kira J. Carbonneau 2 1 Kinesiology Program, College of Education, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 2 Educational Psychology Program, College of Education, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington A qualitative biomechanics (functional anatomy) course is a typical course in kinesiology curriculum. Most evidence suggests that biomechanics learning could be improved with the inclusion of laboratory experiences. However, implementing laboratories into biome- chanics curriculum is difficult due to cost and time constraints. This study was conducted to evaluate whether hands-on activities in lecture improve qualitative biomechanics learn- ing. A lecture format was compared to the same course with guided and unguided hands- on activities included during lecture. Test performance and student evaluations were compared between lecture formats to determine if hands-on experiences improve learning. The hands-on group performed better on the same test questions and they evaluated their overall course activities as beneficial to their learning. The findings suggest that guided hands-on experiences may improve learning compared to unguided activities. The hands- on experiences seem to provide an embodied cognitive learning experience, facilitating retention of learned material through three-dimensional and tactile mental representa- tions. Findings from this research are currently shaping how biomechanics is taught to students at this university and could at other universities as well. Anat Sci Educ 0: 1–9. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists. Key words: gross anatomy education; undergraduate education; musculoskeletal anatomy; kinesiology education; anatomy laboratory; hands-on science; embodied cognition; guidance INTRODUCTION Kinesiology is the study of human movement. Human anatomy is a foundational course, and often one of the first classes for an undergraduate kinesiology major. Kinesiology was the 33rd most popular undergraduate degree granted in the US in 2014, with almost 24,000 degrees granted that year (USDE, 2014). Biomechanics is typically one of four or five core courses that all kinesiology students are required to take in their degree. However, biomechanics courses tend to be different from other kinesiology courses, and more challenging to some students, because of the application of physics principles to the human body to understand the relationship between form and func- tion (Knudson et al., 2009; Shofler et al., 2015). Biomechanics melds functional musculoskeletal anatomy with mechanical physics (Knudson, 2003). It builds off mus- cle actions learned in gross anatomy to determine real-world muscle use. It teaches students to simultaneously consider a number of anatomical (center of rotation, force-length relation- ships, force–velocity relationships, muscle moment arm, struc- tural impediments to motion), and external (gravity, inertia, fluid forces) factors that impact movement to understand how muscle are used during functional activities. More than 90% of biomechanics courses have anatomy, and only 20% have phys- ics, as prerequisite courses (Hamill, 2007). However, biome- chanics instructors are typically trained in either kinesiology or mechanical engineering. Current imbalance between anatomy and physics concepts, related to the instructor’s background, has led to concerns about the overemphasis of one of these over the other in biomechanics courses (Knudsen, 2003). In addition, biomechanics courses tend to be upper division courses and so student retention of pre-requisite musculoskeletal anatomy knowledge may suffer from the length of time since a lower division anatomy course (Sinclair, 1965; Semb and Ellis, 1994). Kinesiology undergraduate programs will typically offer one upper-division biomechanics course, but some programs © 2018 American Association of Anatomists ORIGINAL ARTICLE *Correspondence to: Dr. Robert D. Catena, Kinesiology Program, Washington State University 113F Smith Gym, Pullman, WA, 99164- 1410. USA. E-mail: robert.catena@wsu.edu Additional supporting information can be viewed in the online version of this article. Received 26 April 2018; Revised 17 August 2018; Accepted 1 September 2018. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/ase.1832