Retrospective analysis of the educational efficacy of digital resources in blended learning for teaching Human Histology & Embryology to medical students

This study analyses the efficacy of introducing digital teaching/learning resources in blended learning mode regarding students’ success rate and grading on the final examination in the Human Histology & Embryology course of the Florence University Medical School (Italy). Two student cohorts were compared: early (E, years 2013–2014 and 2014–2015), where the course had only basic digital resources, and recent (R, years 2022–2023 and 2023–2024), where the course could take advantage of a broader panel of digital resources. Analysis of the results of the final exam shows a significant decrease in the number of students failing the exam and an increase in those gaining the highest score (A and A+) in the R cohort. In this cohort, the percentage of students who reached an excellent performance to deserve honours raised to 10,8% vs. 3,9% in the E cohort. The time needed for the students to prepare for the exam was also reduced in the R cohort, as shown by the significant increase in the percentage of the students who took and passed the exam in the first available session after the end of the course (1 month) and decrease in that of the students who postponed their exam till the last sessions (9 months). Our study objectively evaluates the educational value of innovative blended learning, including multiple individualized and interactive digital resources, to improve traditional face-to-face teaching, especially for morphological disciplines.