Effectiveness and Students′ Satisfaction on Use of Facebook® Page for Teaching Gross Anatomy for Undergraduate Students at Nile Valley University, Atbara- Sudan

Tarig Elsaid ¹, Dr. Khalid Elain Awed ², Dr. Tarig Mohamed Salih Kabashy Elsaid MBBS *³,
Ahmed Elkhouly ⁴, Abuzer Ali ⁵, Baligh Elsaid ⁶

 

1. MD Pediatric surgery SMSB, Baligh Mohamed Salah Kumasi Leased, MBBS (NVU 2014).
2. MBBS, MSc., MHPE, PhD, University of Khartoum, Graduate Collage, Medical and Health studies Board, Department of Anatomy.
3. Associate Professor of Pediatrics Surgery, Alzaiem Alazhari University.
4. Pediatric Surgery consultant, Maternity and children Hospital MCH, Tabouk.
5. Consultant general surgery king Khalid Hospital Tabuk.
6. Assistant professor, Nile Valley university (Faculty of medicine and health sciences)

*Correspondence to: Dr. Tarig Mohamed Salih Kabashy Elsaid, MBBS, Nile Valley University (2009), Consultant Pediatric Surgery SCFHS MCH Tabuk, MRCSED membership.

Copyright

© 2026: Dr. Tarig Mohamed Salih Kabashy Elsaid. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: 06 February 2026

Published: 01 March 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18616388

 

Abstract

Introduction: E-learning signifies a pivotal shift in the future of education, primarily due to technological advancements and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In the realm of medical education, e-learning embodies a burgeoning concept that necessitates awareness from training organizations, medical schools, and educators regarding the obstacles and potential solutions. Facebook® stands out as one of the most widely used social media platforms among university students. Consequently, it can serve as an effective educational tool for conducting practical sessions in gross anatomy.

Aim: The objective of this study was to assess the Effectiveness and Students' Satisfaction regarding the Use of Facebook® Page for Teaching Gross Anatomy to Undergraduate Students.

Materials and methods: This experimental study was conducted with 2nd year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, Nile Valley University. The thorax module was delivered through four practical videos, which were uploaded to the Dr. Baligh Anatomy Facebook® page. Students' performance was evaluated through three pre and post-tests associated with the videos. An electronic questionnaire was utilized to gauge students' satisfaction. Data analysis was performed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20. The means of pre and post-tests for each practical were computed and compared using a paired sample t-test.

Results: A total of 84 participants were involved, with the majority aged between 19 and 22 years. Females constituted 76.2% of the participants. The analysis of means indicated a significant enhancement in students' performance across all four practical sessions. The average grades improved by 2.4 marks out of 10 in practical No. 1, by 3.2 marks in practical No. 2 and 3, and by 3 marks in practical No. 4. A favorable response (%) was observed regarding accessibility to Facebook® (70%), its usability as an educational tool (78.6%), the benefits of Facebook as a learning resource (81%), the enhancement of time spent on social media (91.7%), the facilitation of communication with tutors (88.1%), the increase in understanding of thorax dissection (95%), the motivation to learn anatomy (91.7%), overall satisfaction with quality and content (91.7%), their views on the importance of creating similar Facebook®-delivered anatomy videos for other modules (85.7%), and the potential of Facebook®-delivered anatomy videos to address staff shortages (84.5%).

Conclusion: Facebook® can be regarded as an effective instrument for teaching practical sessions in gross anatomy, leading to a notable improvement in students' academic performance. Furthermore, students exhibited generally positive perceptions of Facebook® as a learning tool.

Background

In the age of rapidly advancing technology and the increasing accessibility of the internet, the adoption of various forms of electronic learning (e-learning) is becoming increasingly popular and is growing significantly, as evidenced by the global expansion and substantial investment in the e-learning industry, which has reached billions of dollars. The recent Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns and social distancing measures have disrupted traditional educational systems and conventional classroom teaching, prompting educational institutions worldwide to embrace e-learning as a viable solution. This scenario has highlighted the importance of e-learning, potentially marking a pivotal moment in the future of education. (1)

Online learning represents an educational strategy that utilizes the internet to deliver learning materials and supports teaching and learning through a variety of online resources (2). The concept of online learning in medical education is a newly emerging idea that necessitates awareness from training organizations, medical schools, and educators regarding the challenges and potential solutions (3). In low-income countries, remote medical schools often face staff shortages that directly impact their curriculum. Online education may serve to mitigate this issue by providing access to high-quality materials. The challenge lies in innovating methods to deliver this content in a manner that is accessible and affordable for the intended audience. The use of social media for online teaching is becoming increasingly popular and has been established across numerous platforms (4,5). Facebook® is among the most widely used social media platforms by university students. Although it began as a social networking site exclusive to Harvard, it has evolved into a leading social media platform. While Facebook® was not initially intended as an educational tool, the creation of learning groups, the sharing of educational content, and the provision of a space for online discussions render it a suitable medium for integrating social media into online education. (6)

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of utilizing Facebook® as an educational resource for conducting gross anatomy dissection sessions for undergraduate students, while also assessing their level of satisfaction. The goal is to establish a framework for incorporating social media into the online learning experience.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

There is a necessity for the implementation of accessible online learning methods, especially in schools that are understaffed. This research will offer a model for employing social media as a tool for online medical education.

JUSTIFICATION

Utilizing Facebook® to deliver videos for online learning will provide an economical means for students to access study materials and enable them to customize their learning plans.

OBJECTIVES

General objective

To evaluate the effectiveness of Facebook® page-delivered videos in teaching practical sessions of gross anatomy and to gauge students’ satisfaction with this learning approach.

Specific objectives

• To assess the effectiveness of learning via Facebook® page videos through pre and post-testing.

• To ascertain whether Facebook® page-delivered videos positively influence students' motivation to learn anatomy.

• To evaluate the adoption of Facebook® as a learning tool.

 

Material and Methods

Methodology

Study design:

This study was an experimental study.

Study area:

The study was conducted in department of anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Nile Valley University, Atbara. Conventionally, the specific module is taught through lectures followed by practical sessions. These sessions are conducted in the museum as well as dissection room. Anatomy is learned by regions. In semester two, students learn introduction and upper limb anatomy. In semester three, students  learn thorax and lower limb anatomy. In semester four, students learn abdomen and pelvis anatomy. In semester five, students learn head and neck as well as neuroanatomy.

Study subjects:

The study was carried out on Semester three, second  year students at faculty of medicine, Nile Valley University (batch 2018). The total number of students in the batch is 156 students. Males number are 47 while females are109.

Intervention of the study:

• Facebook® page was created in December 2020 in order to conduct the study and named Dr. Baligh anatomy.
• Students accessed to the page by link that sent to them in the batch WhatsApp® group. 
• The thorax module was demonstrated in 4 practical videos taped at the dissecting room of the University of Khartoum.
• Details about the study and participant's consent are demonstrated in a google form that should be filled by the participants at the beginning.  
• Pre-test for each practical video was conducted through google form for the study subjects before uploading the video. Composed of 10 multiple choice questions.
• The practical videos was  uploaded on Dr.Baligh  Facebook®  page, and made available for the study subjects.
• Assessment for efficacy of  the videos was  done through post-test that has the same contents of the pre-test.
• Student's response and satisfaction was assessed through electronic questionnaire using Google® form . The questionnaire composed of three sections. Section one is declaration. Section two about believes students about social media benefits ,especially Face book®. Sections three, about Dr. Baligh anatomy facebook page follower's opinions.

Sample size:

Total coverage of 2ndyear students who agree to participate in the study were 84 students. The rest of the students will have the choice to take assessment tests whenever they want. 

Data collection method:

• Student's scores in the pre and post tests for each  practical video.
• Electronic questionnaire.

Data analysis:

Using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS@) version 26 analyzer), data was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Numerical variables was expressed in terms of central tendency (mean, median and mode). P-value <0.05 was considered significant. Paired sample T test, one -sample T-test and Pearson correlation were used to compare categorical and numeral variables.   

Data presentation:

Data was  presented in pi- charts, bar charts, tables

Ethical consideration:

• Ethical clearance was obtained from Research Ethical Committee of Faculty of Medicine, Nile Valley University.
• Informed consent was obtained from participating students that participation is completely optional, no penalty for choosing not to participate, and they have the right to withdraw whenever they want.
• All students had access to the video had the right to whether participate in the study or not.

 

Results

The study included 84 second  year medical students at Nile Valley University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences who agreed to participate in the study. Total number of four demonstrative videos with an average duration of twelve minutes was made to cover the thorax module. The videos reached large number of Facebook® users (Table 2) and the number of views for each video exceeded the number of study participants in all videos (eg. Practical (1) video possessed 1700 viewers). Regarding interaction with posted practical videos in terms of like, share and comments demonstrated in table (3) with highest figures of interaction for practical (1) video: 205 likes, 46 comments and 17 shares.

Regarding demography of the viewers: 76.2% were females, while 23.8% of the viewers were males (figure 1).

In practical one pretest, the total number of students who attempted the test was 78 students with mean score 6.81 out of 10. While in the posttest, the total number of students who attempted the test was 78 students with mean score 9.24 out of 10 (table 4). The results showed significant statistical difference between the two means.

In the second and third practical participation decreased to a total of 72 students for the pretest with mean score 5.07 out of 10. While in the posttest, the total number of students who attempted the test was 72 students with mean score 8.21 out of 10 (table 5). The results showed significant statistical difference between the two means.

In the 4th   practical participation decreased to a total of 63 participants for the pretest with mean score 5.24 out of 10. While in the posttest, the total number of students who attempted the test was 63 students with mean score 8.24 out of 10 (table 6). The results showed significant statistical difference between the two means.

Interestingly, the followers of the page from the participants are 82 (97.6%) which exceeds the number of participants who attempted the tests. With regard to visiting frequency to the page, 54 of participants (64.3%) always visit the page looking for new videos (figure 4). Table(8) describe the positive response rate (%) of participants in relation to : accessibility to Facebook® (70%), usability as educational tool (78.6%) , beneficiary  of Facebook®  as learning tool (81%), improvement of spent time in social media (91.7%), facilitation of communication with tutor (88.1%), augmentation of understanding of thorax dissection (95%), encouragement in learning anatomy (91.7%), overall satisfaction about quality and content (91.7%), their opinion of  importance to do similar Facebook® -delivered anatomy videos to other modules (85.7%)  and the capacity of Facebook® -delivered anatomy videos in solving staff shortage issue (84.5%).

 

Discussion

There is an increase in frequency of conducting studies about the adoption of social media in anatomy teaching, mostly duo to advancement of technology and COVID 19 pandemic. Among social media platforms , Facebook® is the most popular platform used by students. Facebook® has unique features in interaction between the users in form of likes, comments and post sharing. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the Effectiveness and Students′ Satisfaction on Use of Facebook® Page for teaching gross anatomy for undergraduate Students at Nile Valley University, Atbara- Sudan.

Regarding the demography of participants, the majority of participants were females (76.2%) which exceeds the exact percentage of females in the batch (69.9%), this indicates that females are more interested in learning through Facebook®. Quite the opposite,  In pickering and bicker-dike study there was no difference in ratio between males and females (22).

About effectiveness, this study found that Facebook®-delivered videos clearly increase the students' academic performance by means of marked statistical significance (P value 0.000) in scores of students in post-tests compared to pre- tests scores. Similarly, (Jaffar and Eladl, 2016) found high academic performance of students who followed more in Facebook® anatomy pages (23). As well as was in the study conducted by Pickering and Bickerdike (2017) (22) and Michikyan et al. (2015) (24).

It should be noted that, although the percentage of students who agreed that Facebook® could be an appropriate teaching tool was very high in my study (81%) , while in other studies that were found in the literature this percentage was significantly lower, from 25% to 62% (25,26,27). This result highlights that there upgrading in students perception toward acceptance of Facebook® as a learning tool.

Concerning student satisfaction, High positive responses were found in this study in relation to satisfaction and encouragement in use of Facebook® as learning tool, much the same finding of study conducted by Jaffar 2013 (28).

Considering the communication with tutor, positive response 88.1% was found in my study resembling to study conducted by Dzvapatsva et al. (2014)(29) who found that students using Facebook® for course learning indicated increased contact time with classmates and instructors and scored higher than previous cohort not using Facebook® as a learning tool. This result highlights the role of interaction features of Facebook® (likes, comments and post sharing).

 

Limitations

There was difficulty in controlling other confounding factors of gaining information (eg. Other social media platforms and anatomy books).

 

Supplementary Vedios

Dr. Baligh anatomy Facebook page link:

https://www.facebook.com/Dr-Baligh-Anatomy-103570815002575/

Practical video (1) link:

https://www.facebook.com/103570815002575/posts/104064671619856/

Practical video (2) link:

https://www.facebook.com/103570815002575/posts/106941797998810/

Practical video (3) link:

https://www.facebook.com/103570815002575/posts/107016124658044/

Practical video (4) link:

https://www.facebook.com/103570815002575/posts/108167927876197/

 

Conclusion

Facebook® can be considered as an effective tool in teaching gross anatomy practical sessions and resulted in significant improvement in students' academic performance. It was accessible and Satisfiable for students. It can be used as a complementary tool to teach gross anatomy.

 

Recommendation:

To encourage anatomy educators to consider Facebook® as learning tool and to involve it as a part of curriculum.

To continue of uploading Facebook®-delivered videos to the remaining anatomy modules.

 

References

1.Sony, V. D. (2020). Global Impact of E-learning during COVID 19. SSRN Electronic Journal, (June).

2.Frehywot, S., Vovides, Y., Talib, Z., Mikhail, N., Ross, H., Wohltjen, H., … Scott, J. (2013). E-learning in medical education in resource constrained low- and middle-income countries. Human Resources for Health, 11(1), 1–15.

3.O’Doherty et al. (2018) BMC Medical Education  18:130

4.Casella, E., Mills, J., & Usher, K. (2014). Social media and nursing practice: Changing the balance between the social and technical aspects of work. Collegian, 21(2), 121–126.

5. Benetoli, A., Chen, T. F., & Aslani, P. (2015). The use of social media in pharmacy practice and education. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 11(1), 1–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2014.04.002

6. Pimmer, C., Linxen, S., & Gröhbiel, U. (2012). Facebook as a learning tool? A case study on the appropriation of social network sites from mobile phones in developing countries. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(5), 726–738. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2012.01351.x

7. Ellefsen, L. (2015). An Investigation into Perceptions of Facebook-use in Higher Education. International Journal of Higher Education, 5(1), 0–2.

8. Alhazmi, A. K., & Rahman, A. A. (2013). Facebook in Higher Education: Social and Academic Purposes TYPE (METHOD/APPROACH) Survey Council for Innovative Research. Peer Review Research Publishing System Journal: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPUTERS & TECHNOLOGY, 12(3), 6. Retrieved from www.cirworld.com,

9. Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143–1168.

10. Pempek, T. A., Yermolayeva, Y. A., & Calvert, S. L. (2009). College students’ social networking experiences on Facebook. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30(3), 227–238.

11. Shaltry, C., Henriksen, D., Wu, M. L., & Dickson, W. P. (2013). Situated learning with online portfolios, classroom websites and Facebook. TechTrends, 57(3), 20–25.

12. Shiu, H., Fong, J., & Lam, J. (2010). Facebook - Education with social networking websites for teaching and learning. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Including Subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), 6248 LNCS, 59–70.

13. Anderson, T. (2004). Toward a theory of online learning. In Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning (pp. 33–60). Athabasca, Canada: Athabasca University.

14. Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), 1–8.

15. Tasir, Z., Al-Dheleai, Y. M. H., Harun, J., & Shukor, N. A. (2011, October). Student’s Perception towards the Use of Social Networking as an e-Learning Platform. In Proceeding of The 10th WSEAS International Conference on Education and Educational Technology (EDU'11), Penang (pp. 2-6).

16. Wesseling, N. (2012). How Students Use Facebook, In WEI International Academic Conference Proceedings (pp. 20-25).

17. Al-Dheleai, Y. M., & Tasir, Z. (2016). Facebook to Facilitate Instructor Roles in Course-Related Online Interaction: a Pilot Study. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, 89(2), 343.

18. Al-Dheleai, Y. M., & Tasir, Z. (2015). Facebook and Education: Students’ Privacy Concerns. International Education Studies, 8(13), 22.

19. Junco, R. (2012). Too much face and not enough books: The relationship between multiple indices of Facebook use and academic performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(1), 187–198.

20. Mazer, J. P., Murphy, R. E., & Simonds, C. J. (2007). I’ll see you on “Facebook”: The effects of computermediated teacher self-disclosure on student motivation, affective learning, and classroom climate. Communication Education, 56(1), 1–17.

21. Mazer, J. P., Murphy, R. E., & Simonds, C. J. (2009). The effects of teacher self?disclosure via Facebook on teacher credibility. Learning, Media and Technology, 34(2), 175–183.

22. Pickering JD, Bickerdike SR. (2017) Medical student use of Facebook to support preparation for anatomy assessments. Anat Sci Educ. Jun;10(3):205-214.

23. Jaffar AA and Eladl MA (2016) Engagement Patterns of High and Low Academic Performers on Facebook Anatomy Pages Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development:3 1-8

24. Michikyan M, Subrahmanyam K, Dennis J. (2015) Facebook use and academic performance among college students: a mixed-methods study with a multi-ethnic sample. Comput Hum Behav.;45:265–272.

25. Smith SD, Caruso JB. (2010) The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2010. Research Study 6. 1st Ed. Boulder, CO:EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. 118 p.

26. Buzzetto-More NA. (2012) Social networking in undergraduate education. Interdiscip J Inform Knowl Manage 7:63–90.

27. Stanciu A, Mihai F, Aleca O. (2012) Social networking as an alternative environment for education. Acc Manage Inform Syst 11:56–75.

28. Jaffar AA. (2014) Exploring the use of a Facebook page in anatomy education. Anat Sci Educ. May-Jun;7(3):199-208.

29. Dzvapatsva, G. P., Mitrovic, Z., & Dietrich, A. D. (2014). Use of social media platforms for improving academic performance at further education and training colleges. SA Journal of Information Management, 16(1), 1–7.