Purpose
Embryology remains a challenging subject for medical students. Visualizing the complex 3D development of multiple structures that form simultaneously can be immensely difficult, and educators still lack the appropriate tools to help students fully comprehend this material. Some have found success using clay modeling to help students visualize aspects of heart development, but this technique has yet to be applied to aortic arch development. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the feasibility of using modeling clay to demonstrate aortic arch development and explore student perceptions of this hands-on learning approach.

Methods
During an optional in-person tutorial, an instructor utilized a document camera to demonstrate the sequence of aortic arch development with modeling clay. Each arch was formed by a different color clay and adult derivatives were labeled in the final stage so students could visualize the origin of each adult structure. The clay model was also used to demonstrate several anatomical variations (e.g., right aortic arch). During the demonstration, students followed the instructor’s guidance to design their own aortic arch models using playdough. Following the event, student perceptions were assessed with a voluntary survey which included Likert type and open-ended questions related to engagement, metacognition, and visualization.

Results
Of the 20 students who attended the session, 13 (65%) completed the survey. All students agreed the activity should be used in future classes. Additionally, all students agreed the activity was engaging, helped them recognize gaps in knowledge, and helped them visualize typical aortic arch development. Eighty-four percent agreed the activity helped visualize variations, however, several students still found this challenging and shared similar feedback in the open-ended comments.

Conclusion
This event provides a low-cost alternative to traditional 2D methods used to teach aortic arch development. It was well-received by students and can easily be implemented in other programs.