Educational innovations are usually associated with positive student evaluations. However, their effects on learning outcomes, as determined by assessments, are often mixed or ignored. To better understand the link between educational innovation, student satisfaction and learning outcomes, the results of several of the author’s collaborative innovations in anatomy-focused teaching have been compared. All innovations received positive comments from students, but their effects on learning outcomes were varied. An association was found between improved learning outcomes and innovations associated with good teaching practice. This suggests that how an educational innovation is delivered is more important than the new technology associated with it. Using the original assessment format before— and after—the educational innovation may also result in new learning being ignored. To address this, an assessment model that incorporates new learning driven by educational innovations is proposed.