Dewhurst D. Is animal free teaching in the life sciences better teaching? . Paper presented at: The Three Rs - Together it's possible. 8th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences; 2011 Aug 21-25; Montreal, Canada


Abstract

Traditionally life science disciplines such as physiology and pharmacology employ, as part of a mix of teaching methods, practical classes based on experiments on whole animals or isolated organ or tissue systems. Such classes are designed to meet specific learning objectives: re-enforcement of (existing) student knowledge; and teaching a variety of generic and preparation-specific laboratory skills, and experimental design skills. They also provide vehicles for teaching data handling, scientific communication, and team working skills and of course they promote staff-student interaction. Over the last 20 years, at least in the UK, the number of life science students entering universities has increased significantly and to cope with such numbers courses have reduced the number and diversity of laboratory classes, sometimes replacing them with more innovative, often technology-based approaches.
This presentation will introduce Session III-1: "Innovative teaching in the life sciences" and will cover the various types of technology-based alternatives currently available to teachers and how they meet learning objectives. Methods of successful integration of resources into mainstream teaching will be de¬scribed together with data drawn from a number of studies to compare the educational effectiveness of computer-based learning with more traditional methods.
It will provide an overview of how technology has changed the way life sciences are taught, how innovations have been implemented and explore whether today's courses meet learning requirements.



Author's contacts: d.dewhurst@ed.ac.uk

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Link to journal: ALTEX - Alternatives to Animal Experimentation