Active Participation Instead of Passive Behaviour Opens Up New Vistas in Education of Veterinary Anatomy and Histology

Abstract

Teaching morphology, a fundamental part of medicine curricula is traditionally based on lectures and practical trainings. We introduced peer-assisted learning (PAL) and student expert teams to the courses to give the students the possibility to improve their free speech and self-confidence. We involved students in active preparation of online materials such as labelled e-slides and e-pics. We offered online digital microscopy (Zoomify) and dissection (CyberPrep) allowing repeating the learned material and studying veterinary morphology outside the dissection theatre. Over 60% of first and third semester students profited from being a peer or being taught by a peer and 50% said the expert teams were an excellent method to learn the topographic anatomy. Almost all students applied Zoomify and CyberPrep and 75% of them found the digital microscopy and dissection to be a helpful or very helpful learning tool. In face of reduced contact hours, these forms of education compensated in part the lost teaching time. We observed improvement of rhetoric and presentation skills and self-confidence. The approaches should therefore find their constant place in the veterinary medicine curricula.

Postgraduate fellows as teaching assistants in human anatomy: An experimental teaching model at a Chinese research university

“…Most formal lectures have been replaced with TBL sessions. Compared with the passive learning associated with traditional lectures, team-based activities encourage more student participation that fosters activation of prior knowledge (Haidet et al, 2004;Plendl et al, 2009) and construction of new knowledge (Schmidt et al, 1989;Vasan et al, 2009). PGTAs in human anatomy have facilitated the incorporation of various teaching methods with traditional lectures and have fueled students' positive attitudes and initiative in studying anatomy.…”

Design and validation of a novel learning tool, the “Anato‐Rug,” for teaching equine topographical anatomy

“…It has long been considered that students have different learning styles that can be categorized as visual, aural, read/ write and kinesthetic (Stirling, 1987, Fleming andMills, 1992) and therefore curricula rich in diverse teaching and learning methods are an essential requirement for anatomy teaching (Plendl et al, 2009). Cognitive load is an important consideration when analyzing the effect of anatomy teaching material.…”

Interactive Lecture in the Dissection Hall: Transforming Passive Lecture into a Dynamic Learning Experience

“…However, combining the two regularly used teaching activities within the allotted time, did not require major adjustments in the schedule, hence, ILDH was easy to adopt. Unlike CAL (Elizondo‐Omaña et al, ; Biasutto et al, ; Plendl et al, ; Webb and Choi, ), and comparable to CML (Bowe et al, ), ILDH is resource‐economical, requiring only basic infrastructure and a single instructor, and hence, was easy to implement.…”

“…However, combining the two regularly used teaching activities within the allotted time, did not require major adjustments in the schedule, hence, ILDH was easy to adopt. Unlike CAL (Elizondo-Omaña et al, 2004;Biasutto et al, 2006;Plendl et al, 2009;Webb and Choi, 2015), and comparable to CML (Bowe et al, 2009), ILDH is resource-economical, requiring only basic infrastructure and a single instructor, and hence, was easy to implement. By linking the large (lecture) and small (discussion and demonstration) group teaching methods within a single session, ILDH not only activated the existing knowledge, but, delivered the new knowledge -both theoretical and practical -by small incremental advances through active communication between the stakeholders, thus, enabling comprehensive knowledge construction.…”