The first cut is the deepest: reflections on the state of animal dissection in biology education

Abstract

In biology education, the study of structure has traditionally involved the use of dissection. Animal-rights campaigners have caused biology educators and learners to question the necessity of dissections. This study reviews the research evidence for the efficacy of alternatives to dissection and then turns to research evidence on attitudes to dissection. It suggests that the place, practice, and purpose of dissection in biology education can act as an indicator of the state of society in which those practices are embedded. The current situation in South Africa is reviewed to illustrate how social factors outside the laboratory influence pedagogic practice.

The relationship between disgust, state-anxiety and motivation during a dissection task

“…Dissection of animals in the classroom, both during University and secondary education, is still considered as a useful tool for teaching, although declarative knowledge is equal in alternative treatments, e.g., by using video instruction or virtual dissection (De Villiers & Monk, 2005;Dewhurst, 2004;Strauss & Kinzie, 1994), and De Villiers and Monk (2005) further emphasize that not all learners in biology should carry out dissection when alternatives may be perfectly adequate. However, apart from cognition, other aspects are also relevant in science education, such as emotions and methodological skills, and this is one central aspect why dissection is still present in science classrooms (Lord, 1990).…”

Re‐examining the practice of dissection: What does it teach?

“…Dissection as a school activity is being increasingly questioned for its ethical dimensions (see, e.g. Kinzie et al 1993, Akpan and Andre 1999, de Villiers and Monk 2005. However, here I extend the questioning of dissection to ask about its pedagogical value.…”

Dissection reconsidered: a reaction to de Villiers and Monk’s ‘The first cut is the deepest’

“…In their paper, 'The first cut is the deepest: reflections on the state of animal dissection in biology education ', de Villiers and Monk (2005) argue that educators need to think about pedagogical, social, and ethical issues when asking if dissection has a role in contemporary K-12 science education. As I reflected about the issues they raised, I took from my bookshelf A Sourcebook for the Biological Sciences (Morholt and Brandwein 1986), a text that I have used in methods courses as an example of a worthwhile and relevant resource book.…”