Use Of Virtual Dissection Programs example essay topic

"Every year, 5.7 million animals are used in secondary and college science classes" (Dissection, par 1). This is very sad to consider when one takes into account the growing number of computer dissection simulations currently available to schools. These can teach the same things as physical dissections, but without the loss of life. A consideration that should be made when planning the coursework for classes that include animal dissection would be, "although dissection is often seen as a useful skill in itself this must be justified in terms of learning objectives and outcomes" (Predavec, par 33). When a person realizes that most dissections are performed only to teach basic physiology and anatomy to students who are not going into a field where they will be needed, and that most all students will forget practically everything of the dissection soon after it occurs, remembering mostly just the unpleasantness, this computer-based alternative should seem like a superior option. Over the past years there have been an increasing number of students who wish to opt-out of dissections.

For some students it is because of religious believes. For others it may be a moral issue of the rights of all living creatures. E-rat is a 'web-based interactive rat anatomy' program tested to determine how well students can learn through virtual dissections. In the test, performed in September 1999, a group of 391 first-year undergraduate biology students in seven classes were randomly assigned to either E-rat or the conventional dissection. Four classes, a total of 233 students, were assigned E-rat; the remaining three classes, 168 students, being assigned the physical dissection (Predavec, par 16). During the subsequent week, the students were given a 33 question multiple choice quiz, with only one minute to complete each question.

Several "statistical comparisons" were compiled from the results. The total mean scores for the two groups of students were compared to each other using what is called an unpaired t-test. Students who completed the E-rat program scored an average of 7.4 percentage points higher than those who completed the conventional dissection. The amount of time the students spent on the practical or traditional classes was also recorded. The result showed that "the more time a student spent on the practical class the greater the marks, with the marks for E-rat consistently higher across all times" (Predavec, par 26). The students who used E-rat not only were better able to identify the structures in the program but also in the real dissected animal.

In their comments a number of students remarked that the best thing about the E-rat program was 'the ability to work at their own pace and to revise the material a number of times' (Predavec, par 29). A second program on the market teaches the dissection of a cat cadaver. These virtual dissection materials, used as part of the curriculum at the University of Sydney, are accompanied by text materials and have been fully integrated into the curriculum. Students are able to use actual cat cadavers, the virtual dissection program, or a combination of the two. While students completing both the physical and virtual dissections do well, it is noted that those who complete the physical dissection score higher if they use the virtual dissection in conjunction with it (Franklin, par 36). A Stanford-based virtual dissection program, Virtual Creatures, is another example of a dissection simulation.

It explores ways to teach vertebrate biology through the use of computers. Their first program explores frog biology in a virtual environment where the user travels to different huts, each teaching a different aspect of frog biology (Hanged, par 3, par 10). Although I know of no tests run to compare its effectiveness, this program also sounds like a rather good one. It is my opinion that this would be the preferred way to do animal dissection lab work. I feel that it is inappropriate to breed and raise small animals such as kittens and sheep and pigs for the sole purpose of killing and dissecting them. This is especially true when there are alternatives available that do not take the life of another living being.

As we can see, the reasons to use computer dissection programs are numerous. Animals do not have to be slaughtered for use, there are no distracting and unpleasant odors, and the dissection can be reviewed or performed in any order. Another positive aspect is that the organs are their natural colors as opposed to the uniform brown that tends to be a result of the preserving of actual specimens. There is no loss in what is learned, as students seem to actually learn more.

Computer-based programs seem like a wonderful teaching aid, and it is my hope that more schools adopt the use of virtual dissection programs.