Exhibits facilitate histology laboratory instruction: student evaluation of learning resources

Virtual Microscopy Goes Global: The Images Are Virtual and the Problems Are Real

For the last two centuries, the scholarly education of histology and pathology has been based on technology, initially on the availability of low-cost, high-quality light microscopes, and more recently on the introduction of computers and e-learning approaches to biomedical education. Consequently, virtual microscopy (VM) is replacing glass slides and the traditional light microscope as the main instruments of instruction in histology and pathology laboratories. However, as with most educational changes, there are advantages and disadvantages associated with a new technology. The use of VM for the teaching of histology and pathology requires an extensive infrastructure and the availability of computing devices to all learners, both posing a considerable financial strain on schools and students. Furthermore, there may be valid reasons for practicing healthcare professionals to maintain competency in using light microscopes. In addition, some educators may be reluctant to embrace new technologies. These are some of the reasons why the introduction of VM as an integral part of histology and pathology instruction has been globally uneven. This paper compares the teaching of histology and pathology using traditional or VM in five different countries and their adjacent regions, representing developed, as well as developing areas of the globe. We identify general and local roadblocks to the introduction of this still-emerging didactic technology and outline solutions for overcoming these barriers.

Reception learning and self-discovery learning in histology: students' perceptions and their implications for assessing the effectiveness of different learning modalities

Two questionnaires were used to investigate students' perceptions of their motivation to opt for reception learning (RL) or self-discovery learning (SDL) in histology and their choices of complementary learning strategies (CLS). The results demonstrated that the motivation to attend RL sessions was higher than the motivation to attend SDL to gain new knowledge (P < 0.01) and to apply this acquired knowledge to diagnosis (P < 0.01), therapy (P < 0.01), and research (P < 0.05). Students also showed a stronger preference for RL based on motivations related to leadership (P < 0.01) and competition (P < 0.01), although the rates were very low in both cases (≤ 1.9 ± 1.1). Statistically significant differences were found between male and female students for leadership (higher in males), responsibility (higher in females), and acquiring new knowledge (higher in females only in RL). This study's findings for students' preferred CLS strategies suggested a greater need for additional complementary resources after RL than after SDL (P < 0.01). In conclusion, RL was associated with a greater need for complementary training resources such as textbooks, atlases, the internet, audiovisual media, and tutorials, whereas SDL was associated with a greater need to orient teaching and training toward medical practice. These results suggest the need to reorient both types of learning processes to enhance their effectiveness in teaching histology, especially in the case of SDL, which should place more emphasis on clinically oriented knowledge.

Design and implementation of a web-based, database-driven histology atlas: Technology at work

At Vanderbilt University, the "Human Cell and Tissue Biology" course is a required lecture and laboratory course with 2 full-time instructors and 106 students. To address demands placed on faculty for individual attention, an interactive Web-based histology atlas was developed and implemented in January 2005. This atlas was specifically designed to complement the existing laboratory manual and to transform the manual into an interactive educational tool whereby students could view high-resolution images of histological specimens online. By utilizing a computer scripting language, interactive highlighting of histological structures was accomplished through the implementation of a simple mouse-rollover function. This computer-aided instruction software allows students to preview histological structures of interest prior to entering the laboratory, to have additional faculty-directed contact hours during laboratory, and to review material efficiently. The conversion of the originally developed static application into a database-driven tool streamlined the development and modification of the atlas while facilitating the creation of advanced features. Six weeks after launching this interactive atlas, Vanderbilt medical students logged 1,200 hr of use. Through the cooperative efforts of faculty and students, the interactive atlas evolved to meet the educational demands of medical students owing to the development and implementation of a database structure. The functionality and educational value of the interactive atlas in facilitating self-learning was ultimately measured by positive student feedback and use.

Anatomical sciences in the allopathic medical school curriculum in the United States between 1967-2001

The present article surveys the changes in the time allocated for the four disciplines in the anatomical sciences in the medical curricula of allopathic medical schools in the United States from 1967-2001. The results indicate that there was a great reduction in the laboratory portions, but not in the lecture portions of Gross Anatomy, Histology, Neuroanatomy, and Embryology. The greatest time reduction overall for the disciplines occurred between 1967-1973 (502 to 387 hr), followed by the time reduction between 1982-1995 (380 to 329 hr).

Integrated approach to teaching and testing in histology with real and virtual imaging

The University of Iowa College of Medicine histology teaching laboratory incorporates extensive Web- and computer-based teaching modalities, including the Virtual Microscope (VM), as emerging learning aids in histology and pathology laboratory instruction. We report here our experience in offering a multiple resource-based approach to laboratory instruction while retaining the opportunity and requirement of examining actual microscopic slide preparations with the microscope. Acceptance of this approach has been high among our students and faculty, and performance levels established over years of teaching histology by traditional means have been maintained.

Laboratory instruction in histology at the University at Buffalo: recent replacement of microscope exercises with computer applications

Histology is a morphologic science in which the structure of the cells, tissues, and organs of the body are examined with a microscope. In the laboratory courses in histology at the School of Medicine of the University at Buffalo, histologic specimens had been used since the late 19th century to teach the principles of cell, tissue, and organ structure. Students also had to learn how to analyze or "read" slides with a microscope. Learning histology in this way, i.e., by direct examination of actual specimens, is time consuming and viewed by some as unnecessary. As a result of recent curricular reform at the School of Medicine that reduced contact time in histology, half of all laboratory exercises that would have been performed with a microscope were performed instead with interactive computer applications. By replacing some microscope exercises with more efficient computer applications, the histology course accommodated curricular change by both reducing contact time and continuing to offer valuable microscope laboratories for most of the organ systems of the body. To provide a basis for comparing traditional microscope exercises with computer-assisted instruction in histology, the nature of the laboratory experience between 1846 and 1998 is briefly reviewed. The instructional strategy behind the use of computers is presented, along with the nature of the computer applications and the means by which the computer applications were incorporated into the school's laboratory course in histology.