USE OF VIDEO MICROSCOPY IN TEACHING MEDICAL HISTOLOGY LABS
Douglas P. Dohrman, Ph.D.* and Rajesh C. Miranda, Ph.D. Dept. of
Human Anatomy and Medical Neurobiology,
Texas
A&M
University
Health
Science
Center
,
College Station
,
TX
77843
Our institution has been faced with an expanding class size but
limited space and resources. To
address these constraints, we considered the use of two alternate teaching
technologies; either computer-based "virtual microscopy" or
small-group-centered video microscopy.
We felt that small groups of students interacting with each other
around a video microscope system would provide for a more cooperative,
learner-centered educational environment that would foster the emergence
of ‘student-educators’. We
purchased two video microscope systems, each consisting of a Zeiss
Axiostar Plus microscope with A-Plan objective lens, a Nikon DS-5M digital
camera and DS-L1 camera control unit, and a Sony LCD video monitor.
The Nikon unit was selected because of user-friendliness and
because it is designed to be setup as a mini web-server, enabling students
to view and save images throughout the entire institutional intranet.
Each video microscope set-up was utilized by a group of 4 volunteer
students. The rest of the
students were taught by more traditional means, each student having their
own standard microscope. Quantitatively,
the volunteer students utilizing the video microscopes have received
grades above the class average, and are exceeding their class-relative
performance on other laboratory-based classes.
Student feedback has also been extremely positive.
However, our most promising findings have been more qualitative.
Firstly, course faculty feel that this is a much more efficient and
un-ambiguous method of teaching, since it is easy to point to, and discuss
the relationship between, structures on a video monitor.
Secondly, students using the video microscopes spend more time in
the laboratory, and examine their slides more thoroughly.
These volunteer students have taken the initiative in collecting
images for their class from their slide sets, labeling these images, and
disseminating this information via a class web site, clearly demonstrating
their development into ‘student educators.’
Other students in the class typically congregate around the
volunteer groups in order to learn more, and often utilize the video
microscopes outside of scheduled laboratory time.
A third advantage is that the video microscopes can be easily
attached to video projectors for review sessions with larger groups of
students, providing for a qualitatively dynamic educational experience.
Finally, the students are still required to learn how to use a
microscope, something the faculty felt was an important advantage that is
missing from the alternative computer-based "virtual
microscopic" approach. In
conclusion, we find the use of video microscopes has many advantages over
traditional methods and plan to convert the entire lab to this system in
the future.
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