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Observations by a middle‐aged university anatomy teacher and suggestions for curricular change
Author(s) -
Darda David M
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.475.1
Subject(s) - curriculum , presentation (obstetrics) , staffing , realm , aside , medical education , mathematics education , technician , function (biology) , psychology , pedagogy , medicine , biology , engineering , political science , nursing , art , literature , electrical engineering , evolutionary biology , law , radiology
In general, as biology departments at four‐year colleges and universities have bolstered the curriculum in cell and molecular biology and emphasized the increasing importance of ecological study, the amount of curricular space for organismal level courses has decreased. In the anatomical realm, classical embryology and histology have been pushed aside to make room for other priorities. Each of the few remaining courses offers a limited view of anatomical science as a whole. Given that students struggle to make room for even a single anatomical course in their undergraduate program, they are left with an incomplete perspective on animal form and function and are underprepared for the rigors of medical school and other professional programs. In this presentation, I summarize initial data resulting from an informal survey I conducted among the four‐year institutions in Washington State and suggest how the undergraduate anatomy curriculum might be modified to meet student needs (both pre‐health career students and "regular" biology majors) given the constraints of staffing and time. While here I concentrate primarily on content, attention must also be paid to pedagogy and assessment.