Welsford I G, Flamm A E, Barr J, Fenton B, Wright J R, Kellerman L R
Department of Biology, Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois 61625, USA.
Am J Physiol. 1995 Dec;269(6 Pt 3):S42-9. doi: 10.1152/advances.1995.269.6.S42.
With growing concern over the use of animal experimentation in the teaching of physiology, many biology departments are reassessing the use of animal experiments in the teaching lab. However, it may be just as important to assess how animal experimentation is used in the undergraduate teaching laboratory rather than simply assessing if animal experimentation should be used at all. In our study, sophomore-level life science students enrolled in a core organismal biology course undertook a laboratory exercise designed to elucidate properties of muscles and neuromuscular communication following two protocols: 1) a standard demonstrational model wherein students were told to undertake the exercise as a means to understand physiological processes that they had been exposed to previously in lecture or 2) an investigative model wherein the use of the gastrocnemius preparation was a logical next step in an ongoing investigation, the content of which was driven by student-generated hypotheses. We have observed a significant decrease in a number of the negative comments concerning the use of animals in experimentation (25.6 vs. 3.6%) since the implementation of the investigative approach to the laboratory, suggesting that curricular approaches to the use of animals in the teaching laboratory may have an impact on student attitudes concerning animal experimentation.
随着人们对生理学教学中动物实验使用的关注度不断提高，许多生物系正在重新评估教学实验室中动物实验的使用情况。然而，评估动物实验在本科教学实验室中的使用方式可能同样重要，而不仅仅是评估是否应该使用动物实验。在我们的研究中，参加核心生物体生物学课程的大二生命科学专业学生按照两种方案进行了一项旨在阐明肌肉特性和神经肌肉通信的实验室练习：1）标准演示模型，即告知学生进行该练习是为了理解他们之前在课堂上接触过的生理过程；2）探究模型，即使用腓肠肌制剂是正在进行的一项调查中的合理下一步，该调查的内容由学生提出的假设驱动。自采用探究性实验室方法以来，我们观察到关于实验中使用动物的负面评论数量大幅下降（从25.6%降至3.6%），这表明教学实验室中使用动物的课程方法可能会影响学生对动物实验的态度。
