Downing S W
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Duluth 55812, USA.
Medinfo. 1995;8 Pt 2:1695.
We have developed a multimedia-based laboratory course which has enabled us to eliminate the microscope and traditional microscope laboratory that have been mainstays of our histology course and histology courses at almost all institutions where histology is taught. The multimedia laboratory uses a library of histology images (approximately 24,000) stored on videodisc (
A Photographic Atlas, by S. Downing) as its microscope slide collection and accesses those images through barcode and computer interfaces. The laboratory workstations consist of a videodisc player, videodisc monitor, computer, and computer monitor. One workstation is available for every 4-students, and our students are encouraged to work together in groups of four or five. In our current set-up, the students are introduced to and instructed in the basic principles of histology using a computer program that interfaces with the videodisc images. The computer program is divided into 19 chapters (the chapters are typical of the chapters found in a normal histology textbook) and has: (1) a laboratory component that covers the material traditionally covered in the microscope laboratory, and (2) a lecture component that enables the students to evaluate their understanding of the lecture material in a non-punishing way. The laboratory section of each chapter is divided into a "MicroLab" section, an "InFo Time" section, and a "Quiz Time" section. Each of these sections interfaces with histological images stored on the videodisc. The students are encouraged to work through the "MicroLab" section of each chapter before moving on to the "InFo Time" and "Quiz Time" sections. The "MicroLab" sections introduce the students to the various tissues and organs of the body and is interfaced with the videodisc player and the histology images stored on the videodisc. These sections describe the basic histological features of the various tissues and organs and give the students access to multiple examples of what they are studying. The "InFo Time" sections bring up specific images and ask the students to think about the images. Information about the images being observed is available if the students want it and the students can flag those images that they found difficult. The Quiz Time section of the program is also interfaced with the videodisc player and provides access to a large number of histology images stored on the videodisc. The "Quiz Time" sections provide non-punishing review questions that the students can study after she has worked her way through the "MicroLab" and "InFo Time" sections. In addition to the use of a computer program to access the histology images stored on videodisc, we use barcodes that address specific images on the histology videodisc in a variety of ways to augment the students' laboratory and lecture experience. The benefits of using multimedia in place of the traditional microscope and microscope slide collection are numerous and include the speed at which specific histological images can be accessed and reviewed (when compared to finding a structure on a glass slide), a significant reduction in the amount of laboratory time needed by the student to learn the same amount of information, the ease of tutoring on a large monitor screen (when compared to trying to discuss a histological structure with a student through the eyepiece of a microscope), the encouragement of group study (which is difficult to do when a student is working 1-on-with a microscope), and the reduction of the number of faculty necessary to cover a typical histology laboratory session. The use of barcodes that address specific videodisc histology images has greatly changed our examination procedures and has significantly expanded the usefulness of the traditional lecture note handouts given to our students.
我们开发了一门基于多媒体的实验课程，这使我们能够摒弃显微镜以及传统的显微镜实验室，而这些在几乎所有开设组织学课程的院校中，一直是我们组织学课程及组织学课程的核心内容。多媒体实验室使用存储在视盘（《组织学：摄影图谱》，作者S. 唐宁）上的组织学图像库（约24,000张）作为其载玻片标本集，并通过条形码和计算机接口访问这些图像。实验室工作站由视盘播放机、视盘监视器、计算机和计算机监视器组成。每4名学生配备一个工作站，我们鼓励学生以四五人一组的形式共同学习。在我们目前的设置中，学生通过与视盘图像接口的计算机程序学习组织学的基本原理并接受指导。该计算机程序分为19章（这些章节与普通组织学教科书中的章节类似），并且有：（1）一个实验部分，涵盖传统显微镜实验室所涉及的内容；（2）一个讲座部分，使学生能够以非惩罚性的方式评估他们对讲座材料的理解。每章的实验部分又分为“微观实验室”部分、“信息时间”部分和“测验时间”部分。这些部分中的每一个都与存储在视盘上的组织学图像接口。鼓励学生在进入“信息时间”和“测验时间”部分之前，先完成每章的“微观实验室”部分。“微观实验室”部分向学生介绍身体的各种组织和器官，并与视盘播放机以及存储在视盘上的组织学图像接口。这些部分描述了各种组织和器官的基本组织学特征，并让学生能够获取他们正在学习内容的多个示例。“信息时间”部分会调出特定图像并要求学生思考这些图像。如果学生需要，可获取所观察图像的相关信息，学生还可以标记那些他们认为困难的图像。该程序的“测验时间”部分也与视盘播放机接口，并提供对存储在视盘上大量组织学图像的访问。“测验时间”部分提供非惩罚性的复习问题，学生在完成“微观实验室”和“信息时间”部分后可以进行学习。除了使用计算机程序访问存储在视盘上的组织学图像外，我们还使用条形码以多种方式定位组织学视盘上的特定图像，以增强学生的实验和讲座体验。使用多媒体代替传统显微镜和载玻片标本集的好处众多，包括能够快速访问和查看特定的组织学图像（与在玻璃载玻片上查找结构相比），学生学习相同信息量所需的实验时间大幅减少，在大尺寸监视器屏幕上辅导更容易（与通过显微镜目镜与学生讨论组织学结构相比），鼓励小组学习（当学生单独使用显微镜时很难做到），以及减少覆盖典型组织学实验课程所需的教师数量。使用定位特定视盘组织学图像的条形码极大地改变了我们的考试程序，并显著扩展了提供给学生的传统讲义的用途。
