Applicant Name: Robert A. Morgan, Southwestern University
Project Title: Interactive Anatomy

THE PROBLEM

Although it is probably true that "anatomy must be learned in the laboratory", it is also true that students need to be able to study at times when it is not possible for them actually to be in the lab. During my 30-plus years of teaching anatomy, I have repeatedly encountered a recurrent problem: When it is down to "crunch time" and the practical exam is looming, students need maximum access to anatomical materials. For reasons of safety and economy, not to mention the fact that I am no longer as young as I once was, my students cannot have unlimited access to the laboratory. This means, of course, that I am always searching for a means of "bringing the laboratory to my students". Lab manuals with high quality graphics would help significantly. The problem is that the line drawings in most lab manuals are next-to-worthless, and photographic images, if present at all, are small and in black and white. Photographic atlases with realistic colors are extremely expensive and are devoted almost exclusively to human anatomy. There are a small number of medical school web sites providing access to high quality color images. However, these sites are typically "taken down" midway through the fall semester, when first-year medical students finish gross anatomy. And, of course, these sites only feature human anatomy. Students who need high quality views of lamprey circulation, shark digestive systems, and cat musculature are totally out-of-luck. Although I describe this problem as it applies to my particular situation, it is likely that every anatomy professor faces a similar set of problems.

THE PROPOSED SOLUTION

Using a Kodack DC280 digital camera belonging to the Southwestern University Biology Department, I will prepare a series of sets of annotated, digitized images of the organ systems most studied in my undergraduate course in comparative vertebrate morphology. Those images will be accessible to ACS students and faculty through the Southwestern University Biology Department web page. Since my course emphasizes morphological features of the lamprey, the dogfish shark, and the house cat, those will be the focus organisms for this project.

As explained above, the primary utility of these digitized images will be for student review of anatomical structures in preparation for laboratory practical examinations. However, it is anticipated that these images should prove to be useful during anatomy lecture sessions. (I assume that most ACS member institutions have "electronic classrooms" which will permit projection of these images during lecture presentations.)

ASSESSMENT OF OF PROJECT EFFECTIVENESS

I have been administering practical examinations to anatomy students for a little more than 30 years. Although the percentages vary slightly from year, I have developed a fairly accurate sense of "what sort of grade distribution to expect from a given set of questions". My primary method of assessing the effectiveness of the project will be to compare raw scores of students who have had access to the digital images with those earned by former students, who had no such access. (I realize that this comparison can hardly be considered to be truly objective. After all, the same person will be setting up the web page as well as making up and grading the practical exams. This will certainly not be a "double blind" experiment. However, I cannot imagine that I will somehow ask easier, or harder, questions after the digitized images are available. Thus, I would expect significant changes in student performance to be due, at least in part, to the availability of technology.

SHARING WITH ACS INSTITUTIONS

Students and faculty at ACS member-institutions can access the images via the Southwestern University Biology Department web page, utilizing whatever browser is available to them. Those who wish to customize the images for their own use will need Adobe Photoshop, or a similar image-manipulation program. CD ROM disks can be made available, on request. I do not believe that mailing unsolicited disks would be cost-effective.

TIMETABLE FOR PROPOSED PROJECT

Spring Semester, 2001-Capture digital images of:
  1. external anatomy of lamprey, shark and cat
  2. musculature of lamprey, shark and cat
  3. digestive systems of lamprey, shark and cat
  4. respiratory systems of lamprey, shark and cat
  5. circulatory systems of lamprey, shark and cat
  6. urogenital systems of lamprey, shark and cat
  7. nervous systems of lamprey, shark and cat
  8. skeletal systems of shark and cat

Summer, 2001-Place the digital images on my web page

Next Academic Year (2001-2002)

  1. capture better images, only as needed
  2. reorganize web page to facilitate a "regional/interactive" approach to coverage of the material. My plan (This phase is rather tentative, at this time) is to layer images so that students can "peel away" layers and study virtual organs in a manner as similar to dissection as possible. Authorware and Photoshop should provide the technology needed to accomplish this goal.

Required Materials

Computer---Southwestern University has provided me with a MacIntosh G3, which is enough computer to do this project.

Digital Camera---Southwestern University has provided me with a Kodak DC280. This 2 megapixel camera has high resolution (1760 X 1168) and moderate (6X) zoom capability. It should be ideal for capturing high quality color images of the study organs.

Software---Southwestern University has provided me with Authorware and Photoshop. These are the only "speciality" programs required for this project.

Lampreys, sharks and cats---These animals will be dissected in my Comparative Vertebrate Morphology course, which is taught during Spring semesters, including Spring of 2001. With a lot of help from my students, I will capture the appropriate images.