The use of alternatives to animal tests in higher education David Dewhurst College of Medicine &...
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The use of alternatives to animal tests in higher education
David Dewhurst
College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine
University of Edinburgh
BSc, PhD Physiology/pharmacology with extensive teachingDeveloper of Computer-based alternatives - Sheffield BioScience Programs www/sheffbp.co.ukDirector of Learning Technology - Medicine & Vet MedProfessor of e-Learning
Context• Animal use for educational purposes across Europe is falling
but is still significant and an underestimate. In UK 2005 number was 1,618 (0.056% of total)
• Primary users: UG pharmacology + other bio/medical sciences
Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals UK 1987-2005
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19881989199019911992199319941996199719981999200020012002200320042005
Education 1000's
Aims of UG courses in pharmacology [physiol]
Produce graduates who:• have specialist pharmacological knowledge, • have a range of generic and specialist
pharmacological [laboratory] skills, • have generic transferable skills, life-long learners • are equipped to work in pharmaceutical industry
[11% BSc in UK], research/further training [36% BSc in UK]
• are equipped to benefit from other graduate work opportunities [18% BSc in UK]
Hollingsworth & Markham (2006) BEE-J, 8, First Employment of British Pharmacology Graduates
Designing a curriculum to achieve this
Many stakeholders exert influences on shape and content of curriculum
• University - educational provider, own the IP• Teachers - producers and primary change agents
• develop and deliver the curriculum• decide learning objectives and assessments• they are the change agents who need to be persuaded• most educated in traditional courses -resistant to change
• Students - consumers (pay fees)• Employers - consumers of graduates• External bodies - e.g. Pharmacology Societies,
General Medical Council - regulators
Learning objectives of labs
• Teaching and/or practicing:
• laboratory skills – generic and specific• new knowledge (reinforcing existing)• experimental design• data-handling skills• oral/written communication skills• working in teams• promoting staff-student interaction
Good:only vehicle for effective teaching & learning of lab skills,
animal handling skills and surgical skillsPromote interactive and active learningPromote teacher-student interactionALL FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE IS KNOWN
Traditional Animal Labs - good and bad
Bad:– use animals– heavy on staff and student time– expensive - require technical support, equipment,
consumables, specialist accommodation – sometimes negative learning experience - ‘failed’
experiments.Learning objectives may well be different for different student groups
What non-animal models are there? • computer programs - typically simulate animal
preparations/experiments• video and interactive video• mannekins, models, simulators, virtual reality• human self-experimentation• non-animal experiments (e.g. using plant
tissues, post-mortem material, cultured cells)• Ethically sourced cadavers• Clinical practice (veterinary treatment of [sick]
animals)
Which T&L objectives can non-animal models achieve?
– knowledge acquisition– data handling skills– experimental design skills– communication skills– team working and staff-student interaction– practical laboratory skills [some]– art of doing experiments, thinking ‘on your
feet’, animal handling-skills [some]– INNOVATION = BETTER TEACHING
Evidence that they work?• Numerous studies*• knowledge gain is equivalent• costs are less• better support for weaker students• good acceptance by students
• BUT: different learning objectives are achieved
Tutors must decide the PRIMARY learning objectives - may be different for different students.
*Knight A. (2207) The effectiveness of humane teaching methods in veterinary education. ALTEX: Alternatives to Animal Experimentation 2007;24(2):91-109.
Use of non-animal models
• as replacements for animal experiments
• to better prepare students
• to debrief students• as a fallback• to enable additional
data to be collected
Are alternatives widely used?
• may not precisely fit with course objectives
• staff resistance • need initial resource
input to implement e.g. develop support materials
• lack of academic time/skills to implement them
Evidence is yes but could be better
Convincing teachers
• Encourage teachers to re-examine learning objectives for different student groups
• Provide evidence of successful use - empirical,
qualitative, economic
• Publish exemplar good practice use cases • Increase awareness and outreach activities -
organisations, websites [EURCA], databases [NORINA]
• Use sustainable development methods which avoid technological redundancy [ReCAL]
Summary
• There are sound pedagogical reasons why non-animal models can be cost effective alternatives in UG teaching
• A wide range of ‘proven’ non-animal models already exist
• Teachers are the curriculum ‘change agents’• Efforts should be focussed on convincing teachers
– Awareness raising– Publishing evidence– Assistance with integration of alternatives into
mainstream teaching
David Dewhurst
www.sheffbp.co.uk
… thank you
Sheffield BioScience Programs
• Established 1989• Currently > 40 titles mostly in physiology and
pharmacology– Simulations of experiments - alternatives– Interactive tutorials
• ‘Experimental Design’; ‘Medicines - the discovery process’
– Human and Clinical simulations
• Created by teams of content experts, educationalists, programmers
• Mostly available as cross-platform applications
www.sheffbp.co.uk
SBP Alternatives
• Frog Sciatic nerve• Frog Gastrocnemius
muscle• Frog Heart• Cat Nictitating
Membrane• Cat neuromuscular
junction• Rat intestinal transport• Rabbit Langendorff
Heart
www.sheffbp.co.uk
• Guinea Pig Airways • Rabbit skin - inflammation• Rat - colonic motility• Guinea Pig Ileum• Human eye - autonomic
pharmacol• Rat Blood Pressure• Rat Mitochondria• Frog Skin• Squid Axon• Experimental Design
New developments - ReCAL• Currently we can deliver on CD-ROM:
– original program which will run in Adobe Flash; – all of the learning objects for a particular program; – an IMS compliant ‘Content Package’ - VLE.
• Teachers control content creation = local editing and sustainability
• expand the number of LOs in the repository by ‘processing’ further CAL programs,
• develop appropriate business model offering: – online (Internet) access; – teacher access to the online repository of all LOs;– teacher access to the online authoring system (Labyrinth).