Jose Medina

Combining Virtual With Hands-On (Dissections)

Hello,

I teach a course in Biology for non-science majors and we often look at all types of life, from bacteria all the way up to humans. Students learn a great deal during lecture and will be exposed to various organisms with the help of a microscope and prepared slides. Towards the end of the semester, we conduct a frog dissection and students seem to love it. In order to reinforce proper lab techniques and safe handling of dissection tools, I require that each student complete a virtual lab dissection at home. This serves as a practice session before they enter the classroom to conduct the actual dissection of a frog. By combining a virtual lab dissection with a hands-on one, students will get the most bang for the buck.