Lewis/Life - Teaching Techniques

Chapter 30 - Teaching Techniques

A. General Tips
You may be faced with two major temptations in teaching this entire unit. The first is the temptation to try to teach a complete human anatomy and physiology course in ten quick chapters. The other temptation is to make this unit a giant vocabulary lesson. Succumbing to either of these temptations, I think, defeats the purpose of this overview unit on the principles of animal structure and function. In each chapter the anatomical and physiological principles are given and the human is used as a practical (and interesting) example. It is good to diverge onto the human applications, but this is a basic, general biology course. Keep your divergences in perspective.
Plan well. What concepts do you want to teach? Which principles should your students be able to explain? How many of the Key Terms do you expect your students to remember? Why have you chosen those particular themes and terms? How can these points be applied across the animal phyla?
Although there is a tremendous amount of material included in this unit, if you are also an anatomy and/or physiology instructor, you are very much aware of all the human points that are NOT included. Keep these points in perspective and, although it may be quite appropriate to augment certain sections, when doing so remember your original course objectives.
Even though I caution you about the amount of material you may be tempted to cover in class, I also encourage you to give some very practical assignments for your students to complete outside of class time. This unit is filled with material. The human side is also a breeding ground for misinformation. You can point out particular areas of current interest -- diseases, nutritional studies, research concerns, etc. -- and assign reports or analyses of these topics.
For instance, when the newspaper announces the findings of a new study, how is that study reported? Was good science involved? Challenge the students to go back to the original research and see if the scientists followed solid scientific methodology. What types of problems are present?
Or, use the non-quiz to discover misconceptions held by your own students. You will be amazed! I do offer some non-quiz questions throughout this unit but, based on the demographics of your class and particular items in the news when you are teaching this material, you should feel free to institute your own non-quiz questions.
When you find major misconceptions, challenge the science and the scientific methodology.
Many (though certainly not all) of your students will have had a high school anatomy/physiology course. Unfortunately, many of these high school courses stress a memorization of terms and facts rather than a conceptual understanding of the material. Therefore, these students will come to you with a large "animal" vocabulary but very little real understanding of what they are talking about.
Have on hand a good General Zoology book as well as a good Anatomy/Physiology book. You will want a quick reference for difficulties that may arise.
You might wish to copy and distribute to your students the Overview of Chapter Objectives flowchart found at the beginning of this Instructor's Manual Chapter.
B. Possible Approaches to the Chapter
Students will find most of the tables and figures in this chapter to be quite interesting. Because of the volume of information, I suggest you use these visuals to help focus your instruction. Brief outlines of different aspects of this material are especially helpful.
Throughout this material, stress the structure / function relationship.
C. Hints Related to Specific Chapter Topics
- I.A. Yes, there are such things as stratified columnar cells (lining certain large ducts, such as salivary ducts) and stratified cuboidal cells (lining sweat gland ducts).
- I.B. Keeping the connective tissues straight on the first time through is often a monumental task for students. Know what you expect of them and have visuals ready to help them understand what you want. Do not expect them to memorize every word associated with these tissues.
  As an interesting point on adipose tissue, you might challenge the class to find out if a person (or animal) actually loses adipocytes when losing weight. Ask how this might affect the concept of dieting.
- I.D. The biggest misconception centers around the contractile nature of muscle tissue. All muscle tissue contracts.
- II.A. The basement membrane is an acellular interlocking layer produced by both the epithelial cells and the connective tissue cells. All epithelial tissues rest on a basement membrane. It forms the barrier between the organ and its environment.
- II.B. You can have a great deal of fun with the integumentary specializations. Think of the evolutionary strategies involved in structures such as feathers and beaks.
  Bring in some horns and antlers, if your school has any. An interesting question is, "Why do animals have horns and antlers? It is not very energy efficient. In addition to being heavy to carry around, those structures must be maintained."
  Bring in some feathers or claws or hooves. If you don't have any props, at least have some pictures available. Ask the students if they know that the rhinoceros horn is really just hair.
- III.A. The whole section on transplanted tissues and organs can make for an interesting debate. If you are daring, you might set up beforehand a "pro and con" discussion. A word of caution, however. When dealing with controversial topics, either state your opinion as your opinion and nothing more or play devil's advocate to both sides of the controversy. Do not allow yourself to become overly frustrated by a student whose strong opinions differ markedly from your own strong opinions.