6.3 Teaching and Learning Case studies

6.4 Student Opinions on the Guinea Pig Ileum Package In this section, some aspects of the package design, content and utilisation which have been raised by students during all the case studies are now presented and discussed. Things they found easy to grasp: "Constructing the dose response curves and the theory behind agonists" - Questionnaire response - Liverpool "I understand how receptors combine with the agonist, causing the muscle to contract, and also the best way to construct dose-response curves" - Questionnaire response - Cardiff "It gave you an idea of exactly what happens if you put too much in or too little in and what the curve should look like rather than showing just a curve on the screen and saying that's what you ought to end up with" - Discussion group - Cardiff "The experimental parts which were covered previously in practicals" - Questionnaire response - Brighton   Things they liked : "The package was well laid out and each new 'subject' to learn was introduced at the right pace. The experiment was easy to understand and being able to look back through the theory 'pages' helped too." - Questionnaire response - Bath "The more interactive parts were good" - Questionnaire response - Brighton "It's got problems set out in it whereas in a lecture you've just got your notes to go back to" - Discussion group - Liverpool   "Those little tests in the middle - I thought they were wonderful. I could tell whether or not I'd been reading it or whether it had gone in one ear and out the other" - Discussion group - Cardiff   These comments reflect the general positive responses from the students. Constructing and analysing the dose response curves was a fundamental part of the work they were asked to do on the package and in the main, this was cited as easy to grasp on the questionnaires and in discussions. There were many comments highlighting the clear explanations and instructions and the design and structure appears to have been successful in maintaining interest and motivation .   Things that were difficult: " Anatomy of the ileum labelling" - Questionnaire response - Brighton "Comparing dose response curves" - Questionnaire response - Liverpool "The maths related sections. i.e. working out concentrations and logs and the experimental set-up" - Questionnaire response - Cardiff "I got a bit confused with all the chemicals used. i.e. forgot which ones had which effects. Derivation of Ka." - Questionnaire response - Cardiff "How to produce log10 concentration against % max response curve was not entirely clear" - Questionnaire response - Bath "Dose cycles were not explained very clearly" - Questionnaire response - Brighton   Things that they disliked: "It got rather repetitive" - Questionnaire response - Brighton " Constantly changing agonist concentrations was tedious" - Questionnaire response - Bath "The plot on the actual curve was too slow - you know it's gone wrong but you have to wait" - Discussion group - Cardiff The theoretical traces produced were too slow; there was no real need for them, just a value of the peak" - Questionnaire response - Brighton "Some (of the activities) were a bit long 'cause some of them were about 30 pages (.....) Perhaps it could do with sub-dividing a little bit more, like 15 pages was quite nice" - Discussion group - Liverpool In the questionnaire responses and to some extent in the discussions, students have mentioned several times that the package assumes that they know the anatomy of the ileum and tests them without having provided any teaching on this. It seems clear that many groups have not previously covered this and some introductory material, perhaps optionally available, would help with this. The calculations and equations also featured widely in areas that students found difficult. The plotting of curves was mentioned at all institutions as being too slow and repetitive and students often felt that they could have done with far fewer examples of this. The package is very long and detailed and the comment from the discussion group at Liverpool was endorsed by the whole group who felt that long sections had affected their motivation after studying for about an hour. Although the Guinea Pig Ileum package was designed to cut down on the use of animals in practicals, as we have seen, many institutions still have a practical as part of the teaching on this subject. In the following section, some of the responses from students about the use of practicals with the package and the use of the package to replace practicals are presented.   On the relationship between the package and the practical: "We did a practical at the end and we used the equipment that they had shown us in the CAL but basically I still didn't have any idea how to put the whole lot together. We still had to get instructions on how to do that" - Discussion group - Cardiff "The diagram is a little bit too simplistic. When we actually got to look at it last week - it was completely different, it was a shock" - Discussion group - Cardiff "I wouldn't have been happy about just doing the package without the practical, 'cause the practical considerations would not have stuck at all." - Discussion group - Cardiff "The computer package in general was a great help and helped me to understand a lot of the principles involved in the practical we attended and carried out" - Questionnaire response - Cardiff The students at Cardiff were happy about the mix of practicals and CAL and felt that, in general the package was a good preparation for the practical class. There does seem to be some dissatisfaction amongst these students on the experimental set-up section, which they did not feel prepared them adequately for the actual experiment. Students at Liverpool who were divided into two groups, some doing the package first and some doing the practical first seemed to see the advantages of both ways of studying. This student did the practical first: " I was happy we did the package after the practical 'cause when the apparatus is on the screen, its showing you where everything goes - it's not really very easy to see. So once you've done the practical you know which way everything is working out - more or less and it just restates it - what's on the package" - Discussion group - Liverpool This student did the package first: "I preferred that because I panic when I get into a practical sometimes - I don't know what's going on at first but that seemed to give us a bit of an insight into what to expect when we were there." - Discussion group - Liverpool This student did the package first but sees advantages both ways: "You knew you were going to be expected to set up a piece of tissue and what should be happening (.....) but then afterwards is a good way because if there's something that didn't quite go right with the practical or something you want a bit more help with, you can come to the package then and you're looking for that point (....) Both ways are equally good" - Discussion group - Liverpool As with students in Cardiff, these students felt that they would not be happy to study the package without having the practical. This is not really surprising, as most students want a varied and interesting teaching programme and having experienced the practical would be reluctant to do without it. This may be linked to the numerous comments on the Experimental Set-up section in the questionnaires and discussion groups. There was wide variation of opinion about this section. The students at Bath liked the set-up section and found it easy to grasp as already quoted on page 23. Also mentioned on page 23 was the fact that in the discussion group at Bath, students thought that a practical wasn't necessary although a demonstration would help. Many, like the quotations above from Cardiff, suggested that the set-up section was difficult to understand or to see what was happening. Students from Brighton, who had done the experiment a lot earlier cited the Experimental Set-up as one aspect they found easy to grasp. Although opinions are divided, it is clear that, as a simulation of an experiment, the package is not communicating to some of those who have not done the practical as well as it might. Students cannot always interpret the diagrams adequately, whether they have done a previous practical on this or not. It may be that the structure of the package where the experimental set-up is separate from constructing the response curves needs to be reviewed. A more integrated section would possibly help students to understand the interactions within the experiment more fully. The inclusion of video clips and sequences requiring students to simulate the experiment directly might also help with this.