ANTECEDENTES INVESTIGATIVOS

Six of the 8 students who completed an actual dissection stated that the dissection was hard, that it was difficult to find the organs and know what to cut. One of these students summed up their views by saying that she had difficulty “finding the right parts and taking out the right things.” Although these students reported that they had

difficulties, five of these students concluded that the overall experience was positive, with one student stating that she felt “it was good to actually get the chance to see what organs look like.” One student who completed an actual dissection summed up her experience by stating, “ I think it was the best thing I have done this year. I was nervous the whole time, the cutting was nerve-wracking, but it was fun.” The 7th student who actually dissected a fetal pig echoed this sentiment by saying “I am glad it’s over. Every day the smell grossed me out.” Although this student was “grossed out,” she did report a positive experience overall.

The remaining student, of the 8 students who actually dissected, responded, “I had a negative experience. I did not want to dissect cute little pigs, I wanted to play with them.”

Virtual Dissection

Many strong feelings emerged from the interviews with the students who performed virtual dissections. Eight of the 14 students stated that the dissection was “complicated,” “chaotic,” “horrible,” “frustrating,” “annoying,” and “stressful.” One of these students summed up these thoughts by saying “It was very stressful and I was aggravated. You didn’t know where the body parts were on the computer. I was very stressed out with it, and I needed a lot of explanations.” One student who performed a virtual dissection disagreed and felt that you could see the organs clearer when looking at an actual specimen. Another of these students said “It was frustrating because the packet didn’t match. It was the first time for the teachers and both the teachers and students didn’t know what to do.” One student disagreed with this idea by stating that the teacher “did a good job, I feel so bad we stressed her out.”

The 4 students who stated they liked the virtual dissection all agreed on the fact that the organs were easier to locate by using computers. One of these students felt that “It was very educational, I really liked it. It showed the organs to you and it was easier than finding them in the pig.” One student stated an additional benefit in that “It didn’t gross me out and I got all the information I needed.”

Summary

The majority of the students from both groups stated that they felt that the

the dissections were stressful. Although students in both groups voiced the sentiment, more students who completed the virtual dissection complained of being stressed by the experience. Another difference that emerged was that the students felt that the teachers who conducted the virtual dissection were inexperienced with the procedure. This feeling was not voiced by any of the students who actually completed a dissection. Additionally, a few comments were raised as to the difficulty of being able to orient the specific organs and structures as to their position in both the virtual and actual fetal pigs. Question 4: How do you feel about the fact that some people performed a virtual

dissection instead of having performed a dissection on an actual animal? Actual Dissection

Three of the 8 students who performed an actual dissection responded that they would have preferred to complete their dissection on the computer. One student stated, “I would have rather done it virtually. I don’t think that students should be forced to

dissect. Very few of us are going into medical schools.”

Three students who actually dissected disagreed with the virtual dissections. One student disagreed by stating, “Virtual is on the computer, and you can’t feel the texture. You need to feel it. It is better for those students who want to dissect on the computer, but it would be boring. Who’s going to remember? I will remember pulling out the intestines.” Another student agreed with this assessment by saying, “Computers can be done at any time, but I will never be able to dissect a pig again.” However, 1 of the 8 students stated that dissection should be done with actual specimens. She said, “Even though it is gross, and you might want to do it virtually, I think you get more out of it if you actually dissect.”

Two of the students said that it really didn’t matter which way the students dissected, as long as they were learning.

Virtual Dissection

Three of the 14 students who were interviewed and who had completed a virtual dissection felt that it was okay that they had performed the dissection on a computer. One of the students said, “I thought it was fair. I didn’t have a problem with it. We ended up seeing the pig in the lab, and I wasn’t jealous.”

The 11 other students who virtually dissected did not think it was fair that they were unable to dissect an actual fetal pig. One of these 11 students stated, “It was not fair. They got to do the real pig and I have been waiting since freshman year to dissect.”

One of these students stated that she thought it was unfair and that if a student was more proficient on the computer she should have the choice, but this student preferred to actually dissect a fetal pig. In terms of having a choice, another of these students stated, ”I understand it was an experiment, but it is my personal opinion that everyone should dissect. If someone is strongly opposed, then they should have a choice.”

Summary

Three of the 8 students from the actual dissection wanted to complete their dissection on the computers. In addition, 3 students who completed a virtual dissection wanted to complete their experience on the computers. The problem voiced by the 11 remaining students who completed their dissection on the computer was that they felt that they were denied the chance to actually dissect the fetal pig and that it was not fair that they did not have the chance to experience the actual dissection. The students did have the option of opting out of the experiment but did choose to participate. The fetal pig

dissection experience is seen as a tradition by the students of the school, and many who were interviewed felt that they were denied the chance to participate in this traditional activity. One original thought voiced up by two students who actually dissected was that it did not matter which type of dissection was performed as long as the students learned something from the experience.

Question 5: What is your opinion about the use of computers in the classroom?