Teaching an experimental animal model to a visiting student – Active learning in teaching

Medicine (Perspectives on Learning) 2021-11-01

Abstract

The topic for the project plan for the perspectives on learning course was chosen based on a specific teaching task that I was assigned for. Our research uses experimental animal models of ischemic stroke for many studies, and I have experience of six years using those models. For this year, we will have an external doctoral student that expressed her interest by e-mail to learn the technique, and I gladly accepted the role of teaching her. The student will learn the experimental model that we call photothrombosis. This model aims at inducing ischemic damage in a reproducible and minimally invasive way, by performing a surgical procedure in the animal that for an experienced person takes 40 to 45 minutes to perform. In this project I decided to explore i) some strategies that are proven in the literature to improve learning; ii) best strategies to teach the surgical procedure, also based in the literature. It is also explored some aspects that I consider that should be provided for this individual assignment. In the following sections, I will discuss what factors are relevant for the learning; why should I consider them; and how to assess them during the learning process.