There have been multiple discussions in this course on the potential of AR and VR in education. I chose to investigate one specific application that is of particular interest to science teachers like myself. In my video, I highlight the problems with animal dissection, the benefits of AR/VR dissections, their current use in post-secondary institutions, and their limitations. Though there is a lot of buzz around their teaching and learning potential in the medical sciences, their use is relatively new, which means that there is a real lack of scientific evidence on their effectiveness. One paper has so far compared the effectiveness of learning physiology from plastic models, animal dissections, and VR dissections and the results were disappointing: VR dissections fall behind plastic models and does not seem to do any better at teaching students than real animal dissections. Still, perhaps all the benefits from virtual dissections will outweigh the results from this one paper.
12 responses to “A1: AR/VR Dissections in K-12 and Post-Secondary Education”
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As a biology teacher I would agree that the negatives of the real dissections are that they can be expensive, messy, and environmentally harmful but every year before a dissection lab I always ask my students if they would ever want a surgeon trained fully on models and simulations with no real hands on experience to operate on them (I have yet to hear “yes” as a response).
In British Columbia, dissections do not usually start until grade 8 when students study the eye during a physics unit on optics/light, after that dissections do not come up again until life science 11 and 12. As students are CHOOSING to take these higher level courses, the most popular activity they look forward to (and for many the main reason they took the course) is the dissection labs. During the dissection process students learn so much about the inter-workings of living things but they also learn about themselves. Seeing their reactions before, during and after the entire process of a dissection lab really shows me who they are as well. I can tell which students are genuinely interested and motivated to learn more and which students probably just took the course because they needed a science credit and were too afraid of physics and chemistry.
I agree with Ying’s response that real dissections should be kept in the higher level secondary grades and not for the younger ones. I think VR/AR dissections would be good introductory experiences for younger students. Perhaps it could be used to replace the grade 8 eye dissection as I find half the class doesn’t want to do it and those that do are not mature enough to be respectful of the specimens (Most of the eyes are in such bad shape from the preservation process that it isn’t really worth the effort of use real specimens).
Hi Neill,
Thank you very much for your insightful comment on about how students learn a bit about themselves by doing dissections. I think you are right, that the value of doing a real dissection goes beyond learning the curriculum. I can imagine a student going through high school without doing a single dissection, dreaming to become a surgeon, only to discover that they don’t have the stomach to see blood in upper year university! What a mistake that would be!
Unquestionably, anyone training to be a surgeon must practice on real specimens. I think we can all agree on that one!
Wonderful production Ying! I really like the idea of plastic models for dissection, much more durable for a school science programme. I remember seeing an ad/video a while back abut using plastic cadavers as they were better models of living humans rather than actual cadavers which are clearly different form living persons. Once again, a wonderful and engaging video. Thank you!
https://syndaver.com/product-category/full-body-models/
Hi Philip,
Thank you for the positive feedback! It is a shame that one plastic model can cost so much. The upfront cost is huge for a lot of schools. I do think that until someone decides to train to be a surgeon, plastic models might do just fine. I had a thought the other day that we could just buy a chicken from the grocery store and learn how the strengths of tendon vs bone vs muscle vs fat, and if cut with clean tools and hands, a class can cook it afterwards and have lunch. A much more sustainable approach perhaps?
Your video is well rounded and engaging! I appreciate the way you looked at the topic not only from a learning potential perspective, but also from environmental and budgeting perspectives. Very useful!
What you used to make your video? Great work!
Hi Lyndsay!
Thank you so much for your positive feedback! I used Davinci Resolve, which is a completely free video editing program. It is really powerful and has a pretty steep learning curve, but there are tons of video tutorials on it. I probably only used 1% of its functions to make this video. You do need a good computer to run it smoothly, but I swear it is the best free video editing software out there, in terms of just how much you can do with it at no cost at all.
Awesome project. I like the idea of virtual dissections for the sake of the animals. I shudder every time my sister tells me how they dissected live frogs in her grade 12 class (many, many, many, years ago). They would pith them (stick a pin in their brain to paralyze them), and she insisted that they felt no pain, but I am doubtful. One interesting thing is that they could see the lungs and heart in action which is usually not possible. With virtual dissections, one can easily see the organs in action without harming a living organism.
Now that being said, virtual dissections cannot replace the tactile essence of the dissection. I have done numerous eyeball dissections with my grade 8 students, and I always get them to take note of the differences in texture of the muscle versus the fat, and the toughness of the sclera, etc. Real dissections don’t peel away tissue and expose nice clean shapely organs in the way virtual ones do, and learning to manually manipulate tools and tissues in a careful and non-destructive way is a learning experience in itself.
Technology accessibility is also a factor as virtual headsets are expensive, and apps/technology need maintenance and upgrading/replacing periodically. However, as mentioned, this can be factored in as a replacement cost in lieu of buying more animals for dissection each year, so probably more cost effective in the long run.
Many points to consider, but a great project overall.
Hi Marlis,
Thank you for your feedback! Yes, I do agree there is something about a real dissection that cannot be replicated. I suppose, then, the argument becomes, at what point in a student’s education does in-depth tactile feedback become indispensable? I would think the answer to that is upper year post-secondary, so perhaps that is when dissection of live specimens should take place.
Lovely video Ying. I had no idea how the industry of V/R and A/R dissection was growing. I was not expecting a brief environmental assessment in this presentation. It’s great how you bridged some educational theory in this process, which will be very important moving forward in all of our projects.
Thank you, Brittany! By doing the environmental assessment, I ended up going over the 6 min limit, but I did think it was worth it. Thank you for agreeing!
Thanks for sharing Ying. That was a fantastic video presentation. As an online biology teacher, I look forward to increased availability of good quality virtual dissections. Money is always scarce in my school so I am only able to use the free apps. I had not considered the cost comparison of having my students doing virtual rather than a preserved dissection … this will be my new pitch to my admin when I look to use some of the licensed examples you provided.
Hi DeeDee!
I’m so glad this was useful to you! My colleagues looked into buying paper dissections, but discovered that they cost a horrendous amount as well. You can use this stat to pitch to your admin too!
I think the main cost benefit is, while in real dissections, you have to buy one specimen for a pair of students, you can buy less headsets and virtual programs per head. After an animal is dissected, that’s it. It’s done. But with a virtual headset and a program, that dissection can be restarted over and over. You may be able to get away with 1 set per 5-6 students and just have your students take turns. Half the class can do the dissection, while the other half work on something else.