APStracts 5:0004S, 1998.

USING SIMPLE ANIMATIONS IN PHYSIOLOGY TEACHING: VENTILATORY PATTERNS A CASE IN POINT. SABYASACHI S. SIRCAR. Department of Physiology, University College of Medical Sciences, Shahdara, Delhi-110095, INDIA.
APStracts 5:0004S, 1998.
ABSTRACT
Constructing diagrams for explaining certain physiological concepts can be challenging. There is a whole class of physiological topics, represented here by the neural generation of respiratory rhythm, which are best taught using 'dynamic diagrams' : a series of diagrams generated through simple animations and based on user-provided inputs. The theory of neural generation of respiratory rhythm discussed here is not necessarily correct or widely accepted. It however continues to find a place in some of the most widely read textbooks of Physiology, which obligates the teacher to devise effective methods of putting it across to the students. Selected criteria can be defined for identifying areas where dynamic diagrams would be effective as a teaching tool. Unlike those animations which are used to provide a debatable alternative to wet laboratory, dynamic diagrams explaining certain theoretical concepts should have few rivals.

Received 5 March 1997; accepted in final form 17 February 1998.
APS Manuscript Number S007-7.
Article publication pending Advances in Physiology Education.
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1998 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 9 March 1998