Researchers in the Visual Cognition Laboratory have developed new instructional software that is helping students learn about the brain.
Dr. John Pani, Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Director of the Visual Cognition Laboratory, recently published a paper in Advances in Health Sciences Education: Theory and Practice that reports on the use of their instructional brain anatomy software in the undergraduate neuroscience classroom. Dr. Sandie Sephton, Associate Professor in the same department, taught the undergraduate course in which the software was tested and is a co-author on the paper.
The paper reports a very successful introduction of the software with overwhelming student approval of the approach to instruction of brain anatomy.
The software will be introduced into the curriculum for the first year medical students in the spring semester.
Reference: Pani, J. R., Chariker, J. H., & Naaz, F., Roberts, J., Sephton, S. E. (2014). Learning with interactive computer graphics in the undergraduate neuroscience classroom. Advances in Health Sciences Education: Theory and Practice, 19, 507-528.