Upper School Anatomy and Physiology Students Use Innovation in Classroom

Upper School Anatomy and Physiology students participated in an exercise to recognize and learn the technical terms for the various tissues in the human body. Rather than just being given the terms, they started out by observing and recording the similarities and differences in the tissues. Focusing on the individual cells, they wrote descriptions of what they had observed, such as “square shaped in a single row.” When they were later given the technical vocabulary, they already had a good understanding of what terms such as ”simple cuboidal” actually meant. Using an inquiry-based, student-centered approach to learning gives gifted students the opportunity to think for themselves and work things out. Learning gains are higher and students are more involved in the learning process.