Online Introductory Human Anatomy Course

Jeffrey Altemus, Allison Reed, Richard Dey, Penprapa Klinkhachorn Robert Pope, Frank Reilly, Holly Ressitar, and Elizabeth Walker, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

ABSTRACT:

An introductory human anatomy course was designed and produced for delivery over the Web. The goal of the project was to develop and implement a series of asynchronously delivered human anatomy courses targeted for specific groups of students in need of undergraduate human anatomy. Undergraduate anatomy courses from the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at West Virginia University are reserved for students enrolled in the Health Sciences Center professional schools and allied health programs, each year the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy turned away between 50-100 students seeking an undergraduate level human anatomy course but not enrolled in these schools. There was a need for an undergraduate introductory human anatomy course. An institutional grant was awarded for this project. WebCT was chosen to deliver the content over the Internet to the students. A committee was formed that included faculty and technical staff from the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy. Faculty were identified and teams organized to work on the four instructional modules: 1) organization of the body, 2) respiratory and cardiovascular systems, 3) digestive, urinary and reproductive systems, and 4) the nervous system. A good textbook is critical for the success of an online course so we worked closely with publisher Benjamin Cummings and customized their textbook Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology, by Elaine Marieb, to contain just the content that the students would be responsible for. In addition to the textbook Benjamin and Cummings packaged a CD-ROM that goes along with the textbook and made available online resources including study modules and practice quizzes. The course was successfully offered in the Fall Semester of 2002 and Spring Semester of 2003.

BENEFIT TO PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING SESSION:

We present some of the difficulties of developing and delivering an on-line human anatomy course. We will show the process of developing a course such as this. Anyone with an interest in designing an on-line introductory human anatomy course and learning the administrational difficulties associated with such an endeavor.

Jeffrey Altemus Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy Health Sciences Center West Virginia University Morgantown, WV 26506 Phone: 304-293-6921 Fax: 304-293-8159 Email: mailto:jaltemus@hsc.wvu.edu Website: http://anatomy.hsc.wvu.edu

CO-AUTHORS: Allison Davis Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy Health Sciences Center West Virginia University Morgantown, WV 26506 Phone: 304-293-0596 Fax: 304-293-8159 Email: mailto:areed@hsc.wvu.edu