Education ForeCAST Tipsheet

The ATLAS program: Bringing medical science to the classroom ATLAS-plus is a multimedia program developed at the University of Michigan by the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and the Learning Resource Center. The ATLAS program integrates the use of digitized images, computer graphics, sound, animations and textual information to teach the basic concepts and principles of human anatomy. ATLAS-plus evolved from a software project which was designed as a resource for students who were having difficulty with Histology. Using interactive multimedia enables students to learn and review at their own pace. In use at the University of Michigan Medical School since 1990, the program is available in several networked sites. The Classroom Experience At teacher Lee Koski's advanced biology class at Dow High School in Midland Michigan, students use the ATLAS program to explore and learn about the principles of respiration and heart activity. Students flock to Koski's class. Their classroom is set up with 8 different lab stations -- many of the activities have been around for years and represent more traditional methods of teaching biology. There are skeletons, devices to measure air flow over the lungs, and paper diagrams. But other stations are equipped with computer technology that is reforming the way Koski's students teaching of high school biology. "I think our kids appreciate computers most when there is action. Multiple body areas functioning together to bring about an end point," says Koski. ATLAS students are able to use the online program for simulations and experiments -- they create and analyze their own electrocardiograms, and interact with the scientific community online with research questions and results. Lessons in the ATLAS curriculum include: Introductory Information, familiarizing students with the sagittal, coronal, horizontal and oblique planes of the body Systemic Anatomy, eleven lesson modules covering the endocrine, respiratory, cardiovascular, muscular, digestive, nervous, urinary, reproductive, lymphatic, skin, and bones and joints systems Gross Dissection, fifteen diagrammatic dissections designed to introduce students to the gross anatomy laboratory session Listen to the Education ForeCAST piece on The ATLAS program from Michigan Radio Download a free copy of Real Audio here

ATLAS Emphasizes Educational Reform Goals Students using the ATLAS program in their biology curriculum engage in: authentic tasks multidisciplinary tasks collaborative tasks student exploration interactive modes of instruction ATLAS evaluators report back Claudia Douglas, a professor of Science Education at Central Michigan University, has been working to evaluate the applicability of ATLAS for high-school level teaching -- it was originally developed as a program for university-level medical students. Douglas reports that ATLAS is appealing to scholars on many different levels of ability and aptitude. The combination of text, audio and graphics, the involvement of teachers and the opportunities for interactive communication make ATLAS useful for varied types of learners. For more information on ATLAS, contact Visible Productions toll free at 1-800-685-4668, or call the Technology Management Office in the Dept of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Michigan, tel (734) 936-0435, fax (734)936-1330. Visit the ATLAS web page for more information and for links to other biology sites. (www.med.umich.edu/lrc/Atlas/atlas.html) For contact with other schools that have integrated technology into their science curricula for the study of anatomy, explore these websites: Human Anatomy On-line (http://www.innerbody.com/) American Association of Anatomists (http://www.anatomy.org/) The Digital Anatomist Project (http://www1.biostr.washington.edu) The Visible Human Project (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/) Structure of the Human Body (http://www.meddean.luc.edu) Virtual Anatomy Project (http://www.vis.colostate.edu) The Heart: An Online Exploration (http://sln.fi.edu/)