Texas Public Schools Improve Scoring in the “Difficult to Teach” Sciences of Anatomy and Physiology

As a wide- open healthcare field prods a growing number of students to seek careers in the industry, educators are finding more effective tools and techniques to teach a traditionally difficult subject.

With the proliferation of magnet schools, strict testing standards and omnipresent budgetary concerns, finding new ways to improve student performance without breaking the bank has become imperative for educators and administrators. Unfortunately, finding new solutions—through improved teaching techniques, systems, or tools—is often easier said than done.

However, schools throughout the state of Texas have discovered a way to increase student performance in the normally “difficult-to-teach” subjects of anatomy and physiology in the form of a new kinesthetic teaching system. Championed by the Texas Health Science Technology Education group (HSTE), over 130 schools in Texas currently utilize this system and the resulting educational benefits and learning improvement are being widely praised by administrators, teachers and students alike.

For as long as anyone can remember, the physical sciences of anatomy and physiology have been taught by utilizing a learning system that was developed more than 140 years ago based on a two-dimensional, “dissect the parts from the whole” approach that is supposed to teach students about the complex, interactive, three-dimensional system that is the human body. For some teachers, this method of teaching was insufficient because it relied on the process of rote memorization to define the numerous parts of the body, which is difficult for even the best students. With accountability for pupil performance and antiquated educational techniques hampering teacher’s efforts, generating enthusiasm or teaching students how the information is relevant to their own bodies was a losing proposition.

Discovering a better way to teach anatomy was just the first step. Teachers utilize a system of atlases, models, and detailed illustrations that cover how these body parts are related, with detailed information on muscles and bones and their relationship. Ewan noticed an immediate change in the student’s enthusiasm and in test results.

“On the first class we used it on, even without formal instruction, I already saw the students grasping concepts that they just couldn’t get before,” says Ewan.#

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