Embedding Research Into a
st
1
Year Anatomy Module
Stephen Price, Susan Evans and Leslie Dale
Research Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
Introduction
ANAT1003 is a first year, half-unit course as an
introduction to Anatomy and Developmental
Biology. Embryonic development is very
challenging for students to study owing to the
fact that considerable movements of cells and
tissues occur. Thus, many of the early features
of developing embryos look nothing like the way
they will exist in adults. The course is taught
in the first term and so we are mindful of the
culture shock for students beginning their
university studies. However, we are also of the
opinion that there should be an embedding of
the cutting-edge research conducted at UCL in
this topic from the outset .
Structure of the Course
ANAT 1003 is taught on Tuesdays and Fridays for
two hours in each session. The first hour is
devoted to examinable materials and is recorded
via Lecturecast. We organised the course
thematically and roughly according to relevant
developmental timings in the embryo, with adult
structures introduced as appropriate. This hour is
taught by three academics to maintain continuity
and facilitate a feeling of inclusion of the students
to a UCL department. The second hour of each
session consists of seminars by UCL academics,
postdocs, and research students related to the
topic of the research being carried out in their lab.
Figure 2. Illustration of some of the model
organisms talked about in the seminars.
Owing to a loss of large practical space for
the teaching of this course, we also have
successfully introduced some sessions
to introduce experimental embryology to
the students via projecting live images of
developing chicken embryos in ovo.
Figure 3. Illustration of an example of
experimental embryology as it is
demonstrated to the students of ANAT1003
Conclusions
We have managed to embed UCL research into a
first year undergraduate course. These sessions
are extremely well-regarded by the students.
Figure 1. Structure of the ANAT1003 course