The use of alternatives to animal tests in higher education

1. The use of alternatives to animal tests in higher education David Dewhurst College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine University of Edinburgh

2. BSc, PhD Physiology/pharmacology with extensive teaching Developer of Computer-based alternatives - Sheffield BioScience Programs www/sheffbp.co.uk Director of Learning Technology - Medicine & Vet Med Professor of e-Learning

3. Context • Animal use for educational purposes across Europe is falling but is still significant and an underestimate. In UK 2005number was 1,618 (0.056% of total) • Primary users: UG pharmacology + other bio/medical sciences

4. Aims of UG courses in pharmacology [physiol] Produce graduates who: • have specialist pharmacological knowledge, • have a range of generic and specialist pharmacological [laboratory] skills, • have generic transferable skills, life-long learners • are equipped to work in pharmaceutical industry [11% BSc in UK], research/further training [36% BSc in UK] • are equipped to benefit from other graduate work opportunities [18% BSc in UK] Hollingsworth & Markham (2006) BEE-J, 8, First Employment of British Pharmacology Graduates

5. Designing a curriculum to achieve this Many stakeholders exert influences on shape and content of curriculum • University - educational provider, own the IP • Teachers - producers and primary change agents • develop and deliver the curriculum • decide learning objectives and assessments • they are the change agents who need to be persuaded • most educated in traditional courses -resistant to change • Students - consumers (pay fees) • Employers - consumers of graduates • External bodies - e.g. Pharmacology Societies, General Medical Council - regulators

6. Learning objectives of labs • Teaching and/or practicing: • laboratory skills – generic and specific • new knowledge (reinforcing existing) • experimental design • data-handling skills • oral/written communication skills • working in teams • promoting staff-student interaction

7. Traditional Animal Labs - good and bad • Good: • only vehicle for effective teaching & learning of lab skills, animal handling skills and surgical skills • Promote interactive and active learning • Promote teacher-student interaction • ALL FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE IS KNOWN • Bad: • use animals • heavy on staff and student time • expensive - require technical support, equipment, consumables, specialist accommodation • sometimes negative learning experience - ‘failed’ experiments. Learning objectives may well be different for different student groups

8. What non-animal models are there? • computer programs - typically simulate animal preparations/experiments • video and interactive video • mannekins, models, simulators, virtual reality • human self-experimentation • non-animal experiments (e.g. using plant tissues, post-mortem material, cultured cells) • Ethically sourced cadavers • Clinical practice (veterinary treatment of [sick] animals)

9. Multimedia Simulations - Frog Sciatic Nerve

10. Effects of neuromuscular drugs - cat NM junction

11. Effects of drugs on the human eye

12. Animations

13. High quality images

14. Which T&L objectives can non-animal models achieve? • knowledge acquisition • data handling skills • experimental design skills • communication skills • team working and staff-student interaction • practical laboratory skills [some] • art of doing experiments, thinking ‘on your feet’, animal handling-skills [some] • INNOVATION = BETTER TEACHING

15. Evidence that they work? • Numerous studies* • knowledge gain is equivalent • costs are less • better support for weaker students • good acceptance by students • BUT: different learning objectives are achieved Tutors must decide the PRIMARY learning objectives - may be different for different students. *Knight A. (2207) The effectiveness of humane teaching methods in veterinary education. ALTEX: Alternatives to Animal Experimentation 2007;24(2):91-109.

16. Use of non-animal models • as replacements for animal experiments • to better prepare students • to debrief students • as a fallback • to enable additional data to be collected

17. Are alternatives widely used? Evidence is yes but could be better • may not precisely fit with course objectives • staff resistance • need initial resource input to implement e.g. develop support materials • lack of academic time/skills to implement them

18. Convincing teachers • Encourage teachers to re-examine learning objectives for different student groups • Provide evidence of successful use - empirical, qualitative, economic • Publish exemplar good practice use cases • Increase awareness and outreach activities - organisations, websites [EURCA], databases [NORINA] • Use sustainable development methods which avoid technological redundancy [ReCAL]

19. Summary • There are sound pedagogical reasons why non-animal models can be cost effective alternatives in UG teaching • A wide range of ‘proven’ non-animal models already exist • Teachers are the curriculum ‘change agents’ • Efforts should be focussed on convincing teachers • Awareness raising • Publishing evidence • Assistance with integration of alternatives into mainstream teaching

20. … thank you David Dewhurst david.dewhurst@ed.ac.uk www.sheffbp.co.uk

21. Sheffield BioScience Programs • Established 1989 • Currently > 40 titles mostly in physiology and pharmacology • Simulations of experiments - alternatives • Interactive tutorials • ‘Experimental Design’; ‘Medicines - the discovery process’ • Human and Clinical simulations • Created by teams of content experts, educationalists, programmers • Mostly available as cross-platform applications www.sheffbp.co.uk

22. Frog Sciatic nerve Frog Gastrocnemius muscle Frog Heart Cat Nictitating Membrane Cat neuromuscular junction Rat intestinal transport Rabbit Langendorff Heart Guinea Pig Airways Rabbit skin - inflammation Rat - colonic motility Guinea Pig Ileum Human eye - autonomic pharmacol Rat Blood Pressure Rat Mitochondria Frog Skin Squid Axon Experimental Design SBP Alternatives www.sheffbp.co.uk

23. New developments - ReCAL • Currently we can deliver on CD-ROM: • original program which will run in Adobe Flash; • all of the learning objects for a particular program; • an IMS compliant ‘Content Package’ - VLE. • Teachers control content creation = local editing and sustainability • expand the number of LOs in the repository by ‘processing’ further CAL programs, • develop appropriate business model offering: • online (Internet) access; • teacher access to the online repository of all LOs; • teacher access to the online authoring system (Labyrinth).