The A&P Student

Six a day

2012-01-21T14:00:00.000-06:00

As you begin a new anatomy and physiology course, you will likely feel a bit overwhelmed with the flood of new terminology. Or a lot overwhelmed with all the new terms.

However, it need not be as big a struggle as you might first think. There are some tricks and shortcuts . . . and I'm here to let you in on a few of those.

Today's tip comes from my friend Jane, who is a very talented professor of foreign language. She told me that research as shown that most people can easily learn five to seven new words a day. That is, if you work at it, you can add about six new words to your vocabulary each day without too much trouble.

That doesn't seem like a lot, but if you spend a few minutes a day you can easily pick up about 45 new terms a week. That's over 700 new terms in a semester!

But of course, the trick is to put a little bit of effort into every single day. Simply make yourself six or seven new flash cards, each with a new term, every day. Review them for just a few minutes, but do that several times throughout the day.

Don't forget to spend a few minutes reviewing your cards from the days before . . . you don't want to forget those new terms.

If you make this a habit, then you'll find that those few minutes a day can really make a huge difference in your mastery of the terminology of A&P.

Here are some more tips to help you get started learning the terminology of A&P:

There's more!

Click here to browse my many tips for mastering the terminology of A&P.

Why be honest?

2012-01-05T11:00:00.000-06:00

What if your health professional
cheated their way through school?

As you begin a new semester of anatomy and physiology, the notion of academic integrity is worth thinking about.

What is it? Academic integrity is the honesty with which you participate in your course and other learning activities.

Characteristics of students with academic integrity include:

Honestly represent personal work as their own. These students do not copy the work of others and represent it as their own work.
Communicate with the instructor and others truthfully. These students do not make false statements about computer failures, family emergencies, etc., in order to extend deadlines, excuse absences, or gain sympathy.
Engage other students with integrity. These students do not enable academic dishonesty by illicitly providing test answers or other academic assignments to other students. They do not "look the other way" when they observe dishonesty, but instead report it to the instructor.

The main reason you want to be honest in your anatomy and physiology course is that you need to learn these concepts. A&P is the foundation of everything else you will encounter in your professional training program and your career. If you use dishonest shortcuts to give the illusion that you have learned more than you actually have, then you will be underprepared for the rest of the course and the rest of your academic program. It's likely that you won't be able to successfully begin your career.

If you get through your program by cheating, which is not very likely, you may later cause death or illness in a client! How? Because there will be concepts missing from your professional knowledge base.

Now is a great time to develop an ethical, professional mindset. And that mindset MUST include integrity because this is so important for health professionals. You don't want to set yourself up for failure as a professional and as a person, do you?

A few more reasons students want to practice integrity in the A&P course:

They want their credentials from their course and their college/university to be "worth something" . . . and the credentials won't be worth much if integrity is not the norm.
They don't want to be one of the folks listed in the professional newsletters that have been censured, suspended, license revoked, jailed, sued, etc. for offenses that are essentially failures of integrity. Often, these are the "one time, this won't hurt anyone, itty-bitty" cheating incidents.
They don't want their classmates caring for their family and friends (or handling their health records) if their classmates made it through school by cheating, even a little.
They want to be prepared fully for the next class, the next program, the next profession. And you cannot be fully prepared with missing pieces in your training.
They don't want to be known by your colleagues, your friends, and your teachers as a cheater.
How will they find folks to give them glowing references if they are known to them as dishonest?

When it comes right down to it, you should ask yourself . . . what kind of person do I want to be? You'll sleep better every night for the rest of your life having made the better choice about integrity. This is a big deal when you are older and suffer from insomnia. Just wait.

You may want to review my prior article Why are you here? addressing the importance of learning everything you can in A&P . . . rather than just trying to get through it.

How to start concept mapping

2011-11-14T14:00:00.007-06:00

Concept maps are a great way to bolster your understanding of human anatomy and physiology.

They're easy . . . concept maps are merely simple sketches that summarize the elements of a concept. Concept maps can also show how different concepts relate to each other.

By drawing out a concept, you are arranging ideas in the way that your mind works. It's how you picture an idea, not how your teacher or your textbook author visualizes that idea. Therefore, it makes the concept easy for you to understand and remember.

As you construct a concept map, you may run into spots where you're not quite sure how things fit together. That's great! This shows you where your "weak spot" is with the concept . . . something you may not have discovered until you faced it in a test. But when you face it in a concept map, you can stop and figure it out. You can even take your map to your instructor, your tutor, or your study group and ask for help in figuring it out. Then you'll "own" the concept and will not likely forget it.

Because it's a picture of a concept, a concept map helps you recall a concept easily. You'll have the concept stored in your mind as a picture that makes sense to you. Memory experts tell us that pictures of concepts help us recall those concepts.

If you are primarily a visual learner or kinesthetic learner (or both), then concept maps may become a favorite (and efficient) way of learning A&P!

However, if you've never made a concept map, it may be hard to figure out where to start . . . HOW to start. So here's a short video that shows you an easy way to get started . . .

Check out this pencast on how to start a concept map.

Concept Maps - How to Start
brought to you by Livescribe

Want to know more?

Click here for earlier articles from The A&P Student on concept mapping.

Click here for the Lion Den Tips & Tools article on concept mapping.

Want to make your own pencasts?

Cells hate calcium!

2011-10-15T12:54:00.000-05:00

my-ap.us/p2CIFl

I always tell my students to remember these three things:

Cells hate sodium ions (Na⁺).
Cells hate calcium ions (Ca⁺⁺).
Cells love potassium ions (K⁺).

OK, that's not literally true. As far as we know, cells are not conscious and therefore do not love or hate anything. But they sure act like they do!

Think about it. All living cells have Na-K pumps that pump Na⁺ out while at the same time pump K⁺ in. When Na⁺ leaks into the cell, out it goes. Likewise, when K⁺ leaks out of a cell, it's pumped back in.

As far as cells are concerned, Na⁺ is like a rattlesnake and thus is repulsive and must be gotten rid of when it sneaks in. And K⁺ is like a puppy that the must be brought in and cuddled. Should K⁺ escape to the cold, cruel world outside a cell, it should be brought back inside and cuddled.

Knowing these facts about sodium and potassium ions is useful to A&P students. Why? Because it helps explain where these ions are likely to be found in the human body:

If you're looking for Na⁺, look in the solution outside the cell (extracellular fluid). You won't find much Na⁺ inside the cell, because it is continually pumped out of the cell.
If you are looking for K⁺, don't look in the extracellular fluid. You'll find very little K⁺ there. Most of the K⁺ will be inside the cell (intracellular fluid).

my-ap.us/nLkG2W

The fact that there are these sodium and potassium ion concentration gradients help explain the concept of membrane voltage (membrane potential). This idea, then, is the foundation of understanding nerve impulses and muscle stimulation.

During a nerve impulse, Na⁺ rushes into the nerve cell because of the concentration gradient described above (most of the sodium is outside the cell). This gives the membrane a temporary inside-positive charge… and that's what a nerve impulse is. The normal membrane voltage is restored quickly when K⁺ is allowed to rush out of the nerve cell, thus moving the net positive charge to the outside of the cell membrane.

All living cells have calcium pumps that pump calcium out of the cell. Some calcium pumps also pump calcium into sacks (the smooth ER). To a cell, Ca⁺⁺ is like a cobra. When it leaks into a cell, and it will, it is pumped out quickly or pushed into a sack.

Knowing this fact about calcium ions is useful for understanding many different concepts in A&P.

For example, muscle fibers pump calcium ions out of the plasma membrane (sarcolemma) and into the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR, a form of smooth ER). When the muscle membrane is stimulated (see the paragraphs above), the Ca⁺⁺ comes rushing into the intracellular fluid from the SR and/or from the extracellular fluid. Ca⁺⁺ immediately binds to the cytoskeleton, which then produces muscle contraction.

A similar thing happens at the end of a neuron when a nerve impulse (see the paragraphs above) gets to its farthest distance and permits Ca⁺⁺ to flow into the cell. The Ca⁺⁺ binds to the cytoskeleton and thereby triggers the movement of vesicles filled with neurotransmitter. These vesicles crash into the plasma membrane and release neurotransmitters by exocytosis, thus allowing them to signal another cell.

Ca⁺⁺ gradients are also key to understanding how many hormones trigger their target cells. It even helps explain some of the functions of sperm cells and egg cells during human reproduction.

So you can see that this idea of cells hating sodium and calcium ions and loving potassium ions comes in pretty handy when trying to understand many of the concepts of human physiology.

Study Droid

2011-09-19T14:00:00.003-05:00

Looking for a way to tame the thousands of terms you are flooded with in your A&P course?

Looking for a shortcut to memorizing structures in your A&P lab?

How about an easy way to practice identifying histology specimens, anatomical structures, and important concepts?

Maybe you've already found out what bazillions of A&P students before you have discovered . . . flash cards!

One of many web-based tools that you can use is Study Droid.

If you want to see one student's take on Study Droid, then check out this video.

If you want a more focused tutorial on how to use Study Droid, then check out this video.

Already using Study Droid to study for A&P, then let's hear about your experience!

The Bloodmobile

2011-08-28T21:12:00.001-05:00

Sometimes catchy little songs can help us learn even very complex concepts.

My friend Ellen recently sent along this video with the snappy tune Bloodmobile. This song from They Might Be Giants summarizes the main functions of the blood . . . a very timely topic for those of you at the beginning of your A&P 2 course.

While we're on a cardiovascular theme, you may recall seeing my previous post Pump Your Blood that features the classic song of the same name that has been used by countless A&P students to learn the path of blood through the heart.

Have any more? Why not share them?

Learn your anatomical directions!

2011-08-18T14:00:00.021-05:00

As you begin studying the structure and function of the human body, you'll find that you need to be thoroughly familiar with the terminology used in anatomy to describe directions and orientation.

It may seem overwhelming at first, but it's a necessary step in learning everything else in anatomy. It's like knowing north from south and east from west when beginning a course in geography.

Extra time and effort spent to learn anatomical directions and orientation at the beginning of the course will make most of the next semester or two . . . and beyond into other courses and your career . . . go way more smoothly. Really. It's hard to see that now, I know. But trust me!

Besides your learning in the lab and lecture course, and working through your textbook and lab manual, you may find this FREE mini-course to be helpful. It's called simply Anatomical Directions and it's provided as a free service from Insight Medical Academy. It requires a free registration to use the course, so be sure to register before trying to access the course. Here's a brief video explaining how the free course works.

Sleeping through A&P

2011-08-11T14:00:00.001-05:00

Research confirms it . . . sleeping helps you learn A&P!

OK, I'm not talking about sleeping during your A&P class. That kind of sleeping hurts your ability to learn A&P.

Although we've known about this for a long time, recent research in mice adds to the evidence that a session of uninterrupted sleep helps you learn things. Here's a link to a brief, easy-to-understand explanation of the research: my-ap.us/ne2WaP

What this means is that you should make great effort to get a good night's sleep every day that you study A&P. That means sleeping well on nights that follow your lectures, labs, and study sessions. Or even better: getting a good night's sleep every night!

Yeah, I know . . . there are all kinds of things that interrupt your sleep. What I'm saying is that it's important to reduce those interruptions as much as possible. It may mean that you need to get others in your life "on board" with your learning goals, as I explained in a recent post. It may mean changing your schedule around a bit.

A lot of folks don't really have good sleep habits . . . at that prevents them from sleeping well. Which prevents them from learning well. There are a lot of resources for learning good sleep habits, so if you have trouble sleeping well you should do a bit of research or find some professional help.

Besides helping you learn, good sleep habits also help you stay awake during class . . . no matter how boring your professor is! Regular, uninterrupted sleep also helps you stay healthy and live a longer, happier life!

My A&P students are always looking for ways to help them remember things. So here's something that's easy: just make sure you get a good night's sleep!

Here's a short video on good sleep hygiene using tips from the CDC and acted out by students at Miami University.

The art of listening

2011-08-04T13:55:00.002-05:00

I just ran across a short video in which "listening expert' Julian Treasuresummarizes five easy ways to become a better listener.

He also points out why listening is important and why it's a skill that, as a culture, we are losing. And perhaps more importantly for our quest for success in our anatomy & physiology course, he mentions why good listening skills are important for students.

I see so many students "out of focus" and "out of tune" with what is happening in the A&P lecture and lab. So I know that good listening skills are not common in today's students. This video will help make you a better student!

Mr. Treasure also talks about having the"listening position" appropriate to the kind of listening in which we are engaged.

He sums up with a quick acronym, RASA, that helps us remember some key points in listening effectively:

Receive

Appreciate

Summarize

Ask

Check out the video! (and listen carefully)

Click image to view video

Not just for A&P!

2011-05-20T14:00:00.001-05:00

If you've wrapped up your A&P course, you may think you no longer need advice, tips, and shortcuts from this blog.

But you'd be wrong!

As I mentioned in a previous article (my-ap.us/is1Wa6), this is just the beginning of a lifetime of using A&P! I suggest staying tuned in to this blog because you can continue to benefit from most, if not all, future articles as you struggle through your professional training and the continuing education that is required of working health professionals.

An easy way to keep up with this blog is by signing up for the FREE email updates using the form at the right of the blog page or at theapstudent.feedblitz.com

And while I have your attention, I'd like to make my usual end-of-semester plea:

Do NOT sell, give away, recycle, or burn your A&P textbook!

Really, I mean it! You will regret it if you do. You're going to need it as you progress through future studies and into your practice as a health professional. See my advice at my-ap.us/mhYggB

Future Health Scholarship

2011-05-15T14:00:00.002-05:00

Are you pursuing a career in health care?

Could you use an extra $5,000 or $10,000 to help pay for your schooling?

Then you should check this out:

Tylenol 2011 Future Health Scholarship

http://my-ap.us/jV4bKy

Synapatic Cleft rap video

2011-04-20T14:00:00.010-05:00

Need a fresh perspective on the function of nerve signaling?

Here's a parody of Wu-Tang's "Gravel Pit" made by students to help them integrate their knowledge of synaptic signaling and the role of neurotransmitters.

Check out the video (after making sure that your speakers are cranked up):

Download the audio

You may want to review the nerve cell outline before or after watching the video.

Did you know that the discovery of the first neurotransmitter happened in a dream? Really! Check out Receptors by Richard Restak.

Looking for other silly songs?

Use Word Stash for learning new terms

2011-04-13T14:00:00.030-05:00

In several previous articles, I mentioned that the first step in learning the concepts of anatomy and physiology successfully is to learn the language. You need to master the terminology before you can begin to understand the ideas.

And in many of those previous articles, I pointed out that learning new terms--even a huge number of new terms--can be fast and easy if you simply practice, practice, practice. Every day. Several times a day. But just a few minutes at a time.

And an easy way to practice is using flashcards. Flashcards can be either traditional paper 3"x5" index cards or any of the many computer-based variations of the flashcard technique.

Recently, a reader of this blog recommended another of the web-based varieties of flashcards. It's called Word Stash it's a great FREE tool that's very easy to use.

It gives you several options to create word lists, using previously used definitions from a database or using definitions that you write or copy from your course materials.

If you tell your A&P professor about Word Stash, they can create a "class" and load in word lists from their course. Or your study group or tutor can create a "teacher account" and create a list that is shared by anyone who is part of that class.

I created a class called, you guessed it, The A&P Student . . . and loaded in a word list to show you how it works. Join this "class" to see how Word Stash works:

http://wordstash.com/academic_classes/190

Password: theapstudent

You'll have to register as a user during the process of accessing this class and word list. Then play around with the different ways to practice the terms!

Practice!

Video on running concept lIsts

2011-03-28T14:00:00.000-05:00

What in the world is a a running concept list, anyway?!

Put simply, running concept lists are a set of lists, each list relating to a single concept, that you update continually as you learn more about each concept. They are easy to make and to maintain. And they are very handy tools for learning new concepts . . . or for reviewing old concepts.

But they are even more helpful for learning the connections between concepts . . . thus developing your critical thinking skills!

Concept lists are also called connection pages because they help you see connections.

I've outlined this ongoing study technique several times before. You may want to review those previous articles.

As you grow your library of running concepts lists, you'll find that you have constructed a personal encyclopedia of knowledge! One that you can build on (and refer back to) for a lifetime.

If you haven't bothered to learn about running concept lists before, you may want to reconsider this powerful tool.

Recently, I added this video to my page on Concept Lists found in the Lion Den Study Tips & Tools.

Why are you here?

2011-03-15T14:00:00.024-05:00

I know this sounds like a dopey question, but I'll ask it anyway . . .

Why are you taking this course in anatomy and physiology?

Based on my experience of decades teaching A&P, I've found that all too many students can only answer, "because it's required."

An answer that is much better for the student is, "to learn the concepts of human structure and function that I will need in later courses and in a lifetime career in a health or sports career."

Really, the A&P course is required of you for a reason. It's not simply to jump through a hoop. Or to weed out the weak students. The reason is simple. You cannot fully understand, or even begin to understand, many of the concepts you'll run into later without a thoroughly embedded understanding of the principles of human anatomy and physiology. Period.

If you pick up ANY textbook from a course in the health professions, you will find references to human anatomy and physiology principles scattered throughout. Many such textbooks will even refer to "what you learned in your anatomy and physiology course," sometimes providing a quick review before jumping into a more complicated topic. If you fail to learn your A&P now, then those quick reviews won't be just a review, will they? They'll be a warning sign that you are about to get into something you are not prepared for!

So why do I ask this question? And propose a "correct" answer?

Because if you get on board with the "correct answer" now, you'll dramatically change how you study A&P . . . for the better!

The sooner you realize that you'll need all of these concepts to be successful in your later learning--and in your ongoing career--the sooner you will realize that studying for the test just won't cut it. You have to shift out of the short-term view and start thinking about learning for a lifetime.

Instead of cramming just before a test, to learn some facts that will stay with you for only a few hours, you'll study every day so that you'll never forget what you are learning. You'll continually review material from previous topics because you'll notice them coming up again and again.

With the long view, you'll also start working on understanding relationships among the various principles you are learning. You'll begin to see why it's important to know the basic principles deeply because it makes everything you encounter in human science more understandable and thus easier to learn.

Not to scare you, but a conversation I recently had with some teachers in a health-professions program confirmed again for me the fact that you will fail your professional courses if you don't remember most of your A&P.

Isn't that a good reason to evaluate how you approach your studies in A&P?

[Need some help in finding ways to learn more deeply? Besides asking your A&P professor for advice, why not try the tips I offer my students at the Lion Den Tips & Tools?]

Concept Map Video

2011-03-05T14:00:00.001-06:00

I've outlined the benefits (and how-to instructions) of concept mapping several times before. You may want to review those previous articles.

Also known as mind maps, these tools are simply a way to visualize a concept.

Concept maps are diagrams that related different elements of a concept to each other and/or to the main idea. These diagrams can be simple or complex—depending on your own style of learning and what helps you understand the concept.

If you haven't bothered to learn about them before, you may want to reconsider this powerful tool.

Recently, I added this video to my page on Concept Maps found in the Lion Den Study Tips & Tools.

Help significant others help YOU

2011-02-24T14:00:00.035-06:00

Do you struggle with balancing the time and effort it takes to succeed in A&P with the time and effort you'd rather be devoting to family, friends, or your partner?

Welcome to the club! This is a common issue in rigorous, time-consuming courses like anatomy and physiology.

A&P is a foundational course, one that you really cannot skimp on because the whole rest of your training and your career rests on success in learning the concepts of A&P thoroughly. But then again, you need your personal relationships to succeed, too!

One strategy that I've seen work well is summarized in my book Survival Guide For Anatomy And Physiology: Tips, Techniques And Shortcuts. It's actually pretty simple and pretty easy, for something that works so well!

As early in your studies as possible, take some quality time with those close to you to bring them on board with your commitment to doing well in A&P. Explain to them what your career goals are and how success in achieving those goals may benefit them as well. If for no other reason than they love and support you. But sometimes, career success may bring many other rewards to family and spousal relationships.

After they are on board with your careers goals, make it clear how hard--and how time-consuming--some of the steps along the way are going to be. Explain how success in A&P is a critical first step . . . a step that will be particularly draining and time-consuming.

After explaining the sacrifices that you'll be making--the great effort that you'll be putting into success--ask them if they are willing to help support you by giving you the time you need. Explain that by doing so, each of them will by part of your team.

Assuming that those who love you want to be part of your team, work together to find specific ways they can help you. The more that they can come up with on their own, the more ownership they will take in their part of the team effort.

Here are some examples your team may come up with:

Trying not to pester you when you study
Taking over one or more of your household/farm/yard/work chores
Not giving you grief when you have to occasionally reduce your fun time with them
Agreeing to occasionally help you with your studying (like quizzing you with flash cards)
Acting as a child sitter or backup child sitter when you need to go to

class
participate in study sessions
get help from your professor
visit the library or learning center
have time alone to study

Such a discussion, if handled well, can go far in helping you balance things in your life while you tackle A&P . . . by bringing your loved ones on board early and making them part of the process.

Something that is especially helpful for families, couples, or friendships, is to work together to compose a pledge that you can hang on your refrigerator or keep in your notebook. This pledge would state the kinds of support that you can expect. And your pledge to be mindful of their efforts and your intent to be appreciative. When things get tough, it may help diffuse the frustration by calmly renewing your mutual pledge.

Record with your pen!

2011-02-12T14:00:00.000-06:00

Sometimes newfangled technology products really do revolutionize how we learn. One of the newer, niftier learning aids is the set of Smartpens offered by Livescribe.

Smartpens are pens that record both sound and what you write as you use it.

For example, you can turn on the Smartpen as your A&P class begins, then record the professor and student discussion as you write your notes.

After class, all you have to do is tap on a part of your notes to replay the audio that goes with it! Or you can replay the whole class! If you are using the earbuds that come with the pen, you could also replay a part of the class that you want to replay.

If you want to, you can then dock your Smartpen in a small USB penholder that comes with your Smartpens to upload the recording to your Livescribe library.

Once a recording is in your library, you can upload it to the Livescribe site as a pencast. You can then review the pencast any time you like. You can keep your pencasts private or you can share them publicly.

This is a great way to replay an entire class to review it . . . or to go back to a part of the class that puzzles you so you can replay your note taking while the voices of your professor and classmates are also replayed. What a great way to review your newly learned A&P concepts!

If you use the Smartpen to record others, make sure you have their permission first. Not all professors permit their classes to be recorded. And test out the volume settings and your location in the room to get the best recording.

Here is a simple example of a pencast that quickly summarizes one concept in A&P.

Bone Cell Actions
brought to you by Livescribe

A great study project for your A&P study group would be to produce pencasts like this example and post them to share with the whole class!

To use the Smartpen you have to use the special paper that comes with the pen. Livescribe also provides a file that allows you to print the special paper on your computer printer. However, I prefer to use the inexpensive notebooks available from Livescribe.

This video briefly summarizes the concept of the Smartpen and how you can use it to improve learning.

If you already have some pencasts for A&P that you've posted for public viewing, why not post the link here? Just "comment" on this blog article and include the link.

FREE body browser

2011-01-28T14:00:00.001-06:00

I recently saw a story about one of the newest Google Labs creation: Body Browser. I immediately thought of how helpful this will be for A&P students.

The Body Browser is a FREE online tool that you can use to explore the anatomy of the human body in a "virtual dissection" format. Using the familiar Google Maps navigation tools, you can . . .

Peel (or fade) away layers of the body . . . removing the skin, then muscles, then bones, to reveal the internal organs
Select systems (skeletal, muscular, nervous, cardiovascular) to view
Click on any structure to show its label
Type the name of any structure in the search box to find it in the body
Tilt, zoom, turn the body to a variety of positions to see organs in more views that usually available in a textbook, atlas, or chart

The Body Browser runs inside any WebGL-enabled browser, meaning that you don't have to worry about having the latest Flash or Java plugins installed.

I think Body Browser a is a great FREE tool for A&P students to have access to an online model of the human body that can be used for a beginning study of anatomy. Because it allows the user to type in the names of organs for which they are looking, you can be certain it will work well with what you need to know for your course.

There are a few minor limitations of the Body Browser:

The only available specimen is female (that is, there is no male specimen available to complement the female specimen)
The specimen is partially clothed. Although one can see some of the underlying surface structures as the "skin" layer fades back, it's not the same as seeing these structures clearly. An odd feature that makes certain regions of the body "off limits." (I've seen some hacks to fix this, but none of them work for me using the Chrome browser)
Some of the organs are roughly rendered, so it's not as detailed (at least in some areas) as you may like to see
Only a few systems can be shown in entirety. Some useful system views that are missing are the lymphatic system and the respiratory system
You cannot select or hide individual organs for display
I could find no documentation or even a help button (pretty typical of the experimental Google Labs resources)

Even with some minor limitations, Body Browser is still a fantastic learning and study tool. As an A&P student, you might use Body Browser as . . .

a study tool during a solo or study group session to demonstrate the location and structure of specific organs

you could use it live or you could record a session with Jing or similar recording tool and use the pre-recorded exploration to review or to share with others in your study group or class
you can send the URL of a specific view (perhaps with a label) to a student or group of students or post it to Facebook, Twitter, or a class website

alternative lab model to use along with physical models in the lab

use it as a reference side by side with your lab manual and your laboratory model
use it in place of a laboratory model when studying at home or away from the lab

a way to create images for

your class notes
concept maps
study guides and review sheets
class presentations, lab reports, term papers, and other assignments

Do you have some other ideas for using Body Browser in an undergraduate A&P course? Just use the comment feature and share your ideas with us!

Check out this video to see a demo of the currently available features of Body Browser

Painless memorization with Quizlet

2011-01-20T14:00:00.003-06:00

Understanding anatomy and physiology often begins with building a foundation of basic terminology and identification of structures by name and location. Yikes, that means memorization.

A lot of folks dread memorization tasks because they simply don't know how to do it in a quick, pain-free manner. Once you know the tricks of memorization, it's not that bad.

The essential trick is to practice, practice, practice.

That means every day, several times a day, if possible.

However, this will only work if you spend just a few minutes at a time practicing. If you try to get in all in one long session, it won't work . . . or at least least is won't work very well. In fact, the "long session approach" can sometimes burn you out so badly, it'll be hard to make yourself study the same topic again.

One of the easiest ways to practice painlessly is to make and use flashcards. I have a previous blog post and a study tip web page and even a YouTube video devoted to methods of using flashcards to study A&P effectively.

My friend Monica Hall-Woods (another A&P professor) reminded me recently of a website called Quizlet.com where you can easily make a set of flashcards online (for FREE) and use it to study and to quiz yourself. In fact, Quizlet.com gives you some alternative methods to quiz yourself, including some fun, game-like activities.

The more practice sessions you do on Quizlet.com, the more you'll almost effortlessly pick up the basic facts that you are trying to learn. Quizlet.com helps you keep track of what you've studied and how you are doing.

You can also upload photos from Flikr.com . . . which means that you can take photos of your lab specimens with your smartphone, then upload the images into a set of flashcards!

Another great feature of Quizlet.com is that you can form study groups. This allows one or more users to post and share sets of flashcards related to a particular topic.

Quizlet.com also lets you use flashcard stacks that others have created. (Warning: be careful those you use are accurate before using them to study.) Here's a stack of cards that I created simply by cutting and pasting a list I already had into the Quizlet.com editor:

Bone Marking Types

Try it! Use different options for quizzing yourself and playing games. I think you'll have fun with it. Which is the point . . . the less pain, the more gain. At least in this case.

Let me know what you think! And use the comment feature (below this blog article) to post your favorite Quizlet.com sets you've made or found . . . so other A&P students can benefit.

Don't forget to breathe!

2010-12-08T14:00:00.014-06:00

Exam time is just around the corner! I have some advice for you:

Don't forget to breathe!

Well, duh-uh, of course you are going to breathe. What I'm referring to is a proven, effective way to quickly and easily reduce test anxiety during a final exam. We all suffer from some degree of text anxiety, right? So I think we can all benefit from this technique.

It's simple: when you start to feel anxious or stressed during an exam simply stop focusing on the exam and start focusing on your breathing. Breathe slowly and try to soften your focus, so that you're not really concentrating on anything in particular. But you are vaguely aware of the slow inhalation and exhalation of quiet breathing.

As a recent report on National Public Radio reminds us, this seems to trigger our parasympathetic "quiet breathing" response . . . thus counteracting the sympathetic "stress response" that is often characterized by rapid breaths. This "trick" gets the body to reduce the stress response all around.

Because we know that stress can reduce test performance outcomes, it's a good idea to do what you can to reduce test anxiety during an exam right?

By the way, it seems to work better if you practice it frequently . . . so why not start right now?

Listen to (or read) the story at Just Breathe: The Body Has a Built-in Stress Reliever.

To help you get ready, look at some of my previous blog articles for tips, tricks, and videos on various other exam strategies.

Concept Mapping

2010-12-01T14:00:00.003-06:00

In a previous post I outlined some of the benefits of using concept maps. Also known as mind maps, they are simply charts that sketch out how you understand a particular concept. This helps you map out for yourself how the pieces of a complex topic relate to one another . . .and perhaps also how they relate to other concepts.

You've seen concept maps before. They are scattered throughout your A&P textbook. They can take the form of flow charts, tables, circle diagrams, sketches, and so on. When you make your own concept map, you help yourself to learn how it all fits together.

If you struggle with putting together a concept map, that's great! That means that you've identified a specific hole in your understanding. You can't complete a concept map unless you understand where to place all the bits into the picture, right? Once you stumble, you know what parts of your understanding are weak. And that means you know what sections of the textbook you need to explore further. Or what questions you need to ask your study group, your professor, or your tutor.

When you've finished the concept map, you've learned quite a bit. Your understanding of the concept is deeper.

And the finished concept map serves as a handy reference for future study and review. If you keep it for the long term, which I recommend, it becomes part of your own personal encyclopedia that never stops growing. And which, I hope, you continue to update as your learning expands.

I recently ran across a FREE online tool that creates concepts maps in a simple chart style. It's called Text2MindMap.com and it's really easy to use. You just cut and paste (or type in) and outline of a concept and the tool will automatically generate a concept map!

You can then tweak the layout, the levels, the colors, the fonts, etc. Then with a single click you can save your concept map as a graphics file. You then have the option of printing out your concept map or sharing it with a friend or embedding it in your class notes.

Want to know more about concept mapping? Visit my page on Concept Maps in the Lion Den.

Trouble with tissues?

2010-09-28T16:00:00.012-05:00

I don't think I've ever met a person who could identify tissues of the body on sight on their first day of trying. And yet many A&P students get frustrated just because they can't "get it" after only one day of trying. Identifying tissue types by sight is difficult for everyone, at first—for several reasons.

First, each example is unique. No two examples look exactly alike, just like no two fingerprints look exactly alike.So you have to learn to look for patterns. And you can't do that until you've looked at a lot of examples. And that takes time—and a lot of practice.

Second, not all examples are stained in exactly the same way. Even when the same general type of staining is used, a lot depends on the quality of the sample, the quality of the stain used, and how well the preparer did their job. So again, you have to look for patterns. For example, stratified squamous epithelium can be found in wildly different colors, depending upon which type of staining technique is used. But no matter what the color, the pattern of flattened cells near the free edge, progressing to cuboidal and perhaps even column-shaped cells further away from the free edge, will still be present.

Third, when you look for patterns you have to remember what part of the pattern is important. You also have to remember that many patterns are very similar, so you have to remember how to tell them apart. For example, dense fibrous connective tissue can look a lot like fibrocartilage at first glance. You have to learn to look for the little white halos around the cells in fibrocartilage that tell you that the cells are within lacunae (spaces).

Oh, did I mention that practice, practice, practice is important?

Tissue identification really isn't as hard as it first seems. It really is mainly just a matter of putting the time into practicing.

Here are some tips for getting the most practice time in during the short time you have studied tissues:

Spend as much time in the lab as possible. If there are open lab times available, by all means take advantage of it.
If there is a learning center available with tissue specimens spend as much time as you can with them.
Use the examples published in your textbook and lab manual, or any other resource (such as a Brief Atlas of the Body),to practice identifying tissues. Cover up the labels and see if you can identify them. Make a photocopy of the images, cutaway or cover-up the labels, and test yourself.
Ask your instructor for other sources of practice images. Sometimes, someone will have taken photographs of the specimens used in your class. This is a good resource for practicing.
There are a lot of online resources for practicing tissue identification. Here are a few of my favorites – you can find many more by searching the web using key terms such as "tissues," "histology," and similar terms.

LUMEN
[Loyola University's famous histology site; includes lessons on histology]
Blue Histology
[Histology site at School of Anatomy and Human Biology, University of Western Australia]
Dr. Stephen Larsen's Channel (YouTube)
[Dr. Larsen walks you through a variety of specimens as they are seen under the microscope.]
The A&P Professor Free Image Library
[My site for A&P teachers includes links to free images of tissues that you can use to practice histology.]

Use flash cards (study cards) with photocopies of tissue specimens or printouts of digital images. See my recent blog article for a video on how to use flash cards in this manner. Mosby's Anatomy & Physiology Study and Review Cards includes some histology cards along with all other topics in A&P.
Try to study a little bit several times each day, rather than a few long sessions several days apart. Constant practice is what works best.

The introduction to my Field Guide to the Body at the Lion Den website compares studying tissues to what birders do when they identify wildlife in the field. Take a look at that brief analogy, including examples of how to apply it to histology, for helpful tips on making this topic easier. If you're using any of my lab manuals in your A&P course, you can apply this technique directly by looking at the "Landmark Characteristics" boxes scattered throughout the tissue exercises.

Using flash cards

2010-09-26T14:00:00.004-05:00

Flash cards are just for kids, right? Wrong.

Flash cards, also known as study cards, are one of the most useful strategies you can use in studying human anatomy & physiology.

Here's a brief video that offers some practical tips for using study cards to reduce your study time and get a solid foundation in learning any topic. This video also includes some surprising advanced techniques that show how to use flash cards to also learn higher-level thinking in any topic of A&P . . . or any other subject.

The video includes

A clear explanation of the Leitner system, plus my own "easy to use" adaptation of the Leitner system
Using color codes and symbols
How to use cards to learn processes and ordered structures
How to use cards to build concept maps (mind maps).

You can find many other tips on using flash cards at the newly updated page New Terms at http://lionden.com/new_terms.htm and in previous articles in The A&P Student blog.

Looking for packaged study cards that you can use for your A&P course?
Try Mosby's Anatomy & Physiology Study and Review Cards

Whack a Bone!

2010-07-26T14:00:00.003-05:00

Want a fun and FREE way to get started in learning anatomy? Try the games at Anatomy Arcade.
These arcade-style games are a wacky way to quickly pickup the the basics of human anatomy before you dive into the details. Or should I say "whacky?" . . . because one of my favorites is Whack a Bone (a parody of the famous Whack a Mole arcade game).

In Whack a Bone, you quickly learn the names and locations of the major bones of the skeleton, one region at a time. Even for an old pro like me, I found the Whack a Bone games to be fun. The games include won't help you learn any of the foramina of the skull or the other detailed features and regions of each individual bone. But they will help you get started by quickly learning the bone names and their shapes and locations and relationships to other bones in a painless and fun way.

Some of the other games found at Anatomy Arcade are

Poke a Muscle
Match a Brain
Digestive Jigsaw
Eye Jigsaw
Match a Body System

All these games are meant for learning the body's structure at a very elementary level . . . exactly where all A&P students need to start. You cannot get to the details until you have learned the basics.

Let me know what you think about the Anatomy Arcade games! (post a comment here)

Selling your textbook?

2010-05-16T14:00:00.001-05:00

I hope I didn't catch you too late! It's time for my annual warning to NOT sell your textbook.

This is the time of year when many A&P students think about selling their textbook back to the bookstore or textbook co-op. Some sell them directly to other students on campus or through an online platform. DON'T DO IT!

Why not? Because you still need it!

Just because your A&P course is over, your use of your A&P textbook is far from over. Here are just a few of the many reasons you should keep your A&P materials, including the textbook:

You'll need to review your A&P at the start of nearly every topic in your professional / clinical courses. Many nursing, medical, and allied health textbooks include a brief review of A&P . . . but you'll do better with a quick skim of your fully illustrated A&P textbook.
Your A&P textbook will get you out of a jam. There will be occasional moments when you "blank out" on some essential bit of A&P . . . something you need to "get it" in a later course. Your trusty A&P textbook will come to your rescue by providing refreshing your understanding of that tricky concept . . . in a way that is already familiar and comfortable for you.
You need to start a professional library. So many health professionals begin their careers regretting that they sold off many of the essential reference tools they need to get started in a successful professional career. Your A&P textbook is the core around which you should begin building your professional library of resources.
When you're out there in the "real world" you'll need some tools to help you cope with new situations. It's a great comfort to have your A&P book there to help you review basic concepts that you haven't run across in a while. When you're pulled to a different department, start a job in a new specialty, or struggle through a professional continuing education course, you'll find your old A&P book is a great place to dig out all those things you know you know . . . but with which you need some brushing up.

I can't tell you how many times I've bumped into former students of mine who ask me, "hey, you don't happen to have an old A&P book laying around your office I could have?"

I just smile and reply, "you sold off yours after our course ended, didn't you?"

The sheepish reply then comes, "yeah, I know you told us to hold on to it but I didn't think I'd really need it. Now I REALLY need it to help me in my nursing course!"

[FYI, we A&P professors really do NOT have a pile of old A&P books laying around to give away.]

Considering that you rarely get much of a return on selling a used textbook, it really isn't much of a hardship to keep your A&P textbook. You'll be really glad that you did!

Also see my Study Tip Your Professional Library in the Lion Den.

Translating muscle names

2010-03-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

When you first face that long list of names of muscle that you need to learn in A&P, you may be taken aback by the odd names of the major human muscles. Well, that and the sheer number of muscles you'll be tested on!

But what makes those muscle names so odd . . . the fact that they are Latin phrases . . . can be used as a shortcut to help you identify those muscles!

For example, the muscle name latissimus dorsi tells you exactly where to find this muscle. Latissimus means "way over to the side" and dorsi means "back." So the phrase latissimus dorsi muscle means "back muscle way over to the side." This not only tells you exactly where the muscle is . . . once you learn the meaning of the name, you have a way to remember the muscle.

Check out this video for a clearer idea of this strategy.

Then check out this article in my Lion Den Study Tips & Tools . . . Muscle Names.

This article also has more video to help you learn the meaning of muscle names AND a FREE downloadable, printable list of muscle names and meanings (and pronunciations).

For a great resource in learning about muscles, perhaps to add to your growing professional library, check out the book The Muscular System Manual: The Skeletal Muscles of the Human Body

Committing time to A&P

2010-02-09T14:00:00.002-06:00

The student handbook at our college recommends that students spend about 2 hours of study time outside of class for every hour in class (including lab). I tell my students that's the average . . . and A&P is an above average course . . . so count on spending even more time studying outside of class.

But what to do about time commitments to family, friends, hobbies, and jobs? Depending on your life situation, these could also be very demanding of your time and attention.

In my book Survival Guide For Anatomy And Physiology: Tips, Techniques And Shortcuts I outline a few strategies that may help you. Here are some of those tips . . . and few others:

Share your study time with others. If you have kids, then do your sketching and coloring and concept mapping side-by-side as you kids do their homework. Kids will be more motivated to do their homework when they see mommy or daddy doing homework. And it brings them more into what you are doing, giving them an inside peek at what is taking up so much of your time these days. You can do this with your spouse or friends, too, even if they're not in your A&P class . . . you can work on A&P while they work on their homework (or their sewing or their stamp collection).
Set aside alone time. Some of your study time probably needs to be free of the distractions of others around you. So set aside time each week to work alone. This may mean getting child care or elder care for part of the week. But such a sacrifice may be worth it if it helps you succeed and reach your goals.
Get your significant others on board. I recommend that before starting A&P (or early in your A&P adventure) you have a heart to heart chat with your friends, your family, your coworkers, or anyone else who will be impacted by the time and attention you'll need to be giving to your studies. Try to make them a part of helping you achieve your goals. Ask them what they are willing to do to help you. It could be that they promise not to pester you for more time or to refrain from pushing into giving up your study night to go out and party. It could be that they offer to take on some of your chores or other commitments to give you more time for your study. If you just start taking time from friends or family, without it being clear to them why, then you risk them becoming resentful. By making them a part of the process of planning your study strategy, they will feel more a part of your road to success . . . a feeling that will bring you all closer together.
Make sure you have time just for family and friends. Although you need to set aside significant time for your studies, you also need time for the rest of your life. So as steadfast as you are about protecting your study time, be just as steadfast protecting your friend and family time. When your loved ones know that they're important and will have their time with you, too, they won't feel so bad about losing you to your studies.
Stay organized. Different folks have different styles of organizing themselves and their tasks. But you have to do something to organize your studies of A&P . . . there's just so much to do and to keep track of and to keep up with. Don't fool yourself into thinking that you can just "wing it." Perhaps you did that in high school or in other college courses. But only the very rare person can do that in A&P successfully. So even if you never done it before, get a calendar and plan out what you need to be doing and when. Regularly assess your progress and adjust your schedule accordingly.
Know why you're doing this. One of my most successful students reminded me recently after a help session, "Those were great tips, Kevin, but all you really need is a 'can do' attitude." That's absolutely right. If you start with a winning attitude, and stay focused on the reason why you need to know the structure and function of the body so thoroughly, it makes all the time and effort enjoyable. You'll learn more useful information and skills in your A&P course than any other college course. Really. Even stuff that will help you in "real life." So why not make the most of it?

Want to know more? Get new tips from The A&P Student as soon as they are published by subscribing to the FREE newsletter.

And don't forget to submit your own tips to share with other A&P students!

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bofh/ / CC BY 2.0

Scheduling strategies

2009-12-08T14:00:00.026-06:00

Did you know that your class schedule can play a big role in your success in your anatomy and physiology course? Not a lot of students realize that you need a good scheduling strategy to maximize your learning in A&P.

Here are some strategies that many students have found useful:

Avoid short classes. OK, you may not have a choice in this . . . but if you do, then avoid classes that meet for 50-minute sessions. More and more schools are scheduling A&P "lecture" classes for longer class periods, meeting twice a week (rather than three times a week). Why?

Because most students feel that they "just get into it" and the class is over.
Partly, 50-minute classes are too short because more faculty are incorporating new techniques in "active learning" and other methods to enhance the classroom experience of students. Such techniques, when used effectively, simply do not fit well into a short class period.
Another reason is that when professors try to build up to the higher-level concepts, they cannot accomplish it within a short time frame . . . and waiting until the next class period will lose the threads needing to be pulled together. You'll understand the lecture/discussion better in longer class periods.

Avoid "stacking" your classes all on two or three days. A lot of students believe that they are being efficient when they try to stack their entire full-time course load into 2 or 3 days of the week . . . M/W/F only or T/Th only, for example. That may sound like a good idea, but it's usually not. Why?

First, your brain (and your butt) may not be able to handle hour upon hour of classroom activities effectively. It is not efficient if you cannot take in all that new learning all in one long session. Not only might your learning suffer, but you'll begin to dread coming to school . . . and eventually you'll "turn off" your motivation to be successful in learning.
Besides giving your brain (and butt) a rest, spreading out your class days allows you to build in breaks in your day that allow other kinds of learning activities. So many of my students struggle to get things done on campus that they need to do . . . because they forgot to build in some "on campus time" for themselves. For example:

Group study time
Post-lecture and post-lab student gatherings to review content
Lab practice (going over models, etc, in the open lab or learning center)
Tutoring in the learning center
Library work
Office visits with professors and advisors
Campus workshops (for example, student success workshops)
Eating right
Campus life (just hanging out and having fun . . . an important part of college)

Find the right instructor. If you have a choice, you may want to do some research so you can pick the instructor that is the best fit for your learning style. However, this can be very tricky. How do you really know what an instructor is like?

Never go on word of just one or two students, because they may be at one or the other extreme in their perspective. Get a LOT of input if you can.
And I suggest that you stay away from those online rating sites . . . they often preferentially attract the extremes, as well.
The best advice is to interview each instructor. Ask them what approach they take, how they address your individual learning style, what their strengths and weaknesses are. You wouldn't choose a contractor or employee without talking to them first and getting references . . .so why treat your education any differently?

Of course, there will be limitations in your choices . . . but when given a choice, it's best to choose wisely.

Exam strategies

2009-11-30T14:00:00.009-06:00

Exam time is nearly here! Do you have some personal exam strategies to implement before, during, and after the exam?

Even if you do have some tried and true strategies of your own, you may benefit from hearing about what I've seen work well in A&P courses.

First, I have a brief video presentation called . . . wait for it . . . Exam Strategies that runs down the basic strategies.

Then I have some additional tips in previous blog posts:

Exams are coming!
[What do in advance of exam day . . . how to get ready for the "big day."]

Test taking strategies and Exam time!
[What to do on exam day . . . and during the exam.]

Learn from your mistakes!
[A video presentation on how to analyze your previous tests.]

Do you have some of your own tips to share?
Click the comment button and let's hear them!

Build your own body!

2009-11-09T14:00:00.013-06:00

I recently came across a website where you can build your own body. It's called Anatomography and it's really fun.

Using the online editor at Anatomography you start out with a complete skeleton. You can adjust the opacity (how transparent the bones are) or the color of your skeleton . . . or delete it if you like. Oh, and you can change the background color if you like.

You then add organs from a library of pre-drawn organs. Any organs you like. Make each one a different color or perhaps color-code them by system. If you want to remove organs you've added, that's easy.

At any point, you can rotate or tip your body to the desired perspective. Like the image shown here, where I included the spleen (red) and tilted the body so you can see its position easily.

You can save your image to a file or the program will provide you with a URL where the image is located so that you can share it with your friends . . . or the whole class. (You could even share it with your professor!)

You can also get a URL that links to your image within the editor, so that others can start with your image then add to it or change it in other ways. This could be great for a study group to share the building of a system . . . or a whole body.

Besides being a fun toy to play with, this could really help you understand the anatomy of the human body by building and unbuilding it . . . rotating it around to different angles . . . highlighting different areas with different colors . . . making organs translucent so you can see through them to nearby organs . . . and more.

It's also a great tool to produce images for your flash cards, your concept maps, your class notes, PowerPoint slides, and other study tools.

Because your textbook and lab manual cannot possibly illustrate every organ at every possible angle, the images you produce with Anatomography can help you visualize organs that you otherwise would have a hard time visualizing.

The program isn't perfect. For example, the only skeletal muscle in the available library is the diaphragm. But for other systems, the library is fairly complete.

What uses can you think of for Anatomography?

Learn from your mistakes!

2009-10-21T14:00:00.005-05:00

OK, you know you're supposed to "go over" your test or exam after its over. But HOW do you do that . . . WHY should you do that . . . and WHAT SHOULD YOU BE GETTING OUT OF IT?

The reason you should do it is so that you can learn from your mistakes. Not only will you need those concepts you missed when you take the final exam, you'll need them to understand the rest of the course.

Besides, you're going to have to identify and fix any problems with your test-taking skills.

If you just casually scan your test, then you may not get much out of it. You need to take a more organized, focused approach.

Here's a brief video running down how this works.

Want a FREE sample Test Analysis Chart? More information on how to analyze your test? Then go to lionden.com/testreview.htm

A skull a day?

2009-10-21T14:00:00.003-05:00

Well with a certain holiday coming up soon, it's probably a good time to share one of my favorite blogs with you . . . a crazy, wonderful blog called SKULL-A-DAY that you should visit.
The project started out when this guy named Noah Scalin made a paper skull and posted it, then kept on making skulls in various media and in different forms every day for a year.

Then folks just kept adding to it and, well, now it's a pretty big project. The one shown here is one of my favorites . . . a skull carved from a watermelon! There's even a book version now! The book is called SKULLS of course.

As many of you A&P students are skull fans by now, or ought to be, I thought you might like to see all those skulls.

For Facebook users, there's an application called Send-A-Skull that allows you to send skulls to your friends.

Help with learning the skeleton

2009-10-14T14:00:00.005-05:00

My students are now struggling with learning all those darn bone markings in lab. Last week, I shared one of their suggestions . . . the bone dance from the Hannah Montana TV series.

They also have found it useful to learn the naming system for bone markings first, before trying to even find the specific markings on the skeleton. This method for understanding the conceptual framework before you begin learning a list of structures is more fully explained in my Survival Guide For Anatomy And Physiology: Tips, Techniques And Shortcuts.

In the Survival Guide, I explain how learning bone markings is like learning geography. Before you can find specific calderas on a map, you have to know what a caldera is. Should you be looking for a stream? A mountain? A valley? Once you know a caldera is a volcanic mountain that has collapsed for form a big crater, it's easy to find any caldera assigned to you on a map. You won't waste your time and effort looking at every feature . . . just the big craters. And knowing what a caldera is, you'll remember what it looks like as you learn the name.

Thus, if you learn that a condyle is a rounded bump where a bone articulates (joins) with another bone, it's easy to find and remember all the condyles in the skeleton. If you know that a foramen is hole, then finding them (and remembering them) is now that much easier.

When we compare learning anatomy to learning geography, we are using an analogy. Such analogies are comparisons that help us learn.

Something my students have found to be really, really helpful in finding good analogies for learning the bone markings is the Visual Analogy Guide series. This series has been used by my students for a couple of years now and my students love them.

Created by my friend Paul Krieger at Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC), the Visual Analogy Guides really meet the students where they are at to help them master some of those little tricks for learning the core concepts of an A&P course.

Using his considerable skills as an illustrator and his great talent as a teacher, Paul has put together some great tools that help students focus their study time by using visual and kinesthetic processes to help them learn "the hard parts" of A&P.

Check out his video, in which he explains how the Visual Analogy Guides work.

100 Best Web Tools for Science Students

2009-10-14T14:00:00.001-05:00

I recently became aware of a new website that includes a handy list of the 100 Best Web Tools for Science Students. It includes virtual laboratories and experiments, explorations and web quests, basic foundations and principles, research and collaboration sites, modeling and mapping tools, plus links to search engines and databases.

Although the list includes resources covering a variety of science topics, several could be very useful to A&P students. Just a few examples:

1. Virtual Labs at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute A free tool that enables students to take on the role of scientist, technician, doctor, and immunologist. They participate in labs on topics related to cardiology, immunology, and bacterial identification.

57. Note Mesh A web 2.0 app that allows college students in the same science classes to share notes online using a wiki set-up.

73. Flashcard Exchange Print flashcards, create flashcards and study science topics online with this tool, the world’s largest flashcard library.

86. Virtual Cell A simulation of the look and feel of moving through an actual cell or cellular component. Students are encouraged to play the role of a biologist and examine cellular organelles, conduct experiments and form conclusions.

But be careful! There are a lot fun links, like virtual field trips to the plains of Africa, that might distract you from studying A&P. Well, OK, it's a good thing to have a little fun, too.

Bone song and dance

2009-10-07T14:00:00.002-05:00

You can't dance without your skeleton, right? But can you sing and dance about the skeleton? Well, the TV character Hannah Montana thought so when she needed to learn the bones for her A&P class.

As I've mentioned before silly songs are a great learning tool!
(see Pinky & the Brain and Pump your blood)

You'll want to see the video showing the song and dance.

Then you'll want to see the video that helps you learn the lyrics.

Study Cards

2009-09-29T14:00:00.001-05:00

You may be interested in a new study tool that has just become available to anatomy and physiology students . . . Mosby's Anatomy & Physiology Study and Review Cards.

This boxed set of full-color study cards was assembled by my good friend Dan Matusiak, who is an excellent teacher of A&P. Using some the of amazing new art recently commissioned by Mosby (Elsevier Publishing), Dan has created a whole toolbox of helpful study cards to help you learn your A&P . . . then help you to quickly review it later.

There are 329 cards divided into 20 sections with handy color-coded sections to help you locate topics easily. Their 4 inch by 5.5 inch size means that they'll also stack easily with any 4 x 6 index cards that you may already be using to study A&P.

Additional features include:

This set introduces the user to the Leitner method, a time-tested strategy to improve retention and streamline study time through flash cards.

More than 200 of the cards feature a detailed A&P illustrations on the front, while the back identifies the anatomic structures or physiologic processes with numbered labels.

The set features hundreds of study questions with answers to reinforce core content.

Compact and convenient size makes it easy to study the cards wherever you choose.

Whether your breezing through A&P, or struggling to survive, this learning tool is worth checking out!

Learning anatomic structures

2009-09-07T14:00:00.001-05:00

When you first face human anatomy in the lab course, it can seem overwhelming. All those parts. And parts of parts! Yikes!

Many inexperienced students feel that their objectives consist entirely of memorization. Often, they feel that memorizing the particular models, specimens, and diagrams available to them in the lab course are the beginning and end of the process facing them.

That's wrong on several counts.

First, what good is taking this course, if you are simply going to memorize things that will be useless to you outside of this particular course . . . when you'll face other specimens, perhaps even real human bodies?

Second, there is a far easier way to learn your anatomy—even a long list of required structures—than merely memorizing them. If you first construct a conceptual framework, before learning all those parts, your learning will be faster, easier, and more accurate. AND you'll be more likely to hold on to that information (and recall it when you need it) so you can use it in the future!

A conceptual framework is just a "picture in your head" of how it all fits together—a rough pattern to begin with. When you fit new knowledge into a pre-existing pattern, after you know what to look for and remember, the new learning has meaning for you.

Usually, the lab manual, handouts, pre-lab activities, and other explanations your lab instructor provides give you the framework upon which you can hang all that new stuff you are learning. It's just that most beginning students just don't recognize these helps for what they are.

For example in my textbooks and lab manuals, I provide lists of what the different bone markings are.

A foramen is a simply a hole, for example. But I can't tell you how many students jump into their lists of bone markings without even knowing that every part with "foramen" in the name is hole!

They're poring over diagrams and trying to figure out whether it's the hole or the nearby bump . . . or maybe it's that little depression. Yikes! No wonder it takes them so long to learn . . . and what they learn is so easy to forget.

Starting with a framework, what the names of bone markings mean, makes learning all the markings fun and easy!

For a link to a sample of a framework you can use, go to the related article in the Lion Den.

How we learn new terms

2009-08-30T14:00:00.000-05:00

Good news for adult students of A&P!

You were probably thinking that you are too old to be learning so many new terms in such a short period of time. Maybe the brain of a child is good at doing this, you might tell yourself, but I'm past the point where this is easy.

Scientists in Finland have been working on how the brain processes the learning of new terms in the left temporal and frontal lobes of the brain. And their results show that it is actually easier for adults with an established vocabulary to add lists of new terms (and their meanings). And learning the meanings (definitions) of the terms appears to be easier than learning the names themselves!

This news further confirms my suspicion that the hurdle is not so much the list of terms themselves as it is one's confidence in their ability to learn them. In other words, it's all about having a winning attitude. In fact, that's one of my key points in the brief Survival Guide For Anatomy And Physiology: Tips, Techniques And Shortcuts I've recommended to you before.

Want to know more about the recent findings?

Familiar And Newly Learned Words Are Processed By The Same Neural Networks In The Brain.
Academy of Finland (2009, August 30).
ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 30, 2009
[News release summarizing the study and it's importance.]

Want some tips on learning the terms needed for your A&P course?

Learning Terminology
tips and links from The A&P Student blog

New Terms and Learning Terminology
tips and links from the Lion Den website

Survival Guide For Anatomy And Physiology: Tips, Techniques And Shortcuts
my handy little manual with all kinds of learning strategies

Mosby's Anatomy & Physiology Study and Review Cards
a new collection of study cards for A&P from my friend Dan Matusiak

Terminology for A&P and International Terminology for Anatomy & Physiology
my YouTube videos helping you get starting with learning terms in A&P

Getting started in a new A and P course

2009-08-23T14:00:00.002-05:00

Many of you are just starting (or are about to start) a new A&P course. You will later look back on this course as one of the most interesting and useful courses you have ever taken! But right now, it probably seems a bit overwhelming, eh?

Well, there is a lot to cover in an A&P course . . . especially if you are in a two-semester course or an upper-division A&P course. But, as I tell my own students, it's not really that difficult if you approach it with the right "can do" attitude . . . and armed with the appropriate study skills.

I'll be reviewing some of those study skills over the next few weeks in this blog. So you'll probably want to subscribe to this blog so that you get the articles as they are posted.

To subscribe by way of a feed reader click here. Then choose your feed method.

To subscribe to the email newsletter update click here. Then fill out the form.

To subscribe through your Facebook account click here. Then become a "fan."

I have a few tips to get us started this week:

1. Many experts suggest that for every hour spent in a college class (or lab) you spend two hours working on the course on your own. That's the average. Anatomy and physiology courses are above average . . . which means that you should be working on your own more than two hours per week. So if (in lecture and lab) you are spending 5 hours, then you should be spending more than ten hours working on your own for the A&P course.

This may mean that you have to postpone a trip, a wedding or honeymoon, a divorce, a move, a big sporting event, a job change, that big mountain climb, or other major life events. If they can't be postponed until after you complete A&P, now is the time to consider whether you really want to take A&P this semester! Maybe next semester is the best time for you to start A&P.

2. The only way to "shortcut" anatomy and physiology is to hone your study skills. Reading this blog is a good start. You may also want to consider the Survival Guide For Anatomy And Physiology: Tips, Techniques And Shortcuts. This short and light-hearted look at how to improve your approach to A&P is available through any bookstore—whether at your school, down the road, or online. It's brief, easy to read, and heavily illustrated. You'll be on the right track immediately with this handy little manual.

3. Start scanning through previous posts on this blog. There are several ways to do that. They all involve going to any blog page and using the tools provided in the right column. If you scroll far enough down, you'll find these to be helpful:

Topics—Choose a topic and you'll be taken to several articles that address that topic.

Blog Archive—click on the little arrowheads to list the archive for a particular month. Some readers like to go back to the beginning (or perhaps just one year) and scan through the headlines backwards to the most current posting.

Search—the search box is found at the very top edge of any blog page. Use that to search for all the posts on a particular topic.

Easter egg alert: you can sometimes (not always) find additional tips, resources, or odd treasures by clicking the images found in my blog posts!

Learn about the flu AND win $2500

2009-07-09T14:00:00.001-05:00

The federal Department of Health and Human Services has just announced a contest that should be of interest to students of human anatomy and physiology who have a creative urge:

Make a brief video PSA (public service announcement) and you'll have a chance to win $2500 . . . enough to cover the cost of your A&P textbook AND your A&P lab manual AND a candy bar!

Even if you don't win the contest, you'll have learned some useful information about human health and disease . . . perhaps something that'll come in handy in your own life or your career. And maybe you can use it for credit in your A&P, micro, or film course, eh?

Check it out:

If you can't see the video in your news feed or emailed newsletter, then just click here to access it at the blog.

By the way, do you know what you should do about your A&P class if you have the flu?

NOTHING! Do not come to school. Do not work on your homework. The rest of us don't want your flu . . . and you need to rest and survive the flu so you can come back and work like the dickens to catch up with what you've missed.

{FYI, the image seen in the blog post is a colorized negative stained transmission electron micrograph (TEM) depicted some of the structure of the A/CA/4/09 swine flu virus.}

Reading scientific terms

2009-06-07T14:00:00.000-05:00

I've said before that the first step to learning the concepts of A&P is learning the language of A&P. Some new research shows us why learning and recognizing the terms used in an A&P course are important for understanding the story being told in the course.

A recent article in Science News summarizes new research that demonstrates that when you read a passage, such as in your A&P textbook, your brain is recognizing whole words rather then reading each term letter by letter. At least that's what appears to be happening with "good readers" of the material. Folks that have difficulty reading a passage probably have to stop more often at unfamiliar terms and read them letter by letter (or word part by word part).

Reading experts have understood for a long time that familiarity with the words . . . the vocabulary of the material you are reading . . . improves reading speed and retention. Now, we have some insights as to how the brain works in producing this effect . . . and proof to back up what was once conjecture about brain mechanisms.

So how can we apply this concept to improving your learning of A&P?

Always familiarize yourself with the new terms of each new chapter of your A&P textbook before you read the chapter
Read through the word list out loud to give your brain the familiarity with term it needs to recognize the terms as you encounter then when reading. The word list begins at the start of each chapter. This sounds silly, and it seems like it might be a waste of time, but it really works . . . and in the long run, saves you time by allowing you to read faster.
Even if you don't read the textbook (a really bad idea), you'll need these terms to understand your teacher, handouts, and your own notes
Use the in-text pronunciation guides and online audio pronunciation guide that comes with your textbook to make sure that you use the correct pronunciation for each term. This allows your brain to really "own" the term so that it doesn't trip you up and slow you down as you read.
By putting a little time and effort into getting familiar with new words at the beginning of a new topic, you'll end up saving time later on. And most importantly, you'll be much more likely to understand what you are reading.

Studying A&P can be frustrating because of all the new terms involved. But you've just learned a great way . . . a scientifically supported way . . . of reducing that frustration!

For more tips on learning terminology, including some brief videos, see these previous articles.

[photo by (nz)dave at flickr]

Ever seen a Winking Skull?

2009-05-13T14:00:00.004-05:00

Looking for a FREE web-based anatomy exploration to help you study? Try the Winking Skull.

Created by the publisher Thieme to accompany their Atlas of Anatomy, this web-based tool is FREE for any user . . . even if you don't have the book.

Of course, if do have the book (with an included access code), then you'll have access to more features than in the free version.

HINT: The Atlas of Anatomy one of several great atlases that would be a good addition to your growing professional library . . . something you'll use the rest of your life.

But the free version is pretty good, even without the extra "PLUS" features. Oh, I almost forgot this . . . if you want to use all the features of the free version, you have to sign up for a free user account . . . not much of a hurdle, eh?

You can navigate to different regions of the body, and from there click on any of the thumbnails of detailed anatomical art. Once you arrive at a piece of art, you can view it WITH LABELS or WITHOUT LABELS . . . a useful feature for self-quizzing or exploring things in lab.

A little drop-down menu at the top, right corner of the screen allows you to choose between English labels and Latin labels for anatomical structures.

The images can be zoomed in and out. You can also quickly flip to different views of the region you are exploring.

There are also built-in, timed quizzes where the user can set the parameters of the quiz.

Let us know what you think of it!

Now on Facebook

2009-05-13T14:00:00.003-05:00

The A&P Student blog now has a page on Facebook.

Come visit us there, become a fan, and participate in our Facebook community!

And don't forget to share it with your friends taking A&P . . . or will be soon.

The A&P Student's Facebook Page

Promote Your Page Too

Do NOT sell your textbook!

2009-05-06T14:00:00.002-05:00

After your A&P class is over, you may be tempted to sell your A&P textbook back to your college bookstore, to a bookbuyer visiting your campus, or to a friend who'll be taking A&P next semester.

DO NOT do that!

Yeah, I know, you can use the cash. But unless you absolutely need that cash now in order to keep from starving . . . it's not worth it.

Why not?

Because you are going to need it later. And you are going to need it often.

Most students who take an A&P course are headed into some health or athletic program or professional course later. Most (if not all) your core and clinical/practicum courses are going to be based on the principles you learned in your A&P class!

If you save your book, your notes, your flashcards, lab manual, and everything else, then you'll have it handy and ready when you need it in later courses. Many later courses assume that you remember all your A&P. Of course, that can't be true because no matter how good your A&P course is, you have to use it a few times before you become thoroughly familiar with it. So no matter how well you did in your A&P course, you are going to have to review your A&P frequently throughout each of your later professional courses.

Besides that, your A&P book can be the start of your own professional library.

Successful professionals build a library of resources during their early training . . . and continue to add to their library throughout their professional careers.

A good professional library will come in handy to review concepts you haven't used in a while, when you're suddenly pulled to work on a different floor or in a different department, when you change jobs, when take a continuing education course, or when you encounter some new case.

Not going to be majoring in any of the human sciences?

Well, OK, you are still a human being, right? Wouldn't it be a good idea to keep the "owner's manual" handy? Just in case there's a health issue that you, your family, or a friend wants to explore a little more thoroughly. Or to help teach your kids about the human body and it's function? Or to figure out what they're talking about on your favorite medical show?

I can't tell you how many of my past students tell me how they regret having sold their A&P books! All I can do is empathize . . . and give them my famous, "I told you so" look.

I'm telling you now . . . DO NOT SELL BACK YOUR BOOK!

You WILL regret it later.

Exam time!

2009-04-29T14:00:00.000-05:00

Many students have exams coming up this week or next . . . or sometime soon.

Last week, I shared some tips for exam preparation.

Now here are a few tips for what to do on exam day . . . and during the exam:

Be healthy. Do NOT stay up nights studying . . . sleep deprivation will reduce your ability to perform well. Eat well in the days leading up to the exam. Try to reduce stress. Exercise (it'll help you think more clearly).
Get to the test in time. Duh-uh, of course you should be there in time. But for the exam, try to get there early. I've seen SO many students cut it close, then something comes up (bad traffic, for example) and they come in LATE. Not only does that cut down the time you have to take the exam . . . you'll be flustered and unable to think clearly.
Skim over the exam before taking it. This will give you an idea of what's ahead and you can use your time wisely.
Don't waste time on something you really don't know. Do all the parts you are confident about. Then use the remaining time to work on the real puzzlers. If you start with the puzzling parts, you won't have time for the parts you know well . . . and you might get flustered and bomb the whole thing.
Double check your responses. Make sure you read the question accurately (a common mistake). Makes sure things are spelled correctly. If you use a scan sheet, make sure you answered on the correct line. If there are complex problems, and you have time, do them AGAIN--just to make sure you got the right answer.
Don't skip anything. Well, if you absolutely run out of time, you have no choice. But if time gets away from you and realize that you have only a few minutes for the remaining items that you'd prefer to take more time with . . . then just "go with your gut" and fill in some fast answers. You'd be surprised how many may turn out to be right (especially if you've prepared yourself well).

There are more tips at the Study Tips & Tools page on Taking Tests.

Study Stack

2009-04-24T14:00:00.002-05:00

In recent posts I mentioned flashcard rescources such as Flashcard Exchange and also recommended that you check the data in the resources before using them to study.

Here's another resource you might find useful:

StudyStack

This site allows you to choose a topic, then study the data in any of several formats:

notes
flashcards
study stack (try this one out . . . it's cool)
study table
matching
Hangman
crossword
wordsearch
unscramble
type in
bug match (this one is crazy, but fun)

You can also choose to

export the data
print the data
edit the data
recommend other options

For example, see the stack on the Endocrine System. Click on each of the formats to see what you get!

To find topics related to A&P, try these:

Medical/Nursing
Medical/Anatomy
Medical/Physiology

There are many different levels represented here, going all the way up through med-school level. So you'll have to pick the data that suits your needs.

How about this . . . why don't you make some stacks fo your own and put them up and then request a new category for undergrad A&P?

Exams are coming!

2009-04-24T14:00:00.001-05:00

Many students are preparing for upcoming final exams. Or they SHOULD be!

Now is a good time to go over your study strategy.

What is a study strategy? It's your plan regarding how you are going to prepare yourself for your tests and exams.

Why bother to have a specific plan? Well, you want to PASS the course, don't you? Sure! You want to do more than that . . . you want to EXCEL (otherwise you wouldn't even be reading this, eh?). Having a plan will make your exam preparations more efficient (that is, less time-consuming) and more likely to produce a successful outcome.

Each student's best strategy will be somewhat unique them--tailored to individual strengths and learning styles. (Click here for more on learning styles.)

A good strategy will have been fine-tuned by previous experimentation with different study plans over the course of the semester.

Here are a few things to think about when developing your study strategy:

What study plan has worked in the past? What hasn't worked out so well?
What do you know about the format of the upcoming exam? What kinds of items will be on the exam?
What is the content of the exam? What concepts will be tested?
What has your instructor told you about the exam? Professors often drop a lot of hints. Even if they don't, you can always just ASK them. Most professors will have SOME KIND of advice for their students. A good question to ask is, "how do you go about making up the exam?" Such a question will often reveal what the professor finds to be most important.
Practice the exam. Use previous tests from the course (if available) to practice the exam. One way to do this is to cut up copies of your tests and draw individual items randomly from an envelope. Sometimes professors will provide a practice exam or copies of some old exams. If not offered, it wouldn't hurt to ask.
Study with a group. Pooling your thoughts, and helping each other review and practice, work surprisingly well to solidify what you already know and to fill in any gaps.
Manage your time well. Don't cram at the last minute . . . do a little preparation each day for a week or more before the exam.

For more study tips, see Study Tips & Tools in the Lion Den.

Next week, I'll share some strategies for what do during the exam.

Pinky and the Brain

2009-04-15T14:00:00.007-05:00

Have you ever seen the Pinky and the Brain cartoon? Here's a crazy video clip from the show sent to me by one of my favorite textbook editors, Karen Turner over at Elsevier (Mosby). It features a musical tour through the brain.

[Here's an easter egg in Anatomy & Physiology 7th ed. . . . Karen Turner's photo is on p. 55]

Although this clip is funny and includes a lot of "real" anatomy terms and structures, it's not very useful in understanding brain anatomy in an organized way . . . it's just a jumble of random structures, jumping all around and from microscopic to macroscopic and back again. But it IS entertaining!

[The video player embedded here may not appear in your news feed or emailed newsletter. Go to The A&P Student blog to access the video viewer. ]

So why share it with you?

First, because . . . well . . . it IS entertaining.

Second, it gives me the opportunity to bring up (once again) the value of silly songs as a learning tool.

Remember my previous article Pump your blood, which featured a silly song about blood flow through the systemic and pulmonary circulation? That one was effective because it put all the essential facts together in a way that makes sense (unlike the Pinky and the Brain clip). Such songs teach not only the facts . . . but also (and this is important) how the facts fit together.

Silly songs can also be useful as mnemonic devices to remember the anatomical order of structures in the body or the members of a group of structures in the body (see Sad Pucker).

Third, I'm sharing this video because even though this clip is "not very useful" in learning A&P, it is still "somewhat useful." It does show structures visually while at the same time stating the names . . . which will probably help remember where they are and what they look like.

But one must alway be careful with this sort of thing (media not really intended to be strictly educational) because there may be unintentional errors or misleading usages embedded in them. Looking for, finding, and correcting such errors can in itself be a learning experience.

For example, the clip contains several eponyms (terms that include someone's name). We learned in last week's article International standards for anatomy terminology that eponyms are "old fashioned." So the clip isn't really wrong in this regard . . . it's just not up to date.

Also, near the end of the clip the term "medulla oblongata" is sung but the entire brainstem and part of the diencephalon is illustrated--not just the medulla oblongata. Ooops. There are probably several more of these that I didn't catch on casual viewing.

Of course, these mistakes only support my previously mentioned hypothesis, summarized here:

Dr. Patton's Theory of Media Science (Dr. P's TMS) . . .which I just made up after years of mulling it over . . . and shouting it to my television screen . . . states that

"biological accuracy of a science-based fictional media production is inverse to the total budget for special effects in the production. "

Do you have other silly songs or video clips to share (accurate or not)?

Then share them with us by "commenting" on this article!

Check your sources

2009-04-15T14:00:00.005-05:00

In my recent post Flashcard Exchange I recommended the use of flashcard sites that allow students to share A&P flashcards with one another.

How can you be sure that the information on the cards you use are accurate?

You can't!

As with anything borrowed from other students . . . class notes, diagrams, concept maps, concept lists, outlines, PowerPoint slide, images, videos, podcasts . . . you can't be certain that each element is correct. Nor can you be certain that they contain the same usages that your course uses (for example, the exact term of several possible correct alternatives).

What to do? Give up using these study aids?

Don't give them up . . . just check them out before using them!

That should always be your first step . . . compare the content to what you know to be true from your own learning. Then double-check that against your textbook and other course references.

This part of the process may seem overly time consuming--but it's worth it.

Not only will it keep you from studying the wrong thing--which could have tragic results--it in itself is a good study technique. By the time you are ready to use your borrowed resource, you'll already have learned a bit more just by checking it out thoroughly.

International standards for anatomy terminology

2009-04-08T14:00:00.000-05:00

Not long ago in my article Introducing Terminology I mentioned that I'd be sharing more information with you.

This new video discusses the new worldwide standard for anatomical terminology and why it's important for A&P students to know about it.

Take a look . . .

[If you don't see the video viewer in your newsletter or feed version of this article, please go to The A&P Student blog site to view it. ]

Myths about textbooks debunked

2009-04-01T14:58:00.007-05:00

As an occasional student myself and the father of some college (and college-bound) students, I feel the pain of textbook prices.

We hear a lot about why college textbooks are so expensive and what might be done to slow or even reverse the expense of college textbooks. In a recent post, I suggested that professors start comparing the prices of the textbooks available for their courses when making adoption decisions. See The Cost of Textbooks, in which I pointed out that some A&P textbooks cost as much as $45 less than comparable A&P textbooks.

Even state legislators have taken this up as a cause and have enacted regulations aimed and making textbooks more affordable. Unfortunately, none of these efforts seem to work . . . or at least not very well. Some of these efforts actually make the situation worse!

Most of the news stories I've seen or heard—and comments from students and politicians—makes it clear that we are not getting all perspectives on the issues involved. How do I know that? Because as a life-long student, as a professor, and as a textbook author, I know some important facts that are not commonly reported or debated. Facts that could and should expand the debate to help us find solutions that actually work.

So that you can find out "the rest of the story" I suggest checking out this brief article from the Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA), of which I'm a member:

TAA debunks the top 7 myths
regarding textbook costs

(Feel free to pass the article around to others who might be interested.
Click here for the PDF version.)

You may also want to explore this website

TextBookFACTS.ORG

New A&P Student Library

2009-04-01T14:00:00.000-05:00

I've just added a new set of tools to help you succeed in your A&P course!

There's now a new link to The A&P Student Library at the blog site. This "library" is an affiliate of amazon.com that shows my personal recommendations for books and other resources that may help you.

Many of the listings include my own comments on the resource.

Over time, I'll be adding more resources. If you have any that you want to share with me, please comment on this blog post, or email me directly.

Want to know how The A&P Student Library works? Check out this quick video:

PLEASE EXPAND THE VIEWER TO SEE THE PRESENTATION CLEARLY.
After starting video, click the icon in the lower right corner of the frame to EXPAND.

[If you can't see the video player in your newsfeed then click this link http://screencast.com/t/BBDG3fxOX or go to The A&P Student blog to view the clip.]

New look for the newsletter!

2009-03-25T14:00:00.005-05:00

Those of you who subscribe to The A&P Student email newsletter, you have already noticed the sleek new look of your newsletter.

For those of you who don't subscribe, why not?

The newsletter is a FREE weekly summary of the latest blog entries from The A&PStudent blog. It's an easy and convenient way to keep up with what's going on in your favorite forum for study tips related to the easy, efficient learning of human anatomy and physiology.

To subscribe, use the form here:
If you want to preview the new look of newsletter, click this link: The A&P Student Preview

The new look sports a new banner similar to that seen in the blog site.

It also features summarized blog entries so that you can quickly scan through the entries to see what's there at a glance. That way, you don't have scroll through (sometimes) long articles just to see what the main stories are for the week. And there's no worry of clogging up your mailbox with huge files.

In the weeks ahead look for expanded content in the blog and newsletter, too!

[Some forms and other features may not appear in the feed or newsletter form of this article. Go to The A&P Professor blog to see these features.]

Introducing terminology in A&P

2009-03-25T14:00:00.004-05:00

Here's an introduction to learning the new terminology of your A&P course.

As I've mentioned several times before, learning terminology is an important first step in understanding the essential concepts of A&P.

This is the first of several videos that I'll be sharing with you to help you understand the terminology of A&P. This introductory piece explains the basic principle of word parts and how they are combined to produce a term.

[The video player embedded here may not appear in your news feed or emailed newsletter. Go to The A&P Student blog to access the video viewer. ]

What to do on Spring Break!

2009-03-17T14:00:00.002-05:00

Most of you do not need any advice on what to do to fill your time during spring break.

But for folks in A&P courses, spring break could be a vital time that affects your overall success. That's something that should not be taken lightly.

Here are some things to think about:

You do need time to rest up a bit from your hectic semester, right? Right! You'll come back to school refreshed and ready for more if you take some some time during your break to relax. Take time for yourself as well as for friends and family who are now wondering what planet you've gone to since you started taking that darn A&P course.
You'll come back relaxed if you take some time to catch up with studying goals and assignments. If you've let things pile up, your break is a good time to get those stressful items off your plate so you can "start fresh" upon your return. (But don't use up all your time catching up . . . you should still relax a little, eh?)
Reassess how your study plan in working for you. Try to be realistic about which things you're doing that seem to be working to help you understand what you need to understand in the course . . . and realistic about which things have turned out to be a waste of time. Need help finding good study tips? More things to try? Advice on reducing study time by increasing efficiency? Try my Study Tips & Tools section of the Lion Den.
Do NOT use this time to get help from your professor. Hey, we need a break, too! OK, if your professor invited you to ask for help, then go ahead. If your college library or learning center is open during spring break, this might be a good time to visit without the usual flurry of activity.

You may be immersed in a big adventure in some exotic locale and are reading this after your return. Great! Hopefully, you'll be reinvigorated and ready to pick up where you left off.

For those that go out adventuring . . . or have some other interesting Spring Break experience . . . share it here by using the "Comment" link at the end of this article.

Finding others for study groups

2009-03-09T14:00:00.006-05:00

One of the best ways to succeed in learning A&P is by participating in a study group.

Study after study shows that if you study with others, you increase the efficiency of learning . . . that means that you learn more in less time!

There are a variety of ways to connect with others in your course to get a group together for studying . . . such as getting lab partners to study with you, approaching people in your lecture course, finding folks in your college study center or library, rounding up folks in your dorm or neighborhood.

But there are many other ways that you may not have thought about. These are especially useful for those who are at a distance from their school, who have a heavy extracurricular schedule (family, work, etc.), or who are simply a bit shy.

One method you may not have thought of is finding folks through "virtual networking" techniques.

You might want to think about finding or forming a study group by posting a message to your course's course management system (CMS) . . . that is, through WebCT, Blackboard, ANGEL, Moodle, or whatever system your course uses. This can be done through posting on a discussion forum or emailing others in your course.

Your school may also have some sort of "online community" function at their website that would allow you to find others for one study session together . . . or to form a regular study group.

You can take that idea a bit farther and find or form a group on a social networking site such as Facebook, MySpace, NING, and so on.

Once you've identified some folks to join you in a study session, the next trick is to find a time when all of you can meet. Here are a few FREE online tools that can help do this easily and efficiently . . . and therefore painlessly!

When is Good

Doodle

SAM (set a meeting)

Check out each one. It'll only take a few minutes . . . they're simple and straightforward. Then decide which one will work best for you.

Your teacher may also have additional ideas for how you can find some study partners.

The cost of A&P textbooks

2009-03-09T14:00:00.004-05:00

In these hard economic times when so many are returning to school to retrain themselves for a new career, the cost of textbooks becomes especially important.

Did you know that there is a difference of $45 between the list prices of some A&P textbooks compared to others? For the same size, scope, and quality in the A&P coverage!

Most professors aren't even aware of these prices differences. You may want to ask your A&P professors whether they look at the "bookstore prices" when they are considering the adoption of textbooks for their A&P course.

Using the Clear View of the Human Body

2009-03-02T14:00:00.002-06:00

If you are using any of my textbooks in your A&P course, you have probably already seen the nifty Clear View of the Human Body . . . a set of opaque and transparent overlays that allow you to peel away layers of the body in a sort of virtual dissection.

My tip for today is . . .

DO NOT FORGET that the CLEAR VIEW is there!

A lot of students look at it when they first get the book and are thumbing through the pages marveling at all the interesting artwork and photos (and trying to size up how interesting or difficult the course may be). But as they get involved in the learning process, many students forget that the Clear View is there . . . and miss out on using this valuable tool.

Why use the Clear View? It's a great way to develop your concept of the spatial relationships of the body . . . that is, how all the organs "fit together."

The typical anatomical illustration gives a rather flat view of body structures. The Clear View lets you peel away layer after layer, showing the anterior structures, then deeper structures, moving finally to the posterior structures. Then it reverses the direction, and takes you from posterior, to deep, to anterior! Because each layer is partly transparent and partly opaque (not transparent), you are able to see both organs on the layer you are looking at, and some of the organs in deeper layers.

The best way to use the Clear View is to play with it regularly. It's fun . . . go ahead and play! By doing so after or during your study of every chapter, you'll soon become very familiar with the 3-dimensional nature of the body.

Of course, dissecting fresh cadavers again and again throughout your studies would be a better way to achieve an understanding of how all the body parts fit together. But the Clear View isn't a bad alternative!

Check out this short (6-minute) movie clip showing the Clear View.

[The video player embedded here may not appear in your news feed or emailed newsletter. Go to The A&P Student blog to access the video viewer. ]

Reading the textbook

2009-02-26T16:20:00.002-06:00

The key to reading an A&P textbook effectively is to use a reading strategy!

The Academic Skills Center at Dartmouth has a nice web page that summarizes some of the best strategies to make textbook reading less time-consuming and more effective:

Reading Your Textbooks Effectively and Efficiently

What should strike you about the information there is that you must abandon what you think you already know about how to read a textbook! Reading a textbook is WAY different than how one reads a novel or magazine article. For example:

Once is not enough. You have to read the material several times, using different methods each time, to really "get" what you are reading.
You must have the courage to skip parts that don't apply to your goals
You can read faster, with better comprehension, by simply forcing yourself to read faster
You do not have to read every word
It really does matter where you do your reading

If you find that the assigned textbook for your 2-semester A&P course is too difficult to read, try this one that is specifically designed for reading efficiency:

Anatomy & Physiology

. . . and encourage your instructor to consider efficiency of reading when selecting assigned textbooks and other readings in the future!

Stay tuned to this blog for more tips on how to get more out of reading your textbook with less effort.

Subscribe!

2009-02-24T14:00:00.004-06:00

If you don't want to miss that one A&P study tip that will change everything for you, then you ought to consider a subscription to The A&P Student blog.

One popular way to subscribe is to sign up for The A&P Student Newsletter, a FREE emailed newsletter that automatically delivers every article from the blog to your inbox. Just fill in the form:

If you already use a feedreader on your desktop, homepage, or wherever, you may want to subcribe to The A&P Student blog feed. Just click the link:

Subscribe in a reader

And don't forget to share the link with others by clicking the BOOKMARK icon in the upper right column of any page on The A&P Student blog and choosing your favorite way to share the link!

Free protein synthesis animations

2009-02-20T14:00:00.004-06:00

I was subbing in an A&P class for my friend Mary Ann, and used some animations of transcription and translation.

I nearly got far enough to use some FREE animations available online at Virtual Cell.

The topic of protein synthesis, which includes some processes that I think are best visualized with an animation, has been the subject of many, many, many animated video clips.

A quick search of YouTube reveals several hundred entries for protein synthesis. Other keywords to search YouTube include transcription and translation.

Here are some examples . . .

Here's a good one that I found on YouTube . . .

This is an interesting video that animates the process of protein synthesis using people!

[If you can't see the video players in your email or news feed, then go directly to The A&P Student blog to view the videos.]

Have you found some nice animations on this topic?
If so, share them with us by "commenting" on this article
. . . or email me directly at kevin@theAPprofessor.org

Running concept lists

2009-02-16T14:00:00.001-06:00

Running concept lists are handy tools for learning new concepts.

But they are even more helpful for learning the connections between concepts . . . thus developing your critical thinking skills!

Concept lists are also called connection pages because they help you see connections.

How to make a running concept list:

Choose a concept, such as "plasma membrane functions," that you see show up frequently in your reading or class discussions. (Also use concepts that your A&P teacher mentions "will come up again.")

Put the name of the concept at the top of your list.

Write notes on everything you know about this concept so far.

Be brief but direct and clear.

Draw pictures if that helps you understand the concept better. (copy the pictures from your book if you need to)

Make a separate list for each concept.

How to "run" the concept list:

Keep each concept list with your notes, perhaps a separate section started from the back of your notebook.

Whenever the concept appears again, add the new information or the new example to your concept list.

For example, list each new function of the plasma membrane as you run across it. When you see the same function appear in new contexts, add that to your list, too.

How to use the list:

Just by making the list and keeping it current, you will be learning to see applications and relationships . . . important "critical thinking" skills that will help you later.

This exercise will help improve your skills in noticing which concepts are the more important ones.

When it is time to prepare for a test or exam, you will already have a list where comparisons are apparent . . . you will see information that would not be easily seen in your notes or the textbook.

When you need a "cross-referenced" glossary to check on information for a test or class discussion question, your concept lists may help.

When you need to summarize (such as reviewing for a big exam) or in reviewing your material before taking another course that uses these concepts, you'll have a handy "connected" list of concepts.

Don't forget:

Run a separate concept list for EACH important concept.

And:

For more on concept lists, including a list of example topics for each concept list, see Concept Lists in the Lion Den.

Also check out my previous blog article Concept Maps.

Pump your blood

2009-02-09T14:00:00.011-06:00

When learning the structure and function of the cardiovascular system, it is wise to develop a thorough knowledge of the pathway of blood flow through the heart and vessels--the general scheme of blood circulation.

I'm not talking about a vague understanding that might permit you to figure out where the blood goes when it leaves the right ventricle after some consideration, and quick look at a diagram or your notes . . . I'm talking about a thorough understanding, so that you can immediately state with confidence, "past the aortic valve, through the pulmonary trunk and arteries toward the lungs."

And not just for the short term . . . long enough to pass your next test . . . but so thoroughly familiar that it will not likely ever be totally lost. And with occasional refreshers, will pretty much always be there for you.

Why such a thorough knowledge of this particular concept? Because you'll find it necessary in order to understand many, many other concepts about human structure and function. Once you learn it, you'll find yourself using it when studying pretty much every other major system of the body. And when you start applying A&P to clinical or athletic applications, you'll find you need it there, too!

So this is one of those things that seem daunting at first (but is really not so bad) and will be well worth a little effort up front.

How to manage it? Well that depends on your learning style of course.

One this is sure: just staring at the diagram in your book is not enough! That's the place to start, of course, but you have to do something active to fully understand and "own" this concept.

The next step is to make a list of the parts you "need to know" for your course in the order in which blood passes through them. An example of such a list is found at my Cardiovascular Learning Outline in the Lion Den. But we're still just getting started.

One great way to learn is to draw yourself a concept map of the pathway of blood through the pulmonary and systemic pathways, including through the heart chambers and valves. This is especially useful for visual and kinesthetic learners. Draw it the way the makes the best sense to YOU. That may be quite a bit different than

For auditory learners, try this favorite of a whole generation of A&P students . . . learn the song Pump Your Blood. It's just a start, but

Here's the video of the first verse of Pump Your Blood as animated in a St. Joseph's aspirin commercial:

Here's another version that includes all the verses AND the lyrics:

[The video players embedded here may not appear in your news feed or emailed newsletter. Go to The A&P Student blog to access the video viewer.

Click here for a version from the classic TV show Happy Days (episode #142) . . . this is the "original" version of the song (performed here byAnson Williams, who acted in the show as Potsie) . . . the version I first saw (and used) to help me learn the blood flow pathway.

For a printed version of the lyrics click here (includes a link to a Pumps Your Blood

What methods have YOU found to be successful?

Anki Learning System

2009-02-09T14:00:00.010-06:00

In a recent post, I talked about a shortcut in how to learn the overwhelming terminology of A&P--flashcards.

This is another great tool for learning the terminology of A&P . . .

My friend Jane Zeiser told me about this tool. Jane is a foreign language professor and her students use it to learn their vocabulary words.

It's called Anki and it's a FREE program that creates a database that is something like a virtual deck of flash cards. Students can load in (and share) their A&P terms and learn them by practicing with them.

The program is SMART because it uses a proven algorithm to repeat items that are missed in a pattern that promotes efficient learning. As the student learns, the program alters the pattern to focus on the terms that need more practice . . . without forgetting to review the terms already learned.

Anki can be downloaded and used on a PC or Mac, it can be used on a mobile device (such as an iPod, iPhone, or SmartPhone), or on the web.

Of course, memorizing the meaning of terms is just the first step in thoroughly learning A&P . . . but a very important first step. Success with the first step leads to success during the rest of the journey, eh?

Please "comment" on this article if you've already had experience with Anki . . . we'd love to hear some first-person reports!

Find Anki at http://ichi2.net/anki/

Watch this screencast to learn about Anki . . . . http://ichi2.net/anki/screencast1.html

A nap after class?

2009-02-09T14:00:00.002-06:00

Research shows that a short, five- or ten-minute nap after class or after studying can improve learning.

A current theory is that during the process of falling to sleep we sort through our recent memories and possibly filter and organize them. This may "lock in" important memories of what was learned in the classroom or while reading the textbook or studying.

Hmmmm . . . perhaps colleges should offer more napping spaces in classroom buildings to enhance learning. Not a bad idea, eh?

To read more, see this quick summary at NewScientist:

Are catnaps as beneficial as actual sleep?
Colin Barras
NewScientist 21 February 2008

Learning terminology

2009-02-02T14:00:00.004-06:00

Take learning new terms in your A&P course as seriously as you would learning vocabulary words in a foreign language course.

It sounds silly, but you learn as many new words in an A&P course as you do a beginning foreign language course. Really --there's been research to prove it!

The easiest way to learn new terms is to use the flash card method.

Yes . . . it reminds us all of elementary school, I know. But I also know that it works in college --I still use it myself. In fact, it was a college professor at St. Louis University (Dr. Steve Dina, my ecology professor) who taught me how valuable a tool this can be in a college science course when I went to him asking for help with the overwhelming terminology of his course.

An easy and effective way to use flashcards to learn A&P terms is demonstrated at my study tip on new terms at the Lion Den.

There's also helpful information in my book Survival Guide For Anatomy And Physiology: Tips, Techniques And Shortcuts

But remember, learning the language is just the first step!

To truly understand the structure and function of the body, you have to know what the concepts really mean and how they relate to one another. And most importantly, you have to be able to apply what you've learned.

FREE Office suite

2009-02-02T14:00:00.001-06:00

Do you need a comprehensive Office suite for your home or laptop computer?

But you don't want to (or cannot) pay a large sum of money to get it?

Then you may want try Open Office, a FREE MS Office-compatible office suite from OpenOffice.org

Components include:

Writer (word processing)
Impress (slide show creator/presenter)
Draw (drawing/graphic editing tool)
Calc (spreadsheet)
Base (database)

This open-source software isn't exactly the same as MS Office (of course) but the general functionality and productivity is equivalent. And the files you produce in one Office suite are able to be used in the other Office suite.

[NOTE: The newer XML default file formats used in MS Office 2007 (such as .docx, .pptx, and so on) can be opened in Open Office 3.0 but cannot be saved in those formats.]

OpenOffice.org has just released their latest version Open Office 3.0 . . . so's now is the perfect time to get on board. (or update your previous version of Open Office).

OpenOffice.org has a nice little summary and introduction for educational use at their website that I suggest you explore.

If you try it, or are already using Open Office, then please hit the Comment button below this blog article and let us know about your experience.

Concept Maps

2009-01-28T16:00:00.006-06:00

Concept maps are a great way to make your study time more efficient . . . that is, they help to learn more in less time. And the learning you do will be deeper learning than simply memorizing facts!

Also known as mind maps, these tools are simply a way to visualize a concept.

Although visual and kinesthetic learners will adapt most easily to this method of learning, anyone can benefit from it.
Concept maps are diagrams that relate different elements of a concept to each other and/or to the main idea. These diagrams can be simple or complex --depending on your own style of learning and what helps you understand the concept best.
For example, you can draw your own diagram of how blood flows through the cardiovascular system that makes sense to you--maybe quite different than something you may see in a book or online. It could be a simple figure 8, labeled with different sections like heart chambers, valves, systemic arteries, systemic arterioles, capillaries, and so on.
Or a flow chart, where a main idea is placed in a box at the center of the page and all the concepts related to the main idea radiate out from the central box. Then you could draw lines between the boxes to connect related concepts (maybe labeling the connecting line with how they relate to each other).

For a more complete explanation of how to make and use concept maps, including examples and links to more resources, visit Concept Maps in the Lion Den now.
You'll also want to download the FREE concept map creation tool called FreeMind . . . and start playing with it.
If you want a nice, short book that lays out how concept maps unlock your mind to organize, understand, and learn just about anything, check out the book How to Mind Map: The Ultimate Thinking Tool That Will Change Your Life.

Penile fractures and pop culture

2009-01-28T16:00:00.003-06:00

Of course you want to apply your increasing expertise in human anatomy and physiology to your experience of popular culture, right?

You've already probably caught yourself second-guessing some of the diagnoses of Dr. House's team . . . at least those lame ones offered during the first fifteen minutes of an episode. Or the really off-the-mark versions of human structure and function woven into episodes of Fringe.

Get used to it. Apparently, the big money that goes into TV and movie productions does NOT go to anyone who passed a basic A&P course!

Dr. Patton's Theory of Media Science (Dr. P's TMS) . . .which I just made up after years of mulling it over . . . and shouting it to my television screen . . . states that

"biological accuracy of a science-based fictional media production is inverse to the total budget for special effects in the production. "

My hope is that producers will eventually recognize the validity of my theory, and the growing population of A&P-educated viewers who can spot a stupid science "fact" that really doesn't have to be there to make the story flow or to keep the special effects within budget or allow for a snappy movie or episode title.

Then these cutting-edge producers will spring for a modest fee for an A&P consultant in each production. Which will spur an increasing demand for graduates of my A&P courses. Which will increase my job security. And then perhaps one day this trend will help me find a part-time job when I retire . . . perhaps an A&P consulting job that also involves brief, well-paid, guest-starring roles and sharing beers and pizza with my favorite TV and movie stars.

However, a recent episode of Grey's Anatomy (season 5, episode 513) brought up an anatomical issue that is rarely discussed in A&P courses . . . and so one might wonder "can this be true?!" Or even, "PLEASE tell me this cannot be true!"

Yes, my friends, one CAN break a penis. In fact, it's a more common injury than most people suspect.

Why don't we hear about it more often?

First, if you or your partner has broken a penis, would you be talking it up everywhere you go . . . as one might with a broken leg? Second, let's face it . . . one would have a cast that's out there asking to be asked about, right? Third, at least in my part of the world . . . we simply don't talk much (out loud, in public) regarding anything having to do with sex. (In fact, some reading this will shudder at my bringing it up in a blog for students . . . if they've even read this far.)

Why didn't your A&P teacher tell you about this? So you could fulfill your role as A&P expert as you watched the episode with friends or family? First, you probably haven't gotten to that part of the course yet. Second, when you do your instructor will likely be behind schedule and won't have time to tell you interesting stories about penis fractures. And third, in my part of the world at least, your professor doesn't want to have to take time to deal with formal complaints from horrified students who don't realize that any part of the body IS an appropriate topic of conversation in an A&P class.

Want to know more?

Try this straightforward . . . and easy to understand . . . article from Scientific American.

OUCH! Can you really break your penis?

You'll learn a lot of useful A&P, you'll be able to contribute to the inevitable classroom discussion on this topic, and you'll be all set for a future career as a TV/movie consultant after you successfully complete your A&P course!

Want to know even more useful (and possibly career-enhancing) facts related to the sex organs? Then check out the book Skin Flutes & Velvet Gloves: A Collection of Facts and Fancies, Legends and Oddities About the Body's Private Parts

By the way . . .
The television show Grey's Anatomy is a word play on the title of a famous medical anatomy text by Henry Gray called Gray's Anatomy. Notice the difference in spelling. Originally published over 150 years ago (1858), the current edition remains a leader among the best available references to the human body (and now comes in many different variations to suit different needs). In case you need more facts to bolster your standing as the local A&P expert among your television-viewing crowd.

Flashcard exchange

2009-01-19T14:00:00.001-06:00

A big hurdle . . . the first hurdle . . . to learning A&P is getting a handle on the complex terminology of human science.

I shared in a recent article that flashcards are a good way to go in learning the basic terminology that you need to start learning the core concepts of A&P.

Did you know that there is a FREE online exchange where you can pick up flashcards for A&P, and share your own flashcards with other students.

Check it out at the FlashCard Exchange.

Learning styles revisted

2009-01-19T14:00:00.000-06:00

How do you learn best?

In a recent post, I mentioned the concept of learning styles. Some of you wanted to know more about that.

Some folks learn a new concept in A&P best by hearing their instructor explain it. Some favor learning it from the textbook. Others need to play with specimens in the lab to really "get it."

All of these differences in learning among individuals are often called their "learning styles." There are MANY learning styles. So many, they probably can't be counted.

But folks (like me) interested in understand how students learn best often distill the major patterns into four categories of learning style:

Visual learners, who learn best by seeing a concept illustrated.
Auditory learners, who learn best by hearing explanations.
Reading learners, who prefer to read about a concept to understand it.
Kinesthetic leaners, who like to use movement or manipulate objects in a "hand on" approach.

[NOTE: The word kinesthesia means "muscle sense," which is your perception of body position and movement.]

But only rarely does a person rely solely on one approach when learning a new concept. Most of us are multimodal, meaning that we operate in more than one of these primary learning styles or "modes."

Even us multimodal folks, have certain preferences within our "mix" of learning styles. For example, I learn best when I can see and put my hands on it. But like other multimodals, I can also learning mainly by reading or hearing. In other words, we are not restricted to our favorite learning styles any more that I'm restricted to my preferred flavor of ice cream (vanilla).

So how does this help me learn?

By knowing what works best for me, I can develop learning strategies for myself that play to my own strengths and preferences.

Perhaps I can draw or label pictures while I'm listening to an explanation. That engages both my visual and kinesthetic senses while I'm listening. Thus adding my preferred modes (visual & kinesthetic) to one that is not my preferred mode (auditory).

You probably already know what your preferred learning styles are. If not, take the FREE online quiz using the link at my Learning Styles page in the Lion Den.

And then use the links on that page to find all kinds of ways to help you understand your learning styles and use them to make your studying of A&P more efficient.

No dummy!

2009-01-05T14:00:00.005-06:00

There are many books out there that may help you learn your A&P faster and easier.

Each student has their own unique learning style, lifestyle, and particular likes and dislikes . . . so it's a good thing there are a lot of options to choose from!

I'll be sharing a lot of my favorites on this blog, of course.

The first one out of the chute is not only a good support for many A&P students . . . the authors actually recommend my Lion Den website as one of the best online sources of help. So that tells me these authors must be absolutely brilliant! Or something like that . . .

See their their recommendation of the Lion Den. You may have to scroll to Chapter 18, p. 287 to find it.

The book is called
Anatomy & Physiology Workbook For Dummies

So don't be a dummy, check it out!

Besides learning tips, it has a lot of exercises that help you grasp the material. So if you can't think of a good way to practice what you know (and my friends in the circus will tell you . . . practice is the only thing that works) this book may be just what you need.

Anyway, if you click on the link below (go to The A&P Student blog if the link does not appear in your feed or newsletter . . . or use the text link above) and click on "Look inside" to browse the workbook to see if it's for you.

Between terms

2009-01-05T14:00:00.004-06:00

Many of you are now relishing your "time off" between last term and the next one.

Some of you are waiting for your A&P 2 course to start and some are getting ready for their A&P 1 course.

Simply taking time to relax and enjoy your friends and family is a good thing. It's one of the key study tips that I give my own students . . . have fun when you can!

If you've survived A&P 1, or heard from someone who has, then you know that it's also not a bad idea to start to get ready for the new semester. While you have the time, you might want to get yourself organized so that you can hit the road running when your new course starts.

One thing you can start with is learning about about your own learning style. Do you learn best by reading . . . or by listening . . . or by doing . . . . or by seeing? Knowing which strategies work best for you will help you get started on the right track when things do crank up.

How do you do that? It's easy! Just visit Learning Styles in the Lion Den section on study tips and tools. There, you'll learn how to figure out what your learning styles are and how to use that knowledge as you begin your new course.

Test taking strategies

2008-12-09T14:00:00.003-06:00

For many of you, you are either in the midst of final exams or close to it.

Quite a few students know that performance on an exam has a lot to do with how well you understand the concepts. Duh-uh!

But did you that there are other factors, too?

Here are some factors that can impact the performance on a test:

Wellness. Whether you are ill or healthy, whether you are tired or well-rested, whether you have eaten well or not, and so on, can have big effects on how well you do.
Test-taking skills. Yep . . . there are certain methods to use when taking a test that help you increase your chances of doing well. For example, managing your time properly helps you respond to all the items on an exam (rather than running out of time and missing out on part of the exam).
Test-preparation strategies. What you do before the exam can have a big effect on how well you do. Last-minute cramming, depending on how you do that, may actually decrease your performance on an exam . . . especially if it causes you to lose critical sleep time.

So . . . what are the particular strategies to use? Glad you asked!

Just go to the Lion Den Taking Tests page for specific, student-tested advice . . . and links to other sources!

Protect your tools!

2008-12-01T14:00:00.008-06:00

Thinking of taking some homework along during holiday travel?

These days, one of the primary tools of students are laptops and other mobile devices. The problem is that these things are stolen faster than one per minute!

For any of us planning to take our tools along during travel over the next few weeks, here are some tips published at the PC World website:

Holiday Travel Tips: Protect Your Laptop and Privacy
Thomas Wailgum, CIO.com
Sunday, November 30, 2008

For speeding through the security line, you may want to check this out:

8 Laptop Bags That Will Help You Speed Through Airport Security
By Becky Waring
September 16, 2008 Computerworld 2008

And here's even more advice from YouTube . . .

[If you don't see the video viewer in your newsletter or feed version of this article, please go to The A&P Student blog site to view it. ]

The Lion Den?!

2008-12-01T14:00:00.005-06:00

What is this Lion Den, anyway?

The Lion Den website is over ten years old. Back in the days it began, the web was just starting to be used by professors for their students' benefit. Our college, like most others at the time, was not prepared for extensive web publication by faculty. So instead of waiting for the college's IT department to catch up to me, I decided to just create my own website.

Because I was a lion tamer in my youth, before I became an A&P professor, I thought a good name for my website would be related to big cats. LionDen.com was available, so I used that one. You'll notice that there is a section related to circus wild-animal training at the website.

But mainly, that's where I put the learning outlines that my students needed in their A&P courses. Then, I started adding study tips. Then PowerPoint slides. Then all kinds of help for my own students.

But as the years rolled on, I found that many students from all over the world were using the material at my LionDen.com website. So now I've begun posting resources that any A&P student might be able to use. Part of my goal of starting this The A&P Student blog is to help students find those resources . . . and many others . . . so that they can learn A&P more easily.

So that's why my website for students (and circus fans) is called LionDen.com!

Go check it out . . . and comment here about what you like, what you don't like, and what else you'd like to see added!

. . . and stay tuned for a major redesign of LionDen.com coming this summer!

Sad pucker

2008-12-01T14:00:00.003-06:00

I was recently going over some reviewers' comments as I check over the page proofs of the new edition of our Anatomy & Physiology textbook.

One of the comments criticized our description of the perimetrium of the uterus as being part of the parietal peritoneum. The reviewer erroneously thought that it should be the visceral peritoneum.

This is a common error, alas . . . to forget about the fact that some abdominopelvic organs are in fact retroperitoneal (outside the parietal peritoneum). Even the reviewer, who is an A&P professor, got this one wrong.

One easy way to remember which abdominopelvic organs are retroperitoneal is to use a mnemonic such as SAD PUCKER:

S = Suprarenal (adrenal) glands
A = Aorta/Inferior Vena Cava
D = Duodenum (second and third segments)
P = Pancreas
U = Ureters
C = Colon (ascending and descending only)
K = Kidneys
E = Esophagus
R = Rectum

Or instead, Ursula Uses Kids to Deliver All Lemon Pies except Sue’s Tasty Crust

Ureters
Urinary bladder
Kidneys
Duodenum
Adrenal glands
Large intestine
Pancreas
except (not retroperitoneal) Sigmoid and Transverse Colon

Have you visited Study Tips & Tools at the Lion Den website?

Here's a book on how your memory works, and how you can improve it . . .

[NOTE: the mnemonics given here are adapted from a Wikipedia entry]

Welcome!

2008-11-24T22:49:00.002-06:00

It's here! A blog to help students to survive their human anatomy & physiology course!

This blog is primarily directed at users of my own textbooks in anatomy and physiology. However, you'll find plenty to help you here no matter which textbook you use in your course.

Right now, I'm just getting things set up . . . but expect some concrete tips and advice soon!

Click here for another way to say "anatomy" . . .

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