AN INTERACTIVE COMPUTER-PROGRAM TO REPLACE IN-VIVO EXPERIMENTS ON RAT-BLOOD PRESSURE FOR TEACHING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

An interactive computer program is described, which presents simulated data for a range of tutor-designed, structured investigations perform ed in vivo in the anaesthetised rat. It is aimed at undergraduate stud ents of pharmacology, and is designed to teach various aspects of card iovascular pharmacology and to provide an alternative to performing th e practical procedure on live animals. In addition to providing simula ted data, the program covers several other aspects related to the live practical, for example, UK Home Office Licence requirements, anaesthe sia of the animals, cannulation procedures and the apparatus used. It also contains suggested student tasks for each experiment, making it s uitable for independent learning. The program is written for IBM-compa tible PCs running Windows(TM) and makes use of several features to enh ance interactivity and presentation, i.e. high-resolution colour graph ics, animation, interactive questions (multiple choice, drag and drop, True/False), problem-solving exercises and simulations. It has been e valuated with final year BSc (Hens) Pharmacology students at one UK un iversity, where is was used to prepare students for the live animal pr actical. The results of this small study were largely favourable.