Springfield College is limited in its current ability to offer cadaver anatomy to all undergraduate students who would benefit from this science experience. Currently, only students majoring in Physical or Occupational Therapy can regularly use the human cadaver laboratory. This project extends this learning opportunity to all undergraduate students enrolled in science majors and science-based professional and pre-professional programs through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates hands-on dissection with interactive computer-based instruction. Students in the College's Biology, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Athletic Training, and Physician Assistant programs work in laboratory study teams to share information, insights, and skills. Through this team approach, undergraduate students engage in interdisciplinary study as they study the interrelationships of body organ systems from a morphological and biochemical view, with differing foci appropriate to each of their disciplines. Requiring students to use critical-thinking skills in an interdisciplinary team approach is an essential part of this project. Students develop skills in forming hypotheses that cross disciplinary borders, seeking solutions and defending the outcomes. This interdisciplinary project is a significant improvement for our undergraduate science education as it brings together basic and applied science majors in shared learning experiences. The integration of hands-on and computer-assisted learning accommodates all students as well as nontraditional students and students with differing learning styles. The resulting science curricula at the College provides the unusual opportunity for undergraduate science majors to learn anatomy and physiology hands-on with human cadavers.
