Título: Results of the implementation of a virtual microscope in a course of histology
Autor: Alegre-Martínez, Antoni; Martínez-Martínez, María Isabel; Alfonso Sanchez, Jose Luis; Morales Suárez-Varela, María M; Llopis Gonzalez, Agustin
Resumen: [EN] The course of Anatomy and Histology is studied in the first year of Dentistry
at the University Cardenal Herrera CEU (Alfara del Patriarca, Spain). Its
practices consist on choose freely six different tissue samples and draw their
most representative features. These practices were made by optical
microscopy until 2014, and in 2015 was introduced the virtual microscope
exclusively. The aim of the study is to test whether this new teaching method
has improved the quality of exercise and the understanding shown by
students. First, the best exercises of both years were chosen, and from them
some drawings from the same tissue were compared. Some tissues which
samples for optical microscope were hard to obtain, were drawn for the very
first time thanks to the virtual microscope. Also, with the virtual microscopy
the drawings contained more details and definition. The understanding of the
structures improved, shown by a more functional, detailed and defined vision
of the tissues. The labels of the virtual microscope helped to the self-study
and avoided the loss of unnoticed structures. In conclusion, replacement of
optical microscope by the virtual microscope is a teaching improvement and
facilitates student learning.
