And, of course, a better understanding of their own body . This is a liberal arts course meant to engender ability to think and to understand. We relate the topic to human interest, but a clinical-medical approach is not appropriate. We put gross and microorganization of vertebrate bodies and tissues into an analytical, functional, comparative, and historical perspective, with emphasis on mammals. We devote considerable time to epithelia, muscle and connective tissues , because students have not studied those tissues in much detail in earlier courses, and because those topics enable integration of many aspects of the subject.
People learn by doing.
We use active, investigative dissection as a tool of understanding. Pictures and computer programs cannot substitute for experience. The emphasis is on doing. Laboratory is an important supplement to reading and discussion. Students cannot learn the material without a sustained and active attention to all aspects of the material.