3 Strategies to Teaching High School Anatomy and Physiology

April 6, 2022

Have you been on the hunt for effective strategies to teaching high school anatomy? If you have done any amount of googling, you will find that most information is geared towards college-level courses. I want to change that and share relevant high school information because this is what is lacking on the internet. Keep reading for 3 strategies to teaching high school anatomy and physiology.

Strategies to Teaching | Labs

The first strategy is to incorporate labs. By allowing students to perform labs similar to what they experience in a clinical setting, they are more likely to be engaged in the lesson. Students love “pretending” like they are doctors and what better way than in a class with real tools. Students will be much more intrigued if they are able to collect and analyze data with their classmates. Taking each other’s blood pressure readings is always fun for them to do. I also have a reflex lab where they test each other’s pupillary reflexes and the favorite knee-jerk reflex. Another lab students really like is using the stethoscopes to listen to each other’s hearts.

When students are able to play around with the gadgets and connect them to the topic, then they build a stronger understanding of normal versus abnormal values. Search for labs online and you will find TONS of ideas. Choose one or two to try and watch how much fun your students have.

Dissections count as labs too. I try to schedule a dissection for as many units as feasible. I typically go with the cow heart, sheep brain, chicken leg, cow eye, and pig kidney. Seeing the structures firsthand builds confidence in the material. I have them follow a dissection guide for each and they are to follow directions before being able to further investigate.

Strategies to Teaching | Case Studies

The second strategy is to use case studies and medical mysteries. Students find the case studies very interesting, especially the more bizarre they are. The National Science Teaching Association has excellent case studies for many subjects, in particular, the Anatomy & Physiology ones. These are excellent to use for inquiry-based or problem-based learning. Case studies will extend students thinking on a topic while providing relevant, real-life details. The more connections we can make to their day-to-day lives, the better off our classes will be.

Another fun thing that student both love and get squeamish over are the medical mysteries. Have you ever heard of Mystery Diagnosis? These are soooo good. I show these when I find a relevant one for the topic we are discussing. Since these are real people and real stories, it immediately grabs their attention. I love how much discussion and participation I receive when I show one of these to my classes. If you ever need a video for a sub, these are perfect!

Strategies to Teaching | Flipped Lessons

The third strategy is flipping your lessons. Flipping my lessons truly changed my classroom. If you have been around here a while, then you have heard me go on and on about how much I love the flipped classroom model. Basically, flipped classroom switches up the order of traditional teaching. Students typically do notes at school and work at home. Well, the flipped model does the notes at home and the work at school. This works better for students because when working on assignments, students are able to immediately ask the teacher for assistance in class. The notes are a passive task that can easily be done at home. Having flipped lessons allows for more meaningful learning during class while the teacher is readily available. It also frees up more class time to do in-depth labs, activities, discussions, and reviews. Class is not so rushed because the notes are done at home.

These are only a few of the strategies when teaching anatomy that I use. I wanted to share my top 3 with you to get you started. What strategy in teaching anatomy is your favorite I’d love to hear!

Don’t forget to grab your FREE COPY of The Ultimate Guide to Engage Students To Learn Anatomy | 7 Secrets To Implement Today

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