Anatomy art is a winner

Body painting and digital animation of body parts are among the novel approaches helping to inspire the University of Adelaide's anatomy students.

These techniques have also earned recognition for Associate Professor Mounir Ghabriel, from the Discipline of Anatomy and Pathology in the School of Medical Sciences, who has won the University's top prize for teaching in 2011.

Associate Professor Ghabriel was presented with the Vice-Chancellor and President's Award for Excellence in Teaching at a celebration of the 2011 teaching year, marking the close of the University's inaugural Festival of Learning and Teaching.

The Festival of Learning and Teaching brought together staff, students and others to discuss and showcase new approaches to teaching and learning to deliver the best learning outcomes for students.

Associate Professor Ghabriel is employing multiple approaches to engage students' interest and help them learn complex human anatomy. These include body painting to help give a 3-D appreciation of what's beneath the skin, layered colour-coded diagrams the students produce themselves, interactive 3-D models, and digital animation. An e-museum for remote learning of the specimens in the School's museums is also being created.

"Learning human anatomy can be daunting for medical, dental and health sciences students, for the volume of anatomical terms and the complexity of the structure of the human body and its systems, particularly the nervous system," said Associate Professor Ghabriel.

"But it's an important subject as it provides the basis for understanding normal structure and introduces students to medical terminology and communication - so it's principally taught in the early years of the course.

"Students have unique optimal learning styles so we aimed to interest all and lose none through multiple approaches."

The Vice-Chancellor's Award was selected from three Stephen Cole the Elder Awards for Excellence in Teaching.

"Mounir receives this award in recognition of his many years of commitment to improving the quality of anatomy teaching and the overall learning experience of medical students," said Professor Pascale Quester, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic).

"His strong concern for students and teaching development has had a significant and lasting impact on both his students and the wider teaching community."

The other two Stephen Cole the Elder Awards went to Associate Professor Colin Kestell (School of Mechanical Engineering) and Dr Ben McCann (School of Humanities).

The Award for Excellence in Support of the Student Experience was awarded to Allan Carrington (Centre for Learning and Professional Experience), and the Award for Excellence for Higher Degree by Research Supervision was won by Dr Susan Hosking (School of Humanities). A number of Faculty teaching awards were also presented.

The University next year will introduce new awards in recognition of contributions to the student learning experience.

Story by Robyn Mills