Peer Review

Microanatomy Web Atlas

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Mar 11, 2016 by Biology

Bookmark

Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

“Microanatomy Web Atlas” is an extensive collection of histological (microanatomy) photos or slides taken by Dr. Gwen Childs. The atlas is organized into systems including nerve, epithelia, muscle, connective tissue, bone, blood cells, skin, immune system, digestive system, respiratory system, kidney, cardiovascular system, endocrine system, eye, ear, male reproductive system and female reproductive system. The images within each of these systems are labeled with key structures and a short narrative describing the tissue is provided below the image. Many of the narratives end with questions to promote student interactivity and engagement. Select systems also provide practice exams at the end of that section.

Type of Material:

Collection, tutorial

Recommended Uses:

This site could be used as a virtual histology or microanatomy laboratory. The site could also be used as a preview or review of a histology or microanatomy laboratory. The atlases will complement a histology textbook and provide a large number of images of tissues, cells, and histologic samples. Students can use this site as a reference tool to view more images of histology or to practice labeling structures.

Technical Requirements:

The website is accessible with any browser

Identify Major Learning Goals:

The learner will be able to:

Identify tissues on the basis of their histological appearance and organization
Describe the organization of different tissues and structural components of those tissues

Target Student Population:

The target audience is undergraduate, graduate, medical and allied health students.

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

A foundation in histology/microanatomy will be useful.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

The content of the microanatomy atlas is clear, accurate, and extensive.
The content and images provide a complete course on histology.
The images are clear and are of high resolution.
The narratives describing each image are thorough.
The brief descriptions that accompany the slides provide students some guidance for further exploration

Concerns:

More annotations throughout the atlas would be helpful.
An index for students to search for a term or structure would be helpful.
There is no magnification scale for most photomicrograph

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

The atlas engages the learner by asking questions at the end of each narrative.
Select sections have practice quizzes to provide formative assessment to the learner.
A useful free resource for students and/or faculty to implement into a histology course or to use for practice.
Users can easily share the materials with colleagues through social media

Concerns:

There are no listed objectives.
It is difficult to find the answers to the practice quizzes. I was unable to locate them.
Some photomicrographs are labeled and others are not

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

The site is self-contained.
Over all, the site is well organized.
Very easy to navigate to the different major sections of site

Concerns:

Navigating between the practice questions was difficult. Building in a “Next” button may be helpful.
The absence of magnification scale for most photomicrographs might prove confusing for beginning students.

Other Issues and Comments:: The images are representative of what students would see when examining a tissue preparation with the light microscope. There is no indication of copyright status. We are trying to ascertain that status.
Creative Commons: