Peer Review

Maturation of the Follicle and Oocyte

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Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: This short narrated animation covers the progression of the follicle through primordial, primary, secondary and mature stages, and then depicts ovulation and development of the corpus luteum and corpus albicans.
Type of Material:: Animation
Recommended Uses:: In-class, pre-class, or lab supplement.
Technical Requirements:: Adobe Flash
Identify Major Learning Goals:: Students should be able to identify the stages of follicle development, as well as the cellular and tissue-level changes associated with each stage.
Target Student Population:: Advanced high school and lower division College Biology
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Students should have a basic understanding of female reproductive anatomy and the events of the menstrual cycle

Rating:

Strengths:

Illustrates cellular changes that can be difficult for students to remember (e.g. from squamous to columnar; two layers of theca cells)
Clearly and concisely summarizes changes in the follicle & oocyte in the female reproductive cycle
Depth is adequate for an introductory or survey human A&P course

Concerns:

Material does not integrate information about *why* these changes occur. Faculty would need to supplement with additional information about the roles of various hormones throughout the menstrual cycle.
It would be easier to flow if the animation started with an image of an organ (ovary) highlighting a primordial follicle and followed its progress.

Rating:

Strengths:

This material is quite efficient, demonstrating a complex process quickly and clearly.
The animation could easily be used in an online course, during a live class or assigned as homework or review outside of class.

Concerns:

Does not identify learning objectives or prerequisite knowledge
Can’t be used to measure learning outcomes without added assessment questions from a faculty member
The animation depicts the event as though it occurs in isolation and not in the context of the organ system function

Rating:

Strengths:

The animation is easy to follow, and covers the material at just the right pace
The user interface is intuitive; students can play/pause as well as turn audio and text on and off with ease
Written text and audio narration supplement the animation and cater to a variety of learning styles; narrations and animations played simultaneously without problems

Concerns:

Some learners might think that the process describe in this learning object occurs in an isolated environment and not within an organ

Other Issues and Comments:: The animation describes the process of follicle maturation and the process depicted in this learning object starts with a cell without explaining that this single cell is actually nested in the ovary next many other cells that are also awaiting to mature. This animation is copyrighted material for McGraw-Hill Anatomy and Physiology courses. While it is freely available on the internet and could be used in your class or lab, it would be a copyright violation to make it part of a set of course materials that others may use.
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