STRUCTURED LEARNING AND TRAINING ENVIRONMENTS--A PREPARATION LABORATORY FOR ADVANCED MAMMALIAN PHYSIOLOGY.

A PREPARATION LABORATORY WAS DESIGNED TO FAMILIARIZE STUDENTS IN ADVANCED MAMMALIAN PHYSIOLOGY WITH LABORATORY SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES AND THUS SHORTEN THE TIME THEY SPEND IN SETTING UP ACTUAL EXPERIMENTS. THE LABORATORY LASTS 30 MINUTES, IS FLEXIBLE AND SIMPLE OF OPERATION, AND DOES NOT REQUIRE A PROFESSOR'S PRESENCE. THE BASIC TRAINING UNIT IS THE INDIVIDUAL LEARNING CARREL, EQUIPPED WITH KODAK CAROSEL MODEL AV 900, VIKING DECK TAPE, KOSS HEADPHONES, AND 16" X 16" CARDBOARD SCREENS. THREE MOVIE PROJECTORS, A CENTER TABLE AND A STORAGE CABINET COMPLETE THE LABORATORY SETTING. LABORATORIES WERE DEVELOPED IN NINE AREAS OF PHYSIOLOGY. WRITTEN OVERVIEWS, SLIDES, TAPES, SINGLE CONCEPT FILMS, AND LINEAR PROGRAMS PROVIDE THE STUDENT WITH A KNOWLEDGE OF REQUIRED EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES. ALTHOUGH THERE WERE NO CONTROL GROUPS TO BE COMPARED, A COMPARISON BASED ON ESTIMATES SHOWED THAT STUDENTS WHO WENT THROUGH PREPARATION LABORATORIES REQUIRED ABOUT 105 MINUTES TO COMPLETE PRE-EXPERIMENT SETUPS AS COMPARED TO 135 MINUTES FOR STUDENT NOT USING THE FACILITY. QUESTIONNAIRES ALSO REVEALED STUDENTS' PREFERENCE FOR THE PREPARATION LABORATORIES. THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE THAT PREPARATION LABORATORIES PROVIDED A BETTER KNOWLEDGE OF PHYSIOLOGY. (JO)