Integration of Histology Lectures and Practical Teaching in China

Objectives: Human histology is a discipline concerning the study of microscopic structures of human tissues and organs--with the aid of light or electron microscopes. Traditional teaching of histology is composed of two separated components, theory and practice. The main disadvantage with traditional histology teaching is the detachment of theory and practice, so that students could not completely and systematically comprehend histology. Methods: To supplement the deficiencies of traditional histology teaching, we implemented the integrated curriculum of the theory and practice on histology at Jinan University School of Medicine. The aim of the integrated curriculum is to enhance students' learning efficiency. During the course, teaching patterns as "lecture-practice-lecture-practice" and "practice-lecture-practice" were alternatively employed according to the content. We attempted to guide students to verify the theory using practice, and to conduct practice simultaneously using theoretical knowledge. Results: We assessed the tests scores of students participating and non-participating in the new integrated curriculum at the end of semester. We found that the average test score, pass rate and excellent rate were significantly higher in participating than non-participating students. The follow-up questionnaire survey revealed that the better exam results was derived from maximizing the use of time in class, encouragement of students' learning initiatives, mastering of key points and arrangement of theory and practical teaching more appropriately in the integrated course. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that integrated teaching indeed improved the students' histology learning outcomes.