How Instructors Actually Use Courseware
Visible Body Courseware supports life sciences courses of all kinds, allowing instructors to use engaging 3D models in the classroom.
That all sounds well and good… but what exactly do those instructors do? In this blog post, we’re going to look at the data and explore four ways instructors use Courseware.
Let’s dive in!
Seeing Is Believing
About 80% of instructors who use Courseware use it as a visual aid in class.
It comes as no surprise that instructors use a product called Visible Body as a visual aid in their classrooms! Courseware leverages the amazing assets of Visible Body Suite for use in the classroom.
Visible Body’s models show the spatial relationships between structures, and the illustrative power of 3D helps students understand processes.
Interactive beating heart model in VB Suite, available with Courseware.
In VB Suite, you can annotate the models, add structure tags, and dissect structures to walk students through course topics, and navigation tools help you find content—VB Suite is vast, so our team works hard to give instructors all the tools they need to find exactly what they're looking for.
Through the Search function, you can search through the entire library of assets, and through gross anatomy views’ Anatomy Search, you can add in any structure. But wait—there’s more! You can easily switch between male and female models, and you can hop between models and views using the Related Content box.
Learn more:
- Why Visible Body’s Models Are a Step Above the Competition
- How to Enhance Case Studies with Tours in VB Suite
Practice Makes Perfect
About 70% of instructors instructors who use Courseware use it for ungraded homework and quizzes.
With Courseware, you can break big concepts down into smaller, bite-sized pieces, and its assessment tools allow instructors to assign quizzes for no credit, aka practice quizzes.
One great way to use practice quizzing is through assignments, which are a sequence of activities and quizzes that keep students focused while giving them the opportunity to learn through exploration. Instructions guide students through manipulating and learning with a 3D model, animation, illustration, or histology slide.
An assignment in Courseware.
Where does the exploration come in? When students select a structure, the info box pops up, giving students the opportunity to:
- Add a tag to the structure
- Fade or hide the structure
- Read a definition (or have it read aloud through the Listen button)
- Read about pathologies related to the structure
- Hear a pronunciation of the structure's name
- View attachments and insertions, blood supply, innervation, and other details (if the selected structure is a muscle)
After students have worked through the content, they take short quizzes to test their knowledge and show where they have room for improvement. Instructors can set these quizzes to zero points for low-stakes, stress-free practice.
Learn more:
- Using Interactive, Immersive Assignments in Courseware
- How to Teach Muscle Naming with Immersive Assignments
Put to the Test
About 65% of instructors instructors who use Courseware use it for graded quizzes and tests.
In Courseware, you can create and assign dissection quizzes in addition to multiple choice and short answer quizzes.
What’s a dissection quiz? In a this type of quiz, students manipulate a 3D model to select the correct answer. More engaging than a simple fill-in-the-blank, dissection quizzes require students to think in 3D instead of just using rote memorization.
A dissection quiz in Courseware.
Here’s another reason to use quizzes in Courseware: they save you time. Dissection and multiple choice quizzes automatically grade themselves, and your students’ grades are logged into the Gradebook. Courseware can be used as a standalone LMS, but if you want to integrate it with your institution’s LMS, we have options for you! You can export Gradebook grades with a couple easy clicks and import the file into your LMS—or, if your institution uses Canvas, you can fully sync the gradebooks.
Learn more:
Legendary Labs
About 60% of instructors instructors who use Courseware use it for lab activities.
We’ve already talked about the ways students can interact with Visible Body’s 3D models—those features make Courseware a fantastic choice for running virtual labs! For interactive labs, you can skip the prep and cleanup and dissect 3D models.
Many instructors use VB Suite’s augmented reality (AR) capabilities as a fun way to get students engaged in labs. VR headsets are costly, but with Visible Body, just about any smartphone or tablet can be turned into a mixed reality experience.
AR mode in VB Suite, available with Courseware.
Did you know that the Visible Body team provides free lab activities for A&P and biology, including AR labs? Check them out here!
Learn more:
- 5 Reasons Why You Should Run Virtual Labs with Visible Body
- Plastic Models + VB Suite: New Research Examines Engagement and Interest in A&P
- A Beginner’s Guide to Augmented Reality in the Classroom
What’s Next?
This blog post is based on five academic years’ worth of instructor usage information—the Visible Body team works with instructors so we can develop the models and features they can actually use. Visible Body is hard at work developing new content and features to equip instructors with the tools they need to facilitate student success.
Want to try Visible Body for yourself? Click here for a free instructor trial!
Are you a current customer who wants to use Visible Body more effectively? Submit a training request with our amazing Customer Engagement Team!
Be sure to subscribe to the Visible Body Blog for more anatomy awesomeness!
Are you an instructor? We have award-winning 3D products and resources for your anatomy and physiology course! Learn more here.
