The first cut is the deepest: reflections on the state of animal dissection in biology education

Abstract

In biology education, the study of structure has traditionally involved the use of dissection. Animal‐rights campaigners have caused biology educators and learners to question the necessity of dissections. This study reviews the research evidence for the efficacy of alternatives to dissection and then turns to research evidence on attitudes to dissection. It suggests that the place, practice, and purpose of dissection in biology education can act as an indicator of the state of society in which those practices are embedded. The current situation in South Africa is reviewed to illustrate how social factors outside the laboratory influence pedagogic practice.

Keywords:

• anatomy
• biology
• dissection
• laboratory animals
• laboratory procedures
• science instruction

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission for providing the opportunity that made this review possible. We also wish to thank the referees of earlier submissions for their useful comments.

Notes

1. Historians of medicine disagree on how Galen’s evidence was collected. Some of his ideas on anatomy contradict the notion that he worked on living animals.

2. Guerrini (2003) provides a useful and illuminating summary.

3. For details of ‘The Rat Stack’ and related resources, see Learning and Teaching (2004).