オンラインによる薬理学実習の実践と課題

抄録

Laboratory work is an essential part of science education since they provide students with hands-on experience of practical scientific research. In laboratory work in pharmacology, students analyze effects of drugs using laboratory animals to learn physiological and biochemical mechanisms of the drugs. Actual experience with hands and eyes is an important factor in the laboratory work. Under the COVID-19 epidemic, however, we were forced to conduct the laboratory work online. For the laboratory work using isolated organs, we used simulation software, in which students can examine effects of a range of drugs on the smooth muscle within the guinea pig ileum. The advantage of the simulation software is that students are proactively involved in the laboratory work. Through a series of voluntary trials and errors, they elucidated the mechanism of drug action and identified the pharmacological effects of unknown drugs. For the laboratory work of observing and analyzing animal behavior, students watched videos of mice given drugs to learn the drug actions on the central and autonomic nervous system. In this symposium, we will share our challenges to online laboratory work.