Learning by doing: The benefits of a hands-on experience

By Mary-Justine Lanyon

Adrian Williams, who teaches biology and AP biology at Rim of the World High School, has been guiding his students through fetal pig dissections for more than 25 years.

But, at the end of May, Mr. Williams was not in his usual Rim High classroom. Instead, he was instructing students at Mountain High School; he was, in effect, on loan from one school to the other at the request of Joanne Williams, his wife who teaches math at Mountain High, and with the approval of the principals of both schools.

Two teams of students worked on one male and one female fetal pig. He chooses these animals, Mr. Williams said, because their organs are in the same locations as a human’s are. 

On Day 1, the students dissected and examined the pigs’ thoracic cavity, carefully removing the organs and examining them as Mr. Williams instructed them in the proper technique. On Day 2, they progressed to the abdominal cavity.

Mr. Williams’ instructions were clear and precise; he backed them up by drawing what the students should be looking for on the board. And, as the students moved from one organ to the next, he explained the job each performs. He also described medical issues – like diabetes, kidney stones, heart disease – associated with the various organs. (And, yes, all mammals can develop these diseases.)

As Mr. Williams moved back and forth between the two tables of students, he had high praise for their precise use of the scalpels and the care they were taking  with their animals.

The benefits of hands-on learning were clear over the course of these two days. The students were engaged and worked well together as teams.

One student was heard to comment, “This is the one thing I wanted to do in high school.”