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Session D1: Transforming Middle and High School Education with Animal AlternativesChairs: Lynette Hart (USA) and Steve Zawistowski (USA) D1: Biology Teachers' Attitudes to Dissection and Alternatives A survey of 5,000 American middle and high school level biology teachers was completed to determine attitudes and classroom practice relating to dissection and alternative teaching methods. A preliminary sample of 494 respondents revealed that 79% of teachers used dissection to teach biology; 72% believed that dissection was an important part of the curriculum, while 17% disagreed; and 68% considered dissection to be an essential hands-on activity. While 31% believed that alternatives were as good as dissection for teaching anatomy and physiology, 55% disagreed. The primary reasons given for continuing dissection, rather than exclusively using alternatives, were the "hands-on" aspect of dissection (67%) and the perceived shortcomings of alternative teaching methods (10%). While the majority (66%) of biology teachers favored student choice between dissection and other learning methods, 20% disagreed. Although the ethical aspects and effectiveness of alternative methods have been documented (e.g. van der Valk et al., 1999, ATLA 27, pp. 39-52), the mainstream introduction of humane alternatives to dissection requires a transformation of the beliefs, experience, and practice of biology teachers. D1: Uses of Animals and Alternatives in Pre-College Education in the United States: Need for Leadership and Guidelines From nursery school through elementary and secondary education, the uses of animals are pervasive. Residential or visiting pets are in classrooms for humane education or cross-curricular instruction. Teachers utilize non-living specimens gathered from various sources. Field trips often are oriented on animals. Initially, animal use is largely observational; in intermediate grades, dissection is used for general science instruction. Throughout these uses, animals importantly motivate students. These common uses of animals rest on the specific interests of the teachers. These uses of animals are not regulated at the national, state, or local level; some inappropriate uses occur annually in science fairs. Pilot efforts at UC Davis are underway to assess and address these needs. The appropriateness of uses of animals and alternatives would be enhanced by: establishing guidelines for pre-college education to assure the animals' welfare; providing information resources for obtaining classroom materials; and establishing linkages among facilities with educational materials. We will introduce a web-based tool that provides access to resources, accessible from http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/Animal_Alternatives/main.htm. D1: Jsaae Activities in Alternatives to Animal Experimentation for Undergraduate Schools: Forum for Primary and Secondary Schools The Japanese Society for Alternatives to Animal Experiments is (JSAAE) an academic society to promote the Three R's in the Japanese and international Biomedical Community. Recent activities have focused on the education of not only scientists, but also the public. Promotion of alternatives in schools is believed to be the most productive focus for its activities. JSAAE organized a forum for citizens in alternatives education in primary and secondary schools during the 14th annual meeting. Four speakers invited were Jonathan Balcombe ("Better Science Teaching with Humane Alternatives"), Hiroki Kishimoto ("Education About the Animal at the Elementary School"), Asako Ogawa ("Alternatives in Japanese Primary Education" and her experience and activities in opposing frog dissection), and Kazushige Iijima ("A Practice for Alternataives to Animal Experiments in High School Biology Education"). D1: Activities in German-Speaking Countries (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) to Transform School Education with the Objective of Increasing Student Awareness of Animal Welfare Issues Members of the European Union are in the process of harmonizing their national laws into a standard common to all. It is therefore interesting to compare official animal welfare activities in Germany and Austria, which both belong to the European Union, with those of Switzerland, which does not. Key factors for the procedures concerning the topic "animal welfare and education" are the differences in the national laws and their restrictions on teaching with living animals, the organization of animal welfare teaching units, and the teaching aids used in each country with their specific priorities. There are slightly different recommendations in the three German-speaking countries regarding what steps are suitable to increase student awareness of animal welfare issues. D1: The Use of Animals in National High School Student Science Fair Projects Science Fair projects can provide a sound opportunity to teach students the value of the scientific method without relying on the routine and unnecessary use of animals. Unfortunately, students are often encouraged to use animals in an expendable manner that both duplicates previous experiments and neglects the opportunity to 'think outside the box' by generating new hypotheses/theories about human health, physiological processes, or basic biological concepts. Although at least one national science fair sponsor has changed its policies regarding students' utilization of vertebrate animals, others continue to encourage the more traditional in vivo experimental projects. This presentation will review the current situation in the United States with respect to national science fair guidelines, types of projects conducted, number of animals involved, utilization of alternatives, successful initiatives by animal advocates in the U.S. to eliminate the use of animals, and potential areas of outreach to science eductors, science fair sponsors, high schools, and students.
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