www.HumaneLearning.info
Humane
education resources
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It is an unfortunate fact that life and health sciences
education has traditionally involved the harmful use of animals. Many millions
of
animals have lost their lives in attempts to teach practical skills and
demonstrate scientific principles which have, in most cases, been established
for decades. However, many
thousands of humane educational alternatives are now catalogued in databases,
covering every educational level and academic discipline. These include computer
simulations, videos, plasticised specimens, ethically-sourced cadavers
(obtained from animals that have been euthanased for medical reasons, or that
have died naturally or in accidents), models, diagrams, non-invasive self-experimentation, and
supervised clinical experiences.
At least 33 papers sourced
from the biomedical and educational literature, covering all educational levels
and disciplines, have described studies comparing the ability of humane alternatives to impart
knowledge or clinical or surgical skills. 39.4% (13/33) demonstrated that alternative students achieved superior learning outcomes, or
achieved equivalent results more quickly, allowing time for additional learning.
51.5% (17/33) demonstrated equivalent educational efficacy, and only 9.1% (3/33)
demonstrated inferior educational efficacy of humane alternatives. The design of
one of the latter studies has been substantially criticized. Yet the harmful use
of animals in biomedical education persists.
This site provides:
▪ over 400 published papers
describing humane teaching methods, sorted by academic discipline;
▪ detailed submissions describing the alternatives available in certain academic disciplines, that have successfully resulted in their introduction at some universities;
▪ a photo gallery of humane alternatives and harmful animal use in education;
▪ links to free on-line alternatives,
▪ links to alternatives databases,
▪ links to alternatives libraries,
▪ links to humane education email lists;
▪ links to other humane education web sites; and,
▪ resources to guide and assist students who wish to conscientiously object to harmful animal use in their education.
It is my hope that these resources may assist others to
successfully introduce humane alternatives to harmful animal use in their own
universities and schools, as my colleagues and I have done at several
universities worldwide. Please contact me if I can be of further assistance.
Andrew Knight BSc., BVMS, CertAW, MRCVS
Animal Advocate and Veterinarian