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Charles Sturt University has used the Slice image bank in classes to supplement teaching with physical microscopes for over ten years. Slice offers a cost-effective solution for providing virtual microscopy to approximately 500 students per year at CSU.
While conducting microscopy tutorial sessions it can be difficult to ascertain the level of understanding of individual students. On a physical microscope students work independently and receive little to no feedback on their identification of features. Using virtual slides and image annotation, students can also be working independently. The challenge is to allow students to identify features on their own but then share these with tutors at the end of the activity so that feedback can be given in real-time.
Within tutorial classes for the BMS258 Histopathology course at Charles Sturt University, both face-to-face and online, 30-40 students are given the opportunity to watch their tutor review a tissue type and disease using virtual slides hosted on Slice.
Students then access the same virtual slide and are prompted to independently identify a set of features by placing pins and drawing regions on the image. The students are not restricted to a certain field of view and can annotate freely, aiming to simulate the experience of examining a slide as an anatomical pathologist.
Skin Histology: A group annotation layer created by 31 student for the BMS258 course at Charles Sturt University.
During this process, students are working on a collaborative group annotation layer set up by their teacher. They have no access to the pins and regions placed by their peers while they annotate freely using colours suggested by their teacher to mark a set of features. At the end of the allocated time, the annotation layer is loaded on the main screen and all annotations are discussed as a group. There can be over 100 student annotations made during these sessions and verbal feedback is given to many students. Annotations are also added by tutors to ensure students have a set of correct answers for later review.
Why not experience the benefits of real-time feedback and collaborative learning with Slice in your own classes? Slice offers two choices for providing feedback to students on feature identification activities. The collaborative annotation tool discussed here offers students flexibility and a challenge as they annotate freeform shapes while exploring the entire slide. Our drop a pin question tool offers advantages in automated marking and allows for field restriction of images. Both activities add interactivity to your teaching sessions.
