The biology of pain
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This project sought to provide an interactive electronic resource that can be used by a variety of students to understand the essential biology of pain.
Executive Summary
This project stemmed initially from the observation that there was little in the educational community to support the teaching of the biology of pain. Students and staff from a variety of backgrounds require a familiarity with the biological, physiological and psychological factors associated with the reception, conduction and processing of painful (nociceptive) stimuli either as a basic aspect of an area of applied science or as a stepping stone to further study. We also noted that there was material available that might be suitable for use in a project such as this via re-purposing. This, for us, was an important aspect of the strategic thinking behind the proposal since using material with this type of heritage makes good use of resources that are often time consuming and difficult to develop.
We took the approach that the best way to delivery biologically complex material would be to provide an interactive animation that would guide students through some of the anatomy and physiology of this areas whilst, at the same time, allow academic staff to customise the resource with the needs of a particular cohort in mind. An important consideration was that the material should engage the learner and therefore we felt that an interactive approach would be the most beneficial. Our resources will subsequently be made re-available to the education community as 'learning objects'.
We have also and are currently undertaking a series of evaluations of the project with both staff and students providing feedback. At the time of writing this is still ongoing but further details and results will be made available via the website
In completing this task we hope that we have provided a future-proof resource that students and staff from fields as diverse as biology, nursing, physiotherapy, sports science and medicine may find useful.