Application of Computer Aided Instruction

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

The study of human anatomy has been prevalent in today’s modern society. Many Filipinos have been studying any

medical courses in their college years. Some of these medical courses are medical technician, nutritionist and dietician,

while others specialize in the field of being physiologist, surgeon, anesthesiology and more. By observing the different

fields enumerated, all of them need the knowledge of human anatomy.

The term human anatomy comprises a consideration of the various structures which make up the human organism.

In a restricted sense it deals merely with the parts which form the fully developed individual and which can be rendered

evident to the naked eye by various methods of dissection.

To understand further the meaning of human anatomy, the researchers would dissect the word. Human which is the

first word means the common name given to any individual of the species Homo sapiens and, by extension, to the entire

species. On the other hand anatomy means anatomē, or “dissection”, branch of natural science dealing with the

structural organization of living things. The proper understanding of structure, however, implies the knowledge of

function in the living organism. Anatomy is therefore almost inseparable from physiology, which is sometimes called

functional anatomy. As one of the basic life sciences, anatomy is closely related to medicine and to other branches of

biology. So to summarize, human anatomy is the study of homo sapiens and its body systems together with their

functions.

Tracing back its origin, the knowledge of human anatomy developed form the primitive years. The oldest known

systematic study of anatomy is contained in an Egyptian papyrus dating from about 1600 bc. About the same degree of

knowledge is reflected in the writings of the Greek physician Hippocrates in the 5th century bc. The first real progress

in the science of human anatomy was made in the following century by the Greek physicians Herophilus and

Erasistratus, who dissected human cadavers and were the first to distinguish many functions, including those of the

nervous and muscular systems. Modern anatomy began with the publication in 1543 of the work of the Belgian

anatomist Andreas Vesalius. And now, there are a lot of new discoveries in the field of human anatomy. 20th-century

technique of anatomical investigation is tissue culture, which involves the cultivation of cells and tissues of complex

organisms outside the body. The technique permits the isolation of living units so that the investigator can directly

observe the processes of growth, multiplication, and differentiation of cells. Tissue culture thus has added a new

dimension to anatomical science.

In connection with our modern Filipino society, the knowledge of human anatomy is not widely spread since there

is a poor educational quality of schools and lack of reliable source of information such as books, magazines,

encyclopedias and other forms of media.

So to solve the following lack of information, the computer-aided instruction will provide further information

needed by the general readers. A further discussion and elaboration of parts and functions, in each body system the

human being has from nervous system to reproductive system covering up to eight body systems.