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Author interviews > Elaine Marieb Interview
Taking a student focused approach.
Elaine Marieb has made her mark by making anatomy & physiology accessible.
For Elaine Marieb, taking the student’s perspective into account has
always been an integral part of her teaching style. Dr. Marieb began
her teaching career at Springfield College, where she taught anatomy
& physiology to physical education majors. She then joined the faculty
of the Biological Science Division of Holyoke Community College in 1969
after receiving her Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Massachusetts
at Amherst. While teaching at Holyoke Community College, where many
of her students were pursuing nursing degrees, she developed a desire
to better understand the relationship between the scientific study of
the human body and the clinical aspects of the nursing practice. To
that end, while continuing to teach full time, Dr. Marieb pursued her
nursing education, which culminated in a Master of Science degree with
a clinical specialization in gerontology from the University of Massachusetts.
It is this experience, along with stories from the field – including
those of former students, now in health careers – that has informed
the development of the unique perspective and accessibility for which
her texts and laboratory manuals are known.
BC |
You have some interesting reasons for becoming an author. Tell
us a little about what inspired you to start writing.
EM |
It's the old story – I thought I could do a better job
than the texts out there at that time. The problem that existed was
that our anatomy & physiology courses were losing fairly high percentages
of their students who were unable to cope with the demands of a fairly
rigorous course. I looked back on my own college experience (as a mature
married woman going back to school) and remembered that I did best when
I could relate to the information – when it was within my sphere
of experiences. So I set out to write a book that presented the information
required of such a course but did it in a pyramid-like way – a
large foundation of basic understandings upon which the future learning
rested. For example, once you have learned the name of the bones, learning
the names of many muscles, blood vessels, nerves, and lobes of the brain
is highly simplified. Beyond this, I chose to present the material in
a friendly manner that uses lots of familiar examples, analogies, and
mnemonic devices.
BC |
You have many students that have gone on to successful health
careers. Can you tell us how your student population influenced the
content of Human Anatomy & Physiology? What do you
think are the most important concepts for students to come away with
after studying anatomy & physiology?
EM |
Their questions (and sometimes their responses) pointed out weak
areas in my presentation, thus leading the way for improvement.
There are certain basic understandings that students
of A&P must master to be able to work in a sports- or health-related
environment – such as the importance of homeostasis of blood pressure,
blood pH, energy metabolism, etc. Beyond this, I would hope that they
all come away with a problem-solving ability and know where to look
things up when they are stymied.
BC |
The new Sixth Edition of Human Anatomy & Physiology
has a pretty long list of changes. Of which changes are you most proud?
EM |
I'm most proud of us cutting out redundancies without losing
readability and the friendly writing style of the text. Also, certain
topics (e.g., urinary function and parts of the nervous system) have
been almost completely rewritten to reflect newer research.
BC |
It must be challenging to keep up with the evolving field of
anatomy & physiology and the fast-moving fields of cell biology,
immunity, and genetics. How do you decide which current topics to cover
in the text?
EM |
I have been burned trying to be ultra-timely with the text. So
now, when I read about some new research findings, or treatments, etc.,
I usually follow that particular story for the next year or two before
incorporating it into the text. If it disappears from the literature
during that interval, well, it's good it didn't get into the text! If
it's still around when I go to update the text, I once again test its
importance or interest for an A&P text. If I still think it's viable
info, in it goes!
BC |
Students in anatomy & physiology courses vary significantly
in their backgrounds and career goals. How do you go about speaking
to such a diverse audience?
EM |
As I mentioned in the first question, I try to build a foundation of
basic understandings first. Building that big base of the most basic
information helps those with less of an A&P background to deal with
the information, ideally putting all students on a pretty even footing.
In the meantime, those with a larger background have an opportunity
to review information they might have forgotten or simply have a wee
vacation. I've never seen a student turn down work yet!
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