The Simplified BrainTower and Pipe Cleaners: Model Building as a Learning Tool in Neuroscience

Models have a long history of use in helping students to understand the three-dimensional organisation of biological structures. This is particularly true of neuroanatomical teaching where it is often difficult to distinguish grey and white matter in the fixed prosections often used in dissection rooms. A model system designed to help medical students understand the anatomy of the ascending and descending white matter tracts through the brain and spinal cord had the opposite effect: it made the task of learning these tracts more difficult. The model was complex and difficult for students to engage with. The aim of this study was to introduce a simplified version of this modelling system that was interactive and intuitive, to enable students to build a model in a single workshop session and to assess how the modeling activity impacted on students’ learning. Students were asked to build a model of either the anterolateral/spinothalamic tracts (ALS), the dorsal column/medial lemniscus tract (DCML) or the corticospinal tracts (CST) using pipe-cleaners to represent the route of the pathway, including the number of neurons. We found that students were easily able to build a representation of one of these tracts and that they could answer questions on the structure and function of the tract they built significantly better than similar questions related to the other tracts. This enhancement in knowledge was maintained through to end of unit exams eleven weeks after the modelling activity, demonstrating that actively building a model contributes to deep rather than superficial learning.