214 • Alternatives to Animal Use in Research, Testing, and Education 
Canine Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Simulator 
(Resusci-Dog) in Use 
Photo credit: Charles Ft. Short, New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, 
Cornell University 
ily share or exchange materials. As a result, 
there is a serious problem of duplication of 
effort, with individuals and institutions devel- 
oping similar teaching programs. Although 
ideas are clearly portable, actual computer 
programs may not be, and the avenues for 
effective dissemination of programs remain 
limited. 
• The resources available to support research 
and development in computer-based educa- 
tion are too limited. Few institutions have com- 
mitted funds for such activity, and much cur- 
rent work is supported by departmental or 
individual resources. Many new computer- 
based education materials are developed by 
individuals on their own time out of personal 
interest. There is virtually no external fund- 
ing available to support advances in this field. 
• In the long run , the most serious problem may 
well be the lack of professional academic re- 
wards for faculty members working in this 
area. Promotion, tenure, and salary increments 
are awarded predominantly for productivity 
in the research laboratory, not for efforts to 
develop innovative teaching techniques and 
materials. With essentially no external grant 
support for computer-based education activ- 
ities and with few refereed high-quality jour- 
nals in which to publish, two of the measures 
by which rewards are apportioned are not 
available to developers of novel educational 
software. This is a particular problem for jun- 
ior faculty members, who often must devote 
their major efforts to climbing the academic 
ladder. Computer-based education seemingly 
fails to meet the perception of an academi- 
cally valid and creditable enterprise. 
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 
In elementary school, student exposure to ani- 
mals in the classroom generally takes the form of 
exercises in humane awareness. Later, involve- 
ment in science becomes more active and the role 
of the animal as a tool of science is explored. As 
students advance to and through college, animal 
use often becomes more invasive during instruc- 
tion in laboratory techniques. At the highest levels, 
especially in professional and research training, 
students are expected to attain levels of skill that 
may be difficult to reach without the use of animals . 
Taken together, the approximately 53,000 ani- 
mals used in accredited medical and veterinary 
schools for education and training make up less 
than one-half of 1 percent of the estimated 1 7 mil- 
lion to 22 million animals used annually in the 
United States for research, testing, and education. 
(No data are available on the number of animals 
used in primary, secondary, and college educa- 
tion.) Yet the development of students’ attitudes 
toward animals during the classroom years over- 
shadows in importance the actual quantity of ani- 
