Korean J Anat.  2005 Aug;38(4):307-314.

Study on the Differences between Anatomical Terminology and Terminology of High School Biology Textbook

• Park KH
• Park J

Abstract

College students, who major in health science, feel troubles in learning anatomy due to the differences between anatomical terminology and biology terms used in high school course. Moreover, there can be errors in communication between patients and medical personnel. So we investigated and analyzed the terminologies used in 7 high school biology textbooks, and compared them with Korean anatomical terminology and official biological terminology. The concordance rate of high school biology terms with anatomical terminology was just 50.3 +/-2.7%, while that with official biological terminology was significantly higher (89.8+/-1.6%). Most notable differences between high school biology terms and anatomical terminology were found in descriptions of the reproductive system. In addition, several eponyms and unofficial word spacing were noted in high school biology textbooks. These results can be served as valuable basic resources for revision and standardization of terminologies used in biomedical fields. Collaboration among anatomists, biologists and high school teachers is thought be prerequisite.

Keyword

High school; Textbook; Biological terminology; Anatomical terminology

MeSH Terms

Anatomists
Biology*
Cooperative Behavior
Eponyms
Humans
Learning