Health & Disease

The American Biology Teacher,
Volume 70, No. 1, January 2008.
Reviewed by: Mary Jane Davis

"If you need to know about disease, then
this workbook and CD-ROM combo are for you."

If you need to know about disease, then this workbook and CD-ROM combo are for you. There are four useful sections: the nature of disease, infectious disease, non-infectious disease and defence and the immune system. The four topics are available on the CD-ROM for Mac and Windows, and in a variety of formats so access should not be an issue. There are lots of photos, such as an MRl scanner. However, the spellings are in American English, so some corrections may be required for UK use.

The smallest presentation contains 60 very detailed slides, for example four slides are devoted to ultrasound in pregnancy. I feel that it might be better to break the presentations down into smaller, more manageable topics, stored under the four subjects headings.

The photos and diagrams in the workbook are in black and white, unlike the slides. It would be nicer in colour. The book has been geared to the UK and the spellings are correct. When the page numbers hit three digits though, in the copy reviewed the third digit is cut off the edge of the page. The first few pages discuss the format and layout of the book, and the page on question terminology is extremely helpful. The page of suggested resources is also very helpful and it is picked up at the beginning of every topic, with more specific resources. It also suggests making key word banks, by taking the bold words from the topic introduction and adding a definition to them. This is a good idea, which would encourage most students to actually think about what the words mean. The idea of the workbooks is that each student can read the information, complete the accompanying questions, and then tear out the page and add it to a ring binder in which their notes are kept. This is a great idea in principle, but there is generally a different subject on the front and back of each page, so I would wonder about exactly where to place the page. Also if you wanted to use a hole-punch, there is not a lot of margin space.

The slides on the CD-ROM are aimed at teacher-taught A-level sessions and the workbooks are intended as student-led revision guides. The CD-ROM could be a useful resource with any level. As the book is intended as a single-user workbook, funding may mean that students would have to contribute to the cost of the books themselves.