Teaching materials in the national language
Most teaching materials suitable as alternatives to animal experiments in education originate from the USA or the UK. However, English proficiency is not very widespread in Ukraine. Therefore, films and software in Russian or Ukrainian are extremely important for increasing acceptance of modern teaching materials and thereby promoting the transition to animal-free courses.
Our organization, Doctors Against Animal Experiments, has adapted several German educational films from the now-defunct IWF Wissen und Medien gGmbH, Göttingen. With the kind permission of the IWF, the following films were dubbed into Russian:
- Experiments on the physiology of the heart and circulation in rabbits
- Experiments on the isolated rabbit heart in the Langendorff Apparatus
- Anatomy and function of skeletal muscle
- Experiments on excitation formation and conduction in the frog heart
- Renal microcirculation
Anna Schimpf, former assistant to the management of Doctors Against Animal Experiments and originally from Kazakhstan, translated the texts into Russian Our Ukrainian project partner, the biologist Dimitrij Leporskij, helped with the specialised terminology. Anna’s mother, Lidia Schimpf, volunteered as the narrator. The audio recordings were made at the Radio Lora Munich studio with volunteer support from Silvia Ayoub of Tierversuchsgegner München. Finally, Alfred Gericke synchronised the films with the new audio using professional video editing software.
Doctors Against Animal Experiments would like to thank all volunteers who made this project possible!
The result is impressive: High-quality educational films with technically flawless synchronisation. At the premiere of the first two films in late September 2009 in Simferopol, Dnipro, and Odessa, all the students and professors present were enthusiastic. These films will help save the lives of many animals.
Dubbed educational films are a key element for animal-free study programs.
Additional Teaching Materials
In the former Soviet Union, there were a large number of video films documenting animal experiments. At that time, special film studios created these recordings under the label “Nauchfilm” (meaning “Scientific Film”). These films were freely distributed on various tapes to Soviet universities. Due to technical progress and the transition to digital media, the majority of these film collections have since been forgotten.
Although the animal experiments shown in these films are unethical and inhumane, they still retain relevance and could be used for demonstration purposes in student education.
In 2011, the organization InterNICHE provided funding for the reprocessing and digitization of the existing film collections. Our organization Doctors Against Animal Experiments helped disseminate this collection to universities as part of our project.
Another important step in developing a more humane education system in Ukraine and other CIS countries is the encouragement and support of lecturers in finding alternatives such as computer programs, videos, and models. The advantages are clear: these alternatives are fully adapted to the existing curricula and developed in the local language. They are also cheaper than analogue foreign teaching materials.
In recent years, the following alternatives have been developed:
In 2009, with financial support from the German organization of Opponents of Animal Experiments – People for Animal Rights, teaching materials titled „Alternative teaching methods for physiological subjects “ were developed in Russian and Ukrainian by lecturers and students at the National Karamzin University in Kharkiv, including a DVD with various educational films and texts.
In 2012, with the support of our organisation Doctors Against Animal Experiments and InterNICHE, two additional teaching materials for Ukrainian lecturers were released: „Using humane teaching methods for the physiology of the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems” (National Tavria University, Simferopol) and „Using humane teaching methods for the physiology of the gastrointestinal system” (Crimean State Medical University, Simferopol).
Piotr Romanenko, a lecturer in surgery at the Nemeshaev Agrotechnical College, has developed a model to simulate surgical procedures and other techniques (suturing, injections, punctures, etc.). This model is in high demand at Ukrainian universities and is being distributed as a donation through our project.
Video film about the surgical model >>
The DVD „Stannius Ligature” by Prof. Nikolai Makarchuk from the National University T. G. Schevchenko of Kyiv, with classical physiological experiments on frogs, is available in three languages: Russian, Ukrainian, and English. As part of our project, this DVD is also distributed free of charge to universities that have signed an agreement to replace animal experiments in teaching.
The programs „Virtual Physiology“ and „ExPharm“, translated into Russian by InterNICHE volunteers, are actively used by lecturers and students. In this way, lecturers at the Department for Biologically Active Compounds, Pharmacy and Biotechnology of the Lviv Polytechnic University developed methodological for laboratory work in the ‘Pharmacology’ course. This methodology helps students transition to a new curriculum that is entirely animal-free.
Experience has shown that all the above-mentioned alternatives are not only in demand at universities in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, but far beyond as well. These teaching materials have also attracted great interest and strong demand at universities in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.