Learning Objectives

The overall content domain of the Reconstructors Project is the history of opioids, their use in pain management, and the neuroscience underlying their workings in a way that would best illustrate scientific thinking and public policy.

Within this framework, the project team has identified five modules or Episodes with the working titles of:

1. Learn that some pain relieving drugs were orginally derived from botanical sources.
2. Distinguish between the effect of an analgesic and an anesthetic.
3. Recognize that there is a class of pain-relieving drugs known as NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).
4. Understand that the term "drug" does not always imply an "illegal substance."
5. Comprehend the role of animals in research.
6. Interpret data and draw conclusions from a virtual experiment.
7. Paraphrase the plot and storyline.

1. Discover the analgesic substance produced by the poppy plant.
2. Use a taxonomy key to identify the Papaver somniferum.
3. Recognize that addiction is a physiological phenomenon.
4. Establish a historical time frame for the evolving use of opium.
5. Examine the historic events that point to the cause and consequences of the Opium War of 1839.
6. Paraphrase the plot and storyline.

1. Discover that opium consists of different alkaloids/compounds that relieve pain.
2. Learn that morphine is the most potent analgesic derived from opium.
3. Recognize that severity and nature of pain is a primary consideration in the selection of a drug treatment.
4. Observe that chromatography is a way of separating the components of a mixture.
5. Recognize that opiates affect the brain no matter how they are introduced into the body.
6. Re-trace the scientific thinking and social policies that led to the discovery and widespread use of opiates in the 1800s.
7. Paraphrase the plot and storyline.

1. Identify four main parts of the nervous system and know their major functions.
2. Synthesize data from virtual experiments to determine how neurons communicate
3. Discover that the body produces naturally-occurring opioids known as endogenous opioids.
4. Comprehend the way in which neurotransmitters bind to receptors.
5. Paraphrase the plot and storyline.

1. Recognize that opiates are used for pain management.
2. Examine how the abusive use of an opiate can lead to negative consequences.
3. Recognize that opiates produce pleasure by affecting the brain's reward pathway.
4. Observe that individuals differ as to when drug abuse becomes drug addiction.
5. Paraphrase the plot and story line.

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