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Developing a concepts-based physiology curriculum for bioengineering: A VaNTH project
Abstract
Physiology is recognized as a core topic for biomedical engineering but the physiology courses taught to bioengineering students vary widely in scope and depth from institution to institution. As part of the NSF-sponsored VaNTH Engineering Research Center in Bioengineering Educational Technologies curriculum project, a group of bioengineering, physiology, and learning science faculty have been developing a physiology taxonomy that could guide curriculum development. The initial efforts focused on a systems-based taxonomy but we have now changed to a concepts-based taxonomy that will be cross-referenced with topics taught in system physiology courses. The final product will include resources for developing a learner-centered bioengineering physiology curriculum.
... One system is thoroughly reviewed before moving to the next. A different approach to content presentation has been proposed in which a course is structured around key concepts, and physiological systems are presented as examples of these concepts 4,6,7 . A physiology course taught via the concepts-based approach might, for example, develop the concept of bioelectricity and enrich learning by presenting examples where this concept occurs in various physiological systems. ...
... A physiology course taught via the concepts-based approach might, for example, develop the concept of bioelectricity and enrich learning by presenting examples where this concept occurs in various physiological systems. It would seem that physiology courses structured around key concepts and taught from a quantitative perspective are optimal for biomedical engineering students 4,8 . How physiology content is presented affects how BME students learn subsequent material, specifically topics in advanced engineering courses 9 . ...
... A concepts-based approach can help students become better physiological problem-solvers with an ability to predict responses of physiology systems with which they are unfamiliar based on what they know about the underlying concepts. Structuring content in a different way, a concepts-based taxonomy emphasizes unifying principles and concepts that repeat across physiology systems 4,20 . These unifying concepts have been adapted as the basis for the concepts-based taxonomy in the present study. ...
... In 2000, a multi-institution, interdisciplinary team (VaNTH) of researchers developed challengebased instruction modules for biomedical engineering courses, ranging from biotransport, to anatomy, or optics [4][5][6][7]. A key philosophical component of these modules was to shift emphasis away from memorization and repetition of facts and instead emphasize students' ability to apply new knowledge innovatively [8]. ...
... However, in contrast with these reports of student resistance, numerous reports in multiple disciplines have demonstrated the effectiveness of inquiry-based learning in science and engineering classrooms [4,16,17,20]. Some of the most cited reports studied inquiry learning in biology or physics, but many are also engineering-focused [6,21,22]. In the following sections, we will focus on reports of inquiry learning in engineering, and biomedical engineering in particular. ...
... It has been shown that as few as seven general concepts can provide learners with a framework for understanding most physiological systems (Modell 2000). Concepts-based physiology courses are a potential solution to the concern that systemsbased courses do not promote an understanding of the broad concepts that govern physiology (Silverthorn 2002;VaNTH 2007). Anecdotal evidence and initial exploratory research have tacitly implied that physiology courses for biomedical engineers structured around key concepts and taught from a quantitative perspective are optimal (Silverthorn 2002;Troy and Linsenmeier 2003). ...
... Concepts-based physiology courses are a potential solution to the concern that systemsbased courses do not promote an understanding of the broad concepts that govern physiology (Silverthorn 2002;VaNTH 2007). Anecdotal evidence and initial exploratory research have tacitly implied that physiology courses for biomedical engineers structured around key concepts and taught from a quantitative perspective are optimal (Silverthorn 2002;Troy and Linsenmeier 2003). Modell suggests that the concepts-based approach helps learners become better physiological problem-solvers with an ability to predict responses of physiology systems with which they are unfamiliar based on their knowledge of the underlying concepts. ...
Physiology is a core topic in the biomedical engineering curriculum; however, the content and structure of physiology courses in undergraduate biomedical engineering programs vary markedly. To begin to assess the ways that mathematical approach to teaching physiology and the content structure of the course affect how undergraduates learn advanced topics in biomedical engineering, two challenge-based learning modules have been designed to use as a data collection environment. To supplement the rich assessment opportunities inherent in the challenge-based model, elements of simulations and game-informed learning have also been incorporated in the design. The modules will provide opportunities for quantitative and qualitative data collection on how undergraduate engineering students transfer knowledge and understanding of physiology when learning advanced topics in their engineering discipline. The more that is discovered about how engineering undergraduates learn, the better able institutions, programs and faculty will be to shape curricula and improve biomedical engineering education.
... Our work in this project is ongoing.Table 1 provides a sample listing of some of the physiology concepts to which we feel bioengineering students should gain exposure. A preliminary report on this work was also presented at the 2002 joint EMBS-BMES Conference [3]. ...
Most biomedical engineering (BME) programs appreciate the need to provide their students with knowledge in the field of systems physiology. One objective in teaching systems physiology to undergraduate or graduate BME students should be to provide them with enough understanding of physiology that they can acquire what further understanding they need as such a need arises later in life. An instructional goal should therefore be to provide a solid framework in physiology from which learning through self-instruction is enhanced. With the preceding reasoning in mind, a project is underway in the VaNTH (Vanderbilt University; Northwestern University; University of Texas at Austin; and Health. Science and Technology at Harvard/MIT) Engineering Research Center (ERC) to define certain key concepts in systems physiology that we feel are essential in the training of BME students. We believe that in planning a curriculum in BME it is more meaningful to define the key concepts (e.g., homeodynamics, emergent properties, etc.) that one should seek to cover in a systems physiology course or course sequence than to specify the particular systems in which one would cover these concepts. The latter might be constrained by local expertise or by other local biases. We propose that, if students are presented with the key concepts well, their ability to generalize them to new systems should be greatly eased, promoting self-learning.
Physiology is a core requirement in the undergraduate biomedical engineering curriculum. In one or two introductory physiology courses, engineering students must learn physiology sufficiently to support learning in their subsequent engineering courses and careers. As preparation for future learning, physiology instruction centered on concepts may help engineering students to further develop their physiology and biomedical engineering knowledge. Following the Backward Design instructional model, a series of seven concept-based lessons was developed for undergraduate engineering students. These online lessons were created as prerequisite physiology training to prepare students to engage in a collaborative engineering challenge activity. This work is presented as an example of how to convert standard, organ system-based physiology content into concept-based content lessons.
As research in the 21st century shifts its focus from molecular biology to functional genomics, proteomics, and integrated
system functions, physiologists have an opportunity to position integrative physiology as the organizing discipline of biology.
The challenge is twofold: to educate practicing scientists about the importance of integrative physiology in the future of
biological research, and to excite and recruit students to become the next generation of integrative physiologists. The preceding
chapters in this book are designed to achieve the first objective; this chapter outlines some considerations for the second.
Vanderbilt University, Northwestern University, the University of Texas and the Harvard/MIT Health Sciences Technology Program have collaborated since 1999 to develop means to improve bioengineering education. This effort, funded by the National Science Foundation as the VaNTH Engineering Research Center in Bioengineering Educational Technologies, has sought a synthesis of learning science, learning technology, assessment and the domains of bioengineering in order to improve learning by bioengineering students. Research has shown that bioengineering educational materials may be designed to emphasize challenges that engage the student and, when coupled with a learning cycle and appropriate technologies, can lead to improvements in instruction.
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