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The “core principles” of physiology: What should students understand?
Abstract
The explosion of knowledge in all of the biological sciences, and specifically in physiology, has created a growing problem for educators. There is more to know than students can possibly learn. Thus, difficult choices have to be made about what we expect students to master. One approach to making the needed decisions is to consider those "core principles" that provide the thinking tools for understanding all biological phenomena. We identified a list of "core principles" that appear to apply to all aspects of physiology and unpacked them into their constituent component ideas. While such a list does not define the content for a physiology course, it does provide a guideline for selecting the topics on which to focus student attention. This list of "core principles" also offers a starting point for developing an assessment instrument to be used in determining if students have mastered the important unifying ideas of physiology.
... American Physiological Society (APS), the largest general physiology organization in the United States (5,115 13, 14). These core concepts were first developed over a decade ago, allowing sufficient time for the 116 core concepts to be disseminated and implemented throughout the physiology education curriculum. ...
... Survey of faculty at 7 physiology degree programs (16), indicating coverage of core concepts in courses Survey of undergraduate physiology students indicated reported mastery of core concepts (17) Homeostasis 1 3 1 S t r u c t u r e / f u n c t i o n 2 2 2 Flow down gradients 3 9 7 Cell membrane 4 11 3 Cell-cell communications 5 5 9 ...
... Interestingly, the original development of the 261 physiology core concepts was sparked partially by acknowledgement of a "knowledge explosion" in 262 physiology that has contributed to the lengthening of textbooks. This increase in knowledge and 263 corresponding increases in content in textbooks helped spark the development of the core concepts as a 264 way to reduce and streamline key principles for physiology(5, 12). Though our survey did not explore if 265instructors utilize textbooks as a student-facing resource in their courses (or only used textbooks as a 266 reference when designing the syllabus), these results indicate that there needs to be further study on 267 how instructors reduce and synthesize the list of topics in physiology textbooks to design their courses. ...
The physiology core concepts are designed to guide instructors in undergraduate physiology courses. However, while past work has characterized the alignment of physiology programs with the core concepts, it is unclear to what extent these core concepts have influenced instructors' pedagogical decisions, or how represented these core concepts are across physiology courses. We surveyed undergraduate physiology instructors to determine their familiarity with the core concepts, the impact of the core concepts on their teaching, as well as the alignment of their courses to these core concepts. Instructors report predominantly relying on textbooks and past syllabi of their courses as resources that influence their instructional decisions on which topics to include in a course. However, many instructors report re-organizing their physiology courses in subsequent iterations or reducing the number of concepts covered to allow more time for critical thinking and active learning. In addition, we find that the majority of instructors indicate that they are not knowledgeable about the list of physiology core concepts, and that the influence of these core concepts is limited even for those who report familiarity with the list of core concepts. Finally, we find that instructors report uneven coverage of physiology core concepts in their courses, with some core concepts ubiquitous while others are sparsely covered. We conclude by discussing implications of our work for the physiology education community and call for the continued development of resources to support new physiology instructors and the need to promote coverage of certain core concepts in physiology courses.
... Physiology is based on the integration of, and relationships between, systems to solve problems and, therefore, requires students to work largely at higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy (10). Indeed, disciplinary content knowledge and understanding of each core principle (e.g., homeostasis, information flow) (24) in physiology is important [i.e., lower order (LO) thinking]. However, learners must also recognize that these core principles are not completely distinct from one another and be able to see relationships between systems, using this information to solve problems and predict outcomes [i.e., higher order (HO) thinking] (24,27). ...
... Indeed, disciplinary content knowledge and understanding of each core principle (e.g., homeostasis, information flow) (24) in physiology is important [i.e., lower order (LO) thinking]. However, learners must also recognize that these core principles are not completely distinct from one another and be able to see relationships between systems, using this information to solve problems and predict outcomes [i.e., higher order (HO) thinking] (24,27). ...
... We teach physiology using an instructor-led lecture in a large classroom setting (300-400 students). Notably, lecture content is streamlined to focus on integration core principles of physiology (24), with guided problem solving modeled throughout, and assessment is an exclusively written response, requiring students to explain their thoughts as they move through higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Using a case study approach, we sought to objectively measure whether this teaching and assessment structure could promote a DA to learning and improve HO thinking skills, despite the large class size and instructor-led design commonly associated with a SA to learning and use of LO thinking skills. ...
Large classes taught with didactic lectures and assessed with multiple-choice tests are commonly reported to promote lower order (LO) thinking and a surface approach (SA) to learning. Using a case study design, we hypothesized that incorporating instructional scaffolding of core physiology principles and assessing students exclusively with long-answer written tests would encourage higher order (HO) thinking and promote a deep approach (DA) to learning in a two-course physiology sequence (Phys I and II), despite their large size. Test questions were categorized as LO or HO according to the Blooming Biology Tool, and students' LO and HO performance was determined for each of six tests across the two courses. The validated Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire survey tool was administered at the beginning and end of each course to measure student approach to learning. HO performance was maintained across Phys I (72.9 ± 19.4 vs. 74.8 ± 20.7%, P = 0.37) and significantly improved across Phys II (69.9 ± 18.4 vs. 79.4 ± 14.8%, P < 0.001). Unexpectedly, students' LO performance declined from the beginning to end of Phys I (78.5 ± 20.6 vs. 69.4 ± 17.9%, P < 0.001) and Phys II (80.5 ± 19.6 vs. 72.2 ± 24.3%, P < 0.001). Students' approach to learning did not change throughout Phys I or II, but at each time point students preferred a DA over a SA. Taken together, these results indicate that an intentionally designed large lecture class can support a DA to learning and suggests that this teaching and assessment structure may be particularly well suited to promote HO thinking, albeit possibly at the expense of LO thinking.
... How did you decide what content to include and what content to omit? Perhaps you referred to a colleague's syllabus, a textbook table of contents, a departmental course outline, or a list of core concepts advocated for by professors in the field (e.g., Michael et al., 2009;AAAS, 2011). Perhaps you had flexibility in planning the course to focus on "enduring understandings" you aimed to promote (Wiggins and McTighe, 1998;Allen and Tanner, 2007). ...
... Scholars in other fields have additionally suggested models of curriculum development that bring together current and former students, teaching faculty, and working professionals to collaboratively develop curricula meeting the needs of all stakeholders (Macik et al., 2017). This could represent a more evidence-based approach compared with current models in biology education that predominantly center the viewpoints of faculty in curricular decisions (Michael et al., 2009(Michael et al., , 2017AAAS, 2011;Michael & McFarland, 2020;Orr et al., 2022). ...
STEM undergraduates navigate lengthy sequences of prerequisite courses covering volumes of science content. Given that these courses may contribute to attrition and equity gaps in STEM, research is needed to test the assumption that prerequisite content benefits students in their future studies and careers. We investigated the relevance of prerequisite course content for students' careers through semistructured interviews with practicing nurses regarding their undergraduate anatomy and physiology (A&P) courses. Nurses reported that A&P content does not align with the skills and knowledge needed in the nursing profession. Interviewees averaged 39% on a brief A&P assessment, suggesting A&P prerequisites failed to impart a high degree of long-term A&P knowledge among nurses. Further, practicing nurses perceived overcommitment to A&P content coverage as an exclusionary practice that eliminates capable individuals from the prenursing pathway. These findings challenge assumptions surrounding the justification for prerequisite course content and raise questions of whether content expectations actively exclude individuals from STEM or healthcare careers. We aspire for this study to stimulate conversation and research about the goals of prerequisite content, who is best positioned to articulate prerequisite content objectives, and the influence of content coverage on equity and justice in undergraduate STEM education.
... In 2009, Michael et al. (4) defined 15 core concepts of physiology that they recommended should be used to teach physiology and aid student learning. In 2020, a group of Australian physiology educators mapped the learning objectives of undergraduate physiology curricula at 17 Australian universities with a physiology major/specialization and accessible online information to the 15 core concepts of physiology compiled by Michael et al. (4). ...
... The manual mapping and content analysis showed that while some of the curricula's learning objectives were easily mapped to some of these core concepts like "structure and function," others were hardly matched to any (5). Furthermore, the "physiological adaptation" core concept was covered in many of the Australian undergraduate curricula but was overlooked in previous conceptual frameworks (4). ...
A National Task force of 25 Australian physiology educators used the Delphi protocol to develop seven physiology core concepts which were agreed to nationally. The aim of the current study was to unpack the 'Physiological Adaptation' core concept with the descriptor 'Organisms adjust and adapt to acute and chronic changes in the internal and external environments across the lifespan'. This core concept was unpacked by three Task force members and a facilitator into four themes and nine subthemes that encompass the role of stressors and disturbed homeostasis in adaptation, and the capacity for, and the nature of, the Physiological Adaptation. Twenty-two Task force members then provided feedback and rated the themes and subthemes for level of importance and difficulty for students to learn via an online survey using a 5-point Likert scale. Seventeen respondents completed all survey questions. For all themes/subthemes, importance was rated 1 (essential) or 2 (important; n=17, means ±SD ranged from 1.1±0.3 to 2.2±0.9) and difficulty was rated 3 (moderately difficult; n=17, means ranged from 2.9±0.7 to 3.4±0.9). Subtle differences in the proportion of importance scores (n=17: Fishers exact p=0.004, ANOVA F12,220=2.630, p=0.003; n=22: Fishers exact p=0.002, ANOVA F12,281=2.743, p<0.001), but not difficulty scores, were observed between themes/subthemes, and free-text feedback was minor. The results suggest successful unpacking of the Physiological Adaptation core concept. The themes and subthemes can inform the design of learning outcomes, assessment, and teaching and learning activities that have commonality and consistency across curricula.
... Assim, a Fisioarte tem sido importante não apenas para a formação técnica dos nossos alunos, mas também humana. Diante de muitos conteúdos abordados por cada tópico ou módulo da fisiologia, muitos alunos usam a memorização como uma estratégia de aprendizagem (CARVALHO; WEST, 2011;LUNDBERG et al., 2009;MICHAEL et al., 2009). Os alunos também costumam queixar-se da extensão dos capítulos dos livros de fisiologia, Brazilian Journal of Development, Curitiba, v.8, n.11, p. 75640-75663, nov., 2022 bem como das metodologias didáticas extremamente passivas e ultrapassadas para um mundo atualmente tão digitalizado e dinâmico, as quais não estimulam a criatividade e tão pouco o raciocínio e pensamento crítico dos estudantes (COLTHORPE; ABE; AINSCOUGH, 2018;MICHAEL et al., 2009;MILKOVA et al., 2013). ...
... Diante de muitos conteúdos abordados por cada tópico ou módulo da fisiologia, muitos alunos usam a memorização como uma estratégia de aprendizagem (CARVALHO; WEST, 2011;LUNDBERG et al., 2009;MICHAEL et al., 2009). Os alunos também costumam queixar-se da extensão dos capítulos dos livros de fisiologia, Brazilian Journal of Development, Curitiba, v.8, n.11, p. 75640-75663, nov., 2022 bem como das metodologias didáticas extremamente passivas e ultrapassadas para um mundo atualmente tão digitalizado e dinâmico, as quais não estimulam a criatividade e tão pouco o raciocínio e pensamento crítico dos estudantes (COLTHORPE; ABE; AINSCOUGH, 2018;MICHAEL et al., 2009;MILKOVA et al., 2013). ...
Diferentes estudos têm mostrado que a introdução da arte em disciplinas de ciências biológicas têm sido uma importante ferramenta pedagógica, estimulando a criatividade, sensibilidade e o desenvolvimento do raciocínio lógico dos discentes. Nós desenvolvemos um projeto pedagógico denominado FisioArte, o qual propõe a interação entre fisiologia e arte como estratégia de ensino e aprendizagem. Para tanto, realizamos com os discentes, reinterpretações de obras de arte imprimindo os conceitos fisiológicos estudados em sala de aula. Em uma das atividades da FisioArte, sob a temática da fisiologia da glândula adrenal foi sugerido aos discentes que fizessem a releitura das obras da artista brasileira, Tarsila do Amaral. O presente relato de experiência descreve uma edição da FisioArte com os alunos do curso de bacharelado em biotecnologia da Universidade Federal da Paraíba, na disciplina de fisiologia humana. Para tanto, aqui apresentamos as releituras das obras: “O ovo (urutu)”, “A boneca”, “Estrada de ferro central do brasil”, “Operários”, “A negra” e “Estudo (La Tasse) no contexto da fisiologia da glândula adrenal. Essa atividade, a FisioArte, mostrou-se eficiente para motivar os alunos, bem como despertar o interesse pelo estudo da fisiologia.
... It also provided students with reasoning tools they could employ with unfamiliar phenomena. Using general models in physiology instruction has gained widespread support in the discipline (Goodman, 2001;Michael et al., 2002Michael et al., , 2009Michael & McFarland, 2011Wang et al., 2020). ...
... F I G U R E 4 The mass balance reasoning tool used to scaffold students' understanding of mass balance reasoning F I G U R E 5 Example of what student drawings look like when using the mass balance reasoning tool to characterize fluxes and amounts in a biology phenomenon about tactile allodynia F I G U R E 6 The covariational reasoning levels (Progress Variable 2) for student responses collected on one Format A item for one term (n = 262) | 6 | DISCUSSION 6.1 | An emerging mass balance learning progression At both K-12 and collegiate levels, science educators have recognized the power of fundamental scientific ideas to serve as conceptual scaffolds that help students build cohesive, scientifically based frameworks to explain diverse phenomena (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2011;Cooper et al., 2015;National Research Council, 2012;Talanquer, 2019). Mass balance is a powerful reasoning tool that students can use to make sense of myriad biological phenomena (Michael et al., 2009). However, students' persistent struggles to successfully apply mass balance reasoning can hinder their learning (Cronin et al., 2009;Sterman, 2008). ...
In recent years, there has been a strong push to transform STEM education at K‐12 and collegiate levels to help students learn to think like scientists. One aspect of this transformation involves redesigning instruction and curricula around fundamental scientific ideas that serve as conceptual scaffolds students can use to build cohesive knowledge structures. In this study, we investigated how students use mass balance reasoning as a conceptual scaffold to gain a deeper understanding of how matter moves through biological systems. Our aim was to lay the groundwork for a mass balance learning progression in physiology. We drew on a general models framework from biology and a covariational reasoning framework from math education to interpret students' mass balance ideas. We used a constant comparative method to identify students' reasoning patterns from 73 interviews conducted with undergraduate biology students. We helped validate the reasoning patterns identified with >8000 written responses collected from students at multiple institutions. From our analyses, we identified two related progress variables that describe key elements of students' performances: the first describes how students identify and use matter flows in biology phenomena; the second characterizes how students use net rate‐of‐change to predict how matter accumulates in, or disperses from, a compartment. We also present a case study of how we used our emerging mass balance learning progression to inform instructional practices to support students' mass balance reasoning. Our progress variables describe one way students engage in three dimensional learning by showing how student performances associated with the practice of mathematical thinking reveal their understanding of the core concept of matter flows as governed by the crosscutting concept of matter conservation. Though our work is situated in physiology, it extends previous work in climate change education and is applicable to other scientific fields, such as physics, engineering, and geochemistry.
... Rightfully so, the volume of HAP textbooks is increasing, as there is an increase in knowledge and research in the discipline. 17 There is also little consensus as to what students should know. 17,18 Instructors could learn more about their students and their needs, focusing on designing effective curricula with well-developed learning outcomes and a reduced amount of factual information to memorize, and learning more about how their students learn in the HAP classroom. ...
... 17 There is also little consensus as to what students should know. 17,18 Instructors could learn more about their students and their needs, focusing on designing effective curricula with well-developed learning outcomes and a reduced amount of factual information to memorize, and learning more about how their students learn in the HAP classroom. ...
Purpose: The Human Anatomy and Physiology (HAP) course is required of all allied health majors. Students need to earn a grade of “C” or better, and many students find this class academically challenging. This study investigated allied health students’ perceptions of what makes the undergraduate class difficult. Methods: A 28-question survey targeted 403 students enrolled in three HAP sections taught by the same instructor. Results: Students returned 279 surveys (68% return rate). Qualitative and quantitative data supported a three factor model in making this class difficult: discipline, student, and teaching related factors. Students consider that discipline factors are more important than student and teaching factors. Conclusions and Recommendations: Results suggest that instructors can help students by paying more attention to diagrams and graphs, engaging students by using active methods of learning, and identifying students who consider this class “extremely” difficult.
... Physiology teaching represents a fundamental component of preclinical healthcare education particularly for veterinary and medical students (1)(2)(3). A strong basis in physiology is necessary for understanding diseases and their clinical presentation, the concepts behind many diagnostic tests, and the mechanisms of drug action and their side effects (1,(3)(4)(5)(6). ...
... Physiology teaching represents a fundamental component of preclinical healthcare education particularly for veterinary and medical students (1)(2)(3). A strong basis in physiology is necessary for understanding diseases and their clinical presentation, the concepts behind many diagnostic tests, and the mechanisms of drug action and their side effects (1,(3)(4)(5)(6). As such, physiology learning is crucial in preparing students for successful clinical practice (6,7). ...
Online resources are becoming increasingly important in undergraduate education and have been associated with a number of advantages and positive outcomes on students' learning experience. However, online resource use by veterinary students for physiology learning remains poorly understood. Thus the present questionnaire-based study aims to investigate the extent to which first- and second-year veterinary students use online resources, including online video clips and social media, in their physiology learning and if this is influenced by factors of age, gender, entry status, or year of study. One-hundred and twenty-two students across seven UK universities completed the survey. Traditional resources (the lecturer and recommended textbooks) were the most preferred sources for physiology learning. Nonetheless, 97.5% of students used Internet search engines to explore physiology topics. Furthermore, students' tendency to contact their instructor regarding a physiology question was low. Rather, 92.6% said they would first search for an answer online. Particularly popular was the use of online video clips with 91.1% finding them valuable for physiology learning and 34.21% finding them more useful for understanding physiology than university taught material or lecture slides. YouTube was the most common online video clip platform used by students. Most students stated that they would enjoy interacting with course materials on an instructor-led social media page, but only 33.9% currently use social media to discuss physiology-related issues with classmates. Additionally, most students expressed concerns regarding the reliability of online resources but attempts to fact-check these resources were relatively low. Therefore, online resources represent an essential part of veterinary students' physiology learning and this suggests that educators can significantly improve student engagement and understanding of physiology by integrating these resources.
... Cell signaling is one of the core concepts of physiology because of its application in other biosciences such as pharmacology and pathophysiology (18,19). Therefore, it is important for students to understand the concept thoroughly. ...
... When new modalities of teaching are introduced, the entire course does not need to be redesigned; only the most difficult concepts can be chosen for redesign. The focus of this intervention using dramatizations was on cell signaling, and this topic was chosen because students have difficulty comprehending and often not enough class time is devoted to ensuring their understanding of the concept, yet it is a core concept in physiology that is beneficial for the students to understand since it plays such an important role in understanding cellcell communication and physiology overall (18,19). ...
Certain physiology concepts can be difficult for students to understand, and new strategies need to be implemented to teach
these concepts. Cell signaling is a core concept in physiology and is presented to undergraduate students starting with their
first-year Principles of Biology course. Flipped teaching (FT) combined with dramatizations were used to teach steroid hormone
and protein hormone cell signaling in an Animal Physiology course. Student knowledge level improved, as demonstrated by
posttest scores compared to pretest scores. Their confidence level in the material improved after the dramatization activities
were completed. In conclusion, the combination of FT with dramatizations enhances student learning and confidence level.
... It is important to note that core concepts (big ideas) are not a list of topics to be learned (Wiggins and McTighe, 1998) and this is true of both the physiology core concepts (Michael et al., 2009;Michael and McFarland, 2020) and the neuroscience core concepts (Chen et al., 2023(Chen et al., , 2024. ...
Core concepts are “big ideas” that are central to a discipline, provide frameworks of understanding for disciplinary content, and aid student transfer of learning. Core concept lists have been developed for increasing numbers of higher education STEM disciplines. This mini-review uses physiology and neuroscience core concepts as examples to inform core concept pedagogies in these and other disciplines. The article reviews the development of physiology and neuroscience core concepts and compares the resulting concept lists. It then provides suggestions or “lessons learned” for educators and researchers who wish to utilize core concept pedagogies or who wish to develop core concepts for other STEM disciplines.
... ¿Cómo son las imágenes para estudiar la asignatura de Neurofisiología? neurofisiología representa un gran desafío de aprendizaje, para los estudiantes universitarios de pregrado y de postgrado en distintos tipos de carreras y programas alrededor del mundo relacionados con la biología, con su enseñanza o con carreras asociadas a las ciencias de la salud, tales como medicina, enfermería, kinesiología, entre otras (Feder, 2005;Michael 2007;Michael et al., 2009;Michael & Farland 2011;Modell 2000;2004;. La dificultad para enseñar y aprender neurofisiología, puede generarse por varias razones, tales como la diversidad del nivel de conocimiento científico previo y las preconcepciones de los estudiantes, por cómo la disciplina es enseñada y por cómo los estudiantes abordan su aprendizaje (Michael 2007;Michael et al., 2017). ...
Investigar sobre las imágenes de un libro de Neurociencia es esencial para aprovechar al máximo los recursos de aprendizaje y mejorar la comprensión y retención de los conceptos clave en la asignatura de Neurofisiología. Las imágenes son una parte fundamental de la educación en ciencias biológicas y médicas, y su análisis crítico puede ser beneficioso para los estudiantes que buscan tener un mejor dominio de esta disciplina. Es por ello, que para profundizar en este tema se analizó la calidad de las representaciones visuales utilizadas en un libro ampliamente usado para estudiar esta disciplina. Se llevó a cabo un análisis de las ilustraciones presentes en la sección titulada "Sistema somatosensorial, tacto y propiocepción". Se analizaron las dimensiones relacionada con la/las (i.) Función didáctica de la imagen en relación a la secuencia didáctica en la que aparece la ilustración, (ii.) Funcionalidad de la imagen, (iii.) Categorías en la relación con el texto principal, (iv.) Categorías establecidas en las etiquetas verbales. Los resultados de este estudio muestran que: (i.) las funciones didácticas predominantes de las imágenes en función de la secuencia didáctica en la que aparecen fueron la definición (40%) y la aplicación (40%), seguidas por la interpretación (13,3%) y la descripción (6,6%). (ii.) La funcionalidad de las ilustraciones fue sintáctica (100%). (iii.) Con respecto a la categoría en relación con el texto, predominan las imágenes sinópticas (53,3%) y las denotativas (46,6%) y en relación a (iv.) la categoría de las etiquetas verbales que se presentan en las imágenes la mayoría se clasificaron como relacionales (93,3%) y sólo una como nominativa (6,6 %). Hacia el final del presente estudio se ofrece una actividad de aprendizaje en base a los hallazgos evidenciados.
... Human Anatomy and Physiology (commonly offered in two parts as A&P I & II), is a required course for many health science programs such as nursing, radiological technology, and nuclear medicine. Challenges that students of A&P face, and therefore their instructors do as well, have been the subject of numerous studies (Michael, 2007;Feder, 2005;Michael et al., 2009;Sefton, 2005;Harris et al., 2004). One major reason would naturally be the complexity of many advanced concepts that students must assimilate (Morton et al., 2007;Silverthorn, 2002;Vander, 1998). ...
Gateway science courses are challenging for community college students, particularly for underrepresented Hispanic students who struggle with the course content as well as time management in their daily lives. In order to improve their academic success and understanding of Human Anatomy & Physiology, a series of two-weekend Anatomy and Physiology review workshops were offered prior to the cumulative final exams. Among others, teaching strategy included presentation of 3D animation video clips illuminating step-by-step biomedical processes, followed by fun Jeopardy-style Quiz competition. The competitions aimed at stimulating student interest and triggering their instant feedback that would reflect the level of their comprehension on topics of challenge. Our findings showed that the rate of passing, particularly grades of C+ and higher (required in all nursing courses), was consistently higher for workshop participants than for non-participants. We believe that the technology-enhanced workshops created an exciting, game- like learning environment that resulted in greater engagement and better academic performance among our students.
... Only some of the paths along which the investigation and teaching of physiological mechanisms can proceed are based upon first-principles science (Haldane 1916(Haldane , 1935Adolph 1954). Whilst the number and names of those physiological principles (concepts) may change over time (e.g., Michael 2007;Michael et al. 2009Michael et al. , 2017Michael and McFarland 2011), several have appeared consistently as foundational material. One usually finds "homeostasis" (self-regulation of the internal environment [milieu]) towards the top of those lists, for it might be argued that it is less important to know how the heart beats than it is to know why its contraction frequency changes during exercise-dependent increments in body temperature. ...
This contribution is the first of a four-part, historical series encompassing foundational principles, mechanistic hypotheses and supported facts concerning human thermoregulation during athletic and occupational pursuits, as understood 100 years ago and now. Herein, the emphasis is upon the physical and physiological principles underlying thermoregulation, the goal of which is thermal homeostasis (homeothermy). As one of many homeostatic processes affected by exercise, thermoregulation shares, and competes for, physiological resources. The impact of that sharing is revealed through the physiological measurements that we take (Part 2), in the physiological responses to the thermal stresses to which we are exposed (Part 3) and in the adaptations that increase our tolerance to those stresses (Part 4). Exercising muscles impose our most-powerful heat stress, and the physiological avenues for redistributing heat, and for balancing heat exchange with the environment, must adhere to the laws of physics. The first principles of internal and external heat exchange were established before 1900, yet their full significance is not always recognised. Those physiological processes are governed by a thermoregulatory centre, which employs feedback and feedforward control, and which functions as far more than a thermostat with a set-point, as once was thought. The hypothalamus, today established firmly as the neural seat of thermoregulation, does not regulate deep-body temperature alone, but an integrated temperature to which thermoreceptors from all over the body contribute, including the skin and probably the muscles. No work factor needs to be invoked to explain how body temperature is stabilised during exercise.
... It is essential to the solid health education foundation. Many learning techniques for undergraduate students aim to teach the core principles of physiology: evaluation, ecosystems and environments, causal mechanisms, the cell, structure-function relationships, and levels of organization (2). The widespread teaching methods are online test skills, e-test animations and games, virtual labs, hand-held learning, and case-discussion studies (3). ...
Background and Purpose:Physiology is an experimental science and take part in basic education of medicine and health sciences.Study was aimed to investigate the importance of physiology education in physiotherapy and rehabilitation (PT). Methods:A total of 249 participants (131 physiotherapists (PTs) &118 PT students) opinions on physiology education were obtained by an online questionnaire.The questionnaire was included 30 items (First-part items were about physiology education, second about the effects of physiology education on professional life and different PT lessons, third and four were about opinions on supplementary materials (laboratory brochures and books), PT curriculum (lessons, and lesson hours of physiology). Results:Theoretical physiology education was mostly with PowerPoint/projection (66.4% in PTs&55.1% in students), while practical education was with by Computer/Atlas in PTs (40.5%) and laboratory in students (35.6%).Nearly half of participants (47.8%) declared the quality of physiology education was moderate.41.2% of PTs and 44.9% of students neither agreed nor disagreed with receiving problem-focused physiology training.Participants declared that the most critical physiology course was exercise physiology and physiology education was essential in clinical practice and helpful in understanding other curriculum lessons. Conclusion:Physiology education had essential importance in clinical lessons, professional life and moderate quality in PT.Increasing and updating problem-based physiology education was recommended.
... Big Ideas jako nejobecnějším KR (Harlen, 2015), oborově zaměřené rámce zpracovávají jednotlivé oblasti (např. fyziologie (Michael et al., 2009) a ústí v konkrétní tematické bloky, jakými jsou například homeostáza (Modell et al., 2015) či buněčná komunikace (Michael et al., 2017). ...
Pro zvolený tematický celek gymnaziální biologie „Tkáně� jsme navrhli konceptuální rámec, identifikovali učivo užívané v učebnicích a navrhli testové položky ověřující porozumění definovaným konceptům.
Konceptuální rámec byl navržen na základě českých gymnaziálních učebnic biologie a doplňkových materiálů. Obsahuje deset základních konceptů, jejichž porozumění považujeme za cíl a důvod výuky daného tematického celku. Z učebnic jsme excerpovali učivo, které je použito pro budování porozumění těmto konceptům. Díky získanému vhledu jsme byli schopni popsat didakticky zajímavé aspekty tohoto tématu v českých učebnicích. Ve většině z nich tvoří úvodní bránu k organologii lidského těla. Na základě konceptuálního rámce a zamýšleného učiva jsme navrhli uzavřené testové položky s jednou správnou odpovědí. Položky byly validovány na třech gymnáziích, jejich analýza vycházela z klasické teorie testů a teorie odpovědi na položku. Výsledný set obsahuje 33 psychometricky validovaných testových položek zveřejněných pod licencí CC BY-SA 3.0, které jsou uvedeny jako příloha tohoto článku.
... Thus, it can be stated that selfregulated learning is highly beneficial for students studying Animal Physiology, because while studying this course students are required to understand concepts, theories, and physiological processes independently [23]. So far, physiology course is also known as a scientific disciplines that studies the various important scientific content [24], but it has difficult characteristics [25], so it is very appropriate to be studied more deeply in this research. ...
Self-Regulated Learning is a proactive approach to education in which individuals control and govern their own learning processes. Self-regulated learning (SRL) is critical for students’ academic achievement in higher education. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the SRL skills of students from Universitas Islam Negeri Raden Fatah, Palembang, Indonesia. A survey of 164 individuals was undertaken. Students’ self-regulated learning skills were assessed using a rubric based on the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), which includes components measuring motivation (orientation of intrinsic goals, orientation of extrinsic goals, task score, control of learning confidence, self efficacy in learning and performance, test anxiety) and learning strategies (practice, elaboration, organization, critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation, environmental management time and study, setting effort, peer learning, and seeking help). The findings indicated that the average level of student motivation in Animal Physiology was fair (67.72). Similarly, the average score of classroom learning strategies was fair (68.00). Students’ self-regulated learning skills must be strengthened, both in terms of motivation and learning strategies, for example, by implementing appropriate instructional model or learning strategy.
... This can be improved through the implementation of conceptually driven learning activities that support these higher-level thinking skills. Researchers have identified appropriate conceptual frameworks and core principles to guide teaching and learning in A&P courses (Hull et al., 2017;Michael et al., 2009;McFarland et al., 2016;Modell et al., 2015), including homeostasis, cellto-cell communication, and levels of organization. ...
... Considering the vast and growing landscape of biological fields and knowledge, a core concept-and competency-based curriculum helps faculty and administrators make difficult decisions about what should stay and, importantly, what can be cut from college courses. Similar curricular reform efforts are underway in subdisciplines of biology, other undergraduate disciplines, and K-12 science (Michael et al., 2009;Merkel and Tansey et al., 2013;Grunspan et al., 2018;Talanquer et al., 2020). ...
One critical step in the challenging process of curricular reform is determining how closely a curriculum aligns with national recommendations. Here, we examine the alignment of teaching, assessment, and student experience in undergraduate biology courses with the Vision and Change core competency recommendations. We applied the intended-enacted-experienced curriculum model to obtain a more complete, multiperspective view of the curriculum. First, we developed and piloted the BioSkills Curriculum Survey with more than 100 biology instructors across five institutions. Using multilevel logistic regression modeling of the survey data, we found that instructors were equally likely to report teaching all competencies; however, they reported assessing some competencies more than others. After adding course characteristics to our model, we found that the likelihood of teaching certain competencies depended on course type. Next, we analyzed class materials and student perceptions of instruction in 10 biology courses in one department. Within this smaller sample, we found that instructors messaged a narrower range of competency learning outcomes on their syllabi than they reported teaching on the survey. Finally, modeling revealed that inclusion of an outcome on assessments, but not syllabi, increased the likelihood that students and their instructor agreed whether it was taught.
... Currently with the vast explosion of knowledge, new drugs being introduced, novel diagnostic and interventional techniques developed and a better understanding of how the genome alters functions, it is more and more critical for the present day Allied healthcare students to understand the basic principles of both normal and abnormal Anatomy and Physiology. 1, 2 A lot of discussion has been generated on how much to teach undergraduates in the current scenario and how to make it more relevant to the students at the same time making sure that the basic concepts and principles are adequately covered. 1,2,5,6 Attitude and viewpoints of students towards a particular course influences their behavior and learning to a great extent 3 . Social psychological research and cognitive psychology have shown that behavior and learning is sometimes unconsciously influenced by the perceptions of an individual. ...
Keywords: Integrated Anatomy and Physiology course, Pharmacy Human Anatomy and Physiology is an important core component for all allied healthcare professional education. At our university, we offer an integrated Human Anatomy and Physiology course (HAP) to the first year Pharmacy students. The main objective of this study was to ascertain and compare Pharmacy undergraduate students' opinions and attitudes towards the integrated course of human anatomy and physiology. A pre-validated questionnaire was given to students of first year pharmacy at the end of their course and the data was analyzed using appropriate statistical tools. The students perceived both the subjects equally and majority felt that both these subjects, although difficult, were important to their future. The students were of the opinion that overall the teaching methodologies and assessment tools used were fair, useful and valid. This feedback about the student perceptions could be valuable to guide us to a better designing of the curriculum and in faculty development and training in pedagogical approaches.
... 7,15,16,20,25 "Big ideas", proposed by Wiggins et al., 32 was used as a framing concept in a number of core concepts studies in biology. 26,33,34 The enduring or timeless 17,18,35 nature of core concepts was a common theme, sometimes expressed as "what we want every student to understand (be able to use) long after the course is completed". 14 Characteristics of core concepts ranged from difficult for students to understand 17 to transferability: "having great transfer value horizontally (across subjects) and vertically (through the years in later courses)". ...
Pharmacology education currently lacks an agreed knowledge curriculum. Evidence from physics and biology education indicates that core concepts are useful and effective structures around which such a curriculum can be designed to facilitate student learning. Building on previous work, we developed a novel, criterion-based method to identify the core concepts of pharmacology education. Five novel criteria were developed, based on a literature search, to separate core concepts in pharmacology from topics and facts. Core concepts were agreed to be big ideas, enduring, difficult, applicable across contexts, and useful to solve problems. An exploratory survey of 33 pharmacology educators from Australia and New Zealand produced 109 terms, which were reduced to a working list of 26 concepts during an online workshop. Next, an expert group of 12 educators refined the working list to 19 concepts, by applying the five criteria and consolidating synonyms, and added three additional concepts that emerged during discussions. A confirmatory survey of a larger group resulted in 17 core concepts of pharmacology education. This list may be useful for educators to evaluate existing curricula, design new curricula, and to inform the development of a concept inventory to test attainment of the core concepts in pharmacology. K E Y W O R D S concept inventory, core concept, pharmacology education, postgraduate education, undergraduate education 2 of 13 | WHITE ET al. 1 | INTRODUC TI ON In the early 1990s, a startling, and very distressing discovery sparked an ongoing revolution in undergraduate physics education and subsequently biology education. Hestenes and his colleagues demonstrated that even the best prepared fourth-year students majoring in physics in elite US institutions were unable to apply key concepts. Their seminal work developing 1 and evaluating 2 the Force Concept Inventory found, for example, that while 80% of students could recite Newton's third law at the beginning of a course, less than 15% fully understood it at the end. These findings suggested that students had not developed the effective conceptual frameworks essential to human learning and application of knowledge. 3 Fortunately, the ability to measure students' conceptual understanding, as well as to identify the gap between what has been taught versus what was learned, has resulted in substantial advances in physics and biology education that have improved learning of these critical disciplines. The strides these educators made have yet to be applied systematically to the discipline of pharmacology. We argue that a consensus list of the core concepts of phar-macology education is well overdue. Over 30 years of educational research have established that the identification of core concepts, and the development of concept inventories to assess them, can be transformative innovations. Physics education innovators 1,4,5 were joined by a large, coordinated approach in biology education in the early 2000s. The US National Science Foundation and American Association of Advancement in Science brought together 500 educators to produce five core concepts in biology within a Vision and Change Manifesto. 6 Subsequently, resources have been developed to help biology educators to incorporate the teaching and assessment of core concepts into their curricula. 7 Sub-disciplines within biology, including physiology and microbiology, 7-11 and other disciplines such as information technology 12 and engineering statistics 13 have identified core concepts. In contrast, pharmacology education currently lacks an agreed set of core concepts.
... Ein weiterer Ansatz aus den USA zeigt, wie eine umfangreiche, inhaltlich konkrete und für Lehrende sehr handhabbare Definition und Ausdifferenzierung von Konzepten erfolgen kann: Die sogenannten core concepts of biology (Michael 2007) (in älteren Publikationen auch core principles oder big ideas genannt (Michael et al. 2009;Michael 2007), wurden innerhalb mehrerer Workshops von 20-25 Expert*innen (Biolog*innen und Biologie-Lehrenden) inhaltlich definiert (s. Tabelle 6). ...
Das Fachwissen von Lehrkräften weist für die Ausprägung fachdidaktischer Expertise eine hohe Bedeutung auf. Welche Merkmale universitäre Lehrveranstaltungen aufweisen sollten, um Lehramtsstudierenden ein berufsspezifisches Fachwissen zu vermitteln, ist jedoch überwiegend noch unklar. Innerhalb des Projekts PSI-Potsdam wurde auf theoretischer Grundlage das fachübergreifende Modell des erweiterten Fachwissens für den schulischen Kontext entwickelt. Als Ansatz zur Verbesserung des Biologie-Lehramtsstudiums diente dieses Modell als Konzeptionsgrundlage für eine additive Lehrveranstaltung. Hierbei werden Lerngelegenheiten geboten, um das universitär erworbene Fachwissen über zellbiologische Inhalte auf schulische Kontexte anzuwenden, z.B. durch die Dekonstruktion und anschließende Rekonstruktion von schulischen Lerntexten. Die Wirkung des Seminars wurde in mehreren Zyklen im Forschungsformat der Fachdidaktischen Entwicklungsforschung beforscht. Eine der zentralen Forschungsfragen lautet dabei: Wie kann eine Lerngelegenheit für Lehramtsstudierende der Biologie gestaltet sein, um ein erweitertes Fachwissen für den schulischen Kontext für den zellbiologischen Themenbereich „Struktur und Funktion der Biomembran“ zu fördern? Anhand fallübergreifender Analysen (n = 29) wird im empirischen Teil aufgezeigt, welche Einstellungen zum Lehramtsstudium in der Stichprobe bestehen. Als ein wichtiges Ergebnis kann hierbei herausgestellt werden, dass sich das Fachinteresse hinsichtlich schulisch und universitär vermittelter Inhalte bei den untersuchten Studierenden auffallend unterscheidet, wobei dem Schulwissen ein deutlich höheres Interesse entgegengebracht wird. Die Berufsrelevanz fachlicher Inhalte wird seitens der Studierenden häufig am Schulwissen festgemacht. Innerhalb konkreter Einzelfallanalysen (n = 6) wird anhand von Lernpfaden dargestellt, wie sich über mehrere Design-Experimente hinweg fachliche Konzepte entwickelt haben. Bei der Beschreibung wird vor allem auf Schlüsselstellen und Hürden im Lernprozess fokussiert. Aus diesen Ergebnissen folgend werden vorgenommene Iterationen für die einzelnen Zyklen beschrieben, die ebenfalls anhand der iterativen Entwicklung der Design-Prinzipien dargelegt werden. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Schlüsselstellen sehr individuell aufgrund der subjektiv fokussierten Inhalte zu Tage treten. Meist treten sie jedoch im Zusammenhang mit der Verknüpfung verschiedener fachlicher Konzepte oder durch kooperative Aufschlüsselungen von Konzepten auf. Fachliche Hürden konnten hingegen in Form von fachlich unangemessenen Vorstellungen fallübergreifend identifiziert werden. Dies betrifft unter anderem die Vorstellung der Biomembran als Wand, die mit den Vorstellungen einer Schutzfunktion und einer formgebenden Funktion der Biomembran einhergeht. Weiterhin wird beleuchtet, wie das erweiterte Fachwissen für den schulischen Kontext zur Bearbeitung der Lernaufgaben angewendet wurde. Es hat sich gezeigt, dass sich bestimmte Lerngelegenheiten eigenen, um bestimmte Facetten des erweiterten Fachwissens zu fördern. Insgesamt scheint das Modell des erweiterten Fachwissens für den schulischen Kontext äußerst geeignet zu sein, um anhand der Facetten und deren Beschreibungen Lerngelegenheiten oder Gestaltungsprinzipien für diese zu konzipieren. Für das untersuchte Lehr-Lernarrangement haben sich kleinere Adaptationen des Modells als sinnvoll erwiesen. Hinsichtlich der Methodologie konnten Ableitungen für die Anwendung der fachdidaktischen Entwicklungsforschung für additive fachliche Lehrveranstaltungen dieser Art herausgestellt werden. Um den Professionsbezug der fachwissenschaftlichen Anteile im Lehramtsstudium zu verbessern, ist der weitere Einbezug des erweiterten Fachwissens für den schulischen Kontext in die fachwissenschaftlichen Studienanteile überaus wünschenswert.
... 7,15,16,20,25 "Big ideas", proposed by Wiggins et al., 32 was used as a framing concept in a number of core concepts studies in biology. 26,33,34 The enduring or timeless 17,18,35 nature of core concepts was a common theme, sometimes expressed as "what we want every student to understand (be able to use) long after the course is completed". 14 Characteristics of core concepts ranged from difficult for students to understand 17 to transferability: "having great transfer value horizontally (across subjects) and vertically (through the years in later courses)". ...
Pharmacology education currently lacks an agreed knowledge curriculum. Evidence from physics and biology education indicates that core concepts are useful and effective structures around which such a curriculum can be designed to facilitate student learning. Building on previous work, we developed a novel, criterion-based
method to identify the core concepts of pharmacology education. Five novel criteria were developed, based on a literature search, to separate core concepts in pharmacology from topics and facts. Core concepts were agreed to be big ideas, enduring, difficult, applicable across contexts, and useful to solve problems. An exploratory survey of 33
pharmacology educators from Australia and New Zealand produced 109 terms, which were reduced to a working list of 26 concepts during an online workshop. Next, an expert group of 12 educators refined the working list to 19 concepts, by applying the five criteria and consolidating synonyms, and added three additional concepts that
emerged during discussions. A confirmatory survey of a larger group resulted in 17 core concepts of pharmacology education. This list may be useful for educators to evaluate existing curricula, design new curricula, and to inform the development of a concept inventory to test attainment of the core concepts in pharmacology.
... 7,15,16,20,25 "Big ideas", proposed by Wiggins et al., 32 was used as a framing concept in a number of core concepts studies in biology. 26,33,34 The enduring or timeless 17,18,35 nature of core concepts was a common theme, sometimes expressed as "what we want every student to understand (be able to use) long after the course is completed". 14 Characteristics of core concepts ranged from difficult for students to understand 17 to transferability: "having great transfer value horizontally (across subjects) and vertically (through the years in later courses)". ...
Pharmacology education currently lacks an agreed knowledge curriculum. Evidence from physics and biology education indicates that core concepts are useful and effective structures around which such a curriculum can be designed to facilitate student learning. Building on previous work, we developed a novel, criterion- based method to identify the core concepts of pharmacology education. Five novel criteria were developed, based on a literature search, to separate core concepts in pharmacology from topics and facts. Core concepts were agreed to be big ideas, enduring, difficult, applicable across contexts, and useful to solve problems. An exploratory survey of 33 pharmacology educators from Australia and New Zealand produced 109 terms, which were reduced to a working list of 26 concepts during an online workshop. Next, an expert group of 12 educators refined the working list to 19 concepts, by applying the five criteria and consolidating synonyms, and added three additional concepts that emerged during discussions. A confirmatory survey of a larger group resulted in 17 core concepts of pharmacology education. This list may be useful for educators to evaluate existing curricula, design new curricula, and to inform the development of a concept inventory to test attainment of the core concepts in pharmacology.
... 7,15,16,20,25 "Big ideas", proposed by Wiggins et al., 32 was used as a framing concept in a number of core concepts studies in biology. 26,33,34 The enduring or timeless 17,18,35 nature of core concepts was a common theme, sometimes expressed as "what we want every student to understand (be able to use) long after the course is completed". 14 Characteristics of core concepts ranged from difficult for students to understand 17 to transferability: "having great transfer value horizontally (across subjects) and vertically (through the years in later courses)". ...
Pharmacology education currently lacks an agreed knowledge curriculum. Evidence from physics and biology education indicates that core concepts are useful and effective structures around which such a curriculum can be designed to facilitate student learning. Building on previous work, we developed a novel, criterion-based method to identify the core concepts of pharmacology education. Five novel criteria were developed, based on a literature search, to separate core concepts in pharmacology from topics and facts. Core concepts were agreed to be big ideas, enduring, difficult, applicable across contexts, and useful to solve problems. An exploratory survey of 33 pharmacology educators from Australia and New Zealand produced 109 terms, which were reduced to a working list of 26 concepts during an online workshop. Next, an expert group of 12 educators refined the working list to 19 concepts, by applying the five criteria and consolidating synonyms, and added three additional concepts that emerged during discussions. A confirmatory survey of a larger group resulted in 17 core concepts of pharmacology education. This list may be useful for educators to evaluate existing curricula, design new curricula, and to inform the development of a concept inventory to test attainment of the core concepts in pharmacology.
... Training courses on delivery care should facilitate understanding the mechanism of labour progress as well as its foundation in physiology and anatomy. Studies have suggested that the introduction of conceptual models and core principles of basic science in clinical training would facilitate interplay of knowledge and experience, which enables the participants to explain 'what she is doing and why' [36,42,43]. Further intervention with its evaluation should be attempted to improve the knowledge of intrapartum care among birth attendants and to provide quality maternity services in Cambodia. ...
Plain language summary Pregnancy and childbirth are natural phenomena, but sometimes have risk for mothers and babies. Therefore, childbirth should be carefully and continuously monitored by the health care professional. The ‘partograph’ is a useful tool that defines three monitoring aspects of the delivery progress, and conditions of the mother and intrauterine baby. However, it is often used inaccurately or inappropriately in low- and middle-income countries. We hypothesised that health professionals who assist childbirth cannot effectively monitor delivery conditions because their knowledge is insufficient. Therefore, we evaluated the knowledge on monitoring the process of childbirth and explored factors which affect the level of knowledge among health care providers in Cambodia. Midwives and nurses were targeted in this study who deal with normal deliveries in the capital city and two provinces. The questionnaire was designed to evaluate if their knowledge on three monitoring aspects is accurate. Of 542 eligible personnel, 523 (96%) participated. The mean score was 58%. Only 3% got scores of more than 90%. According to the statistical analysis, ‘working in Kampong Cham province’, ‘younger age’, and ‘higher qualification’ were significantly associated with higher scores. Previous training experience was not associated with the score. This study found that basic knowledge was low on delivery management among health care providers. We suspect that a deficiency of basic medical knowledge, such as physiology and anatomy, causes the lack of knowledge on the childbirth process. Further intervention should be attempted to improve the knowledge and quality of maternity services in Cambodia.
... In 2000, Modell (1) identified conservation of mass ("mass balance") as one of seven general models that can help students understand many physiological phenomena. In 2009 a group of physiology education researchers identified a set of "core principles" of physiology (2); "mass balance" appeared on this list. The physiology teaching community was later surveyed to determined what the core concepts of physiology were (3). ...
We have created a conceptual framework for the core concept of "mass balance." Unlike the previous conceptual frameworks that we have created and validated, the framework for "mass balance" is simply a description in words of the fundamental mass balance equation and the implications of the equation. We surveyed physiology faculty and asked them to rate the importance of "mass balance" as defined by the conceptual framework and also to rate the importance for their students of being able to apply the core concept to liquids, gases, solutes, and solids. Respondents indicated that "mass balance" is important and that our conceptual framework provides a useful tool for teaching and learning. We discuss several examples of how "mass balance" can be used in making sense about a variety of physiological phenomena.
... How are these fluxes regulated? We viewed behavior using the simple physiological model of sensation/integration/response [19]. This model focused our attention on the physiological processes taking place at the sites of sensation, the physiology driving the behavioral response, and, most challenging, the physiology of integration. ...
Biology students need special incentive to learn plant physiology. Framing plant function as ‘behavior’ analogous to animal neurobiology and behavior and integrating active learning methods is a successful way to generate an inclusive space for a wide range of learning styles, cultural backgrounds, and scientific contributions.
... Thus, it is possible that the students who had higher prior knowledge of molecules, concentration gradients, and/or membranes, as demonstrated by their higher achievement on the ODCA, may have been better able to expand and deepen their knowledge, aided by visualization of the process, and then apply this knowledge to gain higher marks on the application parts of the exam questions. It is well recognized that understanding concepts in biology often requires background knowledge in chemistry and physics (Michael, 2007;Michael et al., 2009;Modell et al., 2019). For students to understand the movement of water molecules through aquaporins in the cell membrane, they must first grasp the concept of Brownian motion (i.e., continuous and random movements of the molecules) in the context of the cellular environment (Gauthier et al., 2019). ...
biological processes that occur at the submicroscopic level, such as osmosis and diffusion, are inherently difficult for many students to conceptualize when traditional learning and teaching methods are used. This study introduced an immersive 320° three-dimensional (3D) experience of osmosis in which students became engaged with the cellular environment in a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment. The aims of this study were: 1) to explore whether a textbook diagram of osmosis recreated as an immersive 3D learning experience would be a meaningful tutorial activity for first-year cell biology students at a regional Australian university; and 2) to gather preliminary evidence of the utility of the tutorial by examining student performance data. The experience was perceived by students to be fun, useful, and educational. Performance of all students improved on a multiple-choice exam question, with the percentage of students choosing the osmosis distractor answer decreasing from 26 to 15% (p < 0.001). Those students with moderate to high base-level knowledge also performed better on short-answer questions about the cell membrane and osmosis (10-14% better, depending on base-level knowledge, p < 0.001). We give recommendations for future studies to investigate using immersive visualization in science teaching.
... Training courses on delivery care should facilitate understanding the mechanism of labour progress as well as its foundation in physiology and anatomy. Studies have suggested that the introduction of conceptual models and core principles of basic science in clinical training would facilitate interplay of knowledge and experience, which enables the participants to explain 'what she is doing and why' [36,41,42]. Further intervention with its evaluation should be attempted to improve the knowledge of intrapartum care among birth attendants and to provide quality maternity services in Cambodia. ...
Background Delivery is a critical moment for pregnant women and babies, and careful monitoring is essential throughout the delivery process. The partograph is a useful tool for monitoring and assessing labour progress as well as maternal and foetal conditions; however, it is often used inaccurately or inappropriately. A gap between practices and evidence-based guidelines has been reported in Cambodia, perhaps due to a lack of evidence-based knowledge in maternity care. This study aims to address: i) to what extent skilled birth attendants in the first-line health services in Cambodia have knowledge on the management of normal delivery, and ii) what factors are associated with their level of knowledge.
Methods Midwives and nurses were recruited working in maternity in first-line public health facilities in Phnom Penh municipality, Kampong Cham and Svay Rieng provinces. Two self-administered questionnaires were applied. The first consisted of three sections with questions on monitoring aspects of the partograph: progress of labour, foetal, and maternal conditions. The second consisted of questions on diagnostic criteria, normal ranges, and standard intervals of monitoring during labour. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identify relationships between characteristics of the participants and the questionnaire scores.
Results Of 542 eligible midwives and nurses, 523 (96%) participated. The overall mean score was 58%. Only 3% got scores of more than 90%. Multivariate analysis revealed that ‘Kampong Cham province’, ‘younger age’, and ‘higher qualification’ were significantly associated with higher scores. Previous training experience was not associated with the score. Substantial proportions of misclassification of monitoring items during labour were found; for example, 61% answered uterine contraction as a foetal condition, and 44% answered foetal head descent and 26% answered foetal heart rate as a maternal condition.
Conclusion This study found that knowledge was low on delivery management among skilled birth attendants. Previous training experience did not influence the knowledge level. A lack of understanding of physiology and anatomy was implied. Further experimental approaches should be attempted to improve the knowledge and quality of maternity services in Cambodia.
... P-MIG will facilitate this process, since one of its strengths is that it brings together faculty and administrators from multiple Our efforts in curriculum mapping build on the work of Michael and colleagues (14,15), who identified 15 core concepts that faculty identified as the most important for their physiology courses. P-MIG members have followed up with surveys of faculty and programs to assess both the breadth and depth of coverage of these core concepts. ...
... Wiggins and McTighe (40) described big ideas as "enduring understandings" that students would be able to use long after a particular course. We use the term "core concepts" to refer to those ideas, principles, and processes that 1) reflect expert reasoning; 2) are abstract and transferable, that is, they can be used to explain phenomena across a discipline or several disciplines; and 3) once understood will be applicable longer than most specific facts (20,22,26). ...
Undergraduate education should help students build a deep, conceptual understanding of their discipline, not merely compel them to acquire factual knowledge. The core concepts for physiology (described in 2011), conceptual frameworks, and conceptual assessments are available to focus undergraduate physiology education on helping students understand and apply principles that govern and describe physiological processes. We review the context in which physiology core concepts were identified by a community of physiology educators. We explain the structure of conceptual frameworks and concept inventories and their benefit. We describe how core concepts have been used in physiology courses and departments, as communicated in publications, through presentations at physiology and biology education meetings, and within the Physiology Majors Interest Group (P-MIG). Finally, we share our recommendations and hopes for the next decade.
Physiology education is at the core of biomedical science and medicine. Physiology unites multiple disciplines to explain the mechanisms whereby a risk factor is associated with disease. Race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity are associated with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Minority Stress Theory attempts to explain the association of identity variables in sex and gender minority (SGM) and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) populations with CVD. However, instruction on how to effectively incorporate the ways that social determinants of health are linked to disease outcomes in marginalized populations, such as the SGM and BIPOC communities, is needed. We investigated the efficacy of teaching Minority Stress Theory concepts in a single lecture in an upper-level cardiovascular pathophysiology course (N=44 students). To test students' understanding of minority-related disease, we used both subjective and objective measures to evaluate student understanding before and after the lecture. Student self-assessment of understanding of health disparity physiological mechanisms and lifestyle and pharmacologic interventions to reduce health disparities in SGM communities increased post-intervention. We observed similar results of self-assessment of understanding of health disparity physiological mechanisms and appropriate lifestyle and pharmacologic interventions to reduce health disparities regarding the BIPOC community. Our findings suggest that integrating social determinants of health into pathophysiology courses may result in a more inclusive-minded scientific and medical workforce.
Research shows that when students use core concepts to guide their reasoning, they are able to construct more accurate, mechanistic explanations. However, there is scant research exploring student's perceptions of the usefulness of core concepts. Knowing students' perceptions could be influential in encouraging faculty to adopt core concept teaching strategies. In this study, we investigated how students perceive the usefulness of using the physiology core concepts to guide their reasoning. We collected the perceptions of undergraduate science majors who had completed Introductory Biology II, taught using a subset of physiology core concepts. Eleven student volunteers were interviewed using a semi-structured protocol, and 22 students provided end-of-semester reflections. Using a constant comparative method, we identified four emergent themes in students' perceptions: core concepts guide reasoning, core concepts support reasoning and learning across topics and disciplines, core concepts build self-efficacy in reasoning, and drawn core concept tools visualize reasoning. These findings suggest that core concepts, when used as tools to reason with, help students explain rather than memorize physiological phenomena, thus supporting deeper learning and transfer of knowledge to novel contexts. We also found that drawn scaffolding tools play a critical role in helping students organize their thinking, making abstract systems more approachable and supporting mechanistic reasoning. This study is the first qualitative analysis examining students' perceptions of the role core concepts of physiology play in their learning and reasoning processes.
Muscle physiology is often perceived as a complex topic by students due to the hierarchical concepts and the need for integrative understanding. Breaking down content in a structured manner allows for segmented bite-sized learning that may enhance students’ learning beyond conventional online lectures. We compared the effectiveness of (1) bite-sized structured learning (BSL) and (2) synchronous Zoom lecture (SZL) in teaching muscle physiology to first-year allied health undergraduates. For the same student cohort, the topic was divided into two lectures with the first taught via BSL, and the second via SZL. Pre- and post-quizzes were used to evaluate students’ understanding of the topic. Mixed-methods online questionnaires were used to examine students’ perceptions towards the two modes of learning, encompassing content coverage, delivery, engagement, effectiveness, preference and convenience. A total of 223 and 215 students completed both pre- and post-quizzes for BSL and SZL respectively. Student performances were improved via both modes (p<0.001) with a higher median score improvement in BSL when compared to SZL [3.0 (1.0–4.0) vs 2.0 (1.0–3.0)]. Among students who completed the survey, 65% expressed strong preference towards BSL over SZL (17%), which could be attributed to the benefits of self-paced microlearning such as higher motivation and improved attention. BSL was perceived to be manageable and well-structured to support learning. Our study suggests that BSL is equally effective as conventional lectures and is a learning approach favored by students. There could be merits in combining both instructional modes as their complementary advantages may enhance students’ learning.
The oviduct plays a crucial role in the reproductive process, serving as the stage for fertilization and the early stages of embryonic development. When the environment of this organ has been mimicked, it has been shown to enhance in vitro embryo epigenetic reprogramming and to improve the yield of the system. This study explores the anatomical intricacies of two oviduct regions, the uterotubal junction (UTJ) and the ampullary-isthmic junction (AIJ) by using micro-computed tomography (MicroCT). In this study, we have characterized and 3D-reconstructed the oviduct structure, by measuring height and width of the oviduct’s folds, along with the assessments of fractal dimension, lacunarity and shape factor. Results indicate distinct structural features in UTJ and AIJ, with UTJ displaying small, uniformly distributed folds and high lacunarity, while AIJ shows larger folds with lower lacunarity. Fractal dimension analysis reveals values for UTJ within 1.189–1.1779, while AIJ values range from 1.559–1.770, indicating differences in structural complexity between these regions. Additionally, blind sacs or crypts are observed, akin to those found in various species, suggesting potential roles in sperm sequestration or reservoir formation. These morphological differences align with functional variations and are essential for developing an accurate 3D model. In conclusion, this research provides information about the oviduct anatomy, leveraging MicroCT technology for detailed 3D reconstructions, which can significantly contribute to the understanding of geometric-morphological characteristics influencing functional traits, providing a foundation for a biomimetic oviduct-on-a-chip.
Synopsis
Inclusive teaching is teaching in a way that reaches all students in the classroom; this is beneficial for everyone, particularly for those with minoritized identities. Instructors play a critical role in scaffolding how students are exposed to and learn science content in the classroom. In this manuscript, we discuss how biology instructors can make their classrooms more inclusive with regard to sex and gender diversity content. Many topics in biology are based on androcentric, heteronormative, and oppressive framing, even though those lenses are more reflective of our own history and culture than they are of the diversity we see in nature. Here, we summarize information presented in the SICB 2024 workshop titled “Incorporating sex diversity and gender inclusivity in biology undergraduate classrooms” and provide instructors with (a) rationale for why inclusive teaching matters, (b) guidance on how to challenge unscientific views and make their curricula more sex diverse and gender inclusive, and (c) practical and easy-to-implement strategies for discussing “contentious” topics in the classroom. Incorporation of this material will be beneficial for students, for science and medicine, and for accurately representing the diversity found across the tree of life.
Dendritic spine features in human neurons follow the up-to-date knowledge presented in the previous chapters of this book. Human dendrites are notable for their heterogeneity in branching patterns and spatial distribution. These data relate to circuits and specialized functions. Spines enhance neuronal connectivity, modulate and integrate synaptic inputs, and provide additional plastic functions to microcircuits and large-scale networks. Spines present a continuum of shapes and sizes, whose number and distribution along the dendritic length are diverse in neurons and different areas. Indeed, human neurons vary from aspiny or “relatively aspiny” cells to neurons covered with a high density of intermingled pleomorphic spines on very long dendrites. In this chapter, we discuss the phylogenetic and ontogenetic development of human spines and describe the heterogeneous features of human spiny neurons along the spinal cord, brainstem, cerebellum, thalamus, basal ganglia, amygdala, hippocampal regions, and neocortical areas. Three-dimensional reconstructions of Golgi-impregnated dendritic spines and data from fluorescence microscopy are reviewed with ultrastructural findings to address the complex possibilities for synaptic processing and integration in humans. Pathological changes are also presented, for example, in Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. Basic morphological data can be linked to current techniques, and perspectives in this research field include the characterization of spines in human neurons with specific transcriptome features, molecular classification of cellular diversity, and electrophysiological identification of coexisting subpopulations of cells. These data would enlighten how cellular attributes determine neuron type-specific connectivity and brain wiring for our diverse aptitudes and behavior.
Application of knowledge skills are highly valued in clinical medicine as indicated by recent changes to licensure and entrance exams for nursing and physician programs (i.e., the NCLEX and MCAT). Such emphasis should be both welcomed and supported by approaches to teaching human anatomy and physiology that emphasize critical thinking skills built upon logic, reasoning, and judgement. The argument for development of these skills is not simply philosophical, rather, such emphasis is strongly supported by a 2016 Johns Hopkins study ¹ that estimates that medical errors are now the third leading cause of death in the U.S.! Active learning techniques known to require critical thinking skills are often supplemental to standard expository lecturing or other avenues of imparting content knowledge (reading, videos, etc.). We propose that all content dissemination can and should provide for the development of critical thinking skills, preparing students for active learning techniques requiring this ability. This can be accomplished by establishing an intellectual framework for understanding the adaptive benefits of anatomical or physiological traits. Additionally, explanations conveying the causality of mechanistic sequences result in learning content within intuitive functional groups, rather than as isolated phenomena, the latter often accomplished through memorization rather than understanding. Here, we provide a template for lecture development based upon these principles as well as a specific example from human anatomy and physiology. Our hope is to provide a model for how students should think about all physiology, making comprehensive coverage of content (an impossible task!) much less important.
Objectives:
Performance on exams and course letter grades are broad standards used to determine understanding of course content. To gain a different perspective on students' knowledge, we examined whether grouping exam questions based on the topic they assessed would provide additional information on students' comprehension.
Methods:
Assessment questions from our physiology course were organized into groups based on major physiology content categories. We created 10 content categories and calculated students' performance in each category. The average of the 10 scores was compared with the course grade.
Results:
The scores in individual categories reflected student knowledge of specific physiology content. The average scores of the 10 categories correlated with course letter grades. Analysis of performance demonstrated that 65% of students with course grades between 70 and 73% answered less than 70% of assessment questions correctly in four or more content categories.
Conclusion:
Evaluation of performance in grouped assessment questions provided additional information on student understanding and identified specific course content in which students underperformed.
Molecular evolution-including the neutral theory of molecular evolution-is a major sub-discipline of evolution and is widely taught in undergraduate evolution courses. However, despite its ubiquity, there have not been any previous attempts to compile and review the molecular evolution education literature. Here, we draw upon the framework proposed in a past literature review examining the broader evolution education landscape to conduct a literature review of papers related to molecular evolution education, classifying the contributions of such papers to evolution pedagogy as well as evolution education research. We find that there remains very limited coverage of molecular evolution in the education literature, with existing papers focusing primarily on providing new instructional modules and strategies for teaching molecular evolution. Our work suggests several areas of critical need as well as opportunities to advance evolution education and evolution education research, including compiling instructional goals for the sub-discipline, developing validated assessments, and investigating student thinking related to molecular evolution. We conclude by providing general strategies, advice, and a novel curricular activity for teaching molecular evolution and the neutral theory of molecular evolution.
This article showcases the redesign of an introductory undergraduate vertebrate physiology unit at Murdoch University (BMS107) to promote student mastery of six Core Concepts of Physiology (1). Concepts were selected for their suitability in an introductory physiology unit and their ability to scaffold advanced physiology learning. Innovative curricular and pedagogical approaches were employed to 1) create a Core Concepts structure, 2) sell the Core Concepts approach to students, 3) foreground Core Concepts in learning materials, 4) actively engage students with Core Concepts, 5) revise and 6) assess Core Concepts understanding.Median student marks and overall satisfaction with the unit were unaffected by introduction of a Core Concepts approach. Notably, though, there was a 14% increase in student agreement with the statement "I received feedback that helped me to learn". The challenge of Core Concepts approach was articulated by students, but these novice learners also recognized Core Concepts as a mechanism to focus their understanding of physiology and promote critical thinking. For teaching staff, a Core Concepts approach was a re-invigorating opportunity to apply their expertise to the teaching of introductory physiology. We propose that a strong Core Concepts emphasis, while challenging, is highly rewarding for staff and provides students with a "disciplinary passport", that better prepares them to progress in diverse courses and professions.
Despite the call from biology educators for students to learn the biological sciences as a unified whole, the teaching of introductory organismal biology is still largely arranged into separate sections that tend to focus exclusively on the biology of individual taxonomic categories (i.e. animals and plants). Conversely, this paper presents a strategy for combining the teaching and learning of introductory animal and plant biology using the core concepts of biology and physiology as tools for integrative learning. The paper outlines the positioning of organismal biology within a two-semester introductory biology course, the topical organization of an integrated organismal biology module around shared physiological functions, the use of core concepts to facilitate the combined learning of the biology of animals and plants, and some instructional practices that can support core concepts as learning tools for organismal biology. Examples of how core concepts serve to integrate the organismal biology of animals and plants are described and explained. The goal of this approach is to show introductory students that the mastery of core concepts can help them integrate their understanding of organismal biology. More broadly, students acquire skills in using core concepts as learning tools in biology that should enable them to better assimilate more advanced concepts and to achieve a more unified study of the biological sciences as they progress through the curriculum.
Extended reality (XR) represents the future of education. Before XR can be effectively integrated into schools and XR teaching standards can be imagined, practitioners and researchers must first lead the way to educate stakeholders on the power of XR as a tool for teaching and learning by establishing data-backed pedagogical strategies. Traditional uses of technology in the classroom are becoming outdated. XR is gradually being assimilated into education to replace them. This second volume shares research on XR within the contexts of schools and universities analyzed through the lens of teacher education. This volume features a wealth of international perspectives of XR researchers from across the globe.
During the course of undergraduate studies, physiology (and related STEM Majors) should acquire both a broad and in-depth foundation in physiological knowledge along with a distinct range of transferable (professional) skills (e.g., critical thinking, communication skills, data analysis). Previously, through a consultative and iterative process with physiology educators, the Professional Skills Committee of the Physiology Majors Interest Group (PMIG) defined and refined a consensus list of these professional skills that physiology majors should have acquired during their program of study. Here we describe the development and beta testing of a convenient tool to enable physiology and physiology-related program educators to map these professional skills across their curriculum. The tool, referred to as PS-Map, uses the Qualtrics ® platform which allows program educators to assess whether these professional skills are specifically taught and/or assessed and the level of mastery achieved within individual courses and across their program curriculum. The authors have made the PS-Map tool freely available to educators and provide practical tips for its implementation. Use of the PS-Map tool and the data collected can help educators to identify specific curricular gaps and to more broadly support collaborative links amongst educators across a program of study.
The Faculty of Medicine at Mandume Ya Ndemufayo University began teaching in 2009, taking on the challenge of competency-based education, aiming to train qualified professionals according to the needs of the community. This article aims to describe and analyze how the teaching of Physiology is organized in the medical program at this university. This is a descriptive study of the course pedagogical plan, from 2009 to 2019.The results revealed that there is a correspondence between students' grades in the Physiology course, the skills set out in the Profile of the Angolan Doctor, and internationally established sets of skills. Some weaknesses were identified in relation to the development of skills, pedagogical methodology and the evaluation process.The recent educational context of this medical school poses great challenges, which require the contextualization and periodic adjustment of its pedagogical plans.
La transition enseignement secondaire/université est un sujet d’étude depuis au moins 30 ans. L’apprentissage du « métier d’étudiant » peut être vu comme un processus d’acculturation : un processus d’apprentissage des modèles, des normes et modes de comportements régissant un groupe social. L’originalité de ce travail est de proposer une approche disciplinaire ; il s’intègre dans la dynamique des études des pratiques enseignantes universitaires qui ont émergé en France ces dernières années, notamment celles qui visent à rendre compte de la diversité des pratiques permettant de rapprocher les étudiants des savoirs théoriques et pratiques visés par les enseignants. En effet, l’étudiant doit progressivement s’affilier à la fois à l’institution mais aussi à la discipline. À partir d’une étude de cas, différents éléments de pratique de deux enseignants-chercheurs de biologie cellulaire, qui pourraient aider les étudiants à s’affilier à cette discipline, ont été révélés, tels que des références aux techniques, aux modèles et aux raisonnements en lien avec une épistémologie disciplinaire plus marquée dans les objectifs de savoir du supérieur.
Anecdotal data suggests great variation in breadth and depth of skeletal muscle coverage between undergraduate human anatomy (HA) and anatomy and physiology (A&P) courses. This manuscript is the second in a series (1) that methodically assesses skeletal muscle content coverage across undergraduate HA and A&P courses. The authors developed an online skeletal muscle coverage survey and collected 342 responses worldwide, 156 from instructors of HA courses and 186 from A&P course instructors. Demographic results showed that HA courses are primarily taught at 4-year baccalaureate institutions, have relatively larger class sizes, and are more likely to use human (versus animal) prosections or dissections. In contrast, A&P courses are primarily taught at community colleges, have relatively smaller class sizes, and are more likely to use animal (versus human) dissections. HA courses tend to require their students to learn all skeletal muscle aspects (i.e., identification, action, attachments, innervation), whereas A&P courses tend to focus on muscle identification or action only. The proportions of courses that require identification of large, superficial skeletal muscles are similar between the two course types. However, HA courses are more likely require their students to identify deeper and smaller muscles, including more distal appendicular muscles and pelvic muscles. These differences likely are due, in part, to the more anatomical focus of HA courses and the slightly different student populations between these courses. These findings provide much needed information about muscular system coverage between HA and A&P courses and may guide instructor discussions about curricula.
In multiple studies "structure/function" has been identified as an important core concept in biology and physiology. Teachers expect their students to be able to use this concept in making sense of physiology. However, it is unclear exactly what physiologists are referring to when they use the term "structure/function." Here I first offer examples of five different ways in which I have used the term in the classroom. Then I propose a conceptual framework that is an explicit statement of the "structure/function" core concept that can be used by teachers and their students as they attempt to master physiology. Determining whether this conceptual framework is completely accurate and whether it will prove useful in the classroom will require feedback from physiology teachers who attempt to use it in their classroom with their students.
An instrument to assess the basic knowledge state of students taking a
first course in physics has been designed and validated. Measurements
with the instrument show that the student's initial qualitative, common
sense beliefs about motion and causes has a large effect on performance
in physics, but conventional instruction induces only a small change in
those beliefs.
Common sense beliefs of college students about motion and its causes are surveyed and analyzed. A taxonomy of common sense concepts which conflict with Newtonian theory is developed as a guide to instruction.
Many science faculty at large research universities are unaware of recent education research showing that even large classes
built around active, inquiry-based, collaborative learning are significantly more effective in promoting student understanding
than are the traditional lecture and recitation courses still used for most lower level science instruction. Awareness and
adoption of new teaching methods are inhibited by the current compartmentalization of teaching and research activities and
by institutional and disciplinary reward structures that provide little incentive for improvement of teaching. This
Policy Forum
describes a new initiative from the National Research Council, the National Academies Summer Institute on Undergraduate Education
in Biology, will provide annual hands-on intensive workshops modeled after the Cold Spring Harbor research courses. In these
workshops, well known scientist-educators will work as facilitators with research university faculty members in the life sciences
who wish to learn new teaching methods and help to promote awareness of an emerging revolution in undergraduate science instruction.
Scitation is the online home of leading journals and conference proceedings from AIP Publishing and AIP Member Societies
A second National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop on Conceptual Assessment in Biology was held in January 2008. Reports prepared for the workshop revealed that research groups working in a variety of biological sciences are continuing to develop conceptual assessment instruments for use in the classroom. Discussions at this meeting largely focused on two issues: 1) the utility of the backwards design approach of Wiggins and McTighe (11), in which identification of learning outcomes (determining what to assess) lies at the beginning of course design; and 2) the utility of defining expected learning outcomes as the building of runable mental models (and designing conceptual assessments that would test the correctness of these mental models). A third meeting is being planned that will focus on the processes involved in writing and validating conceptual assessment instruments.
The introduction of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) by David Hestenes and colleagues in 1992 produced a remarkable impact within the community of physics teachers. An instrument to measure student comprehension of the Newtonian concept of force, the FCI demonstrates that active learning leads to far superior student conceptual learning than didactic lectures. Compared to a working knowledge of physics, biological literacy and illiteracy have an even more direct, dramatic, and personal impact. They shape public research and reproductive health policies, the acceptance or rejection of technological advances, such as vaccinations, genetically modified foods and gene therapies, and, on the personal front, the reasoned evaluation of product claims and lifestyle choices. While many students take biology courses at both the secondary and the college levels, there is little in the way of reliable and valid assessment of the effectiveness of biological education. This lack has important consequences in terms of general bioliteracy and, in turn, for our society. Here we describe the beginning of a community effort to define what a bioliterate person needs to know and to develop, validate, and disseminate a tiered series of instruments collectively known as the Biology Concept Inventory (BCI), which accurately measures student comprehension of concepts in introductory, genetic, molecular, cell, and developmental biology. The BCI should serve as a lever for moving our current educational system in a direction that delivers a deeper conceptual understanding of the fundamental ideas upon which biology and biomedical sciences are based.
Note from the Editors Cell Biology Education (CBE) is pleased to present ''Points of View,'' a series designed to address issues faced by many people within the life sciences educational realm. We present several differing points of view back-to-back on a given topic to promote discussion of the topic. Readers are encouraged to participate in the online discussion forum hosted by CBE at http://www.cellbioed. org/discussion/public/main.cfm. We hope op-ed pieces on ''Points of View'' will stimulate thought and dialogue on significant educational issues. In this issue, we address the question ''What should a biology student know?'' Can biologists agree on a core set of content that all biology students should know? What about biology majors versus nonmajors? Can we create a list of facts or skills that every biology student should master? Or should our goals de-emphasize content and concentrate on ability to think, reason, analyze, and communicate? Are the details unimportant as long as students can ask good questions and figure out ways to answer their questions? We present two different ''Points of View'' that differ in their preferred educational outcomes. The ''Points of View'' we present in this issue provide two perspectives that may be familiar ones argued in your department. We invite you to share your ideas, experiences, and insights on the discussion board.
Linda Nazarko has raised concerns on part-time nurses' involvement in primary nursing (Primary or secondary, Viewpoint March 11), but the issue needs to be further explained.
Feder, Martin E. Aims of undergraduate physiology education: a view from the University of Chicago. Adv Physiol Educ 29: 3 - 10, 2005; doi: 10.1152/ advan. 00028.2004. - Physiology may play an important, if not essential role, in a liberal arts education because it provides a context for integrating information and concepts from diverse biological and extra-biological disciplines. Instructors of physiology may aid in fulfilling this role by clarifying the core concepts that physiological details exemplify. As an example, presented here are the core principles that are the basis for an undergraduate physiology course taught at the University of Chicago. The first of these is: Evolution has resulted in organisms comprising mechanisms for maintenance, growth, and reproduction, despite perturbations of the internal and external environment. Such principles necessitate a coupling of physiology to diverse disciplines (i.e., "sciomics") and provide a basis for integrating discoveries in other disciplines.
The Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) was developed to assess students' knowledge about topics in electricity and magnetism. The survey is a 32-question, multiple-choice test that can be used as both a pretest and posttest. During four years of testing and refinement, the survey has been given in one form or another to more than 5000 introductory physics students at 30 different institutions. Typical pretest results are that students in calculus-based courses get 31% of the questions correct and student's in algebra/trigonometry-based courses average 25% correct. Posttest correct results only rise to 47% and 44%, respectively. From analysis of student responses, a number of student difficulties in electricity and magnetism are indicated.
Natural selection as a mechanism of evolution is a central concept in biology; yet, most nonbiology-majors do not thoroughly understand the theory even after instruction. Many alternative conceptions on this topic have been identified, indicating that the job of the instructor is a difficult one. This article presents a new diagnostic test to assess students' understanding of natural selection. The test items are based on actual scientific studies of natural selection, whereas previous tests have employed hypothetical situations that were often misleading or oversimplified. The Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS) is a 20-item multiple choice test that employs common alternative conceptions as distractors. An original 12-item version of the test was field-tested with 170 nonmajors in 6 classes and 43 biology majors in 1 class at 3 community colleges. The test scores of one subset of nonmajors (n ¼ 7) were compared with the students' performances in semistructured interviews. There was a positive correlation between the test scores and the interview scores. The current 20-item version of the CINS was field-tested with 206 students in a nonmajors' general biology course. The face validity, internal validity, reliability, and readability of the CINS are discussed. Results indicate that the CINS will be a valuable tool for instructors. 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 952-978, 2002 Natural selection is the principal mechanism of evolution, and the theory of evolution is of great importance as a unifying theory in biology education according to the National Science Standards (National Research Council, 1996). Yet, natural selection is misunderstood by many students. The litany of alternative conceptions regarding natural selection and evolution is long (Mayr, 1982; Clough & Driver, 1986; Good, Trowbridge, Demastes, Wandersee, Hafner, & Cummins, 1992; Scharmann & Harris, 1992; Cummins, Demastes & Hafner, 1994). Some studies
Students generally approach topics in physiology as a series of unrelated phenomena that share few underlying principles. In many students' view, the Fick equation for cardiac output is fundamentally different from a renal clearance equation. If, however, students recognize that these apparently different situations can be viewed as examples of the same general conceptual model (e.g., conservation of mass), they may gain a more unified understanding of physiological systems. An understanding of as few as seven general models can provide students with an initial conceptual framework for analyzing most physiological systems. The general models deal with control systems, conservation of mass, mass and heat flow, elastic properties of tissues, transport across membranes, cell-to-cell communication, and molecular interaction.
Physicists are out in front in measuring how well students learn the basics, as science educators incorporate hands-on activities in hopes of making the introductory course a beginning rather than a finale.
Physiology may play an important, if not essential role, in a liberal arts education because it provides a context for integrating information and concepts from diverse biological and extra-biological disciplines. Instructors of physiology may aid in fulfilling this role by clarifying the core concepts that physiological details exemplify. As an example, presented here are the core principles that are the basis for an undergraduate physiology course taught at the University of Chicago. The first of these is: Evolution has resulted in organisms comprising mechanisms for maintenance, growth, and reproduction, despite perturbations of the internal and external environment. Such principles necessitate a coupling of physiology to diverse disciplines (i.e., "sciomics") and provide a basis for integrating discoveries in other disciplines.
Teachers of physiology at all postsecondary levels were asked to participate in a survey about the possible sources of students' difficulty in learning physiology. Sixty-three physiology teachers responded to the 18-question survey; 35 of the respondents also responded to a request for written comments about this issue prior to taking the survey. Three categories of possible factors contributing to physiology being hard to learn were defined: 1) the nature of the discipline, 2) the way it is taught, and 3) what students bring to the task of learning physiology. Respondents thought that characteristics of the discipline (it requires causal reasoning, it uses graphs and mathematics, and it is highly integrative) and characteristics of students (they believe that learning and memorizing are the same thing, they cannot or will do attempt to integrate, and they compartmentalize) were significantly more important than any aspect of teaching in making physiology hard to learn. Recommendations are offered in this article to help students deal with the sources of difficulty that were identified.
Twenty-one biology teachers from a variety of disciplines (genetics, ecology, physiology, biochemistry, etc.) met at the University of Colorado to begin discussions about approaches to assessing students' conceptual understanding of biology. We considered what is meant by a "concept" in biology, what the important biological concepts might be, and how to go about developing assessment items about these concepts. We also began the task of creating a community of biologists interested in facilitating meaningful learning in biology. Input from the physiology education community is essential in the process of developing conceptual assessments for physiology.
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