Showing papers in "Advances in Physiology Education in 2009"
TL;DR: Significant improvement was evident in both mid- and end-semester exam results compared with student cohorts from preceding years, although this could also be influenced by many other factors.
Abstract: We investigated whether an active learning approach, facilitated by a personal response system, would lead to improved student engagement and learning outcomes in large-group physiology lectures for undergraduate science students. We focused on encouraging students' active learning in lectures, whereas previous studies have made more use of audience response technology during lectures for formative or summative assessment. Students voluntarily answered questions posed during lectures with their personal response system (clickers), with individual answers automatically collated for immediate histogram display. This feedback then dictated the focus of followup discussions in the lecture. Student and instructor attitudes were surveyed through voluntary interviews with student responses correlated with their degree of clicker participation and individual exam results. Active lectures were found to increase both student motivation and engagement. Students who participated in answering questions achieved better results than students who chose not to. Students with the lowest scores in a prerequisite course (previous semester physiology exam marks of 75%) entry students. Significant improvement was evident in both mid- and end-semester exam results compared with student cohorts from preceding years, although this could also be influenced by many other factors. Increased student engagement and the immediate feedback obtained during lectures were advantages commonly noted by lecturing staff.
267 citations
TL;DR: The renin-angiotensin system is a critical regulator of sodium balance, extracellular fluid volume, vascular resistance, and, ultimately, arterial blood pressure.
Abstract: The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a critical regulator of sodium balance, extracellular fluid volume, vascular resistance, and, ultimately, arterial blood pressure. In the kidney, angiotensin II exerts its effects to conserve salt and water through a combination of the hemodynamic control of renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate and tubular epithelial cell sodium chloride and water transport mechanisms. Pharmacological inhibition of the actions of the RAS are widely used in the treatment of patients with hypertension, congestive heart failure, left ventricular dysfunction, pulmonary and systemic edema, diabetic nephropathy, cirrhosis of the liver, scleroderma, and migraines. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the influences of the RAS on normal renal physiology is of major importance for first-year medical students.
144 citations
TL;DR: Teachers must abandon the mistaken notion that unless they "cover the content" students will be unprepared for the future and they will have failed as teachers and design activities to focus student learning on how to use scientific knowledge to solve important questions.
Abstract: Teachers often overrate the importance of their content and underrate their influence. However, students forget much of the content that they memorize. Thus, attempts to teach students all that the...
142 citations
TL;DR: The results of this study support the findings of Wehrwein et al. (18): that female and male physiology students have different sensory modality preferences and that they provide the first step in determining if sensory modalities preferences impact final course scores.
Abstract: Learning styles may be classified according to the sensory modality that one most prefers to use when internalizing information. The four major sensory modalities are visual, aural or auditory, rea...
126 citations
TL;DR: It is found that the majority of students interested in the health professions have multimodal learning preferences and that women showed little differences in their learning style profiles whether premedical or not and also self-predicted their learning preferences more accurately.
Abstract: Student learning may be classified according to the sensory modalities by which one prefers to take in information. One such classification scheme uses the VARK instrument, which categorizes learni...
120 citations
TL;DR: A list of "core principles" that appear to apply to all aspects of physiology are identified and unpacked them into their constituent component ideas to provide a guideline for selecting the topics on which to focus student attention.
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. Th...
99 citations
TL;DR: This review of the role of the kidneys in the regulation of acid-base balance from a teaching perspective is intended that this review will assist those who teach this aspect of human physiology to first-year health profession students.
Abstract: Since the topic of the role of the kidneys in the regulation of acid-base balance was last reviewed from a teaching perspective (Koeppen BM. Renal regulation of acid-base balance. Adv Physiol Educ ...
66 citations
TL;DR: This third installment of Explorations in Statistics investigates confidence intervals, a range that the authors expect, with some level of confidence, to include the true value of a population parameter such as the mean.
Abstract: Learning about statistics is a lot like learning about science: the learning is more meaningful if you can actively explore. This third installment of Explorations in Statistics investigates confidence intervals. A confidence interval is a range that we expect, with some level of confidence, to include the true value of a population parameter such as the mean. A confidence interval provides the same statistical information as the P value from a hypothesis test, but it circumvents the drawbacks of that hypothesis test. Even more important, a confidence interval focuses our attention on the scientific importance of some experimental result.
64 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that a substantial number of first-year medical students in this study could be at risk for poor performance because they may believe that there is an equivalency between internet- and classroom-based instruction in basic medical science courses.
Abstract: The advent of internet-based delivery of basic medical science lectures may unintentionally lead to decreased classroom attendance and participation, thereby creating a distance learning paradigm. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that classroom attendance/participation may be positively correlated with performance on a written examination for first-year medical school instruction. The study subjects consisted of 115 first-year medical students. The introductory respiratory structure-function instruction was designed to include one noncompulsory pretest, four short postinstruction noncompulsory self-evaluation tests that were unannounced as to date and time, and one compulsory comprehensive examination. The relationship between attendance/participation, measured by the number of noncompulsory tests taken, and performance on the comprehensive examination was determined by Pearson's correlation coefficient, one-way ANOVA, and a chi(2)-test of significance. The average score on the pretest was 28%; for the same items on the comprehensive examination (posttest), the average score was 73%. For the 80 students who took the pretest, this translated to an overall score increase of 161%. Attendance/participation in four or five of the noncompulsory tests resulted in an 83.3% pass rate on the comprehensive exam compared with a rate of 52.9% for attendance/participation in three, two, one, or none of the five noncompulsory tests; the overall pass rate was 60.9%. There was a significant association between a high rate of classroom attendance/participation and a high score on the comprehensive examination (Pearson's chi(2) = 8.599, P < 0.01). These findings suggest that classroom attendance/participation may be a significant determinant of performance of medical students on comprehensive examinations in first-year basic medical science courses. It is concluded that a substantial number of first-year medical students in this study could be at risk for poor performance because they may believe that there is an equivalency between internet- and classroom-based instruction in basic medical science courses.
54 citations
TL;DR: A survey of student perceptions of needs for physiology was undertaken to gain a better understanding of their perceived problems and also to inform them of proposed curricular changes.
Abstract: Physiology is an integral component of any medical curriculum. Traditionally, the learning of physiology has relied heavily on systems-based didactic lectures. In 2001, the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine (NRMSM; Durban, South Africa) embarked on a problem-based curriculum in which the learning of physiology was integrated with relevant clinical scenarios. Students are expected to gain an understanding of physiology through self-directed research with only certain aspects being covered in large-group resource sessions (LGRSs). It has gradually become evident that this approach has resulted in significant gaps in students' understanding of basic physiological concepts. A survey of student perceptions of needs for physiology was undertaken to gain a better understanding of their perceived problems and also to inform them of proposed curricular changes. Students were asked to what extent they thought physiology was essential for their understanding of pathology, interpretation of patients' clinical signs and presentation of symptoms, and analysis of laboratory results. Students were also invited to detail the difficulties they experienced in understanding in LGRSs on clinical and physiological topics. The results of the survey indicate that greater interaction of students with experts is needed. In particular, students felt that they lacked the basic conceptual foundations essential for the learning and understanding of physiology, since the difficulties that the students identified are mainly terminological and conceptual in nature.
51 citations
TL;DR: Feedback indicated that students were in favor of the OSPE compared with the TPE, and scope for improvement was provided before the OspE was administered for the first time in the forthcoming university examination.
Abstract: A single examination does not fulfill all the functions of assessment. The present study was undertaken to determine the reliability and student satisfaction regarding the objective structured practical examination (OSPE) as a method of assessment of laboratory exercises in physiology before implementing it in the forthcoming university examination. The present study was undertaken in the Department of Physiology of Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal Campus, India. During the OSPE, students were made to rotate through 11 stations, of which 8 stations were composed of questions that tested their knowledge and critical thinking and 2 stations were composed of skills that students had to perform before the examiner. One station was kept as the rest station. Performance of the students was assessed by comparing the students' scores in the traditional practical examination (TPE) and OSPE using "Bland-Altman technique." Student perspectives regarding the OSPE were obtained by asking them to respond to a questionnaire. The Bland-Altman plot showed that approximately 63% of the students showed a performance in the scores obtained using the OSPE and TPE within the acceptable limit of 8; 32% of the students scored much above the anticipated difference in the scores, and the rest scored below the anticipated difference in the scores on the OSPE and TPE. Feedback indicated that students were in favor of the OSPE compared with the TPE. Feedback from the students provided scope for improvement before the OSPE was administered for the first time in the forthcoming university examination.
TL;DR: By focusing on the enhancement of situational interest in physiology lessons, faculty members can find ways to foster students' involvement in specific content areas and increase levels of academic motivation.
Abstract: Situational interest has been identified as an important motivational variable that has an impact on students’ academic performances, yet little is known about how the specific variable of the lear...
TL;DR: This fourth installment of Explorations in Statistics explores the bootstrap, an empirical approach to estimate the theoretical variability among possible values of a sample statistic such as the sample mean.
Abstract: Learning about statistics is a lot like learning about science: the learning is more meaningful if you can actively explore. This fourth installment of Explorations in Statistics explores the bootstrap. The bootstrap gives us an empirical approach to estimate the theoretical variability among possible values of a sample statistic such as the sample mean. The appeal of the bootstrap is that we can use it to make an inference about some experimental result when the statistical theory is uncertain or even unknown. We can also use the bootstrap to assess how well the statistical theory holds: that is, whether an inference we make from a hypothesis test or confidence interval is justified.
TL;DR: This second installment of Explorations in Statistics delves into test statistics and P values, two concepts fundamental to the test of a scientific null hypothesis.
Abstract: Learning about statistics is a lot like learning about science: the learning is more meaningful if you can actively explore This second installment of Explorations in Statistics delves into test statistics and P values, two concepts fundamental to the test of a scientific null hypothesis The essence of a test statistic is that it compares what we observe in the experiment to what we expect to see if the null hypothesis is true The P value associated with the magnitude of that test statistic answers this question: if the null hypothesis is true, what proportion of possible values of the test statistic are at least as extreme as the one I got? Although statisticians continue to stress the limitations of hypothesis tests, there are two realities we must acknowledge: hypothesis tests are ingrained within science, and the simple test of a null hypothesis can be useful As a result, it behooves us to explore the notions of hypothesis tests, test statistics, and P values
TL;DR: The peer tutoring program was logistically straightforward to implement in a large class of medical students and was endorsed by the participants.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the practicality of implementing a peer-teaching program in a large class (>350 students) of medical students and whether such a program is beneficial. Cas...
TL;DR: The approach, termed "CREATE" (for Consider, Read, Elucidate hypotheses, Analyze data, and Think of the next Experiment), has proven successful at both demystifying the scientific literature and humanizing science/scientists in undergraduate biology courses, and it is suggested that it could be profitably expanded to physiology courses.
Abstract: The rapid and accelerating pace of change in physiology and cell biology, along with the easy access to huge amounts of content, have altered the playing field for science students, yet most studen...
TL;DR: It is argued that for authors to comply with these guidelines, the initial challenge is to have a team of reviewers who are also willing to accept the unfamiliar and to have the opinions of reviewersWho are ill informed about relatively novel statistical methods and recommended reporting practices may have implications for the final editorial decision on the suitability of submitted manuscripts for publication.
Abstract: In the sequel to their guidelines for reporting statistics in American Physiological Society journals, Curran-Everett and Benos highlighted that the initial guidelines of 2004 have had little effect on the statistical reporting practices of authors. In the present article, I suggest that the guidelines have also had little impact on both journal reviewers and editors. I present three cases of statistical reporting practices in which there appears to be considerable discrepancies between the author and reviewer and, moreover, inconsistencies between reviewers. I argue that for authors to comply with these guidelines, the initial challenge is to have a team of reviewers who are also willing to accept the unfamiliar. Indeed, the opinions of reviewers who are ill informed about relatively novel statistical methods and recommended reporting practices may have implications for the final editorial decision on the suitability of submitted manuscripts for publication.
TL;DR: The role-play activity was at least as effective as the lecture in terms of student performance on the assessments and it proved successful in engaging students in the learning process and increasing their satisfaction.
Abstract: This study investigated the effectiveness of role play in a large undergraduate science class. The targeted population consisted of 298 students enrolled in 2 sections of an undergraduate Human Ana...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors contribute to the discussion of active versus passive learning in physiology, and how to ensure that we emphasize the acquisition of knowledge rather than short-term information.
Abstract: this letter is intended to contribute to the discussion of active versus passive learning in physiology. Here are some thoughts for consideration: are we, as teachers, making a difference in the learning process? How do we ensure that we emphasize the acquisition of knowledge rather than short-term
TL;DR: A laboratory exercise developed as part of an upper-level vertebrate physiology class that demonstrates the effects of exercise and hypoxia exposure on blood lactate in fish and the subsequent decrease in lactate during recovery.
Abstract: Anaerobic metabolism is recruited in vertebrates under conditions of intense exercise or lowered environmental oxygen availability (hypoxia), typically resulting in the accumulation of lactate in blood and tissues. Lactate will be cleared over time after the reoxygenation of tissues, eventually returning to control levels. Here, we present a laboratory exercise developed as part of an upper-level vertebrate physiology class that demonstrates the effects of exercise and hypoxia exposure on blood lactate in fish and the subsequent decrease in lactate during recovery. Typically, the results obtained by students demonstrate that both treatments cause significant increases in blood lactate concentrations (two to three times higher than control values) that decrease back to normal values within 3 h of recovery under normoxia. The procedures described are generally applicable to other fish species and provide an alternative to using humans or other mammalian species to investigate anaerobic metabolism.
TL;DR: It was found thatStudents with individual incorrect responses changed their answers during group testing more often than students with individual correct responses, and student feedback was more beneficial when group members had different individual answers than when they had same individual answers.
Abstract: We used collaborative testing in a veterinary physiology course (65 students) to answer the following questions: 1) do students with individual correct responses or students with individual incorre...
TL;DR: Findings lend additional support to the following conclusion of similar investigations (2, 4, 6): that virtual laboratories instruct students as effectively as hands-on laboratories.
Abstract: The Virtual Physiology of Exercise Laboratory (VPEL) program was created to simulate the test design, data collection, and analysis phases of selected exercise physiology laboratories. The VPEL pro...
TL;DR: An experiment developed by first-year university students to answer the following questions allows students to integrate the understanding of muscular energy pathways and to reconsider a controversial concept with facts that challenge the universality of the hypothesis relating lactate production to muscular fatigue.
Abstract: The cause-effect relationship between lactic acid, acidosis, and muscle fatigue has been established in the literature. However, current experiments contradict this premise. Here, we describe an experiment developed by first-year university students planned to answer the following questions: 1) Which metabolic pathways of energy metabolism are responsible for meeting the high ATP demand during high-intensity intermittent exercise? 2) Which metabolic pathways are active during the pause, and how do they influence phosphocreatine synthesis? and 3) Is lactate production related to muscular fatigue? Along with these questions, students received a list of materials available for the experiment. In the classroom, they proposed two protocols of eight 30-m sprints at maximum speed, one protocol with pauses of 120 s and the other protocol with pauses of 20 s between sprints. Their performances were analyzed through the velocity registered by photocells. Blood lactate was analyzed before the first sprint and after the eighth sprint. Blood uric acid was analyzed before exercise and 15 and 60 min after exercises. When discussing the data, students concluded that phosphocreatine restoration is time dependent, and this fact influenced the steady level of performance in the protocol with pauses of 120 s compared with the performance decrease noted in the protocol with pauses of 20 s. As the blood lactate levels showed similar absolute increases after both exercises, the students concluded that lactate production is not related to the performance decrement. This activity allows students to integrate the understanding of muscular energy pathways and to reconsider a controversial concept with facts that challenge the universality of the hypothesis relating lactate production to muscular fatigue.
TL;DR: The results show that an interactive game may contribute to improved final grades in a KAA course and could be an alternative means of disseminating kinesiology information.
Abstract: It is often difficult for educators to teach a kinesiology and applied anatomy (KAA) course due to the vast amount of information that students are required to learn. In this study, a convenient sa...
TL;DR: The fractional dye retention test can be used as a teaching tool to strengthen the understanding of basic physiopathological features of gastrointestinal motility and engage undergraduate students in observing and analyzing gut motor behavior.
Abstract: Current medical curricula devote scarce time for practical activities on digestive physiology, despite frequent misconceptions about dyspepsia and dysmotility phenomena. Thus, we designed a hands-o...
TL;DR: A simple, inexpensive, and easy to build model is developed to demonstrate the underlying principles regarding Starling's Law of the Heart as well as lung and arterial elastic recoil.
Abstract: Students generally approach topics in physiology as a series of unrelated phenomena that share few underlying principles. However, if students recognized that the same underlying principles can be used to explain many physiological phenomena, they may gain a more unified understanding of physiological systems. To address this concern, we developed a simple, inexpensive, and easy to build model to demonstrate the underlying principles regarding Starling's Law of the Heart as well as lung and arterial elastic recoil. A model was chosen because models significantly enhance student understanding. Working with models also encourages research-oriented learning and helps our students understand complex ideas. Students are drawn into discussion by the power of learning that is associated with manipulating and thinking about objects. Recognizing that the same underlying principles can be used to explain many physiological phenomena may help students gain a more complete understanding of physiological systems.
TL;DR: This project illustrates that each instructor, within the confines of his/ her own classroom, can make a significant contribution to achieving a holistic learning environment for his/her students.
Abstract: A holistic learning environment is one that nurtures all aspects of students' learning. The environment is safe, supportive, and provides opportunities to help students deal with nonacademic as well as academic factors that impact their learning. Creation of such an environment requires the establishment of a supportive learning community. For a variety of reasons, establishing such a learning community of first-year medical students can be challenging. This communication presents one approach to meeting this challenge in a medical school Human Physiology course. Steps were taken at the beginning of the course to create the community, and activities designed to reinforce these efforts were incorporated into the course as it progressed. Two pilot studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that providing students with a participatory music experience may help to promote a holistic learning environment by helping them restore a sense of balance to their emotional well-being as well as reinforce a sense of community in the classroom. Student response to these activities indicated that these efforts provided emotional support during stressful periods during the quarter, helped promote a feeling of safety within the environment, and re-energized the class during long class sessions. This project illustrates that each instructor, within the confines of his/her own classroom, can make a significant contribution to achieving a holistic learning environment for his/her students.
TL;DR: The multiyear approach allowed students to situate their work within and contribute to the accumulation of a large database and to practice essential scientific skills of hypothesis formation, data collection and analysis, collaborative work, and scientific communication.
Abstract: Many undergraduate institutions offer individual research opportunities for upper-level students in independent study courses and summer undergraduate research programs. These are necessarily limit...
TL;DR: The results of this study show that students can significantly improve their learning and academic performance, as assessed by final examination mark, by a process that more closely mimics a "real-world" situation of review and redrafting.
Abstract: A diverse student population is a relatively recent feature of the higher education system in the United Kingdom. Consequently, it may be thought that more "traditional" types of assessment based around essay writing skills for science undergraduates may be of decreasing value and relevance to contemporary students. This article describes a study in which the process of feedback on, and associated redrafting of, an essay was closely supervised to improve essay writing skills and subsequent exam performance. The results of this study show that students can significantly improve their learning and academic performance, as assessed by final examination mark, by a process that more closely mimics a "real-world" situation of review and redrafting. Additionally, the data show that students benefit from feedback only when this is used appropriately by the student. The article also discusses the continuing importance and relevance of essay writing skills so that writing, and acting upon feedback to do with that writing, remains an integral part of the process of learning.
TL;DR: Students possess misconceptions about chemical equilibrium that may hamper understanding of the processes of calcium and phosphate homeostasis, and Instructors can help students gain greater understanding by adopting strategies that enable students achieve more accurate conceptions of chemical equilibria.
Abstract: Successful learning of many aspects in physiology depends on a meaningful understanding of fundamental chemistry concepts. Two conceptual diagnostic questions measured student understanding of the chemical equilibrium underlying calcium and phosphate homeostasis. One question assessed the ability to predict the change in phosphate concentration when calcium ions were added to a saturated calcium phosphate solution. Fifty-two percent of the students correctly predicted that the phosphate concentration would decrease in accord with the common ion effect. Forty-two percent of the students predicted that the phosphate concentration would not change. Written explanations showed that most students failed to evoke the idea of competing chemical equilibria. A second question assessed the predicted change in calcium concentration after solid calcium phosphate was added to a saturated solution. Only 11% of the students correctly predicted no change in calcium concentration; 86% of the students predicted an increase, and many based their prediction on a mistaken application of Le Chatelier's principle to heterogeneous equilibria. These results indicate that many students possess misconceptions about chemical equilibrium that may hamper understanding of the processes of calcium and phosphate homeostasis. Instructors can help students gain greater understanding of these physiochemical phenomena by adopting strategies that enable students achieve more accurate conceptions of chemical equilibria.