Tag Archives: teaching strategies

Evolution of Teaching Physiology and Accommodating Social Distancing
Andrew M. Roberts, M.S., Ph.D., FAPS
Associate Professor
Department of Physiology
University of Louisville School of Medicine
Louisville, KY

Our graduate physiology courses at the University of Louisville School of Medicine evolved from a lecture-based format supplemented by recitation sessions and modules for each topic.  Students work in groups to identify learning issues and discuss concepts needed to understand and solve assigned questions.  They present their findings to the class and respond to questions from faculty and students.  We found this to be an important forum whereby students gain experience applying their physiological knowledge. 

An additional step that fostered student understanding was problem-based learning modules where student groups discussed and answered exam type questions.  For the “pre-test” component, each group discussed and chose their answers together.  This was followed by a “post-test” with different but, similar questions answered by each student individually.  Our metrics clearly indicated students’ ability to apply their knowledge increased significantly.

Another component which bolstered student performance and encouraged use of multiple resources for information was online quiz questions for each learning module.  Questions were made available on “Blackboard” and answered according to a schedule.  Students received notification whether they answered correctly and could change their answer choices within an allotted time.  Team-based learning with activities that encouraged students to incorporate multiple information sources improved students’ grasp of physiological concepts and mechanisms.

In summary, we developed ways to effectively engage our students who have diverse educational backgrounds and learning preferences.  It is important to note that the classroom environment, with face to face instruction, provides the opportunity to teach and motivate students through interactions with faculty members and fellow students.  However, other types of activities work well to augment and encourage student learning.

In the last year, our faculty has been discussing the possibility and usefulness of supplementing our program with online course options that could enhance students’ academic backgrounds whether they were on or off campus.  Online learning has become prevalent as another teaching tool for a diverse student group and accommodates a variety of learning preferences.  It offers flexibility whether used to supplement a “classroom” physiology course, or course taught exclusively online.  Over the last year, our experience with online learning platforms indicated instructors could teach to an entire class simultaneously. 

Students can be divided into discussion groups for problem-based learning and instructors can virtually interact by “joining” the groups.  In addition, the platforms allow everyone to be seen and to be heard.  Furthermore, it is easy to link slide as well as video presentations and record class sessions.  Traditionally, we posted lecture notes and supplemental material on “Blackboard” for students to read before class and provided access to recorded lectures.  There also is a forum for students to interact with each other and faculty members. 

Educational methods are ever changing and can go forward and back again.  With this in mind, online learning is not necessarily a replacement for face-to-face learning but, can be an additional learning tool.  Even faculty less familiar with online learning have found the latest learning platforms to be relatively easy to use and actually to enhance their teaching styles.  A key ingredient to the success of our program, is having designated faculty members and staff available as teaching resources!  With the necessity for implementing social distancing during the COVID- 19 pandemic, online learning and video conferencing allowed us to continue and sustain our courses and academic program during this difficult time hopefully without jeopardizing student lifelong learning.

Andrew M. Roberts, MS, PhD, FAPS is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Louisville, Kentucky.  He received his PhD in Physiology at New York Medical College and completed a postdoctoral training program in heart and vascular diseases, as well as, a Parker B. Francis Fellowship in Pulmonary Research at the University of California, San Francisco at the Cardiovascular Research Institute.  His research focuses on cardiopulmonary regulatory mechanisms with an emphasis on neural control, microcirculation, and effects of local endogenous factors.  Current studies include microvascular responses altered by inflammatory diseases and conditions, which can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome.  Additional studies include obstructive sleep apnea.  He teaches physiology to graduate, medical, and dental students and has served as a course director as well as having taught allied health students.

Which Level of Students are Best Suited for Flipped Learning?
Chaya Gopalan, PhD, FAPS
Associate Professor, Departments of Applied Health, Primary Care and Health Systems
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

The flipped classroom (FC) is a student-centered teaching method that is embraced by educators in recent years for several reasons. According to Bergmann and Sams (2012), FC accommodates students’ busy schedules, helps struggling students, and allows self-pacing. In this teaching method, students are exposed to content prior to class in the form of assignments and the class time is structured to include mini-lectures so that students have opportunities to ask questions and engage with teachers. Additionally, the instructors can also administer learning activities, such as quizzes and group work so that students can gain a much deeper understanding of the content when compared to lectures alone. Khan Academy is an example of a FC that can be utilized by students ranging from elementary to high school.

A similar situation is true in the higher education arena where FC is introduced in courses ranging from community college all the way up to the graduate level courses in a wide variety of programs and professions. However, it is unclear as to which level, in particular, would benefit from the FC model the most. Ideally, college freshmen are open-minded and are able to adapt quickly to the FC approach thus being better prepared for the rest of their college years. Nevertheless, in a study conducted in China, for example, Li (2018) found that many freshmen do not utilize pre-class assignments and therefore are not prepared for in-class activities. For some freshmen, FC is not a new teaching method because they experienced it in their high schools. Introducing FC in the third and fourth years of undergraduate education, once again, could be argued as either “too late” because they have not been exposed to FC thus far, or “most ideal” because these students are more mature and do their pre-class work more reliably.   

Students’ experiences of the FC model can vary greatly. As part of an NSF-funded project, data collected from freshmen and sophomore STEM classrooms at a community college suggested that students’ perceptions, such as “learned more in the FC classroom” and “more engaged” were far less common when compared to the same level of students in a four-year institution. At the same time, when doctoral students entering a Nurse Anesthesia program were given a similar experience with FC, the response was overwhelmingly positive. On the other hand, for senior students in the Exercise Science program, their perception of FC was stronger than the freshmen-sophomore group but not as strong as that of the graduate students. Since the age of the freshmen-sophomore students at the community college varies considerably, assessing the most critical determinant can be challenging.

In summary, the students that achieve higher levels of educational experience seem to be able to utilize the FC method to the fullest extent. It must be noted that the majority of our students are experiencing FC for the very first time. Since this instructional approach demands regular study habits and time commitment while minimizing procrastination, students may take time to develop new learning strategies to be able to value their experience. Whether students respond similarly, provided they are exposed to FC classes more frequently across the curriculum, is yet to be seen.

Acknowledgements: Part of the data shared in this blog is funded by NSF-IUSE grant DUE – 1821664 “Examining Faculty Attitudes and Strategies that Support Successful Flipped Teaching”.

References

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every day. Eugene, Or: International Society for Technology in Education.
Li, Yi. (2018). Current problems with the prerequisites for flipped classroom teaching—a case study in a university in Northwest China. Smart Learning Environments, 5:2

Dr. Chaya Gopalan received her PhD in Physiology from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Upon completing two years of postdoctoral training at Michigan State University, she began her teaching career at St. Louis Community College. After a short tenure at St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Dr. Gopalan joined the departments of Applied Health, Primary Care and Health Systems at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Her teaching is in the areas of anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Gopalan has been practicing evidence-based teaching where she has tested team-based learning methodology, case-based learning methodology and most recently, the flipped classroom. She has received several research grants in pursuing her research interests.

Teaching Backwards

 

Generating new ideas and cool learning experiences has always been natural and fun for me. My moments of poignant clarity often came during a swim workout or a walk with my dog as I reflect on my classes. As I visualize this activity, my students are as enthusiastic as I am and are learning. Then, reality returns as I grade the next exam and see that less than half of the class answered the question related to that activity correctly. Accounting for the students who learn despite what I do, I quickly see that I only reached a quarter of my students with this great activity. Why did this happen? What can I do about this?

Well, my life as an instructor changed the day I walked into my first session of University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education (UCITE) Learning Fellows at Case Western Reserve University.  This program is a semester long session on how learning works where the focus is on evidence-based learning practices and provides an opportunity to discuss successes and failures in teaching with peers.  It was here that I learned about “Backwards Design”1.

What is Backwards Design?

Essentially, it is designing your course with the end in mind. I think of it as “Teaching Backwards” – that is, I visualize my students 5-10 years from now in a conversation with a friend or colleague discussing what they learned from my class. I ask myself these questions:

  1. How do I want them to describe my class? Hansen refers to this as the “Big Idea” or broad objective. An example from one of my classes is provided in Table 1.
  2. What do I want them to be able to tell their friend or colleague that they learned from the class in 5 to 10 years? Hansen has termed this as “Enduring Understanding” (see Table 1).

The next phase is to write learning objectives for each of the enduring understandings (see Table 1). We continue the journey backwards into linking learning objectives to assessment methods and developing the details of each class session. During this process, we must always take into account the student’s prior knowledge (refer to How Learning Works2).

Table 1: Example of Backwards Design Concepts for “Exercise Physiology and Macronutrient Metabolism” class.

Class: Exercise Physiology and Macronutrient Metabolism
Big Idea Enduring Understanding Learning Objective
Exercise-Body Interaction Substrate utilization during exercise depends on type, intensity, and duration of exercise. Students will be able to describe substrate utilization during exercise.
Fatigue during exercise has been associated with low glycogen levels, but scientists are not in agreement as to the underlying cause of fatigue. Students will be able to debate the theories of fatigue.

What did backwards design do for me?

Backwards design provided me focus. It allowed me to step back and ask myself: What are the key take-aways? Does that cool, creative idea I have help to achieve my end game for the course? Is there a better way to do this? Overall, the framework has helped me develop a higher quality course. With that said, I still run into exam questions where I thought I did better at teaching the material than represented by the students’ responses.  So, while there is always room for improvement, this has definitely been a step in the right direction for better learning by my students.

References:

  1. Hansen EJ. Idea Based Learning: A Course Design Process to Promote Conceptual Understanding. Sterling VA: Stylus Publishing, LLC; 2011.
  2. Ambrose SA, Bridges MW, DiPietro M, Lovett M, Norman MK.How Learning Works: 7 Research Based Points for Teaching. San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass, 2010.

 

Lynn Cialdella-Kam, PhD, MBA, MA, RDN, LD joined CWRU as an Assistant Professor in Nutrition in 2013. At CWRU, she is engaged in undergraduate and graduate teaching, advising, and research. Her research has focused on health complications associated with energy imbalances (i.e. obesity, disordered eating, and intense exercise training). Specifically, she is in interested in understanding how to alterations in dietary intake (i.e., amount, timing, and frequency of intake) and exercise training (i.e., intensity and duration) can attenuate the health consequences of energy imbalance such as inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, alterations in macronutrient metabolism, and menstrual dysfunction.  She received her PhD in Nutrition from Oregon State University, her Masters in Exercise Physiology from The University of Texas at Austin, and her Master in Business Administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.  She completed her postdoctoral research in sports nutrition at Appalachian State University and is a licensed and registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN).