ERIC Number: EJ788545
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Mar
Pages: 5
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1043-4046
EISSN: N/A
Beyond the Printed Page: Physiology Education without a Textbook?
Stavrianeas, Stasinos; Stewart, Mark; Harmer, Peter
Advances in Physiology Education, v32 n1 p76-80 Mar 2008
Pedagogical innovations, ideas, and outcomes designed to enhance student learning in physiology courses are encouraged by our professional organizations and are actively discussed at conferences and in "Advances in Physiological Education." Here, we report our experiment with freely available internet-based material as a substitute for the textbook for a single chapter on muscle physiology in a sophomore-level Human Physiology course. Student reactions to the textbookless curriculum were registered with the use of a questionnaire. Their responses indicated that they enjoyed the online material (animations, images, reviews, etc.), the emphasis on important concepts, and the variety of resources. Furthermore, students were almost unanimous in their praise for such pedagogical approaches to science education. Yet, students were reluctant to part with their textbooks. We believe that with subsequent iterations of this course we will be more successful at further separating the learning experience from the textbook. Reliance on freely available material may eventually relieve students from the burden of purchasing a costly textbook. (Contains 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Textbooks, Educational Change, Internet, Instructional Materials, Physiology, Inquiry, Learning Experience, Resistance to Change, Delivery Systems, Information Dissemination, Learning Processes
American Physiological Society. 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814-3991. Tel: 301-634-7164; Fax: 301-634-7241; e-mail: webmaster@the-aps.org; Web site: http://advan.physiology.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A