ERIC Number: EJ907620
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Dec
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1043-4046
EISSN: N/A
Teaching Medical Students Basic Neurotransmitter Pharmacology Using Primary Research Resources
Halliday, Amy C.; Devonshire, Ian M.; Greenfield, Susan A.; Dommett, Eleanor J.
Advances in Physiology Education, v34 n4 p205-212 Dec 2010
Teaching pharmacology to medical students has long been seen as a challenge, and one to which a number of innovative approaches have been taken. In this article, we describe and evaluate the use of primary research articles in teaching second-year medical students both in terms of the information learned and the use of the papers themselves. We designed a seminar where small groups of students worked on different neurotransmitters before contributing information to a plenary session. Student feedback suggested that when the information was largely novel, students learned considerably more. Crucially, this improvement in knowledge was seen even when they had not directly studied a particular transmitter in their work groups, suggesting a shared learning experience. Moreover, the majority of students reported that using primary research papers was easy and useful, with over half stating that they would use them in future study. (Contains 1 footnote, 2 tables, and 3 figures.)
Descriptors: Medical Education, Pharmacology, Medical Students, Chemistry, Neurological Organization, Teaching Methods, Primary Sources, Content Analysis, Cooperative Learning, Group Activities, Learning Experience, Knowledge Level, Feedback (Response)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A