ERIC Number: EJ1037685
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Sep
Pages: 4
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 6
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1043-4046
The Use of Facebook as a Tool to Increase the Interest of Undergraduate Students in Physiology in an Interdisciplinary Way
da Silva de Vargas, Liane; Soares de Lara, Marcus Vinícius; Gonçalves, Rithiele; Souto das Neves, Ben-Hur; Mello-Carpes, Pâmela Billig
Advances in Physiology Education, v38 n3 p273-276 Sep 2014
The process of teaching and learning at the undergraduate level is challenged by an increasing amount of content. Now it's not enough to convey knowledge; it's also necessary to seek alternative ways to motivate and capture the interest of students both during class and outside of class. Currently, social networks are popular among students and are used to establish and maintain contacts. Facebook, one of the most popularly accessed social networks, has ~500 million registered users and consequently has the potential to become an ally in the teaching and learning process. If properly used, Facebook allows the formation of groups with common interests, enables the exchange of information, and stimulates the search for knowledge. Considering this context in Brazil, where the number of connections grew from 8.8 to 35 million between 2010 and 2011, attracting ~1 trillion monthly visits, we asked ourselves: why not partner the physiology teaching with the use of Facebook, to try to increase students' interest in physiology, using an interdisciplinary approach? Consequently, we created a group on Facebook, which served as a support tool for teaching physiology at the health area undergraduate courses of the Federal University of Pampa (Unipampa) in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Descriptors: Social Networks, Teaching Methods, Educational Technology, Undergraduate Students, Student Interests, Physiology, Interdisciplinary Approach, Technology Uses in Education, Foreign Countries, Student Attitudes, Allied Health Personnel, Questionnaires, Instructional Effectiveness
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 - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: Brazil

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