This paper describes the process involved in conducting an online spirometry practical through Zoom. The teacher demonstrated the practical from the medical school, and the students observed the procedure from the comfort of their own homes. Students were able to analyze the graphs captured in the teacher's laptop by remotely controlling the…

Due to current and upcoming needs in the discipline and accreditation, the Nutritional Sciences faculty at a major university reformed their curriculum using backward design. As part of this process, they developed new learning outcomes that aligned to the institutional learning outcomes and mapped these new outcomes across the major's required…

Functional understanding of the different parts of the cardiovascular system is essential for an insight into pathomechanisms of numerous diseases. During training cardiovascular physiology, students and early-stage medical personnel should understand the role of different functional parameters for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, as well as…

The laboratory course is an excellent venue to apply content, practice inquiry, improve critical thinking, practice key clinical skills, and work with data. The use of inquiry-based course projects allows for students to propose open ended questions, form a hypothesis, design an experiment, collect data, analyze data, draw conclusion, and present…

Many medical schools offer pre-professional programs to undergraduate students. The main purpose of the university pre-professional program (UPPP) is to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills required to successfully cope with the academic demands of further education provided by professional colleges. The aim of this commentary…

Pharmacy school applications have steadily declined over the past several years. Thus pharmacy schools are not only searching for effective means to increase enrollment of qualified candidates, but are also focusing on the development of programs to improve academic performance and retention of enrolled students. To address the needs of struggling…

We have created and validated a conceptual framework for the core physiology concept of "cell membrane." The conceptual framework is composed of 27 items arranged in a hierarchy that is, in some instances, four levels deep. We have validated it with input from faculty who teach at a wide variety of institutional types. All items making…

Bioscience is a foundational unit (subject) of undergraduate allied health degree programs, providing students the scientific basis underpinning their clinical practice. However, despite its significance, bioscience is a difficult academic hurdle for many students to master. The introduction of active learning strategies, including small…

We describe the development of a new, freely available, online, programmatic-level assessment tool, Measuring Achievement and Progress in Science in Physiology, or Phys-MAPS (http://cperl.lassp.cornell.edu/bio-maps). Aligned with the conceptual frameworks of Core Principles of Physiology, and Vision and Change Core Concepts, Phys-MAPS can be used…

The authors have experienced increasing demand from undergraduate students, particularly those in the early years of study, to be able to access more "test-style" material to help with revision, as well as guidance on how to approach their university assessments. With increased use of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) in university…

The learning requirements of diverse groups of students in higher education challenge educators to design learning interventions that meet the need of 21st century students. A model was developed to assist lecturers, especially those that are new to the profession, to use a blended approach to design meaningful learning interventions for…

Learning the basic competencies of critical thinking are very important in the education of any young scientist, and teachers must be prepared to help students develop a valuable set of analytic tools. In my experience, this is best achieved by encouraging students to study areas with little scientific consensus, such as the control mechanisms of…

Early establishment of physiological societies in Oklahoma and Ohio demonstrated the benefits of networking physiologists and paved the way for establishing the APS Chapter Program. Designed to promote the general objectives of the APS, the Chapter Program was officially launched in 1995, with Ohio being the first recognized chapter. There are 13…

Using pop icons in the science classroom represents a creative way to engage often-distracted students in a relevant and, perhaps more importantly, fun way. When the pop icon is as universally known as Captain America, the pedagogical stage is set. However, when the movies can also be employed to link dramatic references to the science concepts at…

Outreach efforts directed toward improving STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) literacy are vitally important to ensure that all of our citizens are prepared to fully participate in an increasingly complex and technology-driven world. Attempts to maximize the effectiveness of STEM outreach has focused on younger populations,…