Physiology education and the linguistic jungle of science

Design and evaluation of a new consolidation exercise for students studying cardiac physiology: a digital escape room

The current student body will, by and large, seek online resources to supplement their learning. However, resources that are freely available online vary in accuracy and quality, and the vast majority rely on passive learning. Therefore, there is a need for interactive physiology teaching resources that facilitate application of knowledge, that can be accessed by students in their own time. The aim of this study was to design a digital escape room on the topic of cardiac arrhythmias and to evaluate this resource as a consolidation exercise to support learning and enjoyment of physiology. The digital escape room was designed as a series of interactive puzzles and created with a website page builder on a freely accessible WordPress site. To facilitate engagement, the escape room incorporated a countdown timer. Second-year medical students were invited to play the digital escape room remotely as a group exercise after delivery of the relevant teaching. Evaluation of the resource took place quantitatively with Google Analytics and Tag Manager software and qualitatively with a questionnaire (Microsoft Forms). Quantitative evaluation suggested that the puzzles were created across a range of difficulties but that most groups were able to complete the exercise and remained engaged throughout. Student feedback suggests that the format of the resource was rated positively, and most participants felt that the game helped to consolidate and apply their knowledge of cardiovascular physiology. Future studies will focus on examining whether the cardiovascular-themed digital escape room improves knowledge attainment among students studying physiology in higher education.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This article describes the design and development of a new, freely accessible cardiovascular-themed digital escape room. This web-based resource promotes active learning by facilitating problem-solving and application of physiology knowledge while working against a clock.

Using dramatizations to teach cell signaling enhances learning and improves students' confidence in the concept

Certain physiology concepts can be difficult for students to understand, and new strategies need to be implemented to teach these concepts. Cell signaling is a core concept in physiology and is presented to undergraduate students starting with their first-year Principles of Biology course. Flipped teaching (FT) combined with dramatizations were used to teach steroid hormone and protein hormone cell signaling in an Animal Physiology course. Student knowledge level improved, as demonstrated by posttest scores compared to pretest scores. Their confidence level in the material improved after the dramatization activities were completed. In conclusion, the combination of FT with dramatizations enhances student learning and confidence level.

Language, terminology and the readability of online cancer information

Medical terms are a recognised problem in doctor-patient consultations. By contrast, the language difficulties of online healthcare documents are underestimated, even though patients are often encouraged to go to the internet for information. Literacy levels in the community vary, and for patients, carers and health workers with limited reading skills (including first- and second-language users of English), the language of web-based health documents may be challenging or impenetrable. Online delivery of health information is inherently problematic because it cannot provide two-way discussion; and amid the range of health documents on the web, the intended readership (whether general or specialist) is rarely indicated up front. In this research study, we focus on the language and readability of web-based cancer documents, using lexicostatistical methods to profile the vocabularies in two large test databases of breast cancer information, one consisting of material designed for health professionals, the other for the general public. They yielded significantly different word frequency rankings and keyness values, broadly correlating with their different readerships, that is, scientifically literate readers for the professional dataset, and non-specialist readers for the public dataset. The higher type/token ratio in the professional dataset confirms its greater lexical demands, with no concessions to the variable language and literacy skills among second-language health workers. Their language needs can, however, be addressed by a new online multilingual termbank of breast cancer vocabulary, HealthTermFinder, designed to sit alongside health documents on the internet, and provide postconsultation help for patients and carers at their point of need.

Evaluation of a peer mentoring program for a mature cohort of first-year undergraduate paramedic students

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer-assisted study session (PASS) program for a large class of Bachelor of Health Science (Paramedic) students. This cohort was made up predominantly of mature aged students who have not undertaken any study for many years. Within a bioscience first-year core subject, student mentees attended PASS sessions on a voluntary basis, with second-year Bachelor of Health Science (Paramedic) students acting as mentors. Mentors were recruited based on their outstanding academic performance in bioscience the previous year and selected based on group and individual interviews. Successful candidates participated in a compulsory 2 days of student mentor training and were supported throughout the program to develop their mentoring skills in both face-to-face workshops and online. Mentee students were allocated to a PASS session with a maximum size of 25 students/group that was facilitated by 2 student mentors. In general, the program was viewed favorably by both mentors and mentees. There was an increase in academic performance and a decrease in the fail rate of the mentee group compared with the cohort of students that did not participate in the PASS program. Importantly, mentees believed that the program improved their study skills and gave them confidence in their approach to studying. This is a significant consideration for the improvement of student transition and retention in a mature aged student cohort.

Voluntary participation in an active learning exercise leads to a better understanding of physiology

Students learn best when they are focused and thinking about the subject at hand. To teach physiology, we must offer opportunities for students to actively participate in class. This approach aids in focusing their attention on the topic and thus generating genuine interest in the mechanisms involved. This study was conducted to determine if offering voluntary active learning exercises would improve student understanding and application of the material covered. To compare performance, an anonymous cardiorespiratory evaluation was distributed to two groups of students during the fall (control, n = 168) and spring (treatment, n = 176) semesters. Students in both groups were taught by traditional methods, and students in the treatment group had the option to voluntary participate in two additional active learning exercises: 1) a small group discussion, where students would discuss a physiology topic with their Teaching Assistant before running BIOPAC software for the laboratory exercise and 2) a free response question, where students anonymously responded to one short essay question after the laboratory exercise. In these formative assessments, students received feedback about their present state of learning from the discussion with their peers and also from the instructor comments regarding perceived misconceptions. As a result of the participation in these activities, students in the treatment group had a better overall performance [χ(2) (degree of freedom = 1) = 31.2, P < 0.001] on the evaluation (treatment group: 62% of responses correct and control group: 49%) with an observed difference of 13% (95% confidence interval: 8, 17). In conclusion, this study presents sufficient evidence that when the opportunity presents itself, students become active participants in the learning process, which translates into an improvement in their understanding and application of physiological concepts.