Infusing sociology into a physiology classroom: teaching the physiology of obesity through a socioscientific lens

Conventional teaching about obesity, especially within a physiology-based course, tends to focus on the biological aspects. Unfortunately, framing obesity from a solely biological perspective ignores many factors that contribute to the condition, leaving students with an overly simplistic idea. We developed an introductory exercise physiology course that was cotaught with a physiologist and a sociologist to provide health science majors with a more holistic view of complex socioscientific issues including obesity. From our course, students self-reported changes in their views about obesity and exercise to include more empathy as well as nuance regarding exercise and body size as physiological and biological processes that are experienced and take place socioculturally. We found value in this cross-disciplinary approach and recommend it as a frame for other exercise physiology courses; we recognize this is not always possible, so we also provide resources for faculty who do not have a sociologist to coteach with.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This article presents a unique perspective on the necessity of including sociological concepts and teaching alongside certain topics within a physiology classroom along with some resources for faculty wishing to engage in similar infusions of sociological thinking.

Doubling Down on Best Practices: Reflecting on Teaching Physiology During the COVID-19 Pandemic

As we pass the third anniversary of the World Health Organization's declaration of the SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic it is beneficial to reflect upon how physiology education adapted to the challenges of the pandemic. At the initial stages of the pandemic, many educators were faced with the challenge of quickly transitioning to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT), requiring shifts in teaching methodology and laboratory structure to adapt to the pandemic normal. In this paper, we provide a broad overview of the efforts made by the community of educators associated with the American Physiological Society during the pandemic to encourage best practices in teaching, maintain course and program goals during ERT, and innovate in physiology education. We also highlight diversity, equality and inclusion work that was produced as the scientific community recommitted to tackling systemic and structural inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic and brought to the forefront by the Black Lives Matter movement . Finally we examine the potentially long lasting effects of the pandemic on education from both the student and faculty standpoint and how doubling down on what we learned can be beneficial to the future of physiology education.

A crisis of authority in scientific discourse

Scientific training often begins with learning content knowledge and techniques. As a student progresses, they are required to communicate the results of their experiments with their instructors in a manner that other scientists would understand. This style of communication is stressed throughout their entire training. But what happens when the need arises to communicate with interested nonscientific audiences? Scientific discourse has typically been considered what philosopher of language Mikhail Bakhtin termed an "authoritative discourse,"-a discourse that "binds us, quite independent of any power it might have to persuade us internally," whose hegemony is traditionally a priori, unquestioned. However, within the public realm, that authority is in crisis. There is an unsettling rise of anti-scientific counter-discourses such as the anti-vaccine movement, the growing Flat Earth movement, climate change denialism, and a host of other "movements" grounded in either pseudo-science or an outright dismissal of scientific authority. In response to this crisis, scientists and educators have called for more attention to improving scientific literacy among the general public. By examining the generic conventions of scientific discourse using the theories of Mikhail Bakhtin, we hope to point out some of the barriers causing the current crisis in scientific authority.

Lighting up the NMJ: developing an LED-based model of the neuromuscular junction for the undergraduate classroom

Many complex physiological processes can be introduced and explored using the framework of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), including neurotransmitter release, membrane depolarization, and ion channel activity. While traditionally used instructional tools such as static complex drawings are useful, these images can be incomplete physiological representations due to the lack of physically moving parts. As a result, they often misrepresent the complexity of physiological phenomena to students. We describe an effort to create a more accurate, dynamic representation of the NMJ to enhance instruction in an undergraduate anatomy and physiology course. We sought to create a unique and memorable moving diagram that combines elements of static images with moving parts. To evaluate the impact of the dynamic model, students were asked about their understanding of the NMJ before and after exposure to the model. In addition, students were asked for attitudinal responses to the model and their preferred method of instruction. Analysis of student responses indicated that students enjoyed the model, although they also had concerns about the speed of the simulated ion movement being too fast. The model has also served as an informal science education art installation in presentations for prospective students, stakeholders in the broader community, including local and statewide politicians, the University president and board of trustees, donors, and other regional economic and educational leaders.

The art of talking about science: beginning to teach physiology students how to communicate with nonscientists

The ability to clearly disseminate scientific knowledge is a skill that is necessary for any undergraduate student within the sciences. Traditionally, this is accomplished through the instruction of scientific presentation or writing with a focus on peer-to-peer communication at the expense of teaching communication aimed at a nonscientific audience. One of the ramifications of focusing on peer-to-peer communication has presented itself as an apprehension toward scientific knowledge within the general populace. This apprehension can be seen in a variety of venues, including the traditional media, popular culture, and education, which generally paint scientists as aloof and with an inability to discuss scientific issues to anyone other than other scientists. This paper describes a curriculum designed to teach Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology students the tools necessary for communicating complex concepts that were covered during the semester using approachable language. Students were assessed on their word usage in associated writing activities, the student's ability to reduce complexity of their statements, and performance in an informal scientific presentation to a lay audience. Results showed that this pedagogical approach has increased students' ability to reduce the complexity of their language in both a written and oral format. This, in turn, led to evaluators reporting greater levels of understanding of the topic presented following the presentation.

zfishbook: connecting you to a world of zebrafish revertible mutants

zfishbook is an internet-based openly accessible database of revertible protein trap gene-breaking transposon (GBT) insertional mutants in the zebrafish, Danio rerio. In these lines, a monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP) is encoded by an artificial 3' exon, resulting in a translational fusion to endogenous loci. The natural transparency of the zebrafish embryo and larvae greatly facilitates the expression annotation of tagged loci using new capillary-based SCORE imaging methods. Molecular annotation of each line is facilitated by cloning methods such as 5'-Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends (RACE) and inverse polymerase chain reaction (PCR). zfishbook (http://zfishbook.org) represents a central hub for molecular, expression and mutational information about GBT lines from the International Zebrafish Protein Trap Consortium (IZPTC) that includes researchers from around the globe. zfishbook is open to community-wide contributions including expression and functional annotation. zfishbook also represents a central location for information on how to obtain these lines from diverse members of the IZPTC and integration within other zebrafish community databases including Zebrafish Information Network (ZFIN), Ensembl and National Center for Biotechnology Information.

SCORE imaging: specimen in a corrected optical rotational enclosure

Visual data collection is paramount for the majority of scientific research. The added transparency of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) allows for a greater detail of complex biological research that accompanies seemingly simple observational tools. We developed a visual data analysis and collection approach that takes advantage of the cylindrical nature of the zebrafish allowing for an efficient and effective method for image capture that we call Specimen in a Corrected Optical Rotational Enclosure imaging. To achieve a nondistorted image, zebrafish were placed in a fluorinated ethylene propylene tube with a surrounding optically corrected imaging solution (water). By similarly matching the refractive index of the housing (fluorinated ethylene propylene tubing) to that of the inner liquid and outer liquid (water), distortion was markedly reduced, producing a crisp imagable specimen that is able to be fully rotated 360 degrees. A similar procedure was established for fixed zebrafish embryos using convenient, readily available borosilicate capillaries surrounded by 75% glycerol. The method described here could be applied to chemical genetic screening and other related high-throughput methods within the fish community and among other scientific fields.

A primer for morpholino use in zebrafish

Morpholino oligonucleotides are the most common anti-sense "knockdown" technique used in zebrafish (Danio rerio). This review discusses common practices for the design, preparation, and deployment of morpholinos in this vertebrate model system. Off-targeting effects of morpholinos are discussed as well as method to minimize this potentially confounding variable via co-injection of a tP53-targeting morpholino. Finally, new uses of morpholinos are summarized and contextualized with respect to the complementary, DNA-based knockout technologies recently developed for zebrafish.