scholarly journals Core concepts in physiology: teaching homeostasis through pattern recognition

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 812-828
Author(s):  
Michael Chirillo ◽  
Dee U. Silverthorn ◽  
Predrag Vujovic

Homeostasis is a core concept in systems physiology that future clinicians and biomedical professionals will apply in their careers. Despite this, many students struggle to transfer the principles governing homeostasis to concrete examples. Precourse assessments conducted on 72 undergraduate biology students enrolled in an introductory systems physiology course at the University of Belgrade during the February–May semester of 2021 revealed that students had a vague, fragmentary understanding of homeostasis and its related concepts that was often conflated with topics touched on during their previous coursework. We formalized and implemented an approach to teaching homeostasis that focused heavily on consistent reinforcement of physiological reflex patterns throughout the course. To that end, we employed a variety of activities aimed at getting students to view organ system integration holistically. After the semester, postcourse assessment demonstrated that students were better able to provide concrete examples of organ system contributions to homeostasis and were more adept at applying basic principles to novel physiological scenarios. Comparison of final grades with previous semesters revealed that students outperformed their peers who had taken the course previously. In this article, we summarize the findings of pre- and postcourse assessments, describe the general approach we took to teaching homeostasis as well as the specific techniques used in the classroom, and compare student performance with previous semesters.

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (13) ◽  
pp. 122-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Chase ◽  
Lucinda Soares Gonzales

This article will describe the approach to dysphagia education in a classroom setting at the University of Connecticut (UCONN), explore the disparity between student performance in schools vs. health care settings that was discovered at UCONN, and offer suggestions for practicum supervisors in medical settings to enhance student acquisition of competence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-193
Author(s):  
Dmytrash O ◽  

The article presents an overview and analysis of the state of research in the field of design and exploitation of modern educational spaces in universities around the world, namely areas with flexible planning, called informal learning space. According to the research conducted, the general characteristic and classification were developed and the basic principles of designing this space were revealed. The study identified several problems that arise during its exploitation, which should be taken into account in the designing process. There is described the experience of educational design of interuniversity cultural centres with the application of the developed theoretical bases of designing of informal educational space.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridget Grogan

This article reports on and discusses the experience of a contrapuntal approach to teaching poetry, explored during 2016 and 2017 in a series of introductory poetry lectures in the English 1 course at the University of Johannesburg. Drawing together two poems—Warsan Shire’s “Home” and W.H. Auden’s “Refugee Blues”—in a week of teaching in each year provided an opportunity for a comparison that encouraged students’ observations on poetic voice, racial identity, transhistorical and transcultural human experience, trauma and empathy. It also provided an opportunity to reflect on teaching practice within the context of decoloniality and to acknowledge the need for ongoing change and review in relation to it. In describing the contrapuntal teaching and study of these poems, and the different methods employed in the respective years of teaching them, I tentatively suggest that canonical Western and contemporary postcolonial poems may reflect on each other in unique and transformative ways. I further posit that poets and poems that engage students may open the way into initially “less relevant” yet ultimately rewarding poems, while remaining important objects of study in themselves.


Author(s):  
Tatyana F. Berestova ◽  
Vera R. Abramovskih

The basic principles of publishing activities in universities and their interrelation, all stages of redaction, the problems each of them, and ways to solve them. The activities of the distribution sector of publishing in the structure of the Research Library of Chelyabinsk State Academy of Culture and Arts and the history of its creation are described.


This article is devoted to the features and benefits of a professionally-oriented approach to teaching a foreign language in non-linguistic high schools on the example of engineering education. According to the latest standards of higher education (FSES 3++), students must have sufficient knowledge of a foreign language for business communication in oral and written forms. However, teachers of high schools face a number of difficulties in the formation of a foreign language communicative competence offuture engineers, namely: a constant decrease of a number offoreign language practical classes in a curriculum of a high school and a weak motivation of students. In our opinion, a professionally-oriented approach to teaching helps to solve these problems and make the process of learning a foreign language more intensive, focused and effective. That is, now, the development of strategies, methodological models and tools for teaching English, with a focus on professional communication, is an actual task for an English teacher at the University. This article presents some methods and techniques that stimulate students of engineering faculty to professionally oriented communication in English. Much attention is paid to both active teaching methods used during practical English classes, and individual work, which allows students to get more useful information and skills within the practical classes given, and also allows students to develop the need for individual knowledge acquisition and comprehension, thereby providing the increased interest of communication in a foreign language and increasing motivation to learn a foreign language.


Author(s):  
Sourav Bhattacharjee

In this Expert Perspective video, Sourav Bhattacharjee of the University College Dublin discusses the hopes and challenges in the field of nanomedicine research, overviewing the basic principles of nanomedicine and the progress made so far. Sourav also summarises his work in nanomedicine, providing guidance and advice to new researchers in this field.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moacyr Xavier Gomes da Silva ◽  
Franciany Braga-Pereira ◽  
Mikaela Clotilde da Silva ◽  
José Valberto de Oliveira ◽  
Sérgio de Faria Lopes ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Reptiles form a paraphyletic group with significant roles for human society, including species that are considered important for food, medicinal and mystical use and as pets. Some species are considered to be aversive, whereas others are captivating among people. Aversion is an important factor which should be considered in the conservation policies of these animals. As such, here, we investigate the demographic, educational, perceptives and behavioural factors of students related to their aversion and non-conservationist attitudes directed towards different reptile species and evaluated the effect of educational exhibition of animals as a strategy of mitigating these attitudes. Methods The data were obtained through forms on the aversion and conservation of reptiles represented by three species, a chelonian, a snake and a lizard. The form was given in two instances, before and after a visit to a private zoo (Museu Vivo Répteis da Caatinga), where the students had contact with the aforementioned species. A total of 133 students participated in the study, among these, 43 from elementary school (21 females and 22 males), 29 from high school (16 females and 13 males), 37 from university biology students (22 females and 15 males) and 24 university mathematics students (6 females and 18 males). Results Among all evaluated species, snakes were considered to be the most aversive species. The aversion attitudes differed between the three evaluated species when correlated to age and type of university courses. However, this pattern did not differ between student sexes. Older students had a lower aversion to the chelonian compared to the younger ones, but for snakes and lizards, the aversion was high among students of all ages. The university biology students had a lower aversion compared to the university mathematics students for the three species. The recognition and handle of the tested species and previous visits to educational exhibitions of animals were negatively related to aversion. The comparative analysis of the forms applied before and after the visit to the Museu Vivo Répteis da Caatinga showed that this visit influenced the decrease of aversion, but not in non-conservationist attitudes, for which the attitude scores had always been low. Conclusions We conclude that reptile aversion varies in accordance with the taxon, being snakes the most disliked by students. The visit to the educational exhibition of animals contributed to the reduction of the observed aversion. This is especially true when the acquisition of educational information about species is associated with practical activities which includes contact with the animals. Finally, the fact that non-conservationist attitudes had been low towards all species perhaps demonstrates a conservationist tendency even for the most aversive species.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7673
Author(s):  
Tarquino Sánchez-Almeida ◽  
David Naranjo ◽  
Raquel Gilar-Corbi ◽  
Jessica Reina

In Ecuador, affirmative action policies enable students from vulnerable groups to preferentially enter universities. However, these policies are limited to admission and do not include academic or socio-economic support mechanisms that, according to the literature, promote student insertion in the higher education system. In this study, the effects of socio-academic intervention on the academic performance of vulnerable students are presented. For this, 41 students were selected among 164 vulnerable students entering the Escuela Politécnica Nacional in the second term of 2019. The 41 students attended a socio-academic intervention course for one term, while the remaining 123 attended the Escuela Politécnica Nacional levelling course directly. Once both groups of students finished the levelling course, their performance in each of the course subjects was compared. The results showed that the academic performance of the students in the intervention was significantly higher in mathematics and geometry compared to the students who had no intervention. These results show that the socio-academic intervention promotes the real insertion of vulnerable students in the university system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-30
Author(s):  
L. N. Verkhovykh

. The paper deals with the issues of using the linguistic cultural approach to teaching Russian and Russian as a native language to boost learners’ cognitive activity. During the study, the basic principles and types of linguistic cultural work are characterised. The paper also describes areas where linguistic cultural material can be used. Additionally, a number of specific tasks facilitating learners’ cognitive skills development are given. The descriptive method is the main research tool in conjunction with some elements of comparative analysis. It was found that the linguistic cultural approach to teaching Russian and Russian as a native language is an important component in education as it enhances learners’ cognitive activity. Moreover, it provides comprehensive solutions to teaching and educational challenges.


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