Development of low-cost cardiac and skeletal muscle laboratory activities to teach physiology concepts and the scientific method

Anatomy and Physiology courses taught at community colleges tend to focus laboratory hours primarily on anatomy as opposed to physiology. However, research demonstrates that, when instructors utilize active learning approaches (such as in laboratory settings) where students participate in their own...

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Published inAdvances in physiology education Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 181 - 187
Main Authors Judge, Jennifer L., Cazares, Victor A., Thompson, Zoe, Skidmore, Lynnda A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Physiological Society 01.06.2020
SeriesClassroom and Laboratory Research Projects
Subjects
Adult
Anatomy
Anatomy - economics
Anatomy - education
Cardiac muscle
College students
Colleges & universities
Community Colleges
Concept Formation
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Curriculum
EKG
Electromyography
Female
Heart - physiology
How We Teach
Humans
Laboratories
Learning
Male
Measurement Equipment
Medical Laboratory Science - economics
Medical Laboratory Science - education
Muscle contraction
Muscle, Skeletal - physiology
Muscular system
Musculoskeletal system
Nervous system
Physiology
Physiology - economics
Physiology - education
Problem-Based Learning - economics
Problem-Based Learning - methods
Program Development - economics
Program Development - methods
Program Effectiveness
Scientific Concepts
Scientific Methodology
Skeletal muscle
Students
Teaching Methods
Two Year College Students
Universities - economics
Young Adult
Michigan
physiology
lab activities
community college
scientific method
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Summary:Anatomy and Physiology courses taught at community colleges tend to focus laboratory hours primarily on anatomy as opposed to physiology. However, research demonstrates that, when instructors utilize active learning approaches (such as in laboratory settings) where students participate in their own learning, students have improved outcomes, such as higher test scores and better retention of material. To provide community college students with opportunities for active learning in physiology, we developed two laboratory exercises to engage students in cardiac and skeletal muscle physiology. We utilized low-cost SpikerBox devices to measure electrical activity during cardiac (electrocardiogram) and skeletal muscle (electromyogram) contraction. Laboratory activities were employed in Anatomy and Physiology courses at two community colleges in southeast Michigan. A 2-h laboratory period was structured with a 20-min slide presentation covering background material on the subject and experiments to examine the effects of environmental variables on nervous system control of cardiac and skeletal muscle contraction. Students were asked to provide hypotheses and proposed mechanisms, complete a results section, and provide conclusions for the experiments based on their results. Our laboratory exercises improved student learning in physiology and knowledge of the scientific method and were well-received by community college students enrolled in Anatomy and Physiology. Our results demonstrate that the use of a SpikerBox for cardiac and skeletal muscle physiology concepts is a low-cost and effective approach to integrate physiology activities into an Anatomy and Physiology course.
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J. L. Judge and V. Cazares contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:1043-4046
1522-1229
1522-1229
DOI:10.1152/advan.00149.2019