The Nernst equation is key to understanding the electrophysiology of the cell membrane and the pathophysiology of K[superscript +] imbalances (i.e., hyperkalemia and hypokalemia). However, in our experience teaching medical students over the years, many students struggle to make connections between a brief introduction of the Nernst equation and…

Critical thinking is a common and important learning outcome in college curricula. Case-based and problem-based learning can be used to assess and foster critical thinking skills. HNF 250--Contemporary Issues in Human Nutrition is a critical thinking course developed during the redesign of a nutritional sciences major program. Course assignments…

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…

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…

Because jigsaw puzzles are fun, and challenging, students will endure and discover that persistence and grit are rewarded. Importantly, play and fun have a biological place just like sleep and dreams. Students also feel a sense of accomplishment when they have completed a puzzle. Importantly, the reward of mastering a challenge builds confidence…

A major goal of graduate education is the development of students as "stewards of the discipline," scholars who can create and preserve knowledge and responsibly translate it through writing, teaching, and practical applications. These qualities are consistent with the American Physiological Society's list of professional skills for…

"Sickle cell anemia: tracking down a mutation" is a full-day, inquiry-based, biology experience for high school students enrolled in genetics or advanced biology courses. In the experience, students use restriction endonuclease digestion, cellulose acetate gel electrophoresis, and microscopy to discover which of three putative patients…

Students are naturally curious and inquisitive with powerful intrinsic motives to probe, learn, and understand their world. Accordingly, class activities must capitalize on this inherently energetic and curious nature so that learning becomes a lifelong activity where students take initiative for learning, are skilled in learning, and want to…

Analogies are often helpful for students to grasp key physiological concepts; sometimes the technical jargon makes the concept seem more complex than it actually is. In this article the authors provide several analogies for information transfer processes that sometimes confuse students. For an analogy to be useful, of course, it needs to be…

In the natural world, learning emerges from the joy of play, experimentation, and inquiry as part of everyday life. However, this kind of informal learning is often difficult to integrate within structured educational curricula. This report describes an educational program that embeds naturalistic learning into formal high school, college, and…

In this article, the authors describe an inexpensive and simple way to make students intuitively experience the probabilistic nature and nonorientated motion of diffusing particles. This understanding allows students to realize why diffusion works so well over short distances and becomes increasingly and rapidly less effective as the distances…

Traditional review sessions are intended to help students learn and prepare for upcoming exams. Most sessions are passive question and answer sessions that look backward at content deficits rather than advancing student learning. By incorporating active and cooperative learning approaches during a review session, students are able to recognize…

Despite a profusion of popular misinformation about the left brain and right brain, there are functional differences between the left and right cerebral hemispheres in humans. Evidence from split-brain patients, individuals with unilateral brain damage, and neuroimaging studies suggest that each hemisphere may be specialized for certain cognitive…

An undergraduate course in pharmacology in which problem-based self-directed learning in the context of small groups provides students with an opportunity to take greater responsibility for their own learning is described. The objectives, examples of problems used in the course, and student evaluations of the course and tutors are included. (KR)

In this work, we describe the use of several strategies employing the philosophies of active learning and problem-based learning (PBL) that may be used to improve the teaching of metabolic biochemistry to medical and nutritional undergraduate students. The main activities are as follows: 1) a seminar/poster system in a mini-congress format (using…