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Four ways to teach PHC in a changing world.

Nurse educators are challenged to revise teaching/learning methods to support community-based primary health care (PHC) systems. The key elements are: integrating education with the realities of practice and people's needs; moving communities to strive towards solving their own health problems; and recognizing the socioeconomic health determinants. Described below are four educational methods based on PHC: inquiry-based learning, IMPACTS (a game to encourage multisectoral collaboration), distance education and community-based education.

Education, Nursing↗

The Community Partnerships Experience: a report of institutional transition at East Tennessee State University.

The Community Partnerships Program, sponsored by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, served as a catalyst for significant changes within East Tennessee State University (specifically its schools of medicine, nursing, and public and allied health) and the rural communities involved. The authors describe the development and implementation of the program and its effects on the students, faculty, communities, and the three participating schools over the period 1992-1999. They also review the changes the program fostered in health professions education and the resulting institutional changes at their university. The primary motivation for change at East Tennessee State University was the desire to develop primary care providers who could more effectively function in an interdisciplinary and interprofessional health care system and who would be sensitive to community needs in rural and underserved areas. The planning process, curricular transformation, implementation of inquiry-based learning, community collaboration, and interdisciplinary education involving students from the three health professions schools are described, including challenges and difficulties (e.g., student attrition; retention of volunteer community-based clinical preceptors; initial faculty resistance; a climate of competition rather than cooperation). Outcomes are described, including students' enrollment and attrition in the program over time, performances on the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination, program graduates' career choices, and the types and locations of their practices. The program's students performed as well on professional licensing examinations as did their peers enrolled in traditional programs. Program graduates have been much more likely to select primary care careers and to practice in rural locations than have their non-program peers. The development strategies and experience gained could give useful insights to other universities contemplating a community-based component for health professionals within their existing curricula.

Community Participation↗

Cooperative quizzes in the anatomy and physiology laboratory: a description and evaluation.

Physiology educators read journals, such as this one, to gather ideas about curriculum and instruction. Most articles focus on curriculum (i.e., what is taught), but this paper will focus on instruction (i.e., how curriculum is implemented). Just as there are different types of curricula, there are different types of instruction. The most common strategy is lecture. Lectures are extremely efficient for delivering large amounts of information in a short period of time. A common laboratory strategy is discovery or inquiry-based learning (i.e., giving students tools, cognitive and physical, to deduce new information via investigations). A third instructional strategy is the use of cooperative learning. Proper conditions are required for each instructional strategy, and problems arise when the wrong combinations are put together. This paper will describe how a cooperative learning environment can be created in the anatomy and physiology laboratory through the use of cooperative quizzes. It will include a brief introduction to the pedagogical theory behind cooperative learning and an evaluation of the effectiveness of quizzes compared with more traditional methods.

Anatomy↗

Construction of a model demonstrating cardiovascular principles.

We developed a laboratory exercise that involves the construction and subsequent manipulation of a model of the cardiovascular system. The laboratory was designed to engage students in interactive, inquiry-based learning and to stimulate interest for future science study. The model presents a concrete means by which cardiovascular mechanics can be understood as well as a focal point for student interaction and discussion of cardiovascular principles. The laboratory contains directions for the construction of an inexpensive, easy-to-build model as well as an experimental protocol. From this experience students may gain an appreciation fo science that cannot be obtained by reading a book or interacting with a computer. Students not only learn the significant physiological concepts but also appreciate the importance of laboratory experimentation for understanding complex concepts. Model construction provides a hands-on experience that may substantially improve performance in science processes. We believe that model construction is an appropriate method for teaching advanced concepts.

Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena↗

An inquiry-based approach to teaching research design: asking the right questions.

To describe an inquiry-based learning activity and discuss the advantages of using such activities to demonstrate research design to undergraduate psychology students the authors presented students with the research problem of eyewitness memory recall and asked students to solve the problem, using the information provided by the course. Working in small groups, students reviewed eyewitness studies and designed their own research materials, including a videotaped theft and a CD-ROM version of the eyewitness survey and potential suspect line-up. Poststudy interviews showed that the students enjoyed the activity and felt that they had a better understanding of experimental research design than they had before the exercise. It is proposed that this activity may be a useful hands-on tool for instructors who have difficulty teaching students fundamental topics such as literature reviews, hypothesis testing, reliability and validity of research measures, and experimental design.

Humans↗

Community partnerships: redirecting the education of undergraduate nursing students.

Consistent with the goal of reforming nursing education to support nursing's agenda for health care reform, a community-based, multiprofessional initiative supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation began in Hawaii in 1991. This initiative created a partnership among the University of Hawaii Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Social Work, and Public Health, three community health centers, and their communities to provide a community-based, integrated system of health care, education, and research. In response to this initiative, the School of Nursing developed an integrated undergraduate curriculum consisting of: a discipline-specific tutorial using an inquiry-based learning strategy; a multiprofessional tutorial; and a 1-year clinical experience providing culturally competent primary care. Community-based education has stimulated changes in the philosophy, mission, and curriculum of the School of Nursing. The outcomes achieved as a result of this initiative have had a favorable impact on clients using the community health centers, the communities, the School of Nursing, and the students.

Community Health Nursing↗

Information needs related to teaching about air quality.

Translating knowledge of air quality into a form that can be understood by students and the general public is a major challenge for scientists, public officials, and teachers. Social science studies have shown that both educators and the general public are relatively uninformed about recent findings in environmental research. It is especially difficult to get students of today excited about environmental issues because environmental education has become institutionalized. Students believe they know about major environmental problems even when their knowledge is rudimentary or even wrong. One problem in getting public attention is the general level of hyperbole and hysteria common in most media. Thus, do we try to be even more shrill and apocalyptic than other advocates clamoring for public notice, or should we refuse to participate in this competition for attention?A model is presented to bring K-12 teachers, scientists, and students together to develop innovative, inquiry-based, active learning materials for environmental education. Curricular materials utilizing the discovery process can be created and tested in an iterative process that incorporates the results of current science research into highly effective teaching materials for schools. Following extensive evaluative procedures and review, exemplary materials are prepared for publication. This collaborative method also gives teachers and students a more realistic understanding of how science works by giving them access to active scientists and practical scientific experience.Finally, we argue that scientists need to reveal why they care about environmental issues. It is not enough to remain aloof and objective. If we are going to motivate students and the public to make changes in their lives, we need to make a convincing case for the importance of air quality and what it means in practical terms to our common environment.

Adolescent↗

An inquiry-based teaching tool for understanding arterial blood pressure regulation and cardiovascular function.

Educators are placing a greater emphasis on the development of cooperative laboratory experiences that supplement the traditional lecture format. The new laboratory materials should encourage active learning, problem-solving, and inquiry-based approaches. To address these goals, we developed a laboratory exercise designed to introduce students to the hemodynamic variables (heart rate, stroke volume, total peripheral resistance, and compliance) that alter arterial pressure. For this experience, students are presented with "unknown" chart recordings illustrating pulsatile arterial pressure before and in response to several interventions. Students must analyze and interpret these unknown recordings and match each recording with the appropriate intervention. These active learning procedures help students understand and apply basic science concepts in a challenging and interactive format. Furthermore, laboratory experiences may enhance the students' level of understanding and ability to synthesize and apply information. In conducting this exercise, students are introduced to the joys and excitement of inquiry-based learning through experimentation.

Blood Pressure↗

Concept mapping for meaningful learning.

The complexity of teaching, learning and assessment strategies remains a problem in nurse education especially with the changes in new curricula. This article explains one solution, which was considered and explored prior to implementation for the assessment of an inquiry-based module in nurse education. The overall aim for selecting this method of assessment was to provide consolidation of prior learning from the core content of the module and to give the students an opportunity to gain further, wide and varied knowledge on a number of concepts in a short period. Concept mapping has proved to be one of the most challenging learning experiences for nursing students. It has been identified as a stimulating learning and assessing tool as predominantly acknowledged over the last year, by nursing students on the Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) BSc and Dip HE nursing education programmes, and also nurse educators who have the responsibility of facilitating the learners.

Concept Formation↗

Models to increase enrollment of minority females in science-based careers.

Enrollment of African-American females in academic pathways that lead to science based-careers may be limited by gender discrepancies in standardized test scores, academic preparation, selecting "college-prep" course work in the high school curriculum, and lack of mentors or role models. Barriers related to teacher characteristics are: (a) lack of self-confidence, (b) learning environment, (c) teacher behavior, (d) lack of female role models, and (e) failure to see the relevance between the classes and a female's expected role in life. Other limiting factors include differences in access to educational resources, differences in economic status, differences in interest or choice, cultural barriers, and lack of encouragement. Confidence building models that improve enrollment of minority females in science-based careers include equitable teaching instruction, inquiry-based pedagogy, and cooperative learning. Practices that correlate with achievement and success include challenging curricula, a nurturing learning environment, high expectations, community service, research experiences, and mentoring relationships.

Adult↗

Continuing education for medical professionals: a reflective model.

The Royal Colleges and their Faculties have moved continuing professional development up the agenda of doctors in the UK. The low educational value and failure to change professional practice of much continuing medical education has led to criticism of its emphasis on formal, didactic teaching and academic knowledge. The ubiquitous scientific or technical bias in medical education makes questionable assumptions about the nature of professional knowledge, how professionals learn, and the linkage of theory and practice in professional work. Given its narrow conception of professional knowledge, it is hardly surprising that the effectiveness of continuing medical education has proven difficult to evaluate. These points of criticism suggest that a more systematic and coherent approach to continuing education is required. The adoption of the concept of continuing professional development, which draws on learning by reflective practice, marks an important step in this direction. Continuing professional development emphasises self-directed learning, professional self-awareness, learning developed in context, multidisciplinary and multilevel collaboration, the learning needs of individuals and their organisations, and an inquiry-based concept of professionalism. It also involves a widening of accountability to patients, the community, managers and policymakers, and a form of evaluation which is internal, participatory and collaborative rather than external and scientific in character.

Clinical Competence↗

Science education partnership between the University of Colorado and a Denver High School.

The authors describe a partnership, begun in 1997, between Manual High School, a school in which about 85% of the students are African, American or Hispanic, and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. There are three partnership goals: help teachers transform a lecture-based curriculum into an inquiry-based curriculum, help students build their science knowledge, and give students opportunities to learn--and become excited--about careers in medicine. The current emphasis of the partnership is at the ninth-grade level. The first unique aspect of the partnership is the Medical Explorers program. One portion of the program begins when a hypothetical teenage car-crash victim arrives at the emergency room; over the next six weeks, practicing health care professionals dramatize their medical responsibilities to this patient and discuss the academic training necessary to fulfill those responsibilities. In addition, the Medical Explorers students travel to the Health Sciences Center, where they tour laboratories and clinics, help conduct experiments, and explore computer-based surgical simulations. The second unique program is a service learning project in which ninth-grade students assist with an activity that gives elementary school students a chance to participate in the process of scientific inquiry and to discover the wonder of real hearts and lungs; the ninth-graders assist with logistics (e.g., they distribute newspapers), and, more important, interact with the younger students by asking thoughtful questions of them. The partnership plans to incorporate the elementary and middle schools that graduate their students to Manual High School in order to encourage the implementation of inquiry-based science curricula and to provide sustained support to teachers throughout the entire K-12 educational pathway. If medical colleges can help teachers provide a consistent classroom draw for student fascination in science and medicine, then the colleges are more likely to help create a rich diversity of students who pursue careers in medicine.

Adolescent↗

Boston University's biosciences education program for Boston-area students.

The authors describe the CityLab program, which has the goal of providing equal educational opportunities in biotechnology and medical sciences for all students in the greater Boston area in grades seven through 12, particularly students from groups traditionally underrepresented in science. Since 1992, more than 16,000 students and 1,200 teachers have participated in the program's activities, which focus on giving students meaningful laboratory experiences in the biosciences (either at Boston University of by means of a traveling laboratory in a bus). Students develop confidence in their ability to apply molecular biology and biotechnology concepts and skills to scientific problems and learn that they can pursue careers in the biosciences. The authors describe the CityLab program, its inquiry-based teaching methods, its effects, and its potential to increase students' interest in biomedical studies and careers.

Boston↗

Supported inquiry science: teaching for conceptual change in urban and suburban science classrooms.

Science education professionals generally agree that hands-on, inquiry-based science potentially benefits all students, yet there are few specific guidelines for helping students with learning disabilities (LD) achieve success in general education science classrooms. This study compared the effects of two approaches to hands-on science--supported inquiry science (SIS) and activity-based science--in six urban and two suburban fourth-grade general education classrooms. Participants included 172 students, 33 of whom had learning disabilities. The study found that students with and without LD demonstrated greater concept learning in the SIS classrooms, which focused on eliciting and reworking students' misconceptions and co-constructing knowledge under the guidance of a teacher-coach.

Achievement↗

A successful university-school-district partnership to help San Francisco's K-12 students learn about science and medicine.

The Science and Health Education Partnership (SEP) is a program at the University of California, San Francisco, established in 1987 to support the San Francisco School District ("the District") in its efforts to improve science education in grades K-12. A large cadre of active biomedical scientists and health professionals and a core program staff provide support to 90-95% of the District's schools. The District's students are from a variety of racial and ethnic groups, including a large percentage from underrepresented minorities (URMs). The SEP program has numerous components, some designed to help teachers (e.g., a clinician or scientist forms an ongoing partnership with a teacher to enrich classroom instruction) and some involving direct work with students (e.g., a contest where teams of students design and present lessons on science or health to their peers; activities related specifically to the encouragement of URM students). The SEP's perspective has evolved from an emphasis on assisting individual teachers and students to one of supporting systemic change throughout the District (e.g., supporting full implementation of hands-on, inquiry-based science instruction throughout the District via professional development). During this evolution, the kinds of issues facing program staff have changed and a great deal has been learned about fostering successful partnership activities. For example, (1) having a coordinator is crucial to make such a program work well; (2) it is easier to find start-up funding than to find continuing funding for ongoing activities that are working; and (3) it is important to work with the volunteering scientists and the teachers to help them understand what each has to offer the partnership and to encourage explicit dialogue about roles and expectations. The author concludes with advice for starting a new partnership: think big but start small, and work toward a long-term association based on communication and trust.

Adolescent↗

Using a course-long theme for inquiry-based laboratories in a comparative physiology course.

I developed an inquiry-based laboratory model that uses a central theme throughout the semester to develop in undergraduate biology majors the skills required for conducting science while introducing them to modern and classical physiological techniques. The physiology laboratory uses a goal-oriented approach, with students working cooperatively in small groups to answer basic biological questions. The student teams work to develop skills associated with experimental design, data analysis, written and oral communication, science literacy, and critical thinking. The laboratory curriculum is a research-based model that offers the advantage of students asking open-ended questions by use of a variety of techniques. For the students and instructor alike, this presents an exciting and challenging approach for learning physiology and basic biological principles. Another advantage of this laboratory model is that it is flexible and adaptable; the central theme can be any that the instructor chooses, and the goals and techniques developed are based on student and instructor needs and interests. Students who have completed this model at Loyola College in Maryland have become equipped with the skills essential for any area of the biological sciences and, most importantly, showed elevated excitement and commitment to learning.

Cooperative Behavior↗

An inquiry into protein structure and genetic disease: introducing undergraduates to bioinformatics in a large introductory course.

This inquiry-based lab is designed around genetic diseases with a focus on protein structure and function. To allow students to work on their own investigatory projects, 10 projects on 10 different proteins were developed. Students are grouped in sections of 20 and work in pairs on each of the projects. To begin their investigation, students are given a cDNA sequence that translates into a human protein with a single mutation. Each case results in a genetic disease that has been studied and recorded in the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database. Students use bioinformatics tools to investigate their proteins and form a hypothesis for the effect of the mutation on protein function. They are also asked to predict the impact of the mutation on human physiology and present their findings in the form of an oral report. Over five laboratory sessions, students use tools on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Web site (BLAST, LocusLink, OMIM, GenBank, and PubMed) as well as ExPasy, Protein Data Bank, ClustalW, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, and the structure-viewing program DeepView. Assessment results showed that students gained an understanding of the Web-based databases and tools and enjoyed the investigatory nature of the lab.

Algorithms↗

How effective are simulated molecular-level experiments for teaching diffusion and osmosis?

Diffusion and osmosis are central concepts in biology, both at the cellular and organ levels. They are presented several times throughout most introductory biology textbooks (e.g., Freeman, 2002), yet both processes are often difficult for students to understand (Odom, 1995; Zuckerman, 1994; Sanger et al., 2001; and results herein). Students have deep-rooted misconceptions about how diffusion and osmosis work, especially at the molecular level. We hypothesized that this might be in part due to the inability to see and explore these processes at the molecular level. In order to investigate this, we developed new software, OsmoBeaker, which allows students to perform inquiry-based experiments at the molecular level. Here we show that these simulated laboratories do indeed teach diffusion and osmosis and help overcome some, but not all, student misconceptions.

Biology↗