Community college students come from a variety of backgrounds and have different levels of educational preparedness compared to undergraduates in 4-year undergraduate schools. Historically, retention rates of these students in human physiology courses have been low, often due to non-passing grades. Incorporation of additional active learning…

This paper presents community college (CC) instructors' responses to the Community College Anatomy and Physiology Educational Research (CAPER) project, a professional development program focused on active learning and educational research. We engage with conceptual change theory to better understand why and how CC instructors shifted their…

Pre-clinical community college students represent a unique population with varied academic backgrounds and levels of preparedness. Addressing the needs of this population is important for issues of access, equity, and diversity in higher education. As part of a larger National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Community College Anatomy and…

This narrative study tells the teaching and learning story of the recently retired Dr. Peggy LePage, a longtime member of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society with a career as a community college anatomy and biology professor spanning nearly three decades. Drawn from a lengthy narrative interview, this paper describes Dr. LePage's background…

Although active learning improves student outcomes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs, it may provoke anxiety in some students. We examined whether two psychological variables, social anxiety (psychological distress relating to the fear of negative evaluation by others) and academic self-efficacy (confidence in…

Research has shown that a moderate to high level of Active Learning (AL) is helpful for all students, especially for disadvantaged students. In this study we measured student perceptions of case-based learning (CBL), a type of AL, in anatomy and physiology courses at a four-year university and a community college. We compared perceptions of CBL to…

This study assessed the effectiveness of the introduction of active learning exercises into the anatomy and physiology curriculum in a community college setting. Specifically, the incorporation of a spirometry-based respiratory physiology lab resulted in improved student performance in two concepts (respiratory volumes and the hallmarks of…

One reason students give for attending a community college is that the mathematics requirements appear to be less rigorous. Many of the author's students have told her that they have chosen to seek an associate's degree first because they do not feel confident that they could successfully complete the mathematics requirement at a four-year…