The educational benefit of the traditional didactic lecture to learners in Higher Education is hotly debated. Given increasing student numbers, existing technical set ups and many logistical concerns, lectures remain the norm in many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). In this personal view piece, we discuss the benefits, opportunities, and…

Lecture-Based Teaching (LBT) remains the predominant form of teaching in healthcare profession education. It is excellent in providing an overview of a particular topic to a large number of students. However, the concern, which has been highlighted time and again, is the monotony and passive nature of this form of information transmission, which…

The relation between lecture attendance and learning is surprisingly weak, and the role of learning styles in this is poorly understood. We hypothesized that 1) academic performance is related to lecture attendance and 2) learning style influences lecture attendance and, consequently, affects performance. We also speculated that the availability…

To address the need for greater flexibility in access to higher education, an online graduate course in physiology using case studies was developed and offered in summer 2012. Topics in both animal and human physiology were organized as modules that contained a case study with questions, a prerecorded online lecture, and three research journal…

An online, lecture/laboratory course in Human Physiology was run in two sections in five consecutive summers. In each year, the two sections were identical in content, assignments, and assessments but were different in duration; the shorter section was 1 mo and the longer section lasted 2 mo. The shorter section had a higher enrollment and a…

The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of models of programmed instruction and conventional (informative-illustrative) expository teaching in terms of fulfilling the aims of the course "Human anatomy and physiology" which is included in the physiology programme and designed for undergraduate students majoring in biology…

This brief review is meant to serve as a refresher for faculty teaching respiratory physiology to medical students. The concepts of ventilation and perfusion matching are some of the most challenging ideas to learn and teach. Some strategies to consider in teaching these concepts are, first, to build from simple to more complex by starting with a…

This is the report of a study of the effects of an optional attendance policy on actual lecture and laboratory attendance and on cognitive examination performance in the medical physiology course at the University of Kansas Medical Center. (Editor)

A multiphasic plan to improve lecture effectiveness which centers on teaching behaviors that can facilitate the learning process is described. Lectures were evaluated based on the inclusion of behaviors such as objectives, advance organizers, questioning, wait-time, and use of teaching aids. Included are the results and a discussion. (KR)

Data from a control group experiment show that the use of handout skeleton notes distinctly improved student learning. Use of mimeographed copies of detailed lecture outlines for a comparative physiology course allowed students to interact with the lecture material at the time it was presented. (JT)

Presents a self-instructional package for medical students and graduate students and is intended to communicate the basics of ionic equilibria in a lecture format. The package deals with osmotic aspects of the Gibbs-Donnan Equilibrium and with ionic equilibria. (Author/SA)

A Duquesne course integrating biochemistry lectures, clinical applications lectures, and laboratory sessions has the objectives of (1) making the course more relevant to students' perceived needs; (2) enhancing the learning process; (3) introducing clinical applications early in the students' program; and (4) demonstrating additional…

A two-quarter Human Anatomy and Physiology course for health-science students has been developed which incorporates the principles of individualization while maintaining the lecture hall setting. The lecture method contributes the following components to the course: (1) no special equipment or supplies; (2) personal interaction between instructor…

A study of 30 first-year medical students in a physiology course found that frequent evaluation had a profound negative effect on learning, with students adopting a surface reproductive approach geared to passing exams rather than integrating knowledge. Lectures and curriculum organization failed to affect student use and structure of knowledge.…

Compares differences in successive pretest/posttest scores for 46 undergraduate volunteers following the application of distinct teaching formats to each of 3 consecutive subsections of a human physiology course. Indicates scores increased favorably for audio-visual lecture and self-study tutorial formats but no significant increase for didactic…