Premium
Teaching respiratory physiology to health science students using digital data acquisition systems at a community college
Author(s) -
Fronhofer Van,
Schaefer Peter A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.575.6
Subject(s) - respiratory physiology , comprehension , computer science , laptop , medical education , physiology , health science , multimedia , respiratory system , medicine , programming language , operating system
The teaching of complex physiological processes to health science students in a community college laboratory can be challenging because of limited time and resources. Hence, the development of meaningful experiments that effectively demonstrate physiological principles is essential. To enhance the understanding of concepts like airway resistance and lung compliance and how they contribute to respiratory disease, we implemented the use of iWorx digital data acquisition systems linked to laboratory laptop computers. Students attend traditional lectures on respiratory anatomy and physiology prior to the laboratory exercise. In the lab, the students perform pulmonary function tests using an intuitive software interface, followed by derivation of their individual static lung capacities and assessment of their dynamic respiratory performance. Based on student satisfaction surveys and scores on lab quizzes, comprehension and retention of respiratory physiology concepts increased by 86% as compared to previous methods with an average score increase of 15.2 points. These results support the concept that hands‐on laboratory‐based pedagogy improves comprehension of physiological principles.