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Physiology Labs at the Cutting Edge: Multidisciplinary Design of Systems and Devices for Physiology Measurements
Author(s) -
Rozner Robert H,
Batts Jacob T,
Nossa Gianna K,
Pullins Calvin,
Pelaez Nancy
Publication year - 2017
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.31.1_supplement.576.32
Subject(s) - physiology , computer science , multidisciplinary approach , mathematics education , psychology , medicine , social science , sociology
Physiology as a discipline is uniquely positioned to engage undergraduate students in transformational research, which often involves multidisciplinary projects. However, physiology lab instruction is often centered around historical and not current physiology research methods. When students perform a protocol without realizing the relevant cross‐cultural and social impact from those methods, they miss the opportunity to discover whose interests are being served and the importance of physiology. In this study, a lab course arena was provided where students could solve real‐world physiology problems. Each module gave basic information, a problem, and protocols. Students were challenged to design a solution and then to experimentally test it. They optimized storage of blood, built a device to measure rat respiration, tracked stages of the rat estrus cycle and designed equipment to identify parameters that alter compliance of myometrium, and invented a rat heart bypass device. As a result, students used what they learned in other disciplines: biology, chemistry, physics, and calculus. They practiced interdisciplinary communication with teamwork to develop something unique with minimal constraints. Importantly, a common misconception was identified: students replicated experiments to get better at the experiment, and not to account for and measure variability, as taught in statistics. When people looked at various solutions, examined how well each worked, and decided how to explain the cross‐cultural and social value, their thought processes simulated performance in a real‐life work environment much better than traditional physiology lab courses. Clearly, physiology will still be poised to advance society if students are asked to solve real‐world problems. Support or Funding Information A portion of this research is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant #1346567 for Advancing Competencies in Experimentation ‐ Biology (ACE‐Bio).