Enhancement of Physiology Instruction

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The Biology Department is implementing a series of investigative laboratory experiences throughout its curriculum to enhance the critical evaluation skills of its students. This project deals with the enhancement of the physiology portion of the curriculum. The requested equipment consists of interface/amplifier units designed to sample a variety of signals and input these into a laboratory computer system. The intent is to shift the emphasis from organizing pages of polygraphic printout to interaction with the data. We want our students to develop testable hypothesis statements and carry out their own experimental design. After the interface/amplifier units record the data, the students immediately analyze their results, reevaluate their hypothesis, and redesign their experiment, if necessary. The units are easy to assemble and program and allow both the graphical display but also the statistical analysis of the material. The efficiency of the system redirects the emphasis to developing critical evaluation skills. The units are used at various points along the students' college program. As students develop these thinking skills in the physiology laboratory exercises, we are expanding these activities in other laboratories. Because this is the single biology course offered in the elementary education curriculum, this course and several laboratory exercises using the equipment have been carefully structured to help students develop an appreciation for the scientific process, encouraging students to think through a problem rather than look for the correct answer in a lab manual.