Enhancement of Physiology Instruction

生物系在整个课程中实施了一系列的研究性实验室体验，以提高学生的批判性评价技能。这个项目涉及加强课程的生理学部分。所要求的设备包括接口/放大器单元，用于采样各种信号并将其输入实验室计算机系统。其目的是将重点从组织多测图打印输出的页面转移到与数据的交互。我们希望我们的学生发展可测试的假设陈述，并进行他们自己的实验设计。在接口/放大器单元记录数据后，学生立即分析他们的结果，重新评估他们的假设，并在必要时重新设计他们的实验。这些单元易于组装和编程，并允许图形显示和材料的统计分析。该系统的效率将重点转向发展关键的评价技能。这些单元在学生大学课程的不同阶段使用。当学生在生理学实验室练习中培养这些思维技能时，我们正在将这些活动扩展到其他实验室。由于这是基础教育课程中提供的唯一一门生物学课程，这门课程和几个使用设备的实验练习都经过精心设计，以帮助学生培养对科学过程的欣赏，鼓励学生思考问题，而不是在实验手册中寻找正确答案。

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.