Principal Investigator: David Julian
CoPrincipal Investigator(s): Pasha Antonenko, Matthew Lineberry
Organization: University of Florida
Abstract:
The University of Florida has received an NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Exploration Track award to develop a web application with which undergraduate students can learn human physiology using both guided and pure discovery. The Principal Investigator (PI) team will design, conduct and analyze the results of authentic, simulation-based research. In contrast to many of the existing simulations commercially-available for human physiology instruction, the systematic model that forms the foundation of this project was created for basic and applied physiology research. The most recent iteration, called HumMod, is the most comprehensive model of human physiology, with over 6,000 variables describing cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, neural, endocrine, skeletal muscle, and metabolic physiology constructed from empirical data from peer-reviewed physiological literature. HumMod accurately predicts qualitative and quantitative changes in both clinical and experimental responses, and can simulate both acute and chronic clinical scenarios.
Based on the use of previous work involving the use of HumMod in physiology classes, it was recognized that it is a valuable guided-discovery tool for authentic, simulation-based research undergraduate physiology courses. However, the work demonstrated that the comprehensiveness that makes HumMod an outstanding research tool also makes it daunting for use as an education tool. To that end, the PI team will design a user interface that will simplify HumMod so that it can be used as an effective tool for student guided- or pure-discovery research in the classroom. The PI team also will investigate how instructional strategies for the simulation can be optimized to promote flexible and generalizable reasoning. Theories of learning are in direct conflict on how to manage the learner’s efforts. Cognitive load theorists (CLT) emphasize the need for guided discovery to minimize extraneous load; while error management theorists (EMT) suggest pure discovery to promote higher-level cognitive processes and active learning. The PI team will experimentally compare the two approaches to determine an effective application design and teaching strategy for undergraduate human physiology instruction. This project is funded jointly by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education in support of efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Education: A Call to Action http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/.
