Engaging Students on the First Day of Class

When I was an undergraduate—back in the olden days—the first day of every class was always the same. The professor would come in a few minutes after the published start time, hand out a stack of syllabi still fresh with the fumes of the spirit duplicator solvent, and tell us about all the course policies and procedures (anticipating that we would not really read the syllabus). Perhaps there would be a few questions answered. Possibly, we'd get a content-based lecture that first day, but more often we'd just get an early release from class.

When I started teaching college, I did the same thing. I thought that this was how it was supposed to be done. And, despite having had some courses in how to teach effectively, I just fell into the ritual with which I'd grown up.

It didn't even occur to me how boring or pointless this activity was until I was at a HAPS meeting decades ago and went to a workshop entitled something like Engaging Students on the First Day of Class. Although the title was mildly intriguing, the main reason I went was to support my friends Richard Faircloth and Michael Glasgow from Anne Arundel Community College, who presented the workshop. Those of you who've given workshops know that it helps to have a few folks in the crowd who can be counted on to smile back at you even when you're sweating!

It turned out to be one of those many how-did-I-survive-without-knowing-about-this-before-now moments that one experiences at a HAPS Conference. I learned that I could make that first day into something much, much better than the traditional "here's what I expect" sermon.

Richard and Michael had us form small groups and showed us how we could make "syllabus day" a fun, active learning experience for students. An experience that could be far more effective in getting the essential messages across than what I had been doing. It must have worked because I can still see and hear some of what happened nearly two decades ago in my small group—and I took their message home and implemented it.

Their method boils down to this:

1. Get your students into small groups. Right away—before you've handed out the syllabi or other materials.


2. Give them a brief handout outlining what they are to do. Or you can project the directions on the screen. For example:


1. Have them introduce themselves and briefly explain why they are taking A&P.


2. Have them discuss and write down what pressing questions they have about the course.


3. Tell them to send someone up to the professor to grab enough syllabi for everyone in the group.


4. Ask them to use the syllabus and try to find the answers to the questions the group had written down.


3. It's important NOT to answer their questions as you stroll around to chat and listen in on the groups—they have to find the answers in the syllabus.


4. Have them re-assemble into a large group and ask them what questions they had that were not answered by their search or that need additional clarification.

By doing this, the students get to know a few other students right away—even the introverts. They get to be active, instead of passively sitting there "absorbing" from an active professor. Students are forced to think about what's important for them to know as they begin a new, perhaps scary-sounding, course. They learn how the syllabus is constructed as they explore it collaboratively looking for critical information. So they know how to find answers to questions they have later in the course. How many times have we wondered if they even looked as the syllabus once?

This method allows the professor to focus their efforts that day on the information that students really want to hear from them at that moment. And it tells you where your syllabus needs to be corrected or clarified!

I was very happy with the way my first experiment with this approach worked. Perhaps more importantly, my students were very happy with it. Ever since that first time, I've regularly had students tell me, "that was fun, I wish all my profs did their first day this way." It even shows up on the end-of-semester course evaluations—so it must have made an impression!

Over the years (nearly twenty), I've tweaked the process and adapted it to my particular course quirks. Because I always get certain questions, I often follow up with a demonstration of how to login to their course in the LMS, how to access the publisher website, and how to register their clickers. I also introduce them to the idea of human science—anatomy and physiology in particular. Ask them to think about why are here—and we discuss those goals and how they can be acheived. I sometimes even give them my secret methods for finding a parking space quickly.

If you'd like a starting point for creating your own first-day experiment, download these example handouts:

Connecting with A&P 1

Connecting with A&P 2

Photo (top): Griszka Niewiadomski

Photo (bottom): Gokhan Okur
Updated 6 January 2016

Help Your A&P Students Get Off to a Good Start

I recently posted an article in The A&P Student called Getting a Good Start in Your Anatomy & Physiology Course. In it, I run down a brief list of practical strategies students can employ from the start of their course to get a solid start in a rigorous course—a course that intimidates many beginners who are not fully prepared.

My suggested strategies are organized under three subheadings:

• Learn to read and raid your textbook
• Brush up on your study skills
• Take A&P seriously

For each of these broad categories, I list several practical and proven tips for A&P students to get a handle on things early in the course.  All have links to more detailed and specific advice from various resources.

What can we use from this in teaching undergraduate A&P?

• Early in your course, mention the importance of getting off to a good start—not waiting until the first test looms to get organized and begin working.
• Link to the article in your syllabus and/or your course web page or LMS course shell.

• Consider putting an unlabeled QR code (shown) in your syllabus or on your classroom wall.  Many students will scan the code and find the article simply out of curiosity.  Just like a snare trap!
• Have a link to the article ready to give to students who contact you about being overwhelmed with the rigor of your course.
• Consider suggesting to your students that they subscribe to The A&P Student newsletter (delivered by email, FB, LinkedIn or Twitter).
• Consider subscribing yourself—a great way to keep up with various tips and strategies you can pass on to your students.
• Even if your course has already started it's not too late to share these strategies with your students!

Want to know more?

Getting a Good Start in Your Anatomy & Physiology Course

• Kevin Patton The A&P Student 26 August 2014
• Outlines several practical strategies to begin the anatomy and/or physiology course on solid footing.  Link to this article from your syllabus and/or course web page.
• my-ap.us/1onII8I

Subscription for The A&P Student

• Choice of FREE delivery by email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn
• my-ap.us/1oxkJIM

A&P is the Foundation

• Kevin Patton Lion Den Slide Collection
• FREE animated PowerPoint slide you can use in your introductory course presentation.  The link takes you to information on accessing the entire collection.  Find this one in v2, Study Tips, AP-is-foundation
• lionden.com/slides-form.htm

Free animated slide

Human Microbial System

A recent article in The Scientist once again reminds us of the ongoing explosion in the scientific understanding of the human microbial system.  In a few short years, this area of exploration has moved to the forefront of medical and basic science research in human biology.

I think it's becoming clear that the most useful way to think of human body function is to recognize that an "organism" is really a sort of "habitat."  And like any habitat, it functions best when all the inhabitants are within a limited range of balanced relationships.

Who are the inhabitants?  Besides our own cells?  Well, one could think of mitochondria and cilia and other organelles as symbiotic internal inhabitants of our cells.  They're not that literally, of course, but I think its a useful metaphor for understanding the human body.  Then there are the many microbes and animals that cover our internal and external surfaces, burrow into some of our pores and glands, and inhabit our body fluids.

I call the balanced functional relationship among the various microbomes of the body and our own tissues the human microbial system.  And I am certain that it won't be long before we will be discussing this system alongside the major organ systems of the body.  That is if we truly want to understand how the body really works.

The article in The Scientist I mention is a great summary of some of the major roles that the human microbial system plays in the human body—and a good survey of some of the areas of the body where the human-microbial functional relationships play out.  See the link to the article below.

What can we use from this in teaching undergraduate A&P?

• Why not introduce the concept of the human microbial system at the beginning of our A&P course, when we set the stage by explain how scientists understand the body and its functions as an integrated system of different parts?
• We can mention the different microbiomes of the body when we explore each organ system where they play an important role—which is pretty much all of them!
• Consider discussing what happens to normal human function when microbiomes get out of balance.  For example, in the gut a microbial imbalance can lead to ulcers, diarrhea, and other dysfunctions.  On the skin a pathogenic microbe may become dominant and cause a rash.
• Promote a discussion of what kinds of wellness strategies might be employed to prevent microbial imbalances.
• Our students can leave our A&P course with an up-to-date understanding of human biology that will help them understand new clinical concepts and treatment strategies.

Want to Know More?

The Body’s Ecosystem

• By The Scientist Staff.  The Scientist. August 1, 2014
• Plain-English article (cited above) on how research on the human microbiome is booming, and scientists have moved from simply taking stock of gut flora to understanding the influence of microbes throughout the body.
• my-ap.us/1vgOu5y

Articles from The A&P Professor

• All articles related to the human microbial system
• What is Life?
• Skin Ecology
• Bacterial Microbiomes on Human Skin
• Plaque-fighting Bacteria
• New "Old" News About the Appendix

Moving pictures of the human microbiome

• J Gregory Caporaso et al. Genome Biology 2011, 12:R50  doi:10.1186/gb-2011-12-5-r50
• Open-access journal article that includes FREE videos that show how dynamic the human microbial system is
• my-ap.us/V7St3Q

Human Microbiome Project

• Home page of this NIH-funded project
• my-ap.us/1yhD4e3

The Microbiome and Disease

• List of diseases associated with microbiome imbalances from Genetic Science Learning Center
• my-ap.us/1nDpxr1

Audio

• Radio stories from National Public Radio on human microbiomes and their role in health and disease.  The growing number of these stories tells us something as A&P teachers: maybe we better be covering this!
• my-ap.us/1uA7Qyg

Start A&P 1 with a Comprehensive Exam. Really.

A while back, I recommended starting the second semester of A&P 2 with an exam. In that article, I stated that it's a good opportunity to get everyone started on the right track—and on the same track—before jumping right back into it.

If you think about it, even the first semester of A&P is "jumping back into it."  That is, if we assume that our students have had some learning in biology already.  Don't we want them to already know at least a little bit about:

• basic chemistry (like what an atom is)
• cell biology (at least what a cell is and perhaps a few organelles)
• scientific terminology (like what roots, prefixes, and suffixes are)
• genetics (what a gene is, what DNA stands for, basic inheritance)
• metric system (at least the basics)
• main organs of the body (like what a muscle or stomach is)

Then why not start them off with an open-book online or take-home exam covering these topics?  Or more topics?  Or fewer?

By starting off with a low-pressure "open" exam, we accomplish several goals:

• Students learn how we will be testing them.  
• They'll become comfortable with the formats we use for test items, how our LMS quizzes work, how to fill out an exam book (or scan sheet or test paper), our personal quirks in testing, the depth and breadth of our assessments, and more.


• They review-refresh-solidify their prior learning.  
• The "review exam" is a learning experience in and of itself, making sure that students fill in any gaps that may have occurred since they last encountered these concepts—even if they finished their last bio course only a few weeks ago.


• Solves the "we don't have a prerequisite for A&P" problem.  
• Well, it doesn't completely solve it.  But it does put quite a dent in it.


• Allows students to work at their own pace to catch up.
• Some students will breeze through their review.  Others will wonder how they missed (or forgot) all these concepts.  Still others have challenges in learning, reading, remembering, using English, and more.  This will help even out the playing field, at least at the start of the game.


• You won't have to wonder what they've learned before reaching you.
• The review will ensure that they know the concepts you want them to know before they begin.  And which terminology you'll using.


• Saves you time in your course.
• By not having to stop and review basic concepts when your students stumble, you have more class time for learning activities.


• Students will have less of that oppressive, overwhelming feeling of stress a few weeks into A&P.
• Many students, especially returning learners, feel like they are drowning because of the pace and sheer volume of information in their A&P course.  But a review exam can get a lot of that "you should already know this"— "I should perhaps, but I don't"—stress out of the way from the get-go.


• Gives students confidence as they face their new challenges in your course.
• This one cannot be overstated.  Much of our success in learning comes from how confident we are in our preparedness and our abilities.  A review exam can be a positive learning experience that establishes a good attitude for learning from the beginning. And it won't be false confidence—they really will know the foundational concepts they need for success in A&P!

Want to Know More?

Start A&P 2 with a Final Exam

• Kevin Patton. The A&P Professor.   21 Jan 2013
• My previous article on using the first exam in the second semester of A&P to review, refresh, and solidify concepts from A&P 1.
• my-ap.us/1lKVnTh

Teaching as Testing

• Kevin Patton. The Electronic Professor 27 Feb 2009
• Article outlining my use of randomized online testing as a mechanism of needed practice.  Includes links to a full video presentation.
• my-ap.us/p3rM6B

Practice. Practice. Practice.

• Kevin Patton. Lion Tamers Guide to Teaching 3 Dec 2010
• Article on the role of practice in teaching and learning, using the analogy of taming lions.
• my-ap.us/WjNHLn

Image credit: kelvinsong

Syllabus Resources for A&P

Fall is the traditional start of the academic year, so as we approach that mark it may be a good time to think about ways to tweak our course syllabus in ways that may promote student success.  There are some "teaching moments" in a syllabus that we don't want to miss!

I have few suggestions for you to consider.

Chunking

Experts call it excessive cognitive load and I say it's just plain rude to put all your policies, procedures, advice, and explanations in one or two big lumps, then expect students to actually read it and be familiar with the contents.

Go ahead and get it all down there—then chunk it by dividing it up into short sections, each with a short, descriptive heading.  Next, rearrange all your newly chunked sections into logical groupings with a short descriptive heading.  Now students will more likely read through it all, comprehend it better, and be more likely to refer to the syllabus before emailing you with their questions that can easily be answered by the syllabus.

Deadlines

We often blame it on which generation's pesonality they are ruled by—X, Y, millenial, baby-boomer—but I think it's just human nature to miss deadlines when you are unaware of the effects of doing that.

A syllabus is a good place to establish deadlines in a course, of course, but it's also a great place to briefly explain why deadlines are important.  You may want to get some ideas from this brief article—or simply link to the article from your syllabus:

my-ap.us/WIhjZz

Academic Integrity

The most effective deterrent against academic dishonesty—cheating—is to promote a culture of honesty in your course.  The syllabus is a great way to get that on the right footing at the outset.  Here's an example from one of my syllabi, in a chunked section titled Academic Integrity:

This course relies on the principle that all who participate will do so with the honesty befitting adult, professional studies.  Without integrity of all students, the integrity of the course, this school, and your own credentials all suffer. This means that all students are expected to submit only their own work, whether for assignments, papers, online tests or quizzes, in-class tests or quizzes, or any other component of this course.  Thus, students may not receive inappropriate help nor give inappropriate help to other students.

 SCC academic integrity policies outlined in the Student Handbook and other documents stipulate a variety of possible outcomes of violation of principles of basic academic integrity.  

In this course, receiving or giving inappropriate help in online tests, in-class exams, or assignments will ordinarily result in receiving "F" for the course.  Inappropriate help may include having someone do all or part of the work for you, providing or receiving copies of current in-class exam items or answers to in-class exam items, and copying someone else's work and submitting it as your own.  

Students who witness or have reason to suspect violations of academic integrity in this course and do not report it promptly, thus further enabling the dishonesty, will themselves also be subject to disciplinary action.

I strongly suggest that you read the brief article Why be honest?

Feel free to adapt this (perhaps shorten it a bit?) for your own syllabus.  Or use this link—  my-ap.us/zHHd7H —in your syllabus to simply send them directly to an article that explains it all.

Handcrafted Uniqueness

This is kind of silly—but that's the point.  I always include something like this in each and every syllabus:

Minor imperfections further enhance the  handcrafted uniqueness of this document.

It's a joke, right?  Well, sort of.  It's actually true, and so it is fair warning that there are bound to be mistakes in my syllabus. But it's also lighthearted enough to set the light, informal tone that improves student engagement and openness to a new instructor and a new course.

For more ideas like this, check out Professors are from Mars, Students are from Snickers: How to Write and Deliver Humor in the Classroom and in Professional Presentations by Ronald A. Berk (Stylus Publishing, 2003)

Terminology

Students in the anatomy and physiology course are likely to learn more new "foreign" words than they would in a beginning Spanish, French, or German course.  So it's important to set that fact out there early, so that students can get a handle on that aspect of A&P from the get-go.

Besides a brief statement about the need to learn a new language in the syllabus, I've found it helpful to link to (or embed) these resources:

• Terminology for A&P  my-ap.us/1rny2u4
• International Terminology for A&P  my-ap.us/1k1oeHi
• Flash Cards: Reducing Your Study Time  my-ap.us/1mQnT5b
• Terminology Resources for A&P @The A&P Student  my-ap.us/fsboS2

Spelling is Important

Your peritoneum is not your perineum, right?  And in a medical chart, that could get through all the checks and alerts even in today's "smart" electronic environment.  I, for one, am not willing to put my life—or my perineum—in the hands of a medical spell-checker.  So it's important that A&P students learn that an incorrectly spelled term term is an incorrect term.

I suggest spelling that out (pardon the pun) in the course syllabus.  Because not all instructors "take off for spelling," it may unnecessarily shock your students when misspelled terms are not accepted at all in A&P. If they know ahead of time that correct spelling of scientific terms is part of the course, they'll be more accepting of the idea and—even better—prepared for it.

Consider adding a link to the article Is Spelling Important? to your syllabus:

my-ap.us/1usdhDk

Renting or Borrowing Books

You may have trouble buying this one, I realize, but I can't tell you how many of my former A&P students have sold back their A&P textbook, or returned their rented book, or lent it out on permanent loan to a friend or relative.  And then regretted it.  Why? Because they need it for their health professions courses—and even in their jobs.  A good A&P textbook is not just a learning tool for use in the A&P course, it's a valuable addition to their own professional reference library.

I usually add a phrase like this to the list of required books and manuals for my courses:

Don't rent your A&P text book!  Click here for the reasons.

And don't sell it back at the end of the course. Here's why.

Here are the URLs if you want to use a similar approach—and save some students a bit of heartache when they realize they've lost a valuable resource they'll need later:

Rental URL my-ap.us/1rJKmHg

Sell-back URL my-ap.us/mhYggB

You may not agree with this approach.  Or perhaps your school rents or lends textbooks to all students and you can't officially go against that in your syllabus.  But it's an idea worth considering if you have the latitude to advise your students in this manner—and the insight to see the value of such advice.

The A&P Student

Lastly, there are a lot of A&P-specific study tips, tools, and advice available FREE for your students at my blog for students called The A&P Student.

• Use this URL to link to it from your syllabus or course site: theAPstudent.org 
• If your learning management system allows for an RSS feed in your course, why not add this one? my-ap.us/1otlNx2
• If you want some FREE bookmarks for your students with the URL for the resource, click here. 

Photo credit: Handcraft

The Life Science Teaching Resource Community

Have you heard that the American Physiological Society (APS) has expanded their Archive of Teaching Resources into The Life Science Teaching Resource Community?

This new online community—LifeSciTRC for short—offers thousands of FREE resources that you can use in your A&P course!

This transition marks a culmination of efforts of APS and several other scientific societies to advance the Archive of Teaching Resources beyond an online library into a community of practice for life science educators at the K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels.

The LifeSciTRC offers more than 6,000 free, scientifically-accurate teaching resources along with many new tools that allow educators to share their ideas and teaching expertise including:

• Community pages with news and recommended teaching resources
• Blogs focusing on classroom and science topics relevant to educators
• Forums for educator-led discussions
• Resource rating and commenting areas where educators can share their experiences of using resources
• Monthly newsletters highlighting community members, news, and resources

I can't speak highly enough of the quality and diversity of teaching resources available in the archive.  These are peer-reviewed submissions from all levels of teaching and learning.  Case studies, experiments, demonstrations, slide presentations—all kinds of great stuff!

The new system is really easy (and fun) to use.  It has a starred rating system, so you can see how others have rated each resource.  And you can earn badges by submitting and reviewing items.

In addition to the new name, the LifeSciTRC will feature three new scientific society partners:

• The Physiological Society
• Genetics Society of America
• American Society of Plant Biologists

These societies will join the current partners:

• APS
• Human Anatomy and Physiology Society
• Society for Developmental Biology
• American Association of Anatomists
• Massachusetts Society for Medical Research
• Northwest Association for Biomedical Research

Educators looking for new teaching ideas or interaction with other educators are invited to visit LifeSciTRC.org and discover what they have to offer.

For more information, contact our colleague at APS, Miranda Byse, PhD, Program Manager at mbyse@the-aps.org or 240-743-8045.  Be sure to tell her where you heard the message!

Some content in this post came from APS

Online lectures and previews

For many years, I've been producing online lecture presentations as previews and supplements to the classroom experience in my A&P courses. Sometimes, I use these to keep "teaching" while away at a conference or meeting.

In 2006, long before "flipping" became a common phrase among professors, I decided to make my classroom more interactive by putting some of the "you don't really need me in person for this"  material online for preview before coming to class. I wasn't creative enough to call it something catchy and cool like flipping, but simply it "Preview Presentations." For each module in the course, students were required to watch these before coming to class for discussion, questions, and additional lecture presentations on the "hard to understand" concepts that require some back-and-forth between me and my students.

I summarized my case of putting interactive, narrated PowerPoints that include built-in self-testing quizzes in an online presentation on our companion website The A&P Professor.  That was a version of a well-received workshop I presented at a regional HAPS conference in Macon GA a few years ago.

Recently, I re-created my presentation to focus on the latest generation of software plugin that allows for video or audio narration and more types of interactivity in quizzes.

Rather than summarize my experience here and suggest ways that you might consider adapting some of it to your A&P course, I'll just give you the link to my presentation (using said technology) that includes a summary handout that you can print out:

my-ap.us/orBx7y

Spelling IS important

In A&P, correct spelling could be a life-or-death issue.  Really.

The topic of correct spelling—and the consequences of incorrectly spelled terms—was brought to mind recently with the news story about a student on the TV game show Jeopardy! whose answer was disqualified because it was misspelled. A lot of folks were angry, as though the boy was cheated, but the producers calmly pointed out that it’s not an acceptable answer if it’s not spelled correctly.  Like Scrabble or Words with Friends, Jeopardy! is a game with rules, after all.

But the A&P course is not “just a game.”  It is the foundation for many health professions.  Professions where misspellings can be the basis for life-threatening medical errors. 

A few years ago, I called our attention to Doing our part to reduce medical errors by enforcing accuracy in our courses—including correct spelling of scientific and medical terms.

Here’s what I tell my own students:

“That's part of learning how to communicate accurately and professionally. For those of you going into patient care or managing patient records, accuracy can affect a person's life . . . so it's best to learn that lesson here and now—where no one's life is in danger.”

There really IS a difference between perineum and peritoneum.  Just two letters, and the whole meaning of a sentence or paragraph—or medical record—is changed. It may still make sense, even in context, but is now wrong.

Some of my students counter that current software platforms used in hospitals and clinics have safety features that autocorrect or call attention to potential errors.  That’s true—to some extent.  But just like the autocorrect features found in word processing software, they cannot be relied upon entirely. We really must know which term is which by its correct spelling.

Now’s a good time to think about how we are preparing our students for their profession.  I want my healthcare providers to get it right.  So let’s make that happen!

Start A&P 2 with a Final Exam

I always start my A&P 2 with a final exam. WHAT?! Yep, that's right. I start with a FINAL exam!

It's a version of the final exam that I give my A&P 1 students. I warn them in A&P 1 that they need to retain all these concepts . . . they'll surely see them again. Then when they return from their break to start A&P 2, WHAM! Right in the face.

I call this exam that starts off my A&P 2 course "Test Zero." It's before the first regular test of A&P 2, Test One, so that makes sense. But it does "count" toward their course grade. It's a randomized, online test that they can do up to three times (each attempt is a different version of the exam).

Test Zero reviews the entire A&P 1 course--including the hard parts. It helps them brush up on what I want them to know to be successful in their A&P 2 course. And later courses.

It's also another opportunity for them to practice. As we all know, if we don't use it, we'll lose it.

I've done this for many years now and it works wonderfully. I can really see a difference each time we encounter an "old" idea from A&P 1.

Want to know more?

• Teaching as Testing.
• Kevin Patton
• The Electronic Professor 27 Feb 2009
• [Article outlining my use of randomized online testing as a mechanism of needed practice. Includes links to a full video presentation.]
• my-ap.us/p3rM6B

• Practice. Practice. Practice.
• Kevin Patton
• Lion Tamers Guide to Teaching 3 December 2010
• [Article on the role of practice in teaching and learning, using the analogy of taming lions.]
• my-ap.us/WjNHLn

Testing as a Learning Tool

Almost two years ago, I published an article about testing as a method of teaching in my blog The Electronic Professor. In the article, I shared my experience in using frequent online tests in my anatomy & physiology courses as a way to get students engaged with the material on an ongoing basis.

Almost a year later, research published in Science further supported this idea.  Not that I needed the support . . . my own experience over several years has confirmed for me that it works.  In fact, it works VERY well in enhancing student learning.  But as a scientist, a variety of independent confirmations of a topic is appreciated.

Of course, the concept of frequent, online formative testing (as opposed to summative testing) is not at all new.  But like a lot of breakthroughs in teaching and learning, it hasn't caught on with many professors "out in the trenches" yet.  But it's really worth taking a look at.

First, check out my article from 2009 to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

Teaching as Testing
Kevin Patton
The Electronic Professor. 27 Feb 2009.
[Article outlining my use of online, randomized formative tests in teaching A&P.]
my-ap.us/p3rM6B

Then check out the seminar that I gave on this topic a few years ago.

Seminar: Testing as Teaching
Kevin Patton
The A&P Professor. Accessed Jan 2012.
[Narrated presentation outlining a method to produce randomzed formative tests for A&P.]
my-ap.us/qtAclX

After that, take a look at the research published in Science a year ago.

To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test
Pam Belluck
The New York Times. 20 January 2011.
[Brief summary of the research, including a graph of the results.]
my-ap.us/yP6jZ0 

Retrieval Practice Produces More Learning than Elaborative Studying with Concept Mapping
J.D. Karpicke, J. R. Blunt
Science. Published Online January 20 2011. DOI: 10.1126/science.1199327
[Original research mentioned above.]
my-ap.us/yTr2b7

Academic integrity in the A&P course

How do you prevent cheating in your A&P class?  Or do you even think about it?

One of my favorite "teaching" books is What the Best College Teachers Do.  After examining diverse "master teachers," the author (Ken Bain) lists some of the characteristics most often seen in such individuals.  One of them is that master teachers do not fret much about cheating in their courses.  Instead, they seem to focus more on developing a culture in each learning community that naturally discourages dishonesty by building trust and integrity.

That revelation changed the way I look at cheating in my courses.  Rather than working hard at developing complex anti-cheating strategies, I work hard at educating my students about the value of academic integrity. Although one can never be absolutely certain of the extent of cheating in one's courses, the tools I do have available tell me that cheating is not a significant problem in my courses.

Of course, I do pay attention to setting things up in ways that discourage cheating, but I don't go overboard . . . and I don't worry about it.

How, exactly, do I promote academic integrity?  And what are some of the specific methods that I use to discourage cheating?   Those answers and more can be found in the resources below:

Want to know more?

Why be honest?
Kevin Patton
The A&P Student 5 January 2012
[Brief article for students.  Explains why they should want to be honest. You can link to this in your syllabus or course website.]
my-ap.us/zHHd7H

Academic Integrity
Kevin Patton
The A&P Professor accessed 5 January 2012
[Extended version of this article.  It also gives specific tips and examples, as well as free resources such as handouts, syllabus example, and PowerPoint slides.]
my-ap.us/xSDoxP

Free bookmarks for your students!

As you begin another term of A&P, don't forget to stock up on those FREE eyeball bookmarks for your students!

These unique "anatomically correct" first-day-of-class gifts for your students include information for your students on how to access my blog The A&P Student.  This blog has a continuously updated library of study tips for A&P, shortcuts, links to learning resources, and more.

These bookmarks are available in packs of 50 to qualified A&P instructors.  And if you act now, you'll also get some fun freebies for yourself!

Get your free bookmarks here: my-ap.us/99NNTx

Bookmark time again!

As you begin another term of A&P, don't forget to stock up on those FREE eyeball bookmarks for your students!

These bizarre "first day of class" gifts for your students include information for your students on how to access my blog The A&P Student.  This blog has a continuously updated library of study tips for A&P, shortcuts, links to learning resources, and more.

These bookmarks are available in packs of 50 to qualified A&P instructors.  And if you act now, you'll also get some fun freebies for yourself!

Get your free bookmarks here: my-ap.us/99NNTx

Supplementary courses help A&P students succeed

A few years ago, we brainstormed about what else we could do as A&P professors to help our students succeed.  We realized that the two most common things holding our students back from reaching their full potential were:

1. Lack of adequate preparation to begin A&P on a solid footing
2. Lack of basic learning and study skills 

With the typical A&P course involving an unrelenting flood of facts, concepts, and applications, a lack of preparation and study skills can be catastrophic.

To address the lack of preparation, we have a prerequisite of "C or better in high school biology or its equivalent within the last five years."  That's the best we could manage given the constraints of our institution and its programs.  But even with the most stringent prerequisites, it's rare that students really walk into an A&P class ready with a comfortable foundation in biological chemistry and cell biology.

So I developed a refresher course that incoming A&P students could take just before entering their A&P 1 course.  Foundations in Science for Health Careers is a developmental level, one-hour course that is offered in a completely online self-paced format.  We offer it only during the short mini-mesters and half-semesters.

The Foundations course covers the basic chemistry and biology concepts students need as they begin A&P.

To address the lack of study skills, I developed a one-credit course for our A&P 1 students to take along with A&P 1.  Having been given the idea of a supplemental course by my friend Mari Hopper at Southern Indiana University, we began offering A&P 1 Supplement at our institution.

This course parallels the A&P 1 course, giving students how-to tips on specific study skills useful in A&P.  Students also have the opportunity to bring their sticking points to the class to get help in getting them unstuck.

The Foundations course is the refresher course and the Supplement course is the shortcut course.

Want to know more? 

Check out my video . . .

Then check out the handout and helpful links at The A&P Professor website:

SEMINAR: Helping Students Succeed

Do these courses work?  We're still working on the statistics, but as the above presentations tell you, student feedback from anonymous surveys show that students are happy with what they are getting from these courses.  When we get some statistical analysis done, I'll let you know!

 

[NOTE: If your students would like to take our online pre-A&P refresher course (BIO 095 Foundations in Science for Health Careers) prior to taking your A&P course, they can enroll at St. Charles Community College during either of two 5-wk summer sessions or during either of two 1-wk pre-fall sessions . . . or beyond.]

Lion Den Slide Collection

As you think about getting started in a new semester, you may find that sets of FREE animated slides might help you spice up your classroom presentations.

For the last several years, I sent a set of hundreds of slides from my Lion Den site for students to anyone who donated to keeping that site up and running.  But starting in this new year of a new decade of a (relatively new) century, I'm now opening up the "secret vault" for anyone who wants them.  And promises to use them for good and not evil.

If you go to the Lion Den downloads page and join the Lion Den, you'll get acccess to all the slide files.

Once you are in the download location, you can access the original set of slides in the folder marked  Lion Den Slide Collection Version 1.0. Newer and updated slide collections will be available in the folder Lion Den Slide Collection Version 2.0.  You can follow the links to the folders to see what's there, but you cannot download any of the slide sets until you fill out the form and get the super-secret password.

You can preview some of the slides by going to the Lion Den slide page.  However, not all the slides in the Lion Den Slide Collection are posted on that website, the slides are posted individually (not in sets), and they are in "slide show" format (which may not be fully editable by you).  The slide sets in the downloadable collection are in fully editable .ppt or .pptx format.  It's much easier to go to the Lion Den download page, join the highly-classified-super-secret membership roster and download the sets of slides.

All the slides can be freely used (and adapted) for noncommercial educational purposes (see the license embedded in the Notes section of each slide).

As the User Manual states, these slides are not necessarily as detailed (or as simplified) as you would like to use in your own presentation.  But because they are editable, you can change that, right?  Also, some of these slides were originally intended for a particular purpose (such as introducing a topic that will be explored more fully later).

Another thing to remember is that the slide sets are not meant to be a complete set of slides covering all topics of A&P.  In my classroom, I use a lot of images from the textbook (provided by the publisher).  The slides in the Lion Den Slide Collection are meant to be supplemental slides.

Keep in mind that the slide sets are NOT created by a professional graphic artist . . . just old Kevin hacking away in PowerPoint.  So they may not be as slick as some slides you've seen.

All the slides are in PowerPoint-compatible files.  The newer slides are in the newer XML PowerPoint format (.pptx).

Encouraging students to start their library

Today, I posted an entry at The A&P Student blog encouraging students to begin a personal library of professional books.  I encouraged them to start with their A&P textbook.

Many students sell their textbooks back to the bookstore as a regular thing . . . without stopping to realize that SOME textbooks should be going into their individual professional library.

 

A professional library is the set of references that a student can begin to build NOW and continually add to throughout their professional career. Such individual libraries serve as indispensable tools to help professionals survive and excel in a health-related career.

For health professionals, the A&P textbook will be needed for  upcoming health professions courses and clinicals/practicums. It will also serve well later, when students finally begin their careers.

You may want to post one or more of these links to share with your students:

Selling your textbook?

[Recent blog post from The A&P Student]

Do NOT sell your textbook!

[Blog post from The A&P Student from May 2009]

Your Professional Library

[Brief article from my Lion Den collection of Study Tips and Tools]

FREE anatomic bookmarks for your students

To help you help your students, I'm still offering those FREE "anatomical eyeball" bookmarks for your students!

Some of you have already received and distributed yours. But the rest of you should act now . . . while supplies last!

The bookmark is a whopping 2" by 7" printed on thick card stock—not one of those wimpy little bookmarks others give away. OK, nobody else gives away such anatomical bookmarks (as far as I know) but this is an unusually large size for a bookmark.

On the obverse side is an anatomically correct rendering of an eyeball in its bony orbit on the (anatomical) right and the eyeball partly covered by the palpebrae (lids) on the left. When you distribute them to your class, you might even take the opportunity to quiz them on anatomical directions (anatomical left and right vs. the viewer's left and right) to hone some skills, eh?

The reverse side contains information about The A&P Student blog.

The blog is mainly aimed at undergraduate college students but is also useful for high school students and even students in professional studies (medicine, allied health, etc.).

Just email me at kevin@theAPprofessor.org and tell me how many packs of 50 bookmarks you need for your class. And tell me where to send it (it MUST be a school address).

But wait!

That's not all!

Act now, and I'll throw in a few FREE humerus bookmarks for your own use!

That's right! These anatomic bookmarks (of the same sturdy structure as the eyeball bookmarks) feature a human humerus on one side and The A&P Professor hip logo on the other side.

You can use them yourself . . . and have some spares to share with your colleagues.

So, again, email me NOW at kevin@theAPprofessor.org and tell me how many packs of 50 bookmarks you need for your class. And tell me where to send it (it MUST be a school address).

Reading Terms in A and P

I recently wrote to A&P students about how new research on how the brain recognizes whole words (rather than letter-by-letter) when reading can help students read and learn A&P more quickly and accurately. See Reading scientific terms at The A&P Student blog.

We've suspected the brain handles reading in this manner--the recent research tells us where in the brain this happens and helps us understand the mechanism behind the process.

As we try to help our students learn A&P, it's useful for us to know about this phenomenon as well. As I explained to students, a good strategy based on this mechanism . . . a strategy long promoted by college reading teachers . . . involves reading the new terms of a chapter out loud before starting a new topic. Even if the student reads little (or, yikes, none) of the chapter, this strategy will help them when they encounter the terms in lecture, lab, or in handouts.

How does this method work? Because when we are reading efficiently (as the new research demonstrates), the brain does best when it can recognize whole words (rather than having to stop and read the word letter by letter or phoneme by phoneme). By reading and saying the words, allowing our brains to recognize or "own" the terms, we thus prime the brain so that reading will be faster and more efficient. Comprehension of what is read increases because the flow of reading is uninterrupted . . . and because the content of the passages can be put into a framework of terms that already exist as units in the brain's memory.

Presumably, familiarity with word parts helps this process by making the initial reading of terms more efficient. And it also helps so that when a new term (not practiced previous to reading) is encountered when reading, at least the word parts are recognized. This should make it easier (faster and more accurate) going than having to read a new term letter by letter.

In my textbooks, I always provide word lists with new terms in each chapter. The word list starts at the beginning of each chapter, with a "study tip" telling the student to read the list out loud before diving into the chapter reading. Now you know why I do this!

The chapter word lists also provide pronunciation keys to help with "owning" each term. The online resources available with the textbook also provide audio pronunciation guides. The word lists in the Anatomy & Physiology textbook also includes word parts that reinforce the recognition of roots, suffixes, and prefixes commonly encountered in the terminology of A&P.

If we share these tips with students, it will help them "get it" far more easily than without a reading strategy. Even students who are already good readers benefit from this approach.

Want to know more? Check out these resources:

Reading scientific terms
Kevin Patton
The A&P Student 7 June 2009
[Blog article for students lists specific steps to take to improve their reading and understanding of A&P]

Brain reads word-by-wordTina Hesman Saey
Science News 29 April 2009
[Nice summary article explaining the brain mechanisms recently discovered by neurobiologists.]

Evidence for Highly Selective Neuronal Tuning to Whole Words in the "Visual Word Form Area"Laurie S. Glezer et al.
Neuron Volume 62, Issue 2, 199-204, 30 April 2009
doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2009.03.017
[Abstract of original research article; links to full article]

Deos the Bairn Not Raed Ervey Lteter by Istlef, but the Wrod as a Wlohe?Kalanit Grill-Spector and Nathan Witthoft
Neuron Volume 62, Issue 2, 161-162, 30 April 2009doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2009.04.009
[Editorial discussion of implications of findings in the Glezer et al. article cited above.]

Reading comprehensionEducation.com accessed 7 June 2009
[List of links to reading research and related resources]

{photo by --Tico-- on flkr}

Secrets to Using this Blog

As more and more of you are "tuning in" to The A&P Professor blog, I thought I'd give you a few tips on how to use the blog more efficiently to improve your teaching.

1. Subscribe to the The A&P Professor FREE newsletter. That way, new posts will automatically go directly to your inbox and you'll know about "breaking news as it happens." Click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

2. Instead, or in addition, to a newsletter subscription you can subscribe in your favorite RSS reader. Click here to subscribe to the feed.

2.5. Want a feed that talks to you? Click here to subscribe to the PODCAST version of the feed. You can hear articles if you subscribe to the newsletter by clicking the speaker icon at the foot of each article.

3. Want to go back to an item that you read a while back? The simplest way is to enter a key term into the Search box at the very top edge of the blog screen. Another way is to go to the left column and scroll down to the Blog Archive section and find it by date and title.

3.5. Most articles have keywords listed at the end. At the blog, click on a keyword to automatically find all other posts with the same keyword.

4. Don't forget to go to the The A&P Professor website! I have a LOT more detailed and abundant information for you there! Click here to go to the website. Or click the logo in the left column of the blog screen.

4.5. At the The A&P Professor website, use the navigation buttons along the lower edge of the title to explore around . . . the buttons expand as your mouse rolls over them.

5. Email articles you like (or really hate) to your friends (or enemies). There's an email icon (envelope) at the bottom of each post at the blog.

6. If you read more easily in another language, automatically translate articles with the Google Translate widget in the left column of the blog.

7. Be sure to LEAVE a comment! That's how I learn new things . . . and you, too! And READ the comments of others. So far, many of the comments that have been left have been left by folks how matter (such as the subject of the article!). It's also a good way to let me know what you like and what you don't!

8. When you visit a journal article that I recommend, then SAVE it. You may want to look back at it again. PRINT it out and bring it to class to show your students that you are using the LATEST information (and one of them may actually be interested enough to read it, too!)

9. If you are intrigued by one of the images I use in an article, then click the image. Often, you'll go straight to the source . . . which is often a BIGGER image with some accompanying information. Many of the images I use are FREE for your reuse, but click for the source to make sure. If there is no link to the image, you probably can't use it.

10. Tell your friends and colleagues about the blog! The more folks we have in our little community, the more feedback and sharing we can generate!

And now for something completely different . . .



[The video player embedded here may not appear in your news feed or emailed newsletter. Go to The A&P Professor blog to access the video viewer. Go to The A&P Professor website to learn how to embed the video in your PowerPoint or webpage . . . or simply link to it from your own email or webpage.]