Active learning methodology, associated to formative assessment, improved cardiac physiology knowledge and decreased pre-test stress and anxiety.

Stress and anxiety caused by assessments are often related to the student's insecurity regarding the knowledge to be evaluated, while teaching strategies that increase effective learning can assist in reducing it. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hypothesis that the use of an active methodology, associated to formative assessment, could reduce students' anxiety and stress, when compared to the traditional method, by promoting greater learning. New students enrolled in the same discipline of a Dentistry course were invited to participate in the study and were divided into two groups: traditional method and active methodology. The traditional method group received two lectures, delivered orally. The active methodology group received a lecture about cardiac cells and the autonomic control of cardiac function, with home study of the cardiac cycle using a textbook. In the second class, an individual formative assessment was applied. Afterwards, a group activity was performed with an educational game about the cardiac cycle, followed by a group formative assessment. After applying the traditional or active methodology, test 1 was carried out. Immediately before this test, saliva samples were collected for determination of the concentrations of the stress biomarkers cortisol and α-amylase. The students also answered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire, used for anxiety level determination. The score obtained in the test 1 was significantly higher for the active methodology group, compared to the traditional method group. No significant differences between the groups were observed for baseline cortisol and salivary α-amylase concentrations, or for anxiety scores. Before test 1, traditional method group presented higher concentrations of salivary cortisol and α-amylase, compared to the respective baseline values, while the active methodology group showed no difference between the baseline and test 1 levels. Before test 1, there were increases in anxiety levels, relative to the respective baseline values, regardless of the teaching methodology used, but this increase was greater for the traditional method group, compared to the active methodology group. These results showed that the active methodology, associated to formative assessment, decreased test stress and anxiety, with improved student performance in comparison to traditional lectures.

Effect of an active learning methodology combined with formative assessments on performance, test anxiety, and stress of university students.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an active methodology combined with a lecture on undergraduate student learning and levels of stress and anxiety. The active learning methodology consisted of a lecture of 50-min duration, study at home with a textbook, an educational game activity, and three formative assessments on the topic of the cardiac cycle. In a following class, the students provided saliva samples to evaluate their levels of stress, received an anxiety test, and then undertook an exam to assess their understanding of the cardiac cycle. The traditional teaching methodology consisted of two lectures (∼2-h duration) on blood pressure control systems, delivered orally. In the third class, the students provided saliva samples, received an anxiety test, and then undertook an exam to assess their understanding of blood pressure control systems. The level of stress was assessed with the concentrations of the stress biomarkers cortisol and alpha-amylase in saliva. Anxiety was assessed with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire. The students achieved significantly higher average scores in exams when the active learning strategy was applied compared with the use of traditional theoretical classes. The active methodology resulted in significantly lower levels of stress and anxiety, as well as improved student performance, compared with the use of traditional lectures.

Integrating synapse, muscle contraction, and autonomic nervous system game: effect on learning and evaluation of students' opinions.

This work describes the educational game "Integrating Synapse, Muscle Contraction, and Autonomic Nervous System," which was developed to assist students in understanding and integrating concepts related to the physiology of synapses, muscle contraction, and the autonomic nervous system. Analysis was made of the effect of the game on learning and the students' opinions about it. Dentistry students were divided into control and game groups. They attended lectures about the topics, after which the control group students were submitted to a test, whereas the game group performed the game activity before undertaking the test. The mean score was significantly higher for the game group, compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Pharmacy students also attended lectures about these topics; in the next class, the students performed a pretest and the activity with the educational game. After the game, a posttest was applied. The mean scores were significantly higher for the posttest than for the pretest (P < 0.05). Students of medicine attended the lectures and performed the activity with the educational game, without the learning assessment. All of the students answered a question, using a 5-point Likert-type scale, concerning whether they thought the activity with the game was useful for learning. The mean scores obtained by the dentistry, pharmacy, and medicine students were 4.7 ± 0.6, 4.9 ± 0.3, and 4.3 ± 0.1, respectively. The educational game increased the learning of the undergraduate students, in agreement with their opinions of the strategy.

Increased learning by using board game on muscular system physiology compared with guided study.

The aim of this work is to describe the "Muscular System Game," created to assist in the teaching-learning process concerning the physiology of the muscular system, and to evaluate its effect on the learning of university students. Participating in this study were first-year undergraduate students of the pharmacy course (game group, n = 21, 5 men and 16 women, age 23.57 ± 4.92 yr) and the nursing course (control group, n = 22, 2 men and 20 women, age 22.90 ± 4.93 yr), who had the same level of preparation. After theoretical classes concerning the physiology of the muscular system, all students were instructed to study the topic. In the next week, the students of the game group performed the activity with the board game, and the students of the control group undertook a guided study activity, which contained a list of exercises with the same questions used in the game, to be answered by groups. In the week following these activities, all of the students answered evaluation questions about the topic. The scores obtained for the two groups in the evaluation were compared using Student's t-test for unpaired samples, considering a significance level of 0.05. The score obtained for the control group (5.78 ± 0.38) was significantly lower than the score for the game group (7.50 ± 0.47; P < 0.05). The results obtained indicating that the use of an educational board game about the physiology of muscle contraction resulted in significantly improved learning, compared with the use of guided study.

Meeting report: IUPS and ADInstruments 2017 Teaching Workshop.

Every 4 yr, the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) Teaching Workshop is held as a traditional satellite event of the IUPS Congress. The 2017 satellite workshop was held August 5-8, 2017 in Búzios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The workshop provided an opportunity for discussion and experiences in physiology teaching for educators at various levels, graduate students, and undergraduate students. This report describes the workshop activities and reports the participants' perceptions of this event. For evaluation of perception, an anonymous questionnaire was sent by e-mail to all participants, addressing nine items: appropriate topics, time of activities, poster session, congress venue, registration fee, attention of the organizing committee before and during the event, social event, and food. Responses were ranked according to a five-point Likert scale. Of the 145 participants, 77 answered the questionnaire. The participants' perception was positive, noting in particular opportunities to share knowledge, space for reflection of teaching practice, contact networks for future, exchanges of experience, and collaborations in research in physiological education.

Effect of a puzzle on the process of students' learning about cardiac physiology.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of using a puzzle to learn about cardiac physiology. Students were divided into control and game groups. In class 1, the control group had a 2-h theoretical class about cardiac physiology, including a detailed description of the phases of the cardiac cycle, whereas the game group had a 50-min theoretical class without the description of the cardiac cycle. In class 2, the control group did an assessment exercise before an activity with the cardiac puzzle and the game group answered questions after the above-mentioned activity. While solving the puzzle, the students had to describe the cardiac cycle by relating the concepts of heart morphology and physiology. To evaluate short-term learning, the number of wrong answers and grades in the assessment exercise were compared between the control and game groups. To evaluate medium-term learning, we compared the grades obtained by students of the control and game groups in questions about cardiac physiology that formed part of the academic exam. In the assessment exercise, the game group presented a lower number of errors and higher score compared with the control group. In the academic exam, applied after both groups had used the puzzle, there was no difference in the scores obtained by the control and game groups in questions about cardiac physiology. These results showed a positive effect of the puzzle on students' learning about cardiac physiology compared with those not using the puzzle.