Transformations – paths to student-centered, evidence-based physiology education

1. Transformations – paths to student-centered, evidence-based physiology education Jenny McFarland, PhD Edmonds Community College APS Claude Bernard Lecture22 April 2018, San Diego CA

2. Past Claude Bernard lecturers 2017 *Jeffrey Karpicke, Purdue University 2016 Barb Goodman, Univ. of South Dakota2014 Rob Carroll, East Carolina University2013 *Eric Mazur, Harvard University 2010  *Robert Bjork, UCLA 2006  Dee Silverthorn, Univ. of Texas, Austin2004  Harold Modell, PERC, Seattle, WA2002  Penny Hansen, Memorial University2001  Joel Michael, Rush Medical College2000 *Kipp Herreid, SUNY Buffalo remembering Ann Wright

3. Claude Bernard & Core Concepts in Physiology Claude Bernard first introduced the idea that we know as homeostasis, a core concept that our group has a few years exploring, unpacking into a conceptual framework and assessing in our Homeostasis Concept Inventory. It was the insight of Claude Bernard and later Walter Cannon that formed our discipline in a way that made it welcoming and conceptually familiar to a young engineer. Bernard laid the foundation for physiology as an experimental, evidence-based science with a focus on regulation in a system.

4. Sorry about the “Lecture”, this is a call Thanks to the many of you who have responded to our emails and online surveys and come to our posters, and workshops at EB, HAPS, and many other meetings over the years. Today, I am here to learn more about what you have done, learn from your experiences with your students and get more data.

5. How have you changed your teaching? “Thinking about your [] teaching career over the years, what would you say are the big directions of change in your teaching, if any, and what has caused you to move in those directions?” Beyer et al 2013

6. What have you learned recently? What have you learned about learning in the last year? “Its what you learn after you know it all that matters most.” Nate & Gallimore 2006

7. Critical Transformations in my teaching • What we teach: Content  Concepts • How we teach: Lecture  Active Learning • Who we teach: Selective  Inclusive

8. Transformation #1 What to Teach: Content  Concepts

9. Conceptual Assessment for Physiology Team This work is part of our Conceptual Assessment for Physiology project. physiologyconcepts.org The CAP (Conceptual Assessment for Physiology) project team has been working together for the past 6 years. • Joel Michael (Rush Medical School) • Harold Modell (Physiology Educational Research Consortium, PERC) • Mary Pat Wenderoth (University of Washington – Seattle) • Bill Cliff (Niagara University) • Jenny McFarland (Edmonds Community College) • the late Ann Wright (Canisius College) • This work is aligned with the recommendations of Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians (SFFP), Vision & Change (V&C) and the work of PULSE (the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education). NSF grant DUE-104344 3

10. “Not just a pile of facts” EB symposium 2016 Pile of Stones, Hatterall Ridge (border of Wales & England in UK)

11. Not just a pile of facts ... “Science is built up with facts, as a house is with stones. But a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.” – Henri Poincaré Facts are important, but like stones, we must first understand the framework in which the facts will be used. Teaching and learning for conceptual understanding requires a framework within which the facts can be organized to serve specific conceptual learning goals. La Science et l'Hypothèse (2001), English translation: Science and Hypothesis (1905), Dover abridged edition (1952)

12. What do we want our students to be able to do? What do we want our students to be able to do & what will they need to know to be able to do this? Reflection: Are there things we ask students to know which are not necessary in helping them do what we are asking them to do? Identify one or two ‘facts’ that you currently teach, that can be “unloaded” for cell phones to hold.

13. Core Concepts – for Teaching & Learning • Identify Core Concepts & Competencies • Unpack into Conceptual Frameworks • Identify Misconceptions • Describe Student Learning Progressions • Conceptual Assessment of Core Concepts • Aligning Instruction with Assessment & Concepts

14. Core Concepts – for Teaching & Learning • Identify Core Concepts & Competencies • Unpack into Conceptual Frameworks • Identify Misconceptions • Describe Student Learning Progressions • Conceptual Assessment of Core Concepts • Aligning Instruction with Assessment & Concepts • Departmental Transformation

15. What are Core Concepts in Biology & Physiology? What are core concepts? • Core Concepts, Enduring Understandings, General Models, Big Ideas … are what we want students to understand and be able to apply long after they leave our courses. Core Concepts & Backwards Design • Understanding and being able to use Core Concepts … should be the learning outcomes that guide teaching, learning and program design.

16. Core Concepts in Biology (Vision & Change) The Vision & Change report identified 5 core concepts for undergraduate biology. What are the 5 core concepts, in Vision & Change? AAAS 2011

17. Core Concepts in Biology (Vision & Change) The Vision & Change report identified 5 core concepts for undergraduate biology. • Evolution • Structure and Function • Pathways & transformations of energy and matter • Information flow, exchange and storage • Systems: Living systems are interconnected and interacting pulsecommunity.org. AAAS 2011

18. Core Competencies for Medicine The Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians (SFFP) report identified competencies for Medical School and Pre-med preparation. • Homeostasis: E7, Explain how organisms sense and control their internal environment and how they respond to external change. • Evolution: E8, Demonstrate an understanding of how the organizing principle of evolution by natural selection explains the diversity of life on earth. These are common core concepts among our Physiology Core Concepts, Vision & Change Core Concepts & SFFP Core Competencies. AAMC 2009

19. Physiology General Models Harold Modell described 7 general models for analyzing physiological mechanisms • Control systems (including homeostasis) • Cell-to-cell communication • Mass & heat flow (Flux or “flow down gradients”) • Transport across membranes • Conservation of mass (‘mass balance’) • Elastic properties of tissues • Molecular interaction Modell 2000

20. Physiology Core Concepts What are some of the 10-15 Core Concepts for Physiology? Michael, et al. 2009, Michael and McFarland 2011

21. Physiology Core Concepts Physiology core concepts identified from physiology faculty surveys • Homeostasis • Flow Down Gradients • Cell-Cell Communication • Cell Membrane • Mass Balance • Interdependence • Energy • Structure/Function ... • Cell Theory • Scientific Reasoning • Physics/Chemistry • Genes to Proteins • Levels of Organization • Causality • Evolution Michael and McFarland 2011

22. Physiology Core Concepts Published on behalf of The American Physiological Society by Springer. Free to download for APS members! Michael et al. 2017

23. How can we help students acquire factual knowledge AND conceptual understanding? The “Pile of Facts” approach: • Physiology has been traditionally taught using a textbook as a scaffold. • Instructor marches through the chapters, organized by organ system, with students in tow. Traditional instructional paradigm: explanation of the physiological function of anatomical structures.

24. What are Conceptual Frameworks? Core concepts can be “unpacked” to form conceptual frameworks. A conceptual framework • is a hierarchical structure of a core concept, • that “unpacks” a concept into constituent ideas, • organizes knowledge and general principles, • makes explicit tacit knowledge & assumptions, • builds connections to prior knowledge, and • enables development of conceptual understanding. McFarland et al. 2016

25. Conceptual Frameworks for Physiology We have “unpacked” three of the most important physiology core concepts into conceptual frameworks. & two more are in progress: • Flow down gradients (flux) – Michael & McFarland 2011 • Homeostasis– McFarland et al. 2016 • Cell-Cell Communication – Michael et al. 2017 • Mass Balance– Modell & Michael– poster (Monday, 773.13, T36) • Cell Membrane – Michael & Modell –poster (Mon., 773.14, T37) physiologyconcepts.org

26. Flux Conceptual Framework • Flow is the movement of “stuff” from one point in a system to another point in the system . • Flow occurs because of the existence of an energy gradient between two points in the system. • More than one gradient may determine the magnitude and direction of the flow A. Osmotic (concentration gradient) and hydrostatic pressures together determine flow across capillary walls. B. Concentration gradients and electrical gradients determine ion flow through channels in cell membranes of neurons and muscle cells. • The magnitude of the flow is a direct function of the magnitude of the energy gradient that is present; the larger the gradient, the greater the flow. • There is resistance or opposition to flow in all systems. Michael & McFarland 2011

27. Using Conceptual Frameworks? How can conceptual frameworks be used in teaching and learning?

28. Using Conceptual Frameworks • Scaffold teaching and learning of concepts, for instructors and students • Guide teaching and learning so that factual knowledge can be introduced to support conceptual understanding.

29. Conceptual Frameworks can be used By Departments • to direct physiology course design • for curriculum mapping of concepts thru several courses By Instructors to • reveal connections between core concepts and ideas • uncover assumptions & experts’ tacit knowledge explicit • align learning outcomes with assessments & instruction By Students to • construct accurate & complete mental models of concepts • to scaffold their understanding of core concepts as they move thru the curriculum, to build on lower level courses McFarland el al. 2016

30. Learning Progressions for Physiology Concepts Jennifer Doherty, Emily Scott, Jack Cerchiara & Mary Pat Wenderoth at University of Washington Seattle are characterizing Learning Progressions for Undergraduate Physiology (LeaP UP) for two core concepts: • Mass Balance • Flux

31. What is a Learning Progression? • Learning progressions are descriptions of successively more sophisticated ways of thinking about a topic. • They are anchored on one end by what we know about student reasoning upon entering our programs: This “lower anchor” is empirical. • And are anchored on the other end by what we want students to understand when they graduate: This “upper anchor” is based on expert judgement. Doherty J. et al. SABER West 2018

32. What is a Learning Progression? • Learning Progression Framework • Assessment Tools • Teaching Tools and Strategies Next year this team will be asking for your help to get • more undergraduate student responses to characterize intermediate levels • graduate/professional student responses for upper anchor Doherty J. et al. SABER West 2018

33. Developing an Undergraduate LP Framework Doherty J. et al. SABER West 2018

34. Example of Student Reasoning for Flux In the figure, there is net movement of K+ ions out of the cell (as indicated by arrow). What can we change to cause net movement of K+ INTO the cell? Identify as many ways as you can and explain how each causes K+ to move into the cell. Doherty J. et al. SABER West 2018

35. Intermediate Level Student Reasoning for Flux In the figure, there is net movement of K+ ions out of the cell (as indicated by arrow). What can we change to cause net movement of K+ INTO the cell? Identify as many ways as you can and explain how each causes K+ to move into the cell. Doherty J. et al. SABER West 2018

36. Higher Level Student Reasoning for Flux In the figure, there is net movement of K+ ions out of the cell (as indicated by arrow). What can we change to cause net movement of K+ INTO the cell? Identify as many ways as you can and explain how each causes K+ to move into the cell. Doherty J. et al. SABER West 2018

37. Automated Analysis of Student Responses This year the teams at UW-Seattle and MSU are scoring student responses to train the machine learning model. Next year we will need student responses from many institutions around the country. Machine Learning Model Training Expert Scoring Predicted Score Validation Training Data Expert Scoring Student Responses Computerized Feature Extraction Machine Learning Model Predicted Scores New Data

38. Transformation #2 How to Teach: Lecture Active Learning Why do we care? What do the data tell us?

39. Active Learning vs. Lecture: STEM meta-analysis Changes in failure rate. (A) Data plotted as percent change in failure rate in the same course, under active learning versus lecturing. The mean change (12%) is indicated by the dashed vertical line. (B) Kernel density plots of failure rates under active learning and under lecturing. The mean failure rates under each classroom type (21.8% and 33.8%) are shown by dashed vertical lines. Freeman et al. 2014

40. STEM Active Learning: Effect Size Effect sizes by discipline. (A) Data on examination scores, concept inventories, or other assessments. (B) Data on failure rates. Numbers below data points indicate the number of independent studies; horizontal lines are 95% confidence intervals. Freeman et al. 2014

41. Active Learning vs. Lecture: Significance Significance of Freeman et al. 2014 & other papers: Active Learning: • increases grades: raise average grades by a half a letter grade • decreases failure (DFW): failure rates under traditional lecturing increase by 55% over the rates observed under active learning • increases retention & persistence: increases the number of students receiving STEM degrees and persisting in STEM courses community colleges • increases equity & inclusion: “active learning confers disproportionate benefits for STEM students from disadvantaged backgrounds and for female students in male-dominated fields” Scott Freeman et al. PNAS 2014;111:8410-8415

42. Transformation #3 Who to Teach: Selective  Inclusive If you think of your course as a threshold, is it a gateway or a doorway? How can your work act as a successful inclusive doorway for all students?

43. Inclusion & Equity – Community Colleges There is no shortage of capable, diverse, motivated students. There is a shortage of opportunity of our under-represented students.

44. Community Colleges What do we know about community colleges? “Group Quiz” – card & penny • Read the questions and discuss with your group. • One person should scratch off the group’s choice. • The correct answer has a “star”.

45. Who attends Community Colleges? 4-year, yearly tuition is up to 10x more that 2-year, yearly tuition

46. Who attends Community Colleges? http://www.aacc.nche.edu

47. Community college students Diverse ethnicity of first-time students at CCs http://www.aacc.nche.edu

48. Countries of Origin for my EdCC Biology students Best estimate: in 2003–04, “about a quarter of the nation’s 6.5 million degree seeking community college students came from an immigrant background.” Teranishi, RT. et al. 2011

49. Children Of Immigrants: High School STEM Percent of Finalists at Intel Science Talent Search with an Immigrant Parent Country of Birth for Parents of 40 Finalists of 2016 Intel Science Competition ”National Foundation for American Policy found a remarkable 83% (33 of 40) of the finalists of the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search were the children of immigrants. The competition organized each year by the Society for Science & the Public is the leading science competition for U.S. high school students.” Anderson S., Forbes, 11 March

50. Diversity of Community College Student We have heterogeneous student populations. • Ethnicity • Language • Immigrant backgrounds • Socioeconomic class • Differently abled • First generation College Students • Non-traditional age • Veterans • Students with bachelors degrees