Situation: Self-Imposed Asked to teach a 2 nd year Inquiry Course in the BHSc Programme

1. Situation: Self-Imposed • Asked to teach a 2nd year Inquiry Course in the BHSc Programme • Had a class of 104 • Wanted to adopt a PBL approach which meant that: • - The students would begin with a problem case • - They would be required to seek, synthesise, integrate • information • - There would be no formal lectures • I did not want to involve anybody else • I was teaching two other PBL courses during that term, plus a lab course • Limited time

2. To help you obtain a working knowledge of toxicology, a problem-based approach will be used. All of you will participate in a simulation. The problem sets that will be used are fictitious. The sentiments expressed and the actions described are not to be emulated. This is a disclaimer. • The problems posed will serve as stimuli for learning. Each group will brainstorm to generate issues that will be refined into learning tasks. • The learning tasks will guide the subsequent information search. • Each group will set out their own meeting times. • Each person in the group will keep a log book. The log should record the task for the week, the individual's contribution and a summary of the group’s achievements.

3. Each group will present a series of interim reports according to a specified schedule. At the interim sessions, ONE member of the Group will be chosen at random to present on behalf of the group. The log books of the others can be audited at random. The Group will get an interim mark based on the performance of the chosen individual. It is thus in the interests of the Group to work cohesively with each other and be fully cognisant of the tasks and accomplishments. Each group will submit a single report and be required to give a brief presentation. The person chosen to give the presentation will be selected at random. In addition, each person will be asked to write a critical commentary on any one of the other presentations. This will be an individual effort and the student will get an individual mark.

4. Given any compound that is believed to be toxic, it is important to obtain information about: • The chemical nature of the poison • The target site • The processes by which the toxin gets access to the target site • Dose-response relations • The mechanism of toxicity • The nature of the dysfunction that results • The attempts made by the organism to limit dysfunction. • The consequences of that dysfunction

5. Schedule Week 1 All Groups Week 2 All Groups Week 3 Groups 1-5 Week 4 Groups 6-10 Week 5 Groups 1-5 Week 6 Groups 6-10 Week 7 Groups 1-5 Week 8 Groups 6-10 Week 9 Groups 1-5 Week 10 Groups 6-10 Week 11 Presentations Week 12 Presentations Week 13 Presentations

6. Marking Scheme: Log Books (audited at random) 10% Interim Reports 20% Individual Commentaries 20% Group Presentations 10% Final Written Report 40%

7. THE LOKI MISSION Welcome to the CMA (Consolidated Mayhem Agency). You are the latest crop of applicants to our agency. It is my understanding that you have undergone rigorous scrutiny and have been carefully selected for the tasks at hand. CMA has an enviable reputation and high standards. Our ethical standards are beyond reproach. We have never discriminated on the basis of religion, colour or political affiliations. Our neutrality is our greatest asset. We are a people-oriented organisation. We like to work with people, we help people. All people, provided they can pay. We receive a large number of lucrative contracts that enable us to live extremely well. We expect that those of you who succeed in joining us would find the work challenging and the perks rewarding so there would no need to seek greener pastures south of the border. It is customary for us to test the mettle of all our applicants. We propose to do so by giving you problems to solve. All the problems posed are hypothetical, nevertheless they closely resemble the contracts we usually accept. Therefore your abilities to deal successfully with the problems posed will determine whether you will become full time employees of this agency. The entrants have been divided into 10 groups. The members of each group are listed on the sheet. One spokesperson for each group will come forward to select the Task for the group. K.

8. OPERATION: CRYBABIES GQ is a group of influential industrialists evangelical about globalization. They propose to meet soon at a remote location. It is rumoured that the meeting will be disrupted by ChaoTropics, an international gang of well funded do-gooders. Although police protection is being offered, the Group would prefer to have their own internal security take charge. They believe that the protesters are well equipped to deal with standard riot control agents and want CMA to help them develop novel crowd control agents.

9. OPERATION: LABOURLOST The increasing birth rate in a minority group is causing serious concerns. The authorities are acutely sensitive to criticisms regarding human rights issues and would prefer more subtle measures to control the problem. They wonder whether some chemicals can be used either through food or water to reduce fertility in selected populations. CMA has offered to help.

10. aThe Course gave me a good introduction to the science of toxicology bThe course stimulated my interest in exploring further fundamental biological processes cThe structure of the course facilitated group learning dThe log books enabled me to keep track of my learning e  The process helped me communicate clearly with my peers f The process of random selection of presenters enabled me to learn better from my group members g The course gave me more confidence in my own abilities h I would like to take another course run in a similar format