Megaw, Pam, Van Der Meer, Martin, Meldrum, Kathryn, and Zimanyi, Monika (2016) Instructor creativity in producing learning activities for a diverse cohort of first year anatomy and physiology students. In: Proceedings of the Society For Experimental Biology Conference: Creativity in Science Teaching. From: SEBCST 2016: Society For Experimental Biology Conference: Creativity in Science Teaching, 12-14 December 2016, London, UK.

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Abstract

We co-teach first year anatomy and physiology to 320 allied health students studying 4 different programs (Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech Pathology, and Sport and Exercise Science). The cohort is comprised of just over half first-in-family students, with diverse academic backgrounds, as evidenced by a broad range of university entrance scores (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) 99.95-35, with just under half of ATAR 87 or lower). Historically the subject has been characterised by student disengagement, and a high failure rate. As an initial strategy to address this issue, in 2015 we introduced activity-intensive workshops as part of flipped-classroom learning experiences. The activities were designed to increase visualization of concepts. The instructor needs both a solid understanding of the concept and a high degree creativity when designing these activities. For example, orange safety mesh was used to model the cell membrane for a role play on cellular transport processes and simple garden irrigation equipment used to simulate a nephron. Students also used a high degree of creativity in producing posters for case studies, which were utilised as another strategy to enhance student learning and engagement. Students were surveyed regarding their experiences in both 2015 and 2016. They were ambivalent about how useful the different activities were in helping understanding of concepts in 2015. In 2016 we increased the instruction around how the exercises should be utilised and this resulted in the students gaining much more satisfaction from the activities.

Item ID:	49726
Item Type:	Conference Item (Abstract / Summary)
Keywords:	flipped classroom, active learning, creative teaching
Related URLs:	http://www.sebiology.org
Date Deposited:	02 Aug 2017 02:55
FoR Codes:	13 EDUCATION > 1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy > 130209 Medicine, Nursing and Health Curriculum and Pedagogy @ 50% 11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1116 Medical Physiology > 111603 Systems Physiology @ 50%
SEO Codes:	93 EDUCATION AND TRAINING > 9301 Learner and Learning > 930102 Learner and Learning Processes @ 50% 93 EDUCATION AND TRAINING > 9302 Teaching and Instruction > 930202 Teacher and Instructor Development @ 50%
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