2008 Education Committee Report
Web-Based Professional Skills Courses
With support from the NIGMS Minority Opportunities in
Research division, the APS is developing live, web, and CD-ROM short courses
that focus on critical professional skills areas. Each course will include a
strong focus on the interaction of racial/ethnic background and culture with
the development of these skills. Students who complete the course(s) will:
improve their performance in specific professional skills areas; increase
their understanding of how these skills can impact career opportunities and
advancement in biomedicine; increase their understanding of how diversity
issues, especially cultural influences and background experiences, can
interact with the development of professional skills targeted by the course;
and increase their knowledge of resources and materials that can further
assist in their development of these key professional skills.
2008 Live Short Courses
In January 2008, the APS conducted its first
“fee-based” live professional skills training courses for graduate and
postdoctoral students. This was the first time both courses, “Writing and
Reviewing for Scientific Journals” and “Making Scientific Presentations:
Critical First Skills” were run concurrently. NIGMS provided travel
fellowships for 26 minority students to participate in the courses. The
writing and reviewing course focused on upper level graduate students and
postdocs and the skills needed for writing and reviewing their first author
manuscript for scientific journals in biomedicine. The presentation skills
course was geared toward lower level graduate students and the skills needed
to create and present their first author posters at meetings.
For 2009, there will be more active recruitment and
advertising within the Society and through other organizations. The 2009
course will be January 14-17 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Lake Buena
Vista, FL. The focus for the Writing and Reviewing course in 2009 will be
cell and molecular physiology, comparative physiology, endocrinology, GI
physiology, and respiration.
Project Summary
The proposed project, “Mentoring Skills for Minority
Neuroscientists,” will use the proven APS course development model for
Professional Skills Training (PST) to develop, field-test, evaluate, and
disseminate both live and online interactive courses. The courses will be
designed for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows (both basic and
clinical), and new investigators and will focus on how to effectively mentor
students and be mentored by an advisor. Both the live and online courses
will emphasize issues related to minority scientists and to neuroscience but
also will be applicable to students in broad areas of biomedicine. The APS
has previously developed two highly successful PST courses: one on writing
and reviewing for journals and the second on presentation skills and poster
development.
Experimental Biology Activities
EB Refresher Course
The APS Refresher Courses are designed to provide both
an intensive overview of content in one of the areas of physiology and
opportunities to review new teaching methods and materials for physiology
instruction. They are targeted especially for non-specialists who have
teaching responsibilities in the refresher course’s content area in medical
education. The Refresher Course materials are also widely disseminated via
the website and APS journals. The 2008 Refresher Course focused on
respiratory physiology. It was organized by Britt Wilson and Robert Brock.
The session was well-attended (approximately 100-130 attendees for each
speaker) with many attendees staying for the entire session. The session
presentations are being prepared for the web and Advances publication.
Support for Medical Science Educators
Meeting of the Medical Physiology Course Directors: At
EB 2008, 16 medical physiology course directors met to discuss the planned
changes in the USMLE and to share resources. The directors agreed this year
to bring resources related to the APS Refresher Course topic and a number of
directors brought resources on respiratory physiology to share via copies
and via the website. The group plans to continue to meet and share
resources.
Sharing Resources at IAMSE: In 2007, Committee member
Britt Wilson staffed an exhibit at IAMSE and represented the APS. He shared
information on APS membership, the Medical Physiology Course Directors
Website, and the APS Archive of Teaching Resources. He also served as a
liaison to IAMSE concerning the proposed USMLE changes. In 2008, Wilson will
again exhibit for the APS and will also promote the Medical Physiology
Learning Objectives.
APS Archive of Teaching Resources
As of June 1, 2008, the Archive includes more than
1,800 items and supports nearly 2,000 active users per month. In 2007, the
average number of active users per month increased from 1,300 to nearly
2,000. The average number of total hits on the Archive increased by more
than 10,000 hits per month over 2006. The usage of the Archive should
increase even more in 2008 as the system becomes open to Google searches.
In 2007, the Archive switched to a new review schedule
to better recruit and review materials submitted by educators. Review of
materials submitted by individuals occurs biannually (June and December) and
review of new K-12 materials generated by APS programs (e.g., Frontiers in
Physiology) takes place in the fall and spring.
K-12 Materials Review: As part of a recent National
Science Foundation (NSF) grant, the APS developed review criteria that will
allow K-12 materials developed by Frontiers in Physiology Summer Research
Teachers to be reviewed and added to the Archive. These criteria include not
only scientific accuracy and appropriate use of animals and humans in
laboratory activities (that is, the standard Archive review criteria) but
also appropriate grade level, safety issues, and experimental focus. In
2007, 100 teacher-developed activities were reviewed for content, pedagogy,
and safety by the Education Committee.
BEN Scholars: As part of the current NSF grant, the APS
is collaborating with other BEN societies on an undergraduate faculty
development program, called BEN Scholars. BEN Scholars are undergraduate
faculty members in life sciences, who develop specific expertise in the use
of digital libraries to enhance teaching and learning, how to contribute to
a digital library, and how to conduct professional development activities
for colleagues at their home campuses. In 2007, three of the 25 BEN Scholars
submitted activities to the APS Archive. Overall, three Archive activities
and one Advances article were accepted from 2007 BEN Scholars. In 2008,
eight of the 25 BEN Scholars teach physiology.
Medical Physiology Learning Objectives (MPLO)
Project
The MPLOs were developed jointly by APS and ACDP to
provide guidelines for the breadth and depth of knowledge in the
physiological principles and concepts that are considered minimal and
essential for further progress in understanding mechanisms of disease and
body defenses, particularly in medical training. The Committee will remind
Sections to schedule the review/revision of their objectives. In addition,
staff members will increase publicity of the learning objectives in 2008 to
support the USMLE test development process.
David Bruce Awards
The David S. Bruce Awards were established in 2004 to
recognize excellence in undergraduate research. They are made annually at EB
to undergraduate students who have submitted both abstracts for the meeting
and award application materials. In 2008, 68 applications for the David
Bruce Award were received and 20 finalists were selected. From the
finalists, the subcommittee selected seven David Bruce Awardees.
EB 2008 Undergraduate Poster Session
Since 2004, the APS has invited all undergraduate
students who are first authors on abstracts submitted to APS EB sessions to
present their posters at a special APS Undergraduate Poster Session. This
session is typically held on Sunday afternoon and serves as the reception to
announce the David Bruce Awardees. In 2008, approximately 200 APS members
came to see the 120+ undergraduate posters and to talk with the students.
Fourteen physiology departments paid a fee for table space to promote their
graduate programs to the undergraduate students at the session, providing
$3,500 to help cover the session costs.
HAPS Collaboration
The APS collaborates with HAPS in a number of ways,
including exhibiting and conducting workshops at HAPS meetings. From the
2007 HAPS Institute, 31 faculty-developed teaching resources were accepted
into the Archive from 21 HAPS members. In 2008, Michael Levitzky of LSUHSC
was the APS-sponsored keynote speaker for the HAPS Institute Course on
Advanced Respiratory Biology and Dee Silverthorn served as the
Instructor/Course Designer for the Institute course. The APS also provided
lists of respiratory physiology teaching materials from the APS Archive. The
Committee will continue to work with HAPS on future Institute courses for
their 2009 meeting in Baltimore.
APS Summer Research Program for Teachers
The APS Summer Research program provides year-long
fellowships for middle and high school science teachers from across the
nation, engaging them in biomedical research, building connections with
researchers, improving their teaching methods and curricular materials, and
deepening the understanding of both teachers and students of how biomedical
research is done and how animals are used in research. In 2007, the program
supported 16 teachers from 14 states. These teachers completed their
fellowship year by participating in EB 2008. Two teachers presented posters
on their research.
In 2008, 11 teachers from 10 states worked in the
laboratories of APS members. These teachers have already completed three
online professional development units and attended the APS Science Teaching
Forum in July 2008. Three APS members served as Physiologists-in-Residence
at the Science Teaching Forum: Tom Schmidt, University of Iowa; TanYa
Gwathmey, Wake Forest University School of Medicine; and Keisa Mathis, LSU
Health Sciences Center. Gwathmey and Mathis are 2008 NIDDK K-12 Outreach
Fellows.
EB Workshop for Teachers and Students
Education Committee Chair Thomas Pressley and APS
member Robin Looft-Wilson coordinated the 2008 APS Workshop for High School
Teachers and Students. More than 90 San Diego area teachers and their
students attended the workshop along with APS members and 2007 Frontiers
Research Teachers. The keynote talk, “Human Physiological Limits to
Exploring Mars,” was given by APS member, James Pawelczyk, Penn State
University. Sixteen APS members served as tour guides during lunch where
they took teachers and students through the exhibits and posters and shared
a box lunch while discussing physiology careers.
In the afternoon student session students used the
“Elvis Experiments” from the APS “Physiology of Fitness” unit to learn about
factors affecting flow of liquids through tubing (radius, length,
viscosity). While students were conducting their experiments, their teachers
participated in a workshop activity on modeling the digestive system with
common household items. Frontiers Mentor/Instructor Tonya Smith (South
Carolina) led the teacher workshop. The Committee is planning to continue
the program in 2009 in New Orleans.
Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) Awards
Since 1992 the APS has presented awards to high school
students presenting physiology research projects at the ISEF. Sponsored by
Intel, the ISEF is the world’s largest international pre-college science
competition. The 59th Annual International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)
was held in Atlanta, GA May 11-17, 2008. During the two evenings of awards
ceremonies, more than $4 million in scholarships, cash prizes, and awards
were distributed in categories ranging from behavioral science to
engineering and medicine.
This year’s APS judging team leader was Robert Hester,
University of Mississippi Medical Center. He was accompanied by Britt
Wilson, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, and Douglas Eaton,
Otto Froehlich, J. Wylie Nichols, and Peter Wenner, all from Emory
University. The first place winner ($1,000) was Harrison Phu Nguyen, 17, of
Detroit Catholic Central High School, Novi, MI for his project titled
“Combating Muscle Atrophy: A Novel Study of Myofibril Turnover in
Sternopygus.” Nguyen was also awarded a best of category winner for Cellular
& Molecular Biology presented by Intel Foundation receiving a fourth place
award and $500, he also received a second place award from the United States
Air Force with a $1,500 award. The APS Second Place winner ($500) was Diya
Dwarakanath, 17, of Westview High School, Portland OR. His project was
entitled “Role of Calcium/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinases in BDNF-induced
AMPA Receptor Surface Trafficking.”
The APS judging team selected the project of Dallas
James Krentzel, 17, from Airline High School, Bossier City, LA for one of
the APS Third Place awards. His project was entitled, “Is 4,4’
Methylenedianiline-Induced Vascular Toxicity a Model for Pulmonary
Hypertension?” The second third place award was presented to Jourdan Brandt
Urbach, 16, of Roslyn High School, Roslyn Heights, NY for his project
entitled “The Effect of Extracellular Signaling Molecules on Oligodendrocyte
Differentiation, Morphology, Proliferation, and Survival.” Jourdan was also
awarded a Tuition Scholarship ranging from $6,000-$9,000 from the University
of the Sciences in Philadelphia. He also received a third place award of
$150 from the Patent and Trademark Office Society.
Physiology Understanding Week
The primary objective of Physiology Understanding Week
is to increase student interest in and understanding of physiology in their
lives and to introduce them to physiology as a possible career.
2007 PhUn Week Activities: The first nationwide
Physiology Understanding Week was a tremendous success thanks to the many
APS members who participated. The PhUn Week 2007 theme was exercise and
health. Briefly, in 2007, all target goal numbers of events and participants
(APS members, trainees, teachers, and K-12 students) were exceeded.
In November 2007, an online feedback survey was sent to
the adult participants, generating a 52% response rate. When asked about
potentially participating in PhUn Week 2008, 70% indicated “yes” and 30%
indicated “maybe.” No one said “no” to participating in future years.
ADInstruments, Inc. (ADI) contributed materials and financial support for
both the PhUn Week program and the PhUn Week Training Session at EB 2008.
EB 2008 PhUn Week Training Session: The second annual
PhUn Week Training Session at EB 2008 focused on: recruiting APS members or
teacher fellows for the PhUn Week 2008 program; demonstrating engaging,
hands-on student activities that can be used for PhUn Week; and developing
ideas for future PhUn Week themes.
Several participants in PhUn Week 2007 briefly
presented their collaborations and visits to classrooms. Presenters on PhUn
Week models and/or innovative activities developed from their local event
included: David Holtzclaw, University of Nebraska Medical Center; Lisa
Harrison-Bernard and Keisa Mathis, Louisiana State University Health
Sciences Center; Catherine Uyehara, Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu,
HI; Ana Rodriguez and Nildris Cruz, University of Puerto Rico Medical
Sciences Campus; Clintoria Richards-Williams, University of Alabama,
Birmingham; Diane Munzenmaier, Medical College of Wisconsin; Frontiers
Research Teacher Lorraine O’Shea and Van Doze, University of North Dakota
School of Medicine and Health Sciences; Jessica Clark, Washington University
in Saint Louis School of Medicine; and Barbara Goodman, University of South
Dakota Sanford School of Medicine.
IUPS Collaborations
21st Century Physiology Project: This project, headed
by APS Council member, Dee Silverthorn, is revising a set of older IUPS and
APS laboratory activities to incorporate more effective student-centered
teaching methods and to update content in the activities. IUPS members are
collaborating in the development process. APS members Tom Pressley and Rob
Carroll worked with APS staff to review and revise several activities that
are currently being field tested. Their subsequent submission and eventual
acceptance to the Archive should facilitate international access, completing
the major goals of this project.
Enhancing Teaching among US and International Members:
APS is working to submit a number of proposals for the 2009 IUPS meeting and
the planned IUPS Teaching Satellite meeting in Kyoto. Currently, Marsha
Matyas serves as a member of the IUPS Teaching Group planning committee.
|
