Life Sciences Department, Everett Community College, Everett, Washington, United States.
Division of Biological Sciences, University of Washington Bothell, Bothell, Washington, United States.
Adv Physiol Educ. 2023 Jun 1;47(2):202-214. doi: 10.1152/advan.00024.2022. Epub 2023 Jan 26.
The past ∼15 years have seen increasing interest in defining disciplinary core concepts. Within the field of physiology, Michael, McFarland, Modell, and colleagues have published studies that defined physiology core concepts and have elaborated many of these as detailed conceptual frameworks. With such helpful definitions now in place, attention is turning to the related issue of how to maximize student understanding of the core concepts by linking these "big ideas" to concrete student-facing resources for active learning and assessment. Our practitioner-based view begins with the recognition that in many if not most undergraduate physiology courses assessment drives learning. We have therefore linked published conceptual frameworks to Test Question Templates (TQTs), whose structure promotes transparent assessments as well as the active learning needed to prepare for such assessments. We provide examples of conceptual framework-linked TQTs for the physiology core concepts of Homeostasis, Flow Down Gradients, the Cell Membrane, and Cell-Cell Communication. We argue that this deployment of TQTs has at least two distinct benefits for the teaching and learning of core concepts. First, documenting the connections between conceptual frameworks and TQTs may clarify coverage and assessment of the core concepts for both instructors and students. Second, misconceptions about core concepts may be directly targeted and dispelled via thoughtful construction, arrangement, and iteration of TQTs. We propose that the TQT framework or similar approaches may be applied fruitfully to any sufficiently articulated physiology core concept for high school, undergraduate, or graduate students. Our students often focus on the grades they need to advance through academic programs. How can instructors harness this understandable interest in grades to help students gain a true understanding of core concepts? The new framework of Test Question Templates (TQTs) shows promise in linking student priorities like test scores to instructor priorities like core concepts.
在过去的 15 年中，人们对定义学科核心概念的兴趣日益浓厚。在生理学领域，Michael、McFarland、Modell 及其同事发表了一些定义生理学核心概念的研究，并详细阐述了其中许多概念作为详细的概念框架。有了这些有用的定义，人们现在开始关注如何通过将这些“大思想”与具体的面向学生的主动学习和评估资源联系起来，最大程度地提高学生对核心概念的理解。我们的实践者观点始于这样一种认识，即在许多（如果不是大多数）本科生理学课程中，评估是推动学习的动力。因此，我们将已发表的概念框架与测试问题模板（TQT）联系起来，其结构促进了透明评估以及为准备此类评估而进行的主动学习。我们提供了与生理学核心概念（稳态、沿梯度流动、细胞膜和细胞间通讯）相关的 TQT 的示例。我们认为，这种 TQT 的部署对核心概念的教与学至少有两个明显的好处。首先，记录概念框架和 TQT 之间的联系可以为教师和学生澄清核心概念的覆盖范围和评估。其次，通过精心构建、安排和迭代 TQT，可以直接针对和消除核心概念的误解。我们提出，TQT 框架或类似方法可成功应用于高中、本科或研究生阶段的任何足够明确的生理学核心概念。我们的学生通常专注于他们在学术课程中取得进步所需的成绩。教师如何利用学生对成绩的这种可理解的兴趣来帮助学生真正理解核心概念？测试问题模板（TQT）的新框架有望将学生的优先事项（如考试成绩）与教师的优先事项（如核心概念）联系起来。
