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Human Anatomy and Physiology courses are “gateway” courses that students must pass with high grades in order to proceed through their program of study. However, student pass rates are often low, resulting in students attempting the course multiple times and delaying their graduation. Supplemental instruction performed by peer leaders is one mechanism that has been used to increase student success. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of peer-led supplemental instruction by comparing predicted and actual course grades. We learned that students predicted to earn a C achieved higher grades when they utilized supplemental instruction. While those students performed better than predicted, supplemental instruction did not improve ABC rates for the class. We conclude that supplemental instruction can be of benefit for some students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there has been a recent focus on developing programs to support educational research by community college anatomy and physiology instructors, there is not yet an established long-term community of practice (CoPs) in this particular area. Studies of long-term CoPs, particularly in STEM education, are few and far between. This study examines College in the Schools (CIS), a long-term community of practice for high school anatomy and physiology (A&P) educators in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In addition, this study highlights the factors that attract high school A&P teachers to CIS and the possibility of creating a similar CoP for community college (CC) A&P instructors focused on educational research. It was discovered that despite their varying reasons for joining, members of CIS and CC instructors tend to participate in CoPs similarly. As a result, A&P instructors from CC who are interested in educational research could benefit from a CoP structure similar to CIS over a longer period of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most challenging aspects of teaching anatomy and physiology is using teaching tools that enhance active learning and keep students actively engaged during the lecture courses. This study explored the use of a student response system that was easy to use, cost-efficient, and re-usable for multiple anatomy and physiology courses. More specifically, the impact of i>clickers on student performance in anatomy and physiology courses was investigated by comparing exam scores before and after the introduction of i>clickers. This study showed that the use of i>clickers during the lecture courses increased student engagement and improved the performance of students on the lecture exams covering the respiratory, digestive, urinary, reproductive, lymphatic, and immune systems. The overall performance of students in the anatomy and physiology lecture courses had also a tendency to increase. Furthermore, student feedback regarding i>clicker use was highly positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]