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A unique approach to improving student success in Human Anatomy and Physiology can be centered around teaching the students about metacognitive learning strategies. This perspective discusses the implementation of a metacognitive learning strategies session and highlights some of the outcomes that resulted from the session through exam wrapper responses. A one-hour session discussing metacognitive learning strategies was presented for the students through a pre-recorded video with embedded participation questions. Topics included methods for changing student studying habits to be more efficient and to retain a deeper level of understanding of the material. The session was also accompanied by exam wrappers to help the students to apply the concepts from the session.

This narrative study tells the teaching and learning story of the recently retired Dr. Peggy LePage, a longtime member of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society with a career as a community college anatomy and biology professor spanning nearly three decades. Drawn from a lengthy narrative interview, this paper describes Dr. LePage's background as a nontraditional student and explores her resilience as a woman in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). When Dr. LePage neared a breaking point early in her career, an encounter with a well-known advocate for active learning in science classrooms transformed her pedagogy. She also became involved with HAPS and never looked back. Narrative passages from her interview emphasize Dr. LePage's persistence in STEM, her shift toward a teacher as learner mentality, and the benefits of learning communities for anatomy and physiology instructors.

Guided inquiry is an active learning technique featuring collaborative group learning with a structured set of models and highly structured questions for students to discuss and answer. Moving this technique to an online delivery format presents challenges, leading to questions about the effectiveness of this technique during online instruction. This study looked at the synchronous online delivery of a sliding filament theory guided inquiry activity (Brown 2015) and scores on related exam questions in anatomy classes at Salt Lake Community College. Students who participated in the guided inquiry activity had a median score of 79% on questions related to the sliding filament theory of muscle contraction while those that did not participate in guided inquiry had a median score of 61%, revealing a medium effect on student test scores. This suggests that the guided inquiry activity was successful at improving student understanding and retention when delivered in the online teaching environment.

Pre-clinical community college students represent a unique population with varied academic backgrounds and levels of preparedness. Addressing the needs of this population is important for issues of access, equity, and diversity in higher education. As part of a larger National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Community College Anatomy and Physiology Education Research (CAPER), this study aimed to investigate the impact of an active learning technique on student anxiety, student collaboration, and final course grades. We introduced a bookend think-pair-share (TPS) active learning technique into a traditional community college human physiology lecture. The study found an increased likelihood of collaboration, a slight increase in final grades, a slight decrease in social anxiety, and a significant decrease in anxiety regarding five of eight specific teaching practices following the bookend TPS intervention.

Evidence Based Instructional Practices (EBIPs) have been shown to increase student engagement in college classrooms. Education research conducted to date on the effectiveness of these EBIPs and their impact on students' has largely focused on four-year and research-intensive institutions, and community colleges represent a significant gap in the literature. The NSF-funded Community College Anatomy and Physiology Education Research (CAPER) project has attempted to narrow that knowledge gap through instruction, mentoring, and research support teams. To date, two cohorts of community college instructors (six participants each year) have participated in an online course on education research, which culminates in the completion of a research proposal. Participants receive coaching and mentorship through the development and implementation of their research projects at their respective institutions. Data collected to date measures the impact that each EBIP has on student anxiety and academic self-efficacy. The purpose of CAPER is not only to gather data on the EBIP implementation and effectiveness in community college classrooms, but also to gather data on long-lasting change in instructional methods used by community college instructors engaging in this research. Through this research, we are contributing to the body of literature that is currently lacking representation of community college populations. In addition, we are identifying tools and resources that may increase the likelihood that community college faculty will engage in student-centered learning techniques in their classrooms.

One strategy to transform the high attrition rates among community college (CC) students is for CC instructors to utilize the teaching practices shown to most likely lead to student success. CC students and faculty are underrepresented in biology education research (BER), with only 3% of BER articles addressing CC-specific issues (Schinske et al. 2017). This study examines whether the addition of an electronic student response system (SRS), and its proposed ability to facilitate group discussion, would enhance the effects of peer instruction on student performance in a community college anatomy and physiology course. Unit exam scores of students utilizing clickers vs. written responses were compared to determine if the addition of clicker technology to peer instruction increased performance. A MANOVA test revealed no significant differentiation in exam scores between groups. This implies that CC students may respond dissimilarly to previously studied students and that more educational research must be done at community colleges.

In this pilot study, students in Anatomy and Physiology courses at a Southwest US Community College were assigned to groups with the instruction that they must meet outside of class time to work on course assignments throughout the semester. The assignments included exam preparation questions and case studies, but the groups could use their out of time class in other ways as well. The aim was to identify student-perceived challenges and benefits associated with out-of-class group study in a population of commuter students. The majority of students reported group participation was beneficial to learning while also noting the challenges in scheduling regular face-to-face meetings, which were often mitigated through technology use. The majority of respondents (70%) commented that they would seek other group study opportunities in their courses. In this qualitative report, we conclude that students perceived group work to be beneficial enough to seek additional group study opportunities in spite of the logistical challenges associated with a commuter population.

Muddiest point and peer instruction are evidence-based instructional practices that can be used to address student learning gaps. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of modality (face to face or online) on student perceptions of the effectiveness of combined muddiest point and peer instruction activities in community college anatomy and physiology courses. Data was collected through end of course surveys and included quantitative and qualitative results. While there was no significant difference in student perception of anxiety or contribution to learning among face-to-face and online students, anxiety levels were low and contribution to learning was high for both groups. Both groups generally provided positive qualitative responses, but online students were more likely to provide positive feedback on muddiest point and peer instruction activities than face-to-face students. Negative responses tended to focus on wanting to work alone and dissatisfaction with classmates' contributions. This study was supported as part of the Community College Anatomy and Physiology Education Research (CAPER) project (2111119). [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]