Physiology for the 21^st Century
A Sourcebook of Effective and Economical Experiments

Physiology for the 21st Century is a collaborative program of the University of Texas at Austin, the American Physiological Society (APS), Rush Medical College and the International Union of Physiological Societies (IUPS). It is sponsored by the National Science Foundation (Grant #DUE-041064).

A Need for Effective and Economical Experiments
The BIO 2010 report calls for biology education to become more interdisciplinary, quantitative, and active through the use of well-designed curriculum modules. Physiology lends itself to this approach as its integrative nature includes all levels of biological organization, complex systems with emergent properties, and mechanisms that must be understood by applying basic principles of physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Physiology laboratory activities that are pedagogically sound yet easy to perform are almost unavailable commercially, limiting curriculum choices for new teachers. Yet studies have shown that actively engaging students in carefully designed activities is an effective method for developing adaptive expertise as well as uncovering and correcting student misconceptions.

Project Focus
The Physiology for the 21st Century project brings together a diverse group of physiologists to adapt two existing but out-of-date sets of laboratory experiments into a teachers’ source book of inexpensive, low-tech, inquiry-focused laboratory and classroom activities suitable for students from K-12 through post-graduate levels. Experiments will be adapted to make them more learner-centered and inquiry-based.

A core group of U.S. and international physiologists is coordinating the revision process, with the assistance of colleagues from diverse institutions. Project participants received training on how to convert cookbook laboratories to inquiry and developed a format template at a 3-day workshop following the 2009 International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) Congress in California. The development group reviews activities and sends them to the Education Office of the American Physiological Society (APS), which is responsible for online dissemination. The activities are distributed free through the online APS Archive of Teaching Resources, part of the National Science Digital Library. APS is carrying out project evaluation.