NeuroActive

The lecture «Advanced Anatomy and Physiology I: Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology» (376-0007-00L) taught to around 180 students covers a great deal of factual knowledge, which is examined together with «Advanced Anatomy and Physiology II» after a 1-year lecture cycle. Due to the large amount of material covered, the students often only learn the content in a superficial manner. They then only have a limited conceptual understanding of the material when attending subsequent courses that are designed to build on the core knowledge obtained during the initial stage of the degree.

We will offer a lecture in which the most important basic knowledge is taught during short oral presentations. The students will then deepen this knowledge independently through targeted work assignments, simulated experiments and case studies, which consider both healthy physiology and pathophysiology in patients. The students will therefore engage in an active lesson, during which they can familiarize themselves with the concepts of neurophysiology through individual and group work. Above all, cooperative learning forms have the advantage that they are often motivating.

The students will still have to acquire a considerable body of knowledge to be successful in the exam, however, they will:
(i) have less difficulty memorizing, as they can build on prior knowledge and concepts;
(ii) better answer questions that test how well a concept is understood; and
(iii) maintain this improved conceptual understanding over a longer period of time.

Students already acquire and consolidate knowledge during the semester (HS) and not just before the examination the following summer (principle of «distributed practice»).
Students play an active role during teaching, which promotes self-responsibility through self-determination and cooperative learning methods (that are more motivating).
• Students receive the material and time they need to learn more difficult content at their own pace.
• The exercises provide a different approach to understand the models, mechanisms and experiments in neurophysiology. Memorizing facts is reduced.
• The exercises enable students to test their own knowledge. If necessary, they can read the background information on the exercises at any time in the lecture script or they can ask the lecturers and assistants.
• Through the use of the EduApp, the lecturer receives feedback on which concepts the students have or have not understood (or which questions were misleading).

The attendance hours are no longer only used for the presentation of new knowledge, but students will be required to process the information presented and build a conceptual understanding of the content. They will then immediately apply this to case studies on the healthy and damaged nervous system. This format will require students to engage active learning mechanisms.
After an introduction to the topic, the students solve problem-oriented exercises in a PolyBook. The answers are assessed via the EduApp and discussed with the group.

The timing of the introduction, processing of exercises and evaluation still requires optimization. Furthermore, it is currently difficult for the students to make notes in the PolyBook.

Students appreciate the lecture script, exercises and the opportunity to discuss issues in groups of 2-3. They do not like to ask questions in front of the class and do not want to be asked to do so.

• ETH offers good learning technologies (PolyBook, EduApp) and it is worth using them.
• In a lecture with 200 students, many students are too shy to ask questions in front of the class and they don’t like to participate in discussions. However, they are happy to use opportunities in which they can answer questions anonymously.
• Most students like a lecture with a good balance between frontal instruction and independent exercises.