Fisiologia Cardiovascular

Advan in Physiol Edu 35:149-160, 2011. doi:10.1152/advan.00072.2010
Samo Ribaric and Marjan Kordas
module
electronic circuits in a practically oriented teaching
Teaching cardiovascular physiology with equivalent
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How We Teach
Teaching cardiovascular physiology with equivalent electronic circuits in a
practically oriented teaching module
Samo Ribaricˇ and Marjan Kordaš
Institute of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Submitted 28 June 2010; accepted in final form 18 January 2011Ribaricˇ S, Kordaš M. Teaching cardiovascular physiology
with equivalent electronic circuits in a practically oriented
teaching module. Adv Physiol Educ 35: 149 –160, 2011;
doi:10.1152/advan.00072.2010.—Here, we report on a new tool for
teaching cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology that promotes
qualitative as well as quantitative thinking about timedependent
physiological phenomena.Quantification of steady and
presteady-state (transient) cardiovascular phenomena is traditionally
done by differential equations, but this is time consuming and unsuitable
for most undergraduate medical students. As a result, quantitative
thinking about time-dependent physiological phenomena is often not
extensively dealt with in an undergraduate physiological course. However,
basic concepts ofsteady and presteady state can be explained
with relative simplicity, without the introduction of differential equation,
with equivalent electronic circuits (EECs). We introduced undergraduate
medical students to the concept of simulating cardiovascular
phenomena with EECs. EEC simulations facilitate the understanding
of simple or complex time-dependent cardiovascular
physiological phenomenaby stressing the analogies between EECs
and physiological processes. Student perceptions on using EEC to
simulate, study, and understand cardiovascular phenomena were documented
over a 9-yr period, and the impact of the course on the
students’ knowledge of selected basic facts and concepts in cardiovascular
physiology was evaluated over a 3-yr period. We conclude
that EECs are a valuabletool for teaching cardiovascular physiology
concepts and that EECs promote active learning.
active learning
OPTIMAL TEACHING of physiology to undergraduate medical
students requires a fine balance between teaching facts and
teaching concepts. Traditional teaching favors teaching facts
over learning concepts (10), but with the wide availability of
textbooks and other quality teaching materialin electronic
form (e.g., on the internet) this cannot be justified anymore.
The passive didactic lecture style of teaching in elementary
physiology courses is not the best available option to promote
the learning of basic physiology concepts and their application
(42). In addition, teachers tend to overestimate students’ abilities
to apply their knowledge (44). Therefore, contemporary...