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RE: [HAPS-L] nervous and endocrine earlier in the semester, revisited



For whatever it is worth, students consistently do more poorly on the endocrine test than any of the others, including the nervous system.

 

From: HAPS-L-owner@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:HAPS-L-owner@xxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Lapres, Jason H
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 3:05 PM
To: HAPS-L@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [HAPS-L] nervous and endocrine earlier in the semester, revisited

 

Thank you Ken and well put. 

 

Our situation is that we have some people that would like to try switching the sequence to spend a little more time on the nervous and endocrine systems earlier in the semester.  One of the major factors is a “gut feeling” that this will better prepare our students in these two vital areas because the students are “fresher” earlier in the semester. 

 

The counter to this is that a few don’t want to even give it a try because they don’t think it will work.  Therefore, they want some evidence.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve tried a lot of things in my life/career that I didn’t think would work, or that I would like (several foods come to mind).

 

So the real issue becomes, will trying a change in the sequence of chapters/topics in API hurt anyone, especially students.  I think not.

 

Jason LaPres

Associate Professor of Biology

Human Anatomy and Physiology

North Harris College

2700 WW Thorne

Winship 210E

Houston Texas 77090

281-618-7132


From: HAPS-L-owner@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:HAPS-L-owner@xxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ken Saladin
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 1:47 PM
To: HAPS-L@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [HAPS-L] nervous and endocrine earlier in the semester, revisited

 

At 02:31 PM 7/5/2007, you wrote:

Does anyone have any actual statistics showing that teaching the nervous and endocrine systems early in API (before muscles and bones) helps students do better and APII, and subsequently, in future health care programs?
 
Jason LaPres




I suspect that most of our convictions about the best way to teach A&P, including the sequence of topics, are based on gut feelings more than evidence. I'd be very surprised if there were any adequately controlled studies that traced different cohorts of students, taught by different methods in A&P, to see which ones were more successful in their clinical coursework or their careers.

Ken