The SEI program in integrative physiology has successfully completed. In the past, the departmental efforts concentrated on:

  1. Identification of key concepts within physiology
  2. Development of concept based and measurable learning goals
  3. Alignment of learning goals within courses and throughout the curriculum
  4. Development and refinement of assessment procedures
  5. Identification of concepts and content within physiology that students have difficulty mastering
  6. Design and implement interventions to improve student comprehension and retention
  7. Validation, application, and extension of current theories in education research to the field of physiology

In 2006, faculty in Integrative Physiology (IPHY) unanimously agreed to participate in the Science Education Initiative (SEI) program. The original charge of the IPHY SEI program was three-fold:

1.To change the culture of science education in IPHY,

2.To help develop teaching methods that promote a deeper understanding of concepts in physiology so that students retain knowledge,

3.To promote critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills in science. Over the past five years, the Department and the Science Teaching Fellows (STFs) have been successfully reforming the IPHY curriculum to achieve these goals. In 2010, the SEI program in IPHY was recognized as a national model of successful course reform (Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning. March/April 2010).

An overview of the Science Education Initiative in IPHY poster