General College Curriculum Goals

Course Number: GC 1135: Human Anatomy and Physiology

Credits: 4

Diversified Core: Biological Science with Lab

Designated Theme: None

Writing Intensive: No

Completed by: Murray Jensen

Date completed: 2/5/99

A. Develop academic skills (i.e., processes involved with both acquiring and demonstrating knowledge) and successfully apply them to college-level coursework

Curricular Goals	Course Goals	Learning Activities
1. Students will read college-level texts.	Acquire content from the textbook and study guide. Additional readings from Internet sites on current topics and issues in the news (example, organ transplants).	Students read chapters of the text before attending class on that topic. Students read chapters of the text prior to exams. Students read study guide prior to exam.
2. Students will understand lecture material.	Students learn to take meaningful notes or create documents that can communicate scientific information. Students ask questions during lecture either to clarify or to bring in new ideas. (NOTE: the word “understand” is not very meaningful in science – “students will be able to use content in the course to describe, explain, predict and control scientific events” – is a bit better, but still not entirely accurate.)	Students taking lecture notes. Students making scientific drawings. Students creating computer documents (word processing, power point presentations, web pages, e-mail). Teacher asks course-related questions and also requires that students ask the teacher questions. Students will be expected to describe, explain, and predict events. Example: predict what a drug that blocks the near-muscular receptors would do to the normal physiology of a muscle cell?
3. Students will participate in classroom discussions.	Weekly use of both formal and informal cooperative groups.	We use cooperative groups for completing several tasks – including cooperative quizzes. Completing a cooperative quiz requires classroom discussion. Example: implementing cooperative quizzes where one answer sheet is given to groups of three students.
4. Students will write a variety of documents.	Students will be able to create computer documents and traditional paper and pencil explanations of scientific events.	Students will create web pages and Power Point Presentations of normal and pathological conditions in human anatomy and physiology. Several short writing assignments: Example -- Student will be able to write a paper and pencil essay about the events in muscle contraction.
5. Students will understand quantitative problems.	Not Much Here! Calculation of calories in a diet.	Students will be able to calculate net caloric gain/loss given quantity of fat, carbohydrates, and proteins ingested in a specific period of time.
6. Students will be able to use a computer.	Students will use computers to create power point projects, web page projects, medical terminology worksheets, and electronic cooperative quizzes.	We meet for two hours a week in a computer lab where students engage in a wide variety of activities. Many activities are completed in cooperative groups.
7. Students are willing to receive information and respond to it.	Students are expected to read scientific information.	Students will be tested on their ability to comprehend and interpret scientific readings. Example: a technical reading on atherosclerosis or sickle cell anemia.
8. Students develop values, organize them into systems, and apply those systems to their private and public lives.	NO WAY – That’s their business. Many of my students smoke and engage in sexual activity – but not at the same time. Some have even been know to use caffeine. It’s not my job to teach values – those are created by each individual.	We discuss sexually transmitted diseases, effects of smoking, and even the effects of caffeine on the nervous system.
9. Other.

B. Build and use a foundation of general knowledge in the discipline

Curricular Goals	Course Goals	Learning Activities
10. Appreciate the discipline as a valuable area of knowledge.	The role of anatomy and physiology in society - from medicine, mortuary science, to cosmetics and eating food. Lot's and lots of possibilities.	E.g. What does a pathologists do? What does a nutritionists do? Lots of examples of professions that involve anatomy and physiology.
11. Identify and describe issues or problems in the discipline.	Nature of Science Issues – Addressing the many misconceptions of nature of science issues.	Is nutra-sweet good for you? What does SCIENCE say? Is it true? Is science the search for truth? Might they be wrong?
12. Analyze and reflect upon issues or problems in the discipline.	Same, or similar to, #11	Same, or similar to, #11
13. Solve issues or problems in the discipline.	Same, or similar to, #11	Same, or similar to, #11
14. Think creatively.	Our two computer projects (Web Pages and Power Point Presentations) require a large quantity of creativity.	Students must design a web page that communicates the pathophysiology of a specific disease.
15. Other.

C. Demonstrate greater awareness of and respect for individual, cultural, ethnic, and religious differences

Curricular Goals	Course Goals	Learning Activities
16. Awareness and respect for diversity in terms of content.	History of anatomy and physiology – History of Medicine Diseases that hit some ethnic groups more than others.	Use of Jews for hypothermia experiments in Nazi Concentration Camps. Blood transfusions – is there a difference in “RACE” and blood? Is there “Black” blood? “White” blood. Heart disease, sickle cell anemia, and many many more.
17. Awareness and respect for diversity in terms of process.	Medicine in different cultures. Who is “right” “better” etc..	Witch Doctors, Shamans, Medicine Men, MD’s, Acupuncture, etc.. – who is right?
18. Other.

D. Develop attitudes and behaviors that are associated with success in college

Curricular Goals	Course Goals	Learning Activities
19. Class participation.	Cooperative Groups.	Cooperative Groups for completing Power Point Project and Web Page projects - and also weekly cooperative quizzes.
20. Use of learning resources.	Students lean how to look-up information on the Internet. Cooperative Groups work here too – students use each other as resources.	Use Internet materials to complete Web Page and Power Point Projects. Students work in pairs or groups to solve problems.
21. Task completion.	Complete Web Page and Power Point Projects on time.	Projects are due at a specific time.
22. Appropriate interaction with peers, faculty, and staff on academic issues.	Cooperative Groups fit here – use of “group processing skills” include learning how to communicate with each other – how to thank each other, how to be responsible to each other. Etc..	Cooperative groups are used every week.
23. Understand themselves better as learners.	Through cooperative learning, students learn about their ability, or inability, to work in groups. Students learn how to improve test scores by improving the QUALITY of their studying. Study techniques are modeled on a daily basis.	Students are encouraged to study in groups - but to not include students who are “parasites” – i.e., not prepared to contribute to the group. Many computer activities are used to help students prepare for exams. Students are expected to “MASTER” specific domains of information – such as the anatomy of the skull. Students are taught several different techniques to study bones of the skull, and all other anatomy and physiology concepts – for example, using computer activities, make drawings, etc…
24. Evaluate their own strengths, limitations, and interests.	Students examine their graded tests, quizzes, and homework to determine if they are making consistent or systematic errors.	Teacher gives students regular and frequent feedback on performance on homework, quizzes, and exams. All grades are recorded on the Internet and students have “continuous access” to the performance/progress in the class. Students are frequently reminded that if they don’t want to do the work, they can freely leave college without any legal repercussions and other students will be happy to take their spots.
25. Set attainable academic and career goals.	Careers and Academic Majors	Biomedical careers are discussed on a daily basis – what does a pharmacist do? How is a pharmacists different from a pharmacologist? What do you have to do be become a pharmacologist? How many years of school does it take? What sort of courses do you need to take? Etc.
26. Time management.	Completing computer projects in groups when faced with a specific deadline.	Students encounter the strengths and weaknesses of computers in completing projects that involve deadlines – computers fail, disks fail, group members sometimes don’t show up, etc.. Real world experience!
27. Test taking.	Students learn how to take anatomy and physiology tests Student lean how to take Electronic Cooperative Quizzes – Computerized Testing.	Exams given every two weeks. Weekly Electronic Cooperative Quizzes.
28. Library skills.
29. Condensing and summarizing.	Students learn how to take notes in a biology class.
30. Techniques for organizing knowledge.	Students are taught the differences between different levels of “Bloom’s Taxonomy” – Knowledge vs. Evaluation vs. Comprehension, etc..	Students are required to complete “find the errors” activities where a description of a physiological event is provided on an exam. Students are assigned to find the total number of physiological errors in the statements. Bloom’s “Evaluation” level of questions.
31. Familiarity with different learning strategies.	We model different ways to learn concepts.	Draw a heart an label the parts, verbalize the parts of the heart – verbalize the flow of blood as it moves through the heart, use a computer (WebAnatomy) to learn the anatomy of the heart. ETC..
32. Awareness of personal learning styles.
33. Other.