The COVID-19 pandemic forced teaching to be shifted to an online platform. Since the flipped teaching (FT) model has been shown to engage students through active learning strategies and adapt both synchronous and asynchronous components, it was a convenient choice for educators familiar with this instructional method. This study tested the effectiveness of a virtual FT method during the pandemic in a graduate-level physiology course. Besides assessing knowledge gained in the virtual FT format, student surveys were used to measure student perception of their adjustment to the new FT format, their confidence in completing the course successfully, and the usefulness of assessments and assignments in the remote FT. Students reported that they adjusted well to the remote FT method ( P < 0.001), and their confidence in completing the course in this teaching mode successfully improved from the beginning to the end of the semester ( P < 0.05). Students expressed a positive response to the synchronous computerized exams (90.32%) and the formative group (93.51%) and individual (80.65%) assessments. Both collaborative activities (93.55%) and in-class discussions (96.77%) were found to be effective. The course evaluations and the overall semester scores were comparable to the previous semesters of face-to-face FT. Overall, students’ perceptions and performance suggested that they embraced the virtual FT method and the tested teaching method maintained the same strong outcome as before. Thus, this study presents a promising new instructional method in the teaching of future physiology courses.
Intermittent fasting (IF) is an alternating pattern of restricting eating. This study evaluated mental and physical fatigue secondary to IF (daily 18-hour fast, 7-days-a-week) in the high-fat diet (HFD)-induced male obese Sprague Dawley rats. Fifty-four rats were randomly assigned to a HFD (n = 28) or a standard diet (SD; n = 26). After six weeks, the HFD rats were divided into one of four groups: obese HFD ad libitum (OB-HFD-AL), obese HFD-IF (OB-HFD-IF), obese SD-AL (OB-SD-AL), and obese SD-IF (OB-SD-IF). Similarly, non-obese controls were grouped into HFD-AL (C-HFD-AL), non-obese HFD-IF (C-HFD-IF), non-obese SD-AL (C-SD-AL), and non-obese SD-IF (C-SD-IF). After 2 weeks of IF, mental and physical fatigue were measured using open field (OF) and novel object recognition (NOR) tests. Rats on IF gained weight at a slower pace (p<0.05) and had lower glucose levels (p<0.01) compared to the AL group. In non-obese rats, ketone levels were higher in the IF-HFD group than IF-SD (p<0.05) and AL-SD (p<0.01) animals. Obese rats exhibited elevated blood ketone levels in IF-SD conditions versus AL-SD rats (p<0.01). AL-HFD rats had higher ketone levels than AL-SD animals in both obese and non-obese groups (p<0.05). In conclusion, rats with higher blood ketone levels, whether they were on IF or AL, traveled a greater distance during OF suggesting a lack of physical fatigue. There was no significant difference between IF and AL during NOR indicating a lack of mental fatigue. Thus, IF results in reduced body weight and blood glucose levels but does not induce physical or mental fatigue.
Flipped teaching (FT) has gained attention due to its method of teaching that allows students to learn basic concepts on their own using instructor‐provided resources before their scheduled class time. The class time is used in rehearsing and applying the knowledge using active learning approaches. The COVID‐19 pandemic caused an unexpected shift from face‐to‐face to remote learning during the middle of the spring 2020 semester challenging both students and faculty. This study examined the transition of students from the flipped classroom method to rapid online learning and whether the transition was dependent on the faculty experience with FT. The perception of the transition of students in the classrooms of faculty (n=12) with extensive experience in FT (cohort 1) was compared with that of a second cohort (n=11) who were in their first semester of FT implementation. Both qualitative and quantitative survey data were collected from 23 classrooms (n=256 students). It was found that the students in the courses taught by cohort 1 who had received intensive FT training and implemented FT in semesters prior to the COVID‐19 pandemic were able to facilitate a smoother transition and adjustment to fully online learning for their students compared to the students in the courses taught by cohort 2 (p< 0.01). The qualitative data analysis suggested that the students participating in the FT courses in the first half of the semester, before the pandemic, had an easier transition to fully online learning. Students also expressed concerns that online learning was affected by the lack of interaction with faculty and peers, lack of motivation, issues with time management, and personal and technological demands. In conclusion, this study found that faculty experience with FT helped ease the transition of students from the face‐to‐face FT to the online format during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
COVID-19 necessitated online teaching (OT) during the second half of the spring 2020 semester. The perceptions of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) faculty towards OT at a two-year- (2-YI) and a four-year institution (4-YI) were examined during this sudden switch over. One group of educators had received flipped teaching (FT) training (FTEs, n=23), whereas the other group was practicing traditional teaching (TTEs, n=18). There were two cohorts of FTEs where cohort 1 had been implementing FT for the third time in their classrooms, and cohort 2 had started for the first time. The survey results suggested that FTEs were more confident with OT than TTEs (p<0.05). It was interesting to note that 62.5% of the FTEs, whether they were from cohort 1 or cohort 2, chose an asynchronous approach, whereas 37.5% delivered synchronous OT during the sudden transition. It was found that FT experience helped cohort 1 adjust to OT compared to cohort 2. Overall, these results suggest that FTEs were confident, and their resources for FT eased the transition to OT.
Intermittent fasting (IF) is a dietary modification involving fasting for 16 to 18 hours per day while eating over the remaining 6‐ to 8‐hour period. Intermittent fasting allows the body to use fat as the main energy source due to a decreased intake of glucose during the fasting period often promoting weight loss. Decreased blood glucose levels and cholesterol, increased sensitivity to insulin in those with diabetes and obesity are some of the benefits of IF. Furthermore, fasting diets have been related to cognitive benefits such as improvements in brain plasticity, learning, and memory. There is very little information on the physical and mental exhaustion related to IF and in particular cognitive behaviors while practicing IF. Whether IF offers benefits against physical and mental fatigue in addition to its effects on body weight, blood levels of glucose and ketones were tested in obese and non‐obese rats in this study. Fifty‐four male rats were randomly assigned to either a HFD (n=28) or a Standard Diet (SD) (n=26). After 6 weeks, the group receiving HFD gained significantly more weight compared to the SD group and therefore considered as the obese group and the animals receiving SD were now referred to as the non‐obese group. These two groups were further subdivided into two groups each, one sub‐group receiving food ad libitum and theother sub‐group being placed on intermittent fasting. Animals in the IF groups were fasted for 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. After two weeks on these experimental diets, mental fatigue was measured using the novel object recognition test whereas physical fatigue was studied by measuring the distance traveled in the open field (OF) test. Regardless of diet type, rats on the IF eating pattern gained weight at a slower pace compared to those fed ad libitum (p< 0.0001), had lower blood glucose (p< 0.01) and exhibited a significant increase in ketone levels (p< 0.05). Regardless of the treatment group, distance traveled increased as ketone levels increased during OF. Similarly, animals with higher ketone levels interacted with the novel object more than those with lower ketone levels suggesting a lack of mental fatigue. In conclusion, IF, regardless of diet, is capable of inducing weight loss and better management of glucose levels. The weight loss and increased ketone levels experienced due to IF lead to greater physical and cognitive capabilities.
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