The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of using a puzzle to learn about cardiac physiology. Students were divided into control and game groups. In class 1, the control group had a 2-h theoretical class about cardiac physiology, including a detailed description of the phases of the cardiac cycle, whereas the game group had a 50-min theoretical class without the description of the cardiac cycle. In class 2, the control group did an assessment exercise before an activity with the cardiac puzzle and the game group answered questions after the above-mentioned activity. While solving the puzzle, the students had to describe the cardiac cycle by relating the concepts of heart morphology and physiology. To evaluate short-term learning, the number of wrong answers and grades in the assessment exercise were compared between the control and game groups. To evaluate medium-term learning, we compared the grades obtained by students of the control and game groups in questions about cardiac physiology that formed part of the academic exam. In the assessment exercise, the game group presented a lower number of errors and higher score compared with the control group. In the academic exam, applied after both groups had used the puzzle, there was no difference in the scores obtained by the control and game groups in questions about cardiac physiology. These results showed a positive effect of the puzzle on students' learning about cardiac physiology compared with those not using the puzzle.

The aim of this work is to describe the “Muscular System Game,” created to assist in the teaching-learning process concerning the physiology of the muscular system, and to evaluate its effect on the learning of university students. Participating in this study were first-year undergraduate students of the pharmacy course (game group, n = 21, 5 men and 16 women, age 23.57 ± 4.92 yr) and the nursing course (control group, n = 22, 2 men and 20 women, age 22.90 ± 4.93 yr), who had the same level of preparation. After theoretical classes concerning the physiology of the muscular system, all students were instructed to study the topic. In the next week, the students of the game group performed the activity with the board game, and the students of the control group undertook a guided study activity, which contained a list of exercises with the same questions used in the game, to be answered by groups. In the week following these activities, all of the students answered evaluation questions about the topic. The scores obtained for the two groups in the evaluation were compared using Student’s t-test for unpaired samples, considering a significance level of 0.05. The score obtained for the control group (5.78 ± 0.38) was significantly lower than the score for the game group (7.50 ± 0.47; P < 0.05). The results obtained indicating that the use of an educational board game about the physiology of muscle contraction resulted in significantly improved learning, compared with the use of guided study.

This work describes the educational game “Integrating Synapse, Muscle Contraction, and Autonomic Nervous System,” which was developed to assist students in understanding and integrating concepts related to the physiology of synapses, muscle contraction, and the autonomic nervous system. Analysis was made of the effect of the game on learning and the students’ opinions about it. Dentistry students were divided into control and game groups. They attended lectures about the topics, after which the control group students were submitted to a test, whereas the game group performed the game activity before undertaking the test. The mean score was significantly higher for the game group, compared with the control group ( P < 0.05). Pharmacy students also attended lectures about these topics; in the next class, the students performed a pretest and the activity with the educational game. After the game, a posttest was applied. The mean scores were significantly higher for the posttest than for the pretest ( P < 0.05). Students of medicine attended the lectures and performed the activity with the educational game, without the learning assessment. All of the students answered a question, using a 5-point Likert-type scale, concerning whether they thought the activity with the game was useful for learning. The mean scores obtained by the dentistry, pharmacy, and medicine students were 4.7 ± 0.6, 4.9 ± 0.3, and 4.3 ± 0.1, respectively. The educational game increased the learning of the undergraduate students, in agreement with their opinions of the strategy.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an active methodology combined with a lecture on undergraduate student learning and levels of stress and anxiety. The active learning methodology consisted of a lecture of 50-min duration, study at home with a textbook, an educational game activity, and three formative assessments on the topic of the cardiac cycle. In a following class, the students provided saliva samples to evaluate their levels of stress, received an anxiety test, and then undertook an exam to assess their understanding of the cardiac cycle. The traditional teaching methodology consisted of two lectures (∼2-h duration) on blood pressure control systems, delivered orally. In the third class, the students provided saliva samples, received an anxiety test, and then undertook an exam to assess their understanding of blood pressure control systems. The level of stress was assessed with the concentrations of the stress biomarkers cortisol and alpha-amylase in saliva. Anxiety was assessed with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire. The students achieved significantly higher average scores in exams when the active learning strategy was applied compared with the use of traditional theoretical classes. The active methodology resulted in significantly lower levels of stress and anxiety, as well as improved student performance, compared with the use of traditional lectures.

Cardiac physiology is a basic subject in the curriculum of health Science undergraduate courses, which allow students to understand the functional mechanisms of cardiovascular organs as well as the physiopathology of cardiovascular diseases. The puzzle of cardiac cycle has been developed to help students to understand and integrate the concepts of morphology and physiology of normal and pathological states of the heart. Considering the good acceptance of the printed puzzle by students and professors, its online version has been developed as a digital educational tool. The aims of this work were to describe the development of the online digital version of this educational game and to evaluate the students’ perception of the utility of the digital game for their learning. The digital version was developed using the figures and answers of the original printed cardiac cycle puzzle, including stages 1 and 2, in three languages: Portuguese, English and Spanish. The digital version was tested by professors of Physiology from different university institutions for validation. The final version of game was used in remote teaching in three courses in the health area, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The opinion of students about the usefulness of the game activity for their learning was analyzed by using a survey. In the opinion of participants in this study, the activity with the online digital version of the cardiac cycle puzzle was useful for their learning.

Every 4 yr, the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) Teaching Workshop is held as a traditional satellite event of the IUPS Congress. The 2017 satellite workshop was held August 5-8, 2017 in Búzios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The workshop provided an opportunity for discussion and experiences in physiology teaching for educators at various levels, graduate students, and undergraduate students. This report describes the workshop activities and reports the participants' perceptions of this event. For evaluation of perception, an anonymous questionnaire was sent by e-mail to all participants, addressing nine items: appropriate topics, time of activities, poster session, congress venue, registration fee, attention of the organizing committee before and during the event, social event, and food. Responses were ranked according to a five-point Likert scale. Of the 145 participants, 77 answered the questionnaire. The participants' perception was positive, noting in particular opportunities to share knowledge, space for reflection of teaching practice, contact networks for future, exchanges of experience, and collaborations in research in physiological education.

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