Behind teaching-learning strategies in physiology: perceptions of students and teachers of Brazilian medical courses

Abstract

The teaching-learning process must constantly overcome the barriers imposed by rapid scientific and technological advances, as well as changes in the profile of students and access to information. This study intended to analyze the perceptions of students and professors of medical courses about the teaching-learning strategies used in physiology at different Brazilian universities, as well as the factors that influence or hinder the learning of this discipline. There were analyzed questionnaires from 174 students and 16 professors of physiology from medical courses of 20 higher education institutions (public and private) in a southern Brazilian state. The teaching strategies most used by physiology teachers coincided with the classroom activities that students consider to have the greatest contribution to their learning (expository classes/lectures, tests and questionnaires, problem-based learning/clinical case studies and demonstrative/practical classes). It was also evidenced that teachers' didactic is considered as a very influencing factor for the students during their learning process, while the teachers pointed out daily pedagogical practice as the most relevant factor in the development of their skills within the classroom. Besides, some factors hindering the teaching-learning process of physiology were identified by the respondents, such as: large amount of information, little time for study outside the classroom, previous knowledge and intrinsic difficult of the discipline. Finally, students tend to study alone and generally used teachers' slides and their own notes as study materials. The continuous assessment of the perceptions, needs and difficulties of students and teachers plays an essential role improving the teaching-learning process.

Academic performance in exercise physiology courses is higher among students who attended the human physiology course

“…Previous studies assessed students' perceptions on human physiology and anatomy coursework (5)(6)(7)17); however, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have evaluated students' perceptions on exercise physiology coursework. These studies revealed that students consider human physiology and anatomy di cult.…”

“…Previous research has identi ed many sources of di culty in studying physiology, including intrinsic di culty in teaching (5,7,18,19), motivational component (19), time commitment (7,19), large amount of information (5,18), little time for studying outside of the classroom, lack of prior knowledge, and intrinsic di culty of the coursework(18). Slominski et al(2019) found that among the factors cited as impediments to students' learning are causal reasoning ability, systems thinking ability, and students' belief that memorizing is the same as learning.…”

“…Previous studies have shown that although learning physiology requires a solid understanding of basic sciences, students lack this foundation (5,7,20). Michael (2007) conducted a study that recognized that students' conceptual di culty could be explained by a lack of prior knowledge.…”

“…Furthermore, it is preferable that by the end of the exercise physiology coursework, students should be able to select activities that contribute to the maintenance and/or acquisition of a healthy and active lifestyle, while also improving exercise performance and physical conditioning (1). The course should therefore help students improve their ability to apply exercise physiology knowledge in areas such as physical activity for health and sports performance (4) Despite the importance of human physiology coursework, studies that evaluated students' perceptions revealed that professors and students consider physiology to be "di cult" (5)(6)(7). Students consider physiology coursework to be complex and time-consuming (6).…”