Exploring Educational Transformations Through the Innovative Flipped Learning Instruction Project (IFLIP) Symposium.

The flipped classroom is an innovative pedagogy that shifts content delivery outside the classroom, utilizing in-class time for interactive learning. The pre-class and in-class activities in this framework encourage individualized learning and collaborative problem-solving among students, fostering engagement. The Innovative Flipped Learning Instruction Project (IFLIP) conducted faculty development workshops over four years, guiding STEM faculty in integrating flipped teaching (FT) into their courses. The research aimed to assess its impact on pedagogical practices, explore its effectiveness, and provide a framework to implement FT across multiple institutions. It sought to evaluate the experiences of these educators throughout the transitional period of instructional change. In the fourth year of this project, a symposium was organized for IFLIP participants to share their experiences and findings concerning FT. This symposium helped promote collaboration among IFLIP participants and faculty interested in FT to disseminate participants' knowledge and experiences in implementing FT strategies. A survey conducted at the end of the symposium indicated that faculty participants with FT experience continued to embrace this pedagogy, and the new adopters expressed intentions to incorporate it into their courses. The survey revealed positive responses: 93% of respondents plan to integrate FT methods in future classes, 90% gained new information from the symposium and intend to implement it, and 91% are likely to recommend FT to colleagues. Ultimately, the symposium underscored the transformative impact of FT in empowering educators to deepen students' conceptual understanding, emphasizing the significance of this pedagogical approach in advancing the quality of education.

Comparison of intermittent fasting and voluntary wheel running on physical and cognitive abilities in high-fat diet-induced obese rats.

Regular physical activity is a proven routine for weight management in addressing obesity. Another method that has gained attention for its health benefits is intermittent fasting (IF). Physical and cognitive abilities while on these routines are poorly understood in the obese population. Sixty-five male Sprague Dawley rats at 7 weeks of age were subjected to diet-induced obesity by feeding a high-fat diet (HFD) or a standard diet (SD) for 8 weeks, after which behavioral testing was performed to detect any changes in physical and cognitive abilities. Rats from the HFD-fed (now considered obese) and SD-fed groups were then subjected to IF (18-hour fast and 6-hour feeding daily), voluntary wheel running (VWR), or control conditions for 3 weeks before repeating the same behavioral testing protocol. IF resulted in less weight gain (p<0.05) and elevated ketone levels (p<0.05) in both SD and HFD-fed groups. IF improved physical activity when compared to VWR and control animals in both SD and HFD-fed groups (p<0.05) while the VWR group in the SD-fed rats exhibited less physical fatigue compared to IF and controls (p<0.05). Additionally, elevated ketone levels were weakly correlated with decreased physical (p<0.0001) and exploratory behavior (p<0.01). These results suggest that IF is more effective than VWR in HFD and SD-fed rats in minimizing weight gain and retaining physical activity, and ketones may play a part in establishing the reported physical benefits. Exploration of physiological mechanisms between ketones, diet, and exercise will help fight obesity and many associated diseases.

Intermittent fasting and mental and physical fatigue in obese and non-obese rats.

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 transition to online teaching by STEM educators 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 of OT at a two-year (2-YI) and a four-year (4-YI) institution were examined during this sudden switchover. 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: cohort 1 were 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 with cohort 2. Overall, these results suggest that FTEs were confident and their resources for FT eased the transition to OT.NEW & NOTEWORTHY COVID-19 necessitated online teaching (OT). The perceptions of STEM faculty of OT at two-year and four-year institutions were examined. One group had received flipped teaching (FT) training (FTEs), whereas the others practiced traditional teaching (TTEs). Among two cohorts of FTEs, cohort 1 had been practicing FT but not cohort 2. FTEs were more confident with OT than TTEs. FT experience helped cohort 1 adjust to OT more than cohort 2. Overall, FT eased the transition to OT.

Using the Teaching Career Enhancement Award from the American Physiological Society to train faculty to successfully implement flipped teaching.

Flipped teaching (FT) is a student-centered instructional method that shifts lectures out of the classroom and uses a variety of activities to apply content during class time. FT has gained attention among educators as a student-centered instructional method. However, many faculty still lack the skills, knowledge, confidence, and expertise to implement FT in their classrooms. Therefore, course-specific training and focused mentorship are critical in successfully implementing FT. Four faculty members, from an adjunct professor to a full professor, from four diverse institutions around the country, were recruited and funded through the American Physiological Society's Teaching Career Enhancement Award to receive training in the implementation of FT in their courses. This study aimed to provide specific tools and strategies to engage students in deeper learning through activities in the participants' courses. A course was built using the Blackboard Learning Management System for the participants to receive relevant readings to be completed prior to the FT workshop. Upon completing this training, the participants examined the design and execution of FT in their classrooms and, subsequently, reflected on and refined their future course offerings. The facilitator mentored the participants throughout the process, including an on-site observation of a live FT session. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected before and after their FT experiences. Based on the survey results, this study helped improve the FT knowledge and self-efficacy of all participants. In conclusion, the faculty utilized the training and mentoring to implement FT in their classrooms successfully and disseminate their experiences and findings.

Virtual flipped teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

Correlation between ketones and mental fatigue in high fat-induced obese and non-obese rats.

Obesity, often caused by a diet high in calories and low physical activity, may induce physical fatigue, as experienced via decreased locomotor activity and mental fatigue such as impaired cognition. This study aims to evaluate glucose and ketone levels secondary to high-fat diet (HFD) exposure and signs of physical and mental fatigue. Fifty-four 7-week-old male Sprague Dawley rats (Rattus norvegicus) were assigned to either an HFD (n = 28) or a standard diet (SD; n = 26) for a 6-week period during which body weight, blood glucose, and ketones were measured twice per week. An open field (OF) paradigm was used to measure locomotor activity, while novel object recognition (NOR) test was used as an indicator of cognition. Animals in the HFD group weighed more than SD rats (8.4 g; p < 0.05) starting at Day 11, blood glucose levels were higher in the HFD group versus SD rats (3.9 mg/dl; p < 0.05) beginning in Week 5, and ketones were lower for the HFD versus the SD group throughout the study (0.34 mmol/L on average; p < 0.05). Although there was no significant difference in locomotor activity between the HFD and SD groups (p = 0.12), regardless of diet, higher ketone levels were associated with increased NOR time and ratio between the familiar and novel objects (p < 0.01). Thus, this study provides evidence that an increased level of ketones is associated with greater cognitive performance and a lesser probability of experiencing mental fatigue.

Flipped teaching eased the transition from face-to-face teaching to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rice University canceled classes for the week of March 9-13, 2020 and shifted all instruction to online only following spring break. For the second half of the semester, animal physiology was taught exclusively over Zoom. Here we describe how a flipped teaching format that was used before the pandemic eased the transition from face-to-face teaching to online instruction. The preclass preparation resources and the active learning materials that were already in place for flipped teaching were helpful in the transition to solely online teaching. Therefore, the focus during the transition was to reconfigure active learning and examinations from the face-to-face format to the online platform. Instead of small group discussions in the classroom, teams interacted in Zoom Breakout Rooms. Rather than taking exams in-person during scheduled class time, students submitted exams online. Additionally, students prerecorded their project presentations instead of presenting them "live" during the last week of classes. Overall, students felt that the class smoothly transitioned to a remote only format. These and other changes to the instructional methods will be implemented during the Spring 2021 semester when the course is taught fully online.

Nutrition education on obesity and diabetes to medical students.

It is important for medical students to understand the relationship between nutrition, obesity, and diabetes to educate their patients in the future. However, medical training does not always include nutritional education. An experiential learning project was incorporated into the medical school curriculum as an effort to implement nutrition in the physiology course. First-year medical students (n = 140) received lectures on the regulation of blood glucose levels and their relationship to carbohydrates with different glycemic indexes (GI), obesity, and diabetes. Lectures were followed by a laboratory exercise where students calculated their body mass index (BMI), percentage body fat, and percentage muscle using a Bioelectrical Impedance Commercial Scale. While 63% of students had normal BMI, 31% were overweight or obese and 5% were underweight. A subgroup of 54 students tested different types of breakfasts with varying GI and provided blood samples at 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min. Their glucose responses were plotted based on the breakfast GI. Pre- and posttests were conducted to assess the teaching intervention where the Wilcoxon signed ranks test indicated that posttest ranks were significantly higher than pretest ranks (Z = -6.6, P < 0.001), suggesting the intervention was beneficial to students.

Using dramatizations to teach cell signaling enhances learning and improves students' confidence in the concept.

Certain physiology concepts can be difficult for students to understand, and new strategies need to be implemented to teach these concepts. Cell signaling is a core concept in physiology and is presented to undergraduate students starting with their first-year Principles of Biology course. Flipped teaching (FT) combined with dramatizations were used to teach steroid hormone and protein hormone cell signaling in an Animal Physiology course. Student knowledge level improved, as demonstrated by posttest scores compared to pretest scores. Their confidence level in the material improved after the dramatization activities were completed. In conclusion, the combination of FT with dramatizations enhances student learning and confidence level.

Benefits behind barriers in physiology education.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced academics to switch to online teaching whether they were prepared or not. The speed and enthusiasm with which educators embraced online teaching suggest that challenges change the perspective for the better. The teaching challenges with the current coronavirus situation mimic the poliovirus attack Dr. Arthur C. Guyton encountered. Dr. Guyton was forced to switch his career from becoming a cardiovascular surgeon to a physiology educator and a researcher. His immense contributions to the field of physiology is an example of how challenges can bring benefits. Flipped teaching has been gaining attention among educators because of its ability to engage students in learning. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed educators to adopt this instructional design based on its conduciveness to technology, as well as its blend of both asynchronous and synchronous components of online teaching. Just like Dr. Guyton's enormous impact on medical education and research in spite of the challenges he faced, we must be creative during this pandemic through innovative teaching methods, which will serve as a gift for the future of physiology education.

Introducing physiology of diabetes to American Asian middle school and high school students.

Diabetes, a chronic condition that impacts millions, is a complex disease. Understanding the disease can contribute to increasing awareness about this debilitating condition and preventing occurrences. Furthermore, inculcation of physiology knowledge may lead to an increased likelihood of career goals that align with this area of study. In pursuit of these goals, we set out to educate middle and high school students about diabetes. Thirty (16 high school; 14 middle school) students from a Sunday school program at an urban religious center completed a 10-question pretest as a way to measure initial knowledge about diabetes. Following completion of the survey, a 1-h education session was presented by a local physician who also brought a glucometer and insulin syringes for students to have a hands-on experience with some disease-specific tools. A posttest was administered following the presentation. The posttest consisted of 11 questions, where all but 2 questions were the same as for the pretest, measuring improvement of prior knowledge and engagement in the presentation. The overall posttest average score increased by approximately two correct responses, which was a significant improvement (P < 0.0001), suggesting that the students were motivated to and did learn diabetes concepts. This study also suggests that exposing students to educational activities related to physiology is beneficial and may lead to an increase in interest in physiology, an awareness of diabetes, and perhaps the development of healthy habits.

The refinement of flipped teaching implementation to include retrieval practice.

There has been growing evidence that flipped teaching (FT) can increase student engagement. Traditional lecture-based teaching (TT) method was compared with FT and FT combined with retrieval practice (FTR) in a 400-level Exercise Physiology course over eight semesters. In the FT format, lecture content was assigned for students to prepare before class along with an online quiz. During class, the assigned content and quiz questions were reviewed, and a team-based learning (TBL) activity was conducted. Students found FT implementation three times a week (FT3) to be overwhelming, which led to reconfiguration of the FT design to minimize the quiz and TBL sessions to one per week. Subsequently, FT was combined with retrieval exercises (FTR), which involved recalling information, thus promoting retention. The students in the FTR format were given weekly quizzes in class, where no notes were allowed, which affected their quiz grade negatively compared with FT (P < 0.0001). Again, no resources were permitted during FTR's TBL sessions. When exam scores were compared with TT, student performance was significantly greater (P < 0.001) with the FT and FTR methods, suggesting these methods are superior to TT. While both male and female students benefited from FT and FTR methods compared with TT (P = 0.0008), male students benefited the most ((P = 0.0001). Similarly, when the exam scores were organized into upper and lower halves, both groups benefited from FT and FTR (P < 0.0001) approaches. In conclusion, both FT and FTR methods benefit students more compared with TT, and male students are impacted the most.

Effect of flipped teaching on student performance and perceptions in an Introductory Physiology course.

Flipped teaching (FT) has caught educators' attention due to its success in engaging students through pre- and in-class activities. To learn if FT improved student performance, scores from the quizzes and exams of a fully flipped classroom with retrieval exercises were compared with those of five semesters of traditional lecture-based [unflipped (UF)] teaching in an undergraduate sophomore-level physiology course. Student attitude surveys were also evaluated. Student performance on both the quizzes and exams was significantly higher in the FT class in general compared with that of the UF teaching. Interestingly, however, when the individual exam scores were compared between the two styles, the scores for students in the FT were significantly higher for exams 2 and 3, yet lower for exam 1. The shift in performance from exam 1 to exams 2 and 3 is likely explained by the need for time to adjust to the new teaching style. Students reported an overall positive perception of FT in their course evaluations at the end of the semester. In conclusion, FT improved student performance compared with that of lecture-based traditional teaching practice, but required some time to adjust in the beginning of the semester.

Embracing the flipped classroom: the planning and execution of a faculty workshop.

A great deal of interest has emerged recently in the flipped classroom (FC), a student-centered teaching approach. After attending a presentation by the first author on the FC, a faculty member of a medical school in Mexico arranged for a 3-day workshop for 13 faculty members. The goal of the workshop was to train faculty to use the FC strategy in their classrooms to increase student engagement in learning. The workshop was in the FC style, where the participants would assume the role of students. Pre- and posttraining surveys were administered to examine participants' current teaching practices and to evaluate their perceptions of the FC. The participants overwhelmingly reported the need to change their lecture-based teaching, as it was not engaging students. Their large class size, lack of technology, training, and uncertainty of the effectiveness of new teaching methods had hindered participants from changing their teaching technique. The on-site training not only allowed the entire department to work closely and discuss the new teaching approach, but also reinforced the idea of changing their teaching strategy and embracing FC teaching method. After the workshop, participants reported being determined to use the FC strategy in their classrooms and felt more prepared to do so. The post-survey results indicated that participants valued the FC training in the flipped style and wanted more of the hands-on activities. In conclusion, the 3-day faculty workshop on the FC was successful, since every participant was motivated to use this teaching method.

Symposium report on "Examining the Changing Landscape of Course Delivery and Student Learning": Experimental Biology 2017.

An APS Teaching Section symposium entitled "Examining the Changing Landscape of Course Delivery and Student Learning" was offered at the Experimental Biology conference on April 24th, 2017, in Chicago, IL. The symposium focused on alternative delivery modes of physiology education, from undergraduate to professional programs. Lecture used to be the gold standard and proven method by which students learned, but the course delivery method is rapidly changing. While there is still significant skepticism about the quality and level of student engagement in online learning, it is being offered widely due to increased demand and due to other benefits, such as the flexibility and convenience. Universities with several campuses may now synchronize lectures between campuses, utilizing video conference technology, thus bypassing the need for instructors on each campus. Other modes of delivery include online lectures with laboratories scheduled on campus. Offering biology laboratories online is on the rise but to counter skepticism, more studies are needed to demonstrate that online laboratories effectively meet laboratory objectives. The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) offers many courses for free and challenges the role of universities. Assessment of the effectiveness of MOOCs and online courses is critical, as some of the concerns raised about them include level of student engagement in learning and the social aspect of interaction with peers and faculty.