It’s All Hormonal: A Class Activity on Cushing’s Syndrome
At a Glance
Discipline
- STEM
- Biology
Instructional Level
- College & CEGEP
Course
- Human physiology
- General Biology II
Tasks in Workflow
Social Plane(s)
- Individual
Type of Tasks
- Solving problems
- Reading
- Taking a quiz & test
Technical Details
Useful Technologies
- Clicker System
- Interactive Whiteboards
- Whiteboards
Time
- Single class period (< 90 mins)
Instructional Purpose
- Application & knowledge building
- Assessment & knowledge refinement
Overview
In this activity, students apply the key concepts they have learned about the control mechanisms of the endocrine system in order to diagnose which endocrine gland is the cause of endocrine abnormality in a patient with Cushing’s sydrome.
Pre-class: Students watch two videos: Introduction to the endocrine system and Regulation of hormone production and read assigned pages in the textbook. Students are also given key concepts and learning outcomes of the lesson prior to class. Upon completeing the homework, students are required to answer a short quiz on Moodle.
In class: the case study is briefly presented by the teacher. The case study is used to engage students and bring them to use the knowledge they have acquired from the pre-class homework. The students are asked to go through a series of clicker questions. Students work in groups (3-4 students) and answer the questions first individually. If less than 70% of the students answer
Instructional Objectives
- To apply key concepts about the control mechanisms of the endocrine system.
Workflow & Materials
Activity Workflow
Contributor's Notes
Benefits
Challenges
Benefits
- Learning about the different hormones and their mode of actions in a general biology course can be a challenging learning experience for most students;
- This activity is designed to help students appreciate how scientists/physicians use their basic understanding of a physiological system in order to study and diagnose endocrine disorders.
Challenges
- Students normally struggle in analyzing and plotting the data used in this case.
Applied Strategies
Published: 21/03/2019
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