3.Natural Science (With Lab - 7 S.H.)

3.Natural Science (with lab - 7 S.H.)

The purpose of the Natural Science requirement in the University Studies program is to provide students with the tools to understand and be able to apply the methods by which scientific inquiry increases our understanding of the natural world. Courses must be selected from an approved list; departments normally included in the Natural Sciences are Biology, Chemistry, Geoscience, and Physics.

These courses must include requirements and learning activities that promote students’ abilities to...

a.understand how scientists approach and solve problems in the natural sciences;

b.apply those methods to solve problems that arise in the natural sciences;

c.use inductive reasoning, mathematics, or statistics to solve problems in natural science;

d.engage in independent and collaborative learning;

e.identify, find, and use the tools of information science as it relates to natural science;

f.critically evaluate both source and content of scientific information; and

g.recognize and correct scientific misconceptions.

Courses that satisfy the laboratory requirement in the Natural Sciences will additionally provide students the opportunity to practice scientific inquiry through hands-on investigations and to analyze and report the results of those investigations.

Anatomy and Physiology 211 Fulfillment of USP Requirements

3.Natural Science (with lab - 7 S.H.)

These courses must include requirements and learning activities that promote students’ abilities to...

a.understand how scientists approach and solve problems in the natural sciences;

This requirement is met in AP 211 in several ways in both lab and lecture. Lecture content discusses the scienctific method I nthe first week of class (CH 1 and 2), these methods represent the cornerstone of lecture content throughout the remaining semester. In lecture students also complete, over a period of two weeks, an exercise that teaches them how to perform literature searches using PubMed, ProQuest, etc. as part of the scientific process which culminates in an assignment (9/23-10/16). In the laboratory, students collect data on the cell and how cellular environment alters cell function in the Cell Membrane lab (9/14) and they run computer models that help them collect data that predicts skeletal muscle function (Muscle Physiology 10/26). AP211 lab consists of a lot of microscopy and gross anatomy that requires students to view and interpret what they see as part of genetic variation. The use of a human cadaver also demonstrates the reality of human form and function, the student requirements for using a cadaver (State law and WSU-biology) remind students of the need for humane judgments and moral decision making as part of this course.

b.apply those methods to solve problems that arise in the natural sciences;

This requirement is met in AP 211 in several ways in both laboratory and lecture. Lecture contentcontinually discusses the cause and implications of disease (anatomically, physically, and socio-economically). As an example, the anatomical symptoms of osteoporosis are discussed in lecture with respect to anatomical features (this trabeculae) which are physiologically less able to bear weight following long periods of bed restriction in elderly, which leads to fracture of the hip, which leads to dramatically increased mortality and socio-economic costs, in additional to the moral burdens this places on persons.

c.use inductive reasoning, mathematics, or statistics to solve problems in natural science;

Creating a basic anatomical fluency is the cornerstone of AP 211 and the laboratory and lecture sequence establishes this fluency in students. Inductive reasoning and mathematics are used to support the development of this process in lecture and lab as decribed in items A and B above. A specific example of how they are developed in laboratory would be in the Nervous System I (11/9) and II (11/16) labs where students examine the anatomy and physiology of the eye and ear. As part of this process students determine their calculate their vision quality (20/20 etc) and evaluate the presence of stigmatism etc. With respect to hearing they learn to appreciate how sound consists of amplitude (loudness) and frequency (pitch) by using tuning forks.

d.engage in independent and collaborative learning;

Learning in AP 211 is ultimately the product of a mixture of individual and collaborative efforts. As an example from lecture, the collaborative aspect is develop by having students peer-review each others Library Search assignments prior to turning them in for credit (9/23 and 10/16). Occasionally during the semester students in lecture are broken into smallerdiscussion groups where they address topics related to AP211, and further develop collaborative learning methods, for example this is done as part of completing an exercise that teaches students how DNA, RNA and proteins are produced by processes called replication, transcription nand translation (9/14). In the laboratory students are reminded on a weekly basis that collaborative study groups 3-4 students invariably experience improved learning and better laboratory exam scores that those who chose to work independently. Independent learning is also promoted by creating special Open Lab times when students are encouraged to study laboratory materials in preparation for the three lab exams used in this course.

e.identify, find, and use the tools of information science as it relates to natural science;

As part of the Library Writing Assignment (9/23 and 10/16) students are asked to choose topics in AP 211 that are of special scientific interest and compare how the materials is discussed at several different levels of professionalism. Due Date: Friday October 16 in class or at office (20 points): 9 points (3 X 3 points): Are three fully edited rough drafts included and editorial comments made to your paper to improve quality? (You are welcome to have additional people read/edit the paper, just don’t include these with the final draft). 1 point: Are the proper section headings (Title, Author, Introduction, Body, Conclusion, Literature Cited) used on your final draft?2 points: Are copies of the first page of at least three papers/online source identified by using PubMed or ProQuest listed in your Literature Cited section?5 points: Is the paper easy to read? Does it contain grammatical errors? 3 points: Are references properly cited inside the paragraphs of the paper and are they listed in alphabetical order (by author last name) in the literature cited section. Additionally students learn to utilize/access D2L and/or course1 websites to down load all lectures outlines/laboratory exercises for completion of course requirements.

f.critically evaluate both source and content of scientific information;

A major component of the writing assignment is to “learn to evaluate the quality of scientific information”. This is addressed on a daily basis as part of lecture and specififcally I nteh writing assignment (9/23 and 10/13). From the assignment:

You need to include at least 6 different sources (references), three of which need to be obtained using using either PubMed or ProQuest (staple two copies of the first page of these papers and the ProQuest or MedLine citation that you used to identify the paper when you hand it final draft). Three of the six sources need to have been published more recently than January 1, 2004. Websites can be used, but only two can be used as sources. Personal interviews are wonderful and should be sited but do not count as part of the six published references for this paper. You are welcome to have more than six references in your paper and this will make it look very nice indeed. Remember also that ProQuest and PubMed are Not the source, they only direct you to the journal that is the source of the information (do not cite PubMed or ProQuest in your paper or references section.

PubMed/ ProQuest: these are a very important literature search tools that looks for papers that have been published on the topic of your interest. The websites will show you how to do a search. PubMed gives a free abstract (paragraph that discusses paper content) and “may” give you a free link to the full paper itself. The library staff will discuss how to do this kind of search at the informational meeting and how to find materials in the WSU library you have identified from your PubMed search. ProQuest is a similar tool whose search is directed more towards topics directly related to nursing. Other search engines exist, such as First Search and Google, but their use is not a required part of this assignment.

g.recognize and correct scientific misconceptions.

The use of a cadaver permits students to observe and debunk many misconceptions about our bodies. Use of literature search skills provides students with a means to determine fact based on peer-reveiwed (professional literature; i.e. Journal of American Medical Association) as opposed to information that isavailable from non-professional sources (websites or popular magazines; SHAPE magazine).

All laboratory activities integrate hands-on activities. This can come in the form of handing a cadaver, measuring cell volumes in a model system, calculating vision quality (20/20 etc), interpreting different appearances of a body tissue (i.e. lung) by using a microscope, or making judgements about pathological conditions using fresh or preserved human/animal organs (i.e. bones or human muscles).