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HOW WE TEACH

Helping students make sense of physiological mechanisms: the "view from the inside"

Physiology Educational Research Consortium, Seattle, Washington

Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: H. I. Modell, Physiology Educational Research Consortium, PO Box 51187, Seattle, WA 98115-1187 (e-mail: modell{at}physiologyeducation.org)

Students often view physiological mechanisms in descriptive terms from a perspective that does not help them recognize causal relationships. The "view from the inside" is a technique that helps students focus on causal relationships from the "viewpoint" of a reporter standing inside of the system. Qualitative data indicate that the technique helps students to recognize the applicability of general models in physiology, make sense of difficult physiological mechanisms, and develop learning strategies that they apply to other disciplines. The technique is also useful in helping students recognize conceptual or reasoning difficulties in their mental models (misconceptions).

Key words: mental model building; physiological mechanisms; active learning; meaningful learning; frame of reference