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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

Back to the future? Active learning of medical physiology in the 1900s

Bachelor of Health Sciences (Hons) Program, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: P. K. Rangachari, Bachelor of Health Sciences (Hons) Program, Dept. of Medicine, McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON, Canada L8N 3Z5 (e-mail: chari{at}mcmaster.ca)

Abstract

In the early 1900s, teachers of medical physiology faced a problem familiar to those teaching the subject in a contemporary setting: too much information, too little time, too many students in crowded rooms, and exams that discouraged real learning. They wanted students to question authority and demand evidence and thus be better prepared for medicine. Their solution was to bring students into laboratories and minimize didactic learning as they felt strongly that useful information could not be obtained merely from books. Thus, they were strong proponents of what we now call active learning.

Key words: laboratory instruction