Using whiteboards to support college students' learning of complex physiological concepts

Area of Science:

• Animal Physiology Education
• Active Learning Strategies

Background:

• Traditional university physiology courses often rely on didactic lectures, which may not optimize meaningful learning.
• Retrieval-based practice and knowledge application are crucial for deeper understanding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To empirically investigate the benefits of whiteboarding for enhancing student comprehension of animal physiology.
• To compare student performance between lecture-only and lecture with whiteboarding methods.

Main Methods:

• Students used handheld dry erase boards in small groups to retrieve, discuss, and apply lecture concepts (whiteboarding).
• Student performance on physiology questions was compared for concepts taught via lecture only versus lecture with whiteboarding.
• Comparisons were made within a single term and across terms with different teaching methods.

Main Results:

• Student performance on concepts associated with whiteboarding activities was significantly higher than on concepts taught via lecture only.
• This performance improvement was observed both within the term whiteboarding was used and across different terms.

Conclusions:

• Whiteboarding is an effective pedagogical tool for improving student understanding of animal physiology.
• Integrating whiteboarding into traditional lecture courses can enhance active student engagement and learning outcomes.