Unpacking and validating the "physiological adaptation" core concept of physiology

Area of Science:

• Physiology education
• Core concept development
• Curriculum design

Background:

• A national Task Force of 25 Australian physiology educators identified seven core concepts in physiology using the Delphi protocol.
• The core concept of "physiological adaptation" was defined as "organisms adjust and adapt to acute and chronic changes in the internal and external environments across the lifespan."

Purpose of the Study:

• To unpack the core concept of "physiological adaptation" into manageable themes and subthemes.
• To assess the importance and difficulty of these themes and subthemes for student learning.

Main Methods:

• The "physiological adaptation" core concept was unpacked into four themes and nine subthemes by three Task Force members and a facilitator.
• Twenty-two Task Force members provided feedback and rated the themes/subthemes for importance and difficulty using a five-point Likert scale via an online survey.
• Statistical analysis included Fisher's exact test and ANOVA to examine differences in importance and difficulty scores.

Main Results:

• Importance of themes/subthemes was rated as Essential or Important (mean scores 1.1–2.2).
• Difficulty was rated as Moderately Difficult (mean scores 2.9–3.4).
• Subtle but significant differences in importance scores were observed between themes/subthemes, while difficulty scores showed no significant differences.

Conclusions:

• The unpacking of the "physiological adaptation" core concept was successful, yielding relevant themes and subthemes.
• These themes and subthemes provide a foundation for developing consistent learning outcomes, assessments, and teaching strategies across physiology curricula.
• The findings support the integration of these structured concepts into physiology education to enhance student understanding.