To disrupt the traditional compartmentalized learning of nutrition functions, a proposition for integrative teaching...

Rather than an anatomy-centered study of the nutrition functions of the body (circulation, respiration, food digestion, and intestinal absorption of nutrients) as found in undergraduate physiology textbooks, a more integrative, mechanistic approach to teaching human physiology at the undergraduate level in science faculties is presented. Starting from the cell's needs for nutrients and oxygen, this proposal highlights the way in which each organ or apparatus ensures cell function. Then the fundamental physiological concepts of structure-function relationships and matter gradients can be constructed by considering the physicochemical mechanisms involved. The diversity of devices found in circulatory, ventilatory, and digestive systems is then examined through the prism of the mechanisms used to maintain gradients in nutrient concentration or gas partial pressure through exchange surfaces. Finally, the systems controlling nutrition functions are studied in fluctuating physiological contexts, such as during physical exercise or fasting. The presented pedagogical approach emphasizes the integration of functions on an organism-wide scale and focuses teaching on basic mechanisms rather than on the description of structures, while ensuring the transferability of physiological concepts. This pedagogical approach seems particularly relevant for the training of undergraduate students intending to teach biology in secondary education.NEW & NOTEWORTHY A proposal for teaching of human physiology at the undergraduate level in a science faculty outlines a pedagogical progression centered on cellular requirements for nutrients and oxygen. Rather than being taught independently, the three nutrition functions, circulation, respiration, and digestion, are interrelated and functional similarities are highlighted. The core concepts of physiology are thus more integrated at the organism level, with an emphasis on common mechanisms rather than specific structures.