Directory UMM :Data Elmu:jurnal:A:Advances in Physiology Education:Vol277.Issue6.Dec1999:
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REPORT OF THE WORLDWIDE SURVEY
ON TEACHING PHY SIOLOGY
T
his report by George G. Somjen, for the Commission on Teaching Physiology,
International Union of Physiological Sciences, presents a summary of answers
received to a questionnaire concerning the state of Physiology Teaching. One
hundred seventeen responses have been received from fifty countries. The results have
been tabulated and contain information about the teaching methods and resources as
well as the commitment in time and effort by the teaching staff. Free-ranging, sometimes
pithy, comments made by the respondents have been excerpted and are included.
AM. J. PHYSIOL. 277 (ADV. PHYSIOL. EDUC. 22): S6–S14, 1999.
• Professional effort (percentage of your time spent in
GENERAL REMARKS
various activities)
This report is based on responses to a questionnaire
distributed between 1994 and 1997. Over 350 questionnaires have been sent out, and 117 responses
were received from 50 countries, the majority during
1995, with a second, smaller batch following the 1997
Repino (Russia) Workshop on Teaching Physiology.
I cannot claim this to be either a comprehensive
survey or a statistically valid random sampling. Let us
call it a cross section that, I hope, can provide the
reader with an impression of the range of the teaching
methods used and the conditions under which instruction is given in physiology departments around the
globe.
• Evaluation and comment
Under the heading ‘‘Evaluation and comment’’ respondents were encouraged to jot down personal opinions
on the state of the profession, its present and future,
and possible improvements. Needless to say, the
deficiencies of the questionnaire became apparent as I
was processing the data. It may be useful to repeat this
process in a few years’ time to follow the changes in
the state of the profession. I will be happy to advise
whoever will undertake the task on ways to improve
the method of data collection.
Questions asked in the five-page questionnaire were
grouped under the following headings:
For this report I compiled numerical summaries of the
answers that are amenable to enumeration.
• The physiology course(s) you teach
NOTES ON SUMMARIES
• Students [in your course(s) are] enrolled in which
The majority of the responses were received from medical
schools, and representation of other faculties is rather
sporadic. For this reason, in most categories ‘‘medical’’
courses are compared with ‘‘other’’ or ‘‘nonmedical’’
courses, except for Table 3, in which undergraduate
science courses are separated from ‘‘all other’’ nonmedical courses. Where a respondent completed
separate survey forms for different courses, these
were counted separately. Whenever the same course
was taken by medical as well as other students, it was
entered in the tabulations only under the ‘‘medical’’
category. This, admittedly, skews the distributions.
faculty, working toward which degree?
• Personnel teaching the course(s)
• Course structure
• Course content
• Materials available to the students
• Assessment of students
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The medical courses were subdivided by geographic
region. Because of the small number of responses for
the others, separation by region was not meaningful
for them.
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TABLE 1
Number of r esponses by r egion and country
Region
The number of responses to any particular question
does not add up to the total number of questionnaires
returned. In part, this is because some of the forms
were not completely filled in, and also because sometimes a question was not applicable to some of the
teaching systems. A case in point is a school at which
physiology is not taught in a single comprehensive
course but in a series of separate small courses; in this
instance there was no way to count the number of
lectures or practical exercises in a way that would be
comparable to the other schools.
Canada
United States
Latin America and Caribbean
Argentina
Chile
Costa Rica
Mexico
Peru
Trinidad and Tobago
3
1
2
1
1
1
Western Europe
Belgium
Denmark
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
The Netherlands
United Kingdom
1
3
1
2
1
1
1
2
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Finland
Hungary
Lithuania
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
Slovenia
3
2
1
3
1
2
7
3
1
Middle East and North Africa
Egypt
Israel
Libya
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Turkey
1
1
1
1
1
1
Africa (sub-Sahara)
Ethiopia
Ghana
Liberia
Nigeria
South Africa
Zimbabwe
2
1
1
6
2
1
Asia and Pacific
Australia
China
India
Iran
Japan
Korea
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Sri Lanka
Thailand
2
2
7
4
7
1
1
1
6
1
2
Eastern and East-Central
Europe
COURSE STRUCTURE
The entries in Tables 2 and 3 represent averages followed
in parentheses by the number of responses within the
category. For example, reports received from 7 North
American medical physiology courses showed an average
of 72 lectures given per physiology course. Six of the
seven North American medical schools reported that
practical (laboratory) exercises were given in the
medical course, and the average number of practical
sessions in these six courses was seven per course.
(Zero entries were ignored in the computation of
mean values.) Only three of these six courses offered
animal experiments within the laboratory exercises,
with on average just one animal lab per course.
Table 2 shows medical physiology courses according
to geographic regions. Table 3 compares medical,
undergraduate sc ienc e, and ‘‘other’’ physiology
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No. of
Responses
North America
NUMBER OF RESPONSES BY REGION
AND COUNTRY
The numbers of responses received from each country are entered in Table 1 under their respective
geographic regions. This grouping may seem arbitrary
because social and economic conditions are not
uniform within continents. I have considered classifying countries under ‘‘first, second, and third world’’ or
‘‘developing, emerging, and affluent,’’ but anomalies
could, again, not be avoided. In the end, geographic
proximity seemed the least subjective criterion or, at
least, the best compromise.
Country
8
11
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TABLE 2
Course structur e: Medical courses
Region
North
America
Number of lectures in course
Practical exercises
Animal laboratories
Human experiments
Computer exercises
Demonstrations
Large conferences
Small group conferences
Tutorials
Clinical correlations
Problem-based sessions
72
7
1
4
2
2
11
9
3
6
22
Latin America
and Caribbean
(7)
(6)
(3)
(4)
(4)
(5)
(5)
(3)
(3)
(5)
(4)
69
28
4
12
6
6
22
24
9
9
26
Western
Europe
(8)
(8)
(5)
(6)
(1)
(4)
(6)
(4)
(4)
(2)
(5)
108
9
2
12
2
1
5
21
15
8
12
(7)
(6)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(1)
(3)
(2)
(4)
(3)
(3)
Eastern and EastCentral Europe
84
38
11
20
5
6
12
16
17
13
3
(11)
(12)
(9)
(10)
(7)
(8)
(3)
(7)
(2)
(2)
(3)
Middle East and
North Africa
162
41
6
12
1
11
12
2
6
7
(5)
(5)
(4)
(4)
(2)
(3)
(1)
(2)
(4)
(2)
(1)
Africa
(sub-Sahara)
161
64
47
16
2
16
37
18
32
12
14
(11)
(11)
(8)
(7)
(1)
(7)
(4)
(2)
(7)
(3)
(3)
Asia and
Pacific
125
45
8
8
2
5
22
14
29
35
10
(28)
(27)
(19)
(22)
(6)
(13)
(11)
(5)
(11)
(7)
(4)
Data are means; nos. in parentheses indicate number of responses within categories.
each chapter. For Tables 4 and 5, all entries have been
converted to a percentage of the total. There were
inevitable inconsistencies among responses. For example, ‘‘blood’’ is often taught under ‘‘circulation’’
and ‘‘nutrition’’ under ‘‘gastrointestinal tract’’ (or not
at all); neurophysiology is often separated from the
physiology course and taught in an integrated neuroscience course. Tables 4 and 5 show the mean values of
only those courses that do assign a defined fraction of
teaching time to a particular subject; ‘‘zero’’ entries
were, again, ignored. Because of the lack of homogeneity, the columns of averages in Table 4 do not add up
to 100%. To facilitate comparisons, for Table 5 the data for
‘‘medical,’’ ‘‘science,’’ and ‘‘all’’ columns have been
corrected (i.e., prorated) so as to add up to 100%.
courses, whereas the grand averages are in the column labeled ‘‘all.’’
For reasons mentioned earlier, it is not meaningful to
compute statistical significance for the differences
among the averages. Nonetheless, it appears that the
number of lectures per medical course is greater in
the Middle East, Africa, and Asia than in the Americas.
COURSE CONTENT
Under this heading, the questionnaire asked for the
fraction of time devoted to various major areas of
physiology. Some respondents entered percentages;
others reported the number of lectures devoted to
TABLE 3
Course structur e: Summary
Medical Science Other
Courses Courses Courses
Number of lectures
114 (77)
Practical exercises
39 (75)
Animal laboratories
12 (54)
Human experiments
12 (57)
Computer exercises
3 (26)
Demonstrations
7 (41)
Large conferences
18 (34)
Small group conferences 15 (25)
Tutorials
21 (33)
Clinical correlation
15 (25)
Problem-based sessions
15 (2)
49
16
9
8
1
3
8
6
7
7
5
(18)
(18)
(15)
(12)
(7)
(7)
(10)
(8)
(8)
(3)
(4)
37
13
5
6
1
5
16
13
5
(14)
(10)
(8)
(10)
(7)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(2)
42 (2)
Perhaps not surprisingly, there is less variation among
the columns of numbers in Tables 4 and 5 than among
those in Tables 2 and 3. Even while laboring under
very different conditions, there is a measure of consensus among physiology teachers on the weight of the
diverse chapters that make up our discipline.
All
94
33
11
11
2
6
16
12
18
14
15
(109)
(101)
(77)
(79)
(40)
(53)
(50)
(41)
(43)
(30)
(31)
PROFESSIONAL EFFORT
In Tables 6 and 7 the entries show the means of the
fraction of time spent on each category of professional
activity, followed in parentheses by the numbers
reporting. (Absolute time in hours was not asked;
when it was reported, it was converted to a percentage.) The time spent in teaching was further divided in
subcategories as shown in square brackets.
Data are means; nos. in parentheses indicate number of responses
within categories.
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TABLE 4
Course content: Medical courses
Region
Cell physiology
Cardiovascular
Blood
Respiration
Gastrointestinal
Nutrition
Renal
Endocrine
Autonomic nervous system
Somatic nervous system
Exercise and environment
Pathophysiology
Muscle
Other
North
America
Latin America
and Caribbean
Western
Europe
Eastern and EastCentral Europe
Middle East and
North Africa
Africa
(sub-Sahara)
Asia and
Pacific
10
24
4
17
10
5
12
14
3
6
4
12
12
7
13
8
3
10
13
5
11
7
11
19
13
11
7
10
3
9
10
5
22
5
10
8
17
8
9
7
4
8
10
6
25
7
2
1
10
17
7
11
8
10
14
7
10
7
6
8
13
3
18
6
8
2
1
7
17
7
10
9
3
10
13
4
17
6
7
7
4
11
14
3
14
2
6
Data represent mean percentages of totals by region without correction.
to differ much between ‘‘medical’’ and ‘‘other’’ faculties.
For reasons similar to those already mentioned, the
columns in Table 6 do not add up to 100%. Table 7
shows the same data twice, the mean values of the
numbers as reported, as well as the means ‘‘corrected’’ (prorated) so as to add up to 100%.
NUMBERS OF STUDENTS AND
TEACHING STAFF
Because of the strikingly varying numbers, in addition to
averages in Tables 8 and 9 the ranges of the values are also
shown in the principal categories. The widest extremes
are found among the entries from Latin America.
Whereas the amount of time spent teaching appears
to vary among geographic regions, it does not seem
TABLE 5
Course content: Summary
Cell physiology
Cardiovascular
Blood
Respiration
Gastrointestinal
Nutrition
Renal
Endocrine
Autonomic nervous system
Somatic nervous system
Exercise and environment
Pathophysiology
Muscle
Other
Medical
Courses
Science
Courses
Other
Courses
9
14
6
9
8
3
8
11
4
14
5
6
4
10
10
6
7
6
5
8
10
3
16
6
6
2
5
7
15
6
11
11
2
10
10
3
15
6
2
2
The headings ‘‘other basic science’’ and ‘‘clinical
faculty’’ refer to teaching staff of other departments
helping to teach a physiology course. In the questionnaire a distinction was made between student assistants and technicians, but in the tally of Tables 8 and 9
these two categories of ‘‘ancillary’’ staff were lumped
for the sake of simplicity. ‘‘Total teaching staff’’ is the
mean of the sums, which is not necessarily equal to
the sum of the means.
All
8
14
6
9
7
3
8
11
4
14
5
6
3
2
There was some confusion in nomenclature, because
in some countries the rank of ‘‘assistant’’ is assigned to
junior faculty members, equivalent to ‘‘assistant professor’’ or ‘‘assistant lecturer’’ elsewhere. On the other
hand, sometimes ‘‘assistant professors’’ were also
reported under ‘‘assistants.’’ Whenever these deviations were obvious, the ‘‘assistants’’ were moved to
the category of ‘‘physiology faculty.’’
Data represent mean percentages of course contents prorated to
100% of total responses.
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TABLE 6
Pr ofessional effort: Medical courses
Region
Teaching, total
Student contact
Lecture preparation
Marking papers
Other teaching
Research
Writing (science, teach)
Service (clinical, etc.)
Grants and reports
Committees, administration
Other
North
America
Latin America
and Caribbean
Western
Europe
Eastern and
East-Central Europe
Middle East and
North Africa
Africa
(sub-Sahara)
Asia and
Pacific
29 (9)
[11]
[9]
[4]
[5]
31 (7)
16 (6)
15 (2)
15 (4)
24 (9)
10 (1)
33 (8)
[15]
[16]
[6]
[8]
33 (8)
11 (4)
30 (3)
4 (3)
12 (5)
45 (7)
[13]
[20]
[8]
[4]
31 (7)
10 (3)
30 (2)
10 (7)
14 (4)
50 (14)
[27]
[14]
[8]
[5]
26 (11)
13 (14)
7 (6)
11 (10)
13 (12)
7 (2)
51 (5)
[23]
[20]
[7]
[1]
56 (12)
[18]
[23]
[6]
[10]
13 (10)
8 (8)
15 (5)
4 (6)
11 (9)
10 (1)
57 (29)
[24]
[19]
[8]
[9]
24 (18)
12 (19)
8 (5)
8 (21)
16 (19)
5 (2)
9
10
7
5
(4)
(1)
(3)
(2)
Data are means of fraction of time (%) spent on professional activity; nos. in parentheses indicate number of responses within categories.
Values in square brackets indicate time spent in various teaching activities.
ASSESSMENT
ogy courses, 69 report using multiple-choice questions in examinations or tests; 44 use short answers;
etc.
Table 10 should be read as illustrated by the following
examples:
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES
• Out of 85 respondents who teach in medical physiology courses, 59 administer minor examinations or
tests or ‘‘quizzes’’; in these 59 courses, the average
number of minor tests is 7 per course; and the
aggregate result of these tests counts, on average, as
31% of the final grade.
In Table 11 the first row shows the total number of
responses returned that are relevant to the questions.
Read this data as illustrated by the following examples:
• Out of 85 respondents teaching in medical physiol-
America, 9 reported library use for the students as
‘‘unlimited.’’ (Under ‘‘unlimited’’ were also included those responding that the library hours
available to the students are 6 days per week, 9:00
AM to 5:00 PM. Anything less was entered as
‘‘limited.’’)
• Out of the 10 responding medical schools in North
TABLE 7
Pr ofessional effort: Summaries
Prorated to
100% Total
As Reported
Medical Other
Teaching
Research
Writing
Service
Grants and reports
Committees,
administration
Other
49
25
12
14
8
(84)
(61)
(61)
(24)
(50)
15 (62)
6 (6)
41
31
17
19
10
18
(22)
(20)
(16)
(7)
(15)
(13)
5 (1)
All
45
30
15
16
8
12
(106)
(81)
(77)
(31)
(65)
(75)
6 (7)
• Out of the 10 responding North American medical
Medical Other All
38
19
9
11
6
12
36
28
15
17
8
16
34
23
12
12
6
9
4
4
4
schools, 5 provide computers for use by the students, and in these 5 schools, the average number of
computers is 28.
‘‘Computers by institute’’ refers to equipment purchased and provided by the school; ‘‘computers,
private’’ refers to personal property of the students. In
some cases both were listed for the same course. It
should be noted that, of all the data, computer use is
likely to have changed most in the years that have
elapsed between receiving the data and compiling
them.
Data represent means of fraction of time (%) spent on professional
activity both as reported, where nos. in parentheses indicate
number of responses within categories, and as prorated to 100% of
total responses.
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TABLE 8
Students and staff: Medical courses
Region
Number of students in course
Mean
Range
Number of physiology faculty
Mean
Range
Other basic science faculty
Mean
Clinical faculty in physiology course
Mean
Assistants and technicians
Mean
Total teaching staff
Mean
Range
North
America
Latin America
and Caribbean
Western
Europe
Eastern and EastCentral Europe
Middle East and
North Africa
Africa
(sub-Sahara)
Asia and
Pacific
126 (7)
72–200
509 (7)
70–2,700
143 (3)
70–180
226 (12)
100–300
250 (4)
100–450
193 (10)
33–350
159 (27)
50–720
8 (7)
7–13
13 (8)
2–50
7 (8)
4–13
7 (13)
1–13
10 (5)
1–14
6 (12)
1–14
8 (27)
3–19
1 (3)
4 (2)
11 (3)
2 (3)
2 (3)
3 (10)
5 (7)
6 (4)
7 (2)
1 (6)
3 (1)
2 (7)
3 (9)
6 (2)
50 (8)
14 (7)
12 (9)
12 (5)
7 (5)
5 (27)
22
4–43
31
8–39
21
6–47
17
5–32
15 (7)
9–27
73
11–300
19
5–36
Data are means or ranges, as indicated; nos. in parentheses indicate number of responses within categories. Values for total teaching staff are
means of sums.
impossible, and it should not be interpreted as a
value judgment. Czech or Japanese or Indian texts,
entered under the category ‘‘national,’’ may be as
good as or better than the international best-sellers.
Concerning textbooks:
• Only the textbooks crossing national boundaries are
listed by author. This was done only to avoid
expanding the listings until an overview becomes
TABLE 10
Assessment
TABLE 9
Students and staff: Summary
Number of students in course
Mean
Range
Number of physiology faculty
Mean
Range
Other basic science faculty
Mean
Clinical faculty in physiology course
Mean
Assistants and technicians
Mean
Total teaching staff
Mean
Range
Medical
Courses
Medical
Courses
Other
211 (70)
40–2,700
112 (29)
8–300
8 (79)
1–50
4 (25)
1–8
2 (20)
3(8)
4 (30)
3 (4)
12 (72)
4 (19)
25
4–300
Total number responding to these questions
Minor examinations and quizzes
Average number per course
Average weight, % of grade
Major examinations
Average number per course
Average weight, % of grade
Format of questions
Multiple choice
Short answer
Long essay
Short essay
Oral (viva voce)
Practical (laboratory)
Percentage of class failing at first try
Repeat attempts allowed
7
1–19
Other
85
29
7 (59)
31
6 (16)
25
3 (77)
70
2 (27)
71
69
44
25
35
51
54
19 (78)
2 (69)
16
12
13
12
7
15
13 (27)
2 (20)
Data for percentage of class failing at first try and number of
repeated attempts allowed are means. Data for question format
indicate number of respondents using each format. Nos. in parentheses indicate number of responses within categories.
Data represent means or ranges, as indicated; nos. in parenthesis
indicate number of responses within categories. Values for total
teaching staff are means of sums.
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TABLE 11
Materials and r esour ces
Medical Courses by Region
All
All
Africa
Asia and
Latin America Western Eastern and Middle East and
North
Medical Nonmedical
North Africa
(sub-Sahara) Pacific
and Caribbean Europe East-Central
America
Europe
Number of responses
Library use
Unlimited
Limited
Computers
Institute
Private
Lecture notes
Staff
Students
Textbook used
Berne and Levy
Best and Taylor
Ganong
Guyton
Schmidt and Thews
Vander et al.
West et al.
National
Monographs
In-house
Other text
Any text
Original literature
10
8
8
14
5
12
30
87
27
9
5
3
10
6
2
7
1
18
7
9
3
7
9
3
2
40
1
1
7
4
1
1
26
4
35
16
6
66
17
22
44
9
21
6
27
13
6
8
6
5
1
3
2
3
6
1
16
4
47
8
15
1
6
1
4
4
1
6
5
3
1
4
2
2
6
1
11
6
2
2
3
10
8
5
2
8
11
16
17
1
1
5
5
2
2
2
3
25
15
50
41
8
5
8
21
5
8
5
3
1
1
1
5
3
1
5
28
5
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
4
8
3
1
2
1
1
4
2
2
7
2
3
Data for computers show average no. of computers available for course; all other data are nos. of positive responses to queries. National,
textbooks originally in national language (translations are counted with original).
• Translated textbooks are counted with the original.
ful. They ranged from a couple of sentences to essays
of two or more pages. Unfortunately, it is not possible
to reproduce all of them in full. I have attempted to
distill their general flavor, with apologies to all whose
thoughts are so inadequately represented here.
• Numerous courses assign more than one textbook;
for these, each was entered.
• Under ‘‘other text’’ are books mentioned by just one
respondent.
The questionnaire expressly asked whether, in the
opinion of the respondent, teaching is improving or
deteriorating in his or her institution or country, or
worldwide. Optimists outnumbered pessimists in this
respect 14 to 4, whereas 2 noted progress in some
areas and regression in others. Among those reporting
improvement were three from the USA, two from
Slovakia, two from India, two from Iran, and three
from the Philippines; the others were scattered single
individuals. Three of the four who reported regression
were from Nigeria. Lack of money and shortage of staff
• ‘‘Guyton’’ includes Guyton and Hall.
• ‘‘Monographs’’ refer to textbooks limited to a topic,
whereas ‘‘original literature’’ refers to assigned reading of research papers or review articles.
EVALUATION AND COMMENT
Fifty respondents have submitted comments, and
most of these were thoughtful, pertinent, and insight-
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and equipment was a recurrent complaint among
respondents from Latin America, Africa, Asia, and
Eastern Europe. Lack of resources was, nonetheless,
not always correlated with a perception of deterioration. On the contrary, several of our colleagues feel
that teaching has improved in their institutions despite material obstacles.
M
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‘‘Clinicians complain that students arrive at the wards
with too much detail crammed into their heads. Yet
clinicians also cooperate in the teaching of Physiology.’’
‘‘Students arrive already full of information on cell and
molecular biology [from undergraduate college], none
on organ physiology.’’
There were numerous requests for assistance in the
dissemination of information by the International
Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) and other
bodies. Ideas ranged from a worldwide bank of
examination questions, or, more generally, a network
of teaching under IUPS auspices, to a computerized
exchange of up-to-date class notes and a guidebook
produced by the IUPS on physiology teaching.
‘‘The future is in the hands of teams, rather than
individual researchers.’’
‘‘Experienced teachers should mentor beginning teachers.’’
United Kingdom
‘‘Increased admissions brings more weak students
into the class, and results in more dropouts.’’
An oft-repeated concern was the poor appreciation of
teaching by deans and other higher authorities. It is
felt that promotion, tenure, and salary are functions of
success in research and only research. Whereas this
opinion is hardly new, it is surprising that it is
prevalent not only at institutions addicted to the flow
of funds collected as research overhead but also in
places where government funding is determined
mainly by the number of students enrolled.
Finland
‘‘Physiologists not only have the most important role
in the education of future health professionals; they
should also take responsibility in informing the general public.’’
Lithuania
Many of our colleagues in the developing countries
expressed appreciation for the congress workshops
and regional meetings devoted to teaching physiology, sponsored either by the IUPS or by their national
physiology societies. Many hope that the IUPS will
take an even more active role in assisting their efforts,
especially in disseminating information in print as well
as by electronic means.
‘‘Here we feel isolated and ‘out of the loop’ [of
information exchange].’’
Hungary
‘‘Even as technology augments the efficiency of teaching, the expansion of the material thwarts progress.’’
The following is a sampling of some of the more
striking thoughts expressed, excerpted and paraphrased; each paragraph is extracted from one person’s response (phrases in square brackets are my
explanatory notes, or, more rarely, my comment on a
comment).
Poland
Fr om the USA
‘‘Animal experimentation is threatened by student
activists, but the threat has so far been successfully
resisted.’’
‘‘Universities should be [remain?] publicly funded and
tuition should be free. Admission must be based on
merit only, not the ability to pay.’’
Slovakia
‘‘I am a convert to Problem Based Learning. I am
impressed, how fast ideas on innovative teaching have
spread.’’
‘‘Not enough time left to examine subjects in depth.’’
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Mex ico
Philippines
‘‘We are turning out good researchers but bad scientists. We should stimulate creativity, but everybody is
too busy collecting data.’’
‘‘The philosophy of teaching must be different for
each institution and must be adapted to needs of each
country.’’
Peru
‘‘Our students adopted the slogan: ‘We love Physiology’.’’
[A change in course design: ‘‘active learning’’ adapted
to a large class:] ‘‘Students receive lecture outline
ahead of the lecture; obligated to read relevant chapter; lecture itself is spent in discussion. Also: students
must prepare a topic in depth, to be presented in a
seminar.’’
Comment on the Comments
There seems to be a widespread unease concerning
the diminishing support, financial and moral, for teaching
in general, and for teaching physiology in particular.
There is a consensus that research is rewarded and
encouraged, but teaching is not. Blamed for this imbalance is university leadership as well as government
oversight and funding agencies. Nonetheless, many
are of the opinion that teaching is improving in their
institutions and/or their country. In fact, the number
of optimists exceeded the number of pessimists.
South Africa
‘‘A burning issue here: should course emphasize
content, or should it concentrate on improving logical
thought processes?’’
Zimbabwe
‘‘Too much detail hinders understanding.’’
It was not a surprise that the ratio of teachers to
students was lower in developing countries than in
the wealthy industrialized parts of the world, but the
class size in some of the Latin American universities
seems staggering even if the faculty in these institutions is assisted by an unusually large number of
assistants and technicians.
China
‘‘Teachers should acknowledge that most students
train to be practicing physicians.’’
‘‘Computer-based experiments can substitute for animal laboratory and save money, but many universities
still use kymographs in student laboratories [not a bad
instrument to demonstrate basic physiological processes].’’
It has been pointed out that university professors are,
as a rule, trained as scientists or scholars, almost never
as teachers.
India
‘‘A good physician is a good physiologist.’’
Enthusiasm for innovation is crossing boundaries,
geographic as well as economic. I also share a preference for teaching in small groups and problem-based
learning sessions over formal lectures, and I see the
utility of technological teaching aids. Yet some of the
formal lectures I have heard in my life were truly
inspiring and even instructive. I plead, we should not
indiscriminately discard all that which has worked
well for a long time.
‘‘Refresher courses are needed for practicing physicians.’’
‘‘Appreciation of our teachers based on their command of content, not of method of instruction.’’
‘‘Teaching should be adapted to the needs of each
country.’’
Japan
G. G. SOMJEN
Department of Cell Biology
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC 27710
(E-mail: g.somjen@cellbio.duke.edu)
‘‘We are always discussing improvement, but nothing
changes. In Japan, the [more] old, the more conservative.’’
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REPORT OF THE WORLDWIDE SURVEY
ON TEACHING PHY SIOLOGY
T
his report by George G. Somjen, for the Commission on Teaching Physiology,
International Union of Physiological Sciences, presents a summary of answers
received to a questionnaire concerning the state of Physiology Teaching. One
hundred seventeen responses have been received from fifty countries. The results have
been tabulated and contain information about the teaching methods and resources as
well as the commitment in time and effort by the teaching staff. Free-ranging, sometimes
pithy, comments made by the respondents have been excerpted and are included.
AM. J. PHYSIOL. 277 (ADV. PHYSIOL. EDUC. 22): S6–S14, 1999.
• Professional effort (percentage of your time spent in
GENERAL REMARKS
various activities)
This report is based on responses to a questionnaire
distributed between 1994 and 1997. Over 350 questionnaires have been sent out, and 117 responses
were received from 50 countries, the majority during
1995, with a second, smaller batch following the 1997
Repino (Russia) Workshop on Teaching Physiology.
I cannot claim this to be either a comprehensive
survey or a statistically valid random sampling. Let us
call it a cross section that, I hope, can provide the
reader with an impression of the range of the teaching
methods used and the conditions under which instruction is given in physiology departments around the
globe.
• Evaluation and comment
Under the heading ‘‘Evaluation and comment’’ respondents were encouraged to jot down personal opinions
on the state of the profession, its present and future,
and possible improvements. Needless to say, the
deficiencies of the questionnaire became apparent as I
was processing the data. It may be useful to repeat this
process in a few years’ time to follow the changes in
the state of the profession. I will be happy to advise
whoever will undertake the task on ways to improve
the method of data collection.
Questions asked in the five-page questionnaire were
grouped under the following headings:
For this report I compiled numerical summaries of the
answers that are amenable to enumeration.
• The physiology course(s) you teach
NOTES ON SUMMARIES
• Students [in your course(s) are] enrolled in which
The majority of the responses were received from medical
schools, and representation of other faculties is rather
sporadic. For this reason, in most categories ‘‘medical’’
courses are compared with ‘‘other’’ or ‘‘nonmedical’’
courses, except for Table 3, in which undergraduate
science courses are separated from ‘‘all other’’ nonmedical courses. Where a respondent completed
separate survey forms for different courses, these
were counted separately. Whenever the same course
was taken by medical as well as other students, it was
entered in the tabulations only under the ‘‘medical’’
category. This, admittedly, skews the distributions.
faculty, working toward which degree?
• Personnel teaching the course(s)
• Course structure
• Course content
• Materials available to the students
• Assessment of students
1043 - 4046 / 99 – $5.00 – COPYRIGHT r 1999 THEAMERICAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY
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The medical courses were subdivided by geographic
region. Because of the small number of responses for
the others, separation by region was not meaningful
for them.
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TABLE 1
Number of r esponses by r egion and country
Region
The number of responses to any particular question
does not add up to the total number of questionnaires
returned. In part, this is because some of the forms
were not completely filled in, and also because sometimes a question was not applicable to some of the
teaching systems. A case in point is a school at which
physiology is not taught in a single comprehensive
course but in a series of separate small courses; in this
instance there was no way to count the number of
lectures or practical exercises in a way that would be
comparable to the other schools.
Canada
United States
Latin America and Caribbean
Argentina
Chile
Costa Rica
Mexico
Peru
Trinidad and Tobago
3
1
2
1
1
1
Western Europe
Belgium
Denmark
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
The Netherlands
United Kingdom
1
3
1
2
1
1
1
2
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Finland
Hungary
Lithuania
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
Slovenia
3
2
1
3
1
2
7
3
1
Middle East and North Africa
Egypt
Israel
Libya
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Turkey
1
1
1
1
1
1
Africa (sub-Sahara)
Ethiopia
Ghana
Liberia
Nigeria
South Africa
Zimbabwe
2
1
1
6
2
1
Asia and Pacific
Australia
China
India
Iran
Japan
Korea
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Sri Lanka
Thailand
2
2
7
4
7
1
1
1
6
1
2
Eastern and East-Central
Europe
COURSE STRUCTURE
The entries in Tables 2 and 3 represent averages followed
in parentheses by the number of responses within the
category. For example, reports received from 7 North
American medical physiology courses showed an average
of 72 lectures given per physiology course. Six of the
seven North American medical schools reported that
practical (laboratory) exercises were given in the
medical course, and the average number of practical
sessions in these six courses was seven per course.
(Zero entries were ignored in the computation of
mean values.) Only three of these six courses offered
animal experiments within the laboratory exercises,
with on average just one animal lab per course.
Table 2 shows medical physiology courses according
to geographic regions. Table 3 compares medical,
undergraduate sc ienc e, and ‘‘other’’ physiology
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No. of
Responses
North America
NUMBER OF RESPONSES BY REGION
AND COUNTRY
The numbers of responses received from each country are entered in Table 1 under their respective
geographic regions. This grouping may seem arbitrary
because social and economic conditions are not
uniform within continents. I have considered classifying countries under ‘‘first, second, and third world’’ or
‘‘developing, emerging, and affluent,’’ but anomalies
could, again, not be avoided. In the end, geographic
proximity seemed the least subjective criterion or, at
least, the best compromise.
Country
8
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TABLE 2
Course structur e: Medical courses
Region
North
America
Number of lectures in course
Practical exercises
Animal laboratories
Human experiments
Computer exercises
Demonstrations
Large conferences
Small group conferences
Tutorials
Clinical correlations
Problem-based sessions
72
7
1
4
2
2
11
9
3
6
22
Latin America
and Caribbean
(7)
(6)
(3)
(4)
(4)
(5)
(5)
(3)
(3)
(5)
(4)
69
28
4
12
6
6
22
24
9
9
26
Western
Europe
(8)
(8)
(5)
(6)
(1)
(4)
(6)
(4)
(4)
(2)
(5)
108
9
2
12
2
1
5
21
15
8
12
(7)
(6)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(1)
(3)
(2)
(4)
(3)
(3)
Eastern and EastCentral Europe
84
38
11
20
5
6
12
16
17
13
3
(11)
(12)
(9)
(10)
(7)
(8)
(3)
(7)
(2)
(2)
(3)
Middle East and
North Africa
162
41
6
12
1
11
12
2
6
7
(5)
(5)
(4)
(4)
(2)
(3)
(1)
(2)
(4)
(2)
(1)
Africa
(sub-Sahara)
161
64
47
16
2
16
37
18
32
12
14
(11)
(11)
(8)
(7)
(1)
(7)
(4)
(2)
(7)
(3)
(3)
Asia and
Pacific
125
45
8
8
2
5
22
14
29
35
10
(28)
(27)
(19)
(22)
(6)
(13)
(11)
(5)
(11)
(7)
(4)
Data are means; nos. in parentheses indicate number of responses within categories.
each chapter. For Tables 4 and 5, all entries have been
converted to a percentage of the total. There were
inevitable inconsistencies among responses. For example, ‘‘blood’’ is often taught under ‘‘circulation’’
and ‘‘nutrition’’ under ‘‘gastrointestinal tract’’ (or not
at all); neurophysiology is often separated from the
physiology course and taught in an integrated neuroscience course. Tables 4 and 5 show the mean values of
only those courses that do assign a defined fraction of
teaching time to a particular subject; ‘‘zero’’ entries
were, again, ignored. Because of the lack of homogeneity, the columns of averages in Table 4 do not add up
to 100%. To facilitate comparisons, for Table 5 the data for
‘‘medical,’’ ‘‘science,’’ and ‘‘all’’ columns have been
corrected (i.e., prorated) so as to add up to 100%.
courses, whereas the grand averages are in the column labeled ‘‘all.’’
For reasons mentioned earlier, it is not meaningful to
compute statistical significance for the differences
among the averages. Nonetheless, it appears that the
number of lectures per medical course is greater in
the Middle East, Africa, and Asia than in the Americas.
COURSE CONTENT
Under this heading, the questionnaire asked for the
fraction of time devoted to various major areas of
physiology. Some respondents entered percentages;
others reported the number of lectures devoted to
TABLE 3
Course structur e: Summary
Medical Science Other
Courses Courses Courses
Number of lectures
114 (77)
Practical exercises
39 (75)
Animal laboratories
12 (54)
Human experiments
12 (57)
Computer exercises
3 (26)
Demonstrations
7 (41)
Large conferences
18 (34)
Small group conferences 15 (25)
Tutorials
21 (33)
Clinical correlation
15 (25)
Problem-based sessions
15 (2)
49
16
9
8
1
3
8
6
7
7
5
(18)
(18)
(15)
(12)
(7)
(7)
(10)
(8)
(8)
(3)
(4)
37
13
5
6
1
5
16
13
5
(14)
(10)
(8)
(10)
(7)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(2)
42 (2)
Perhaps not surprisingly, there is less variation among
the columns of numbers in Tables 4 and 5 than among
those in Tables 2 and 3. Even while laboring under
very different conditions, there is a measure of consensus among physiology teachers on the weight of the
diverse chapters that make up our discipline.
All
94
33
11
11
2
6
16
12
18
14
15
(109)
(101)
(77)
(79)
(40)
(53)
(50)
(41)
(43)
(30)
(31)
PROFESSIONAL EFFORT
In Tables 6 and 7 the entries show the means of the
fraction of time spent on each category of professional
activity, followed in parentheses by the numbers
reporting. (Absolute time in hours was not asked;
when it was reported, it was converted to a percentage.) The time spent in teaching was further divided in
subcategories as shown in square brackets.
Data are means; nos. in parentheses indicate number of responses
within categories.
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TABLE 4
Course content: Medical courses
Region
Cell physiology
Cardiovascular
Blood
Respiration
Gastrointestinal
Nutrition
Renal
Endocrine
Autonomic nervous system
Somatic nervous system
Exercise and environment
Pathophysiology
Muscle
Other
North
America
Latin America
and Caribbean
Western
Europe
Eastern and EastCentral Europe
Middle East and
North Africa
Africa
(sub-Sahara)
Asia and
Pacific
10
24
4
17
10
5
12
14
3
6
4
12
12
7
13
8
3
10
13
5
11
7
11
19
13
11
7
10
3
9
10
5
22
5
10
8
17
8
9
7
4
8
10
6
25
7
2
1
10
17
7
11
8
10
14
7
10
7
6
8
13
3
18
6
8
2
1
7
17
7
10
9
3
10
13
4
17
6
7
7
4
11
14
3
14
2
6
Data represent mean percentages of totals by region without correction.
to differ much between ‘‘medical’’ and ‘‘other’’ faculties.
For reasons similar to those already mentioned, the
columns in Table 6 do not add up to 100%. Table 7
shows the same data twice, the mean values of the
numbers as reported, as well as the means ‘‘corrected’’ (prorated) so as to add up to 100%.
NUMBERS OF STUDENTS AND
TEACHING STAFF
Because of the strikingly varying numbers, in addition to
averages in Tables 8 and 9 the ranges of the values are also
shown in the principal categories. The widest extremes
are found among the entries from Latin America.
Whereas the amount of time spent teaching appears
to vary among geographic regions, it does not seem
TABLE 5
Course content: Summary
Cell physiology
Cardiovascular
Blood
Respiration
Gastrointestinal
Nutrition
Renal
Endocrine
Autonomic nervous system
Somatic nervous system
Exercise and environment
Pathophysiology
Muscle
Other
Medical
Courses
Science
Courses
Other
Courses
9
14
6
9
8
3
8
11
4
14
5
6
4
10
10
6
7
6
5
8
10
3
16
6
6
2
5
7
15
6
11
11
2
10
10
3
15
6
2
2
The headings ‘‘other basic science’’ and ‘‘clinical
faculty’’ refer to teaching staff of other departments
helping to teach a physiology course. In the questionnaire a distinction was made between student assistants and technicians, but in the tally of Tables 8 and 9
these two categories of ‘‘ancillary’’ staff were lumped
for the sake of simplicity. ‘‘Total teaching staff’’ is the
mean of the sums, which is not necessarily equal to
the sum of the means.
All
8
14
6
9
7
3
8
11
4
14
5
6
3
2
There was some confusion in nomenclature, because
in some countries the rank of ‘‘assistant’’ is assigned to
junior faculty members, equivalent to ‘‘assistant professor’’ or ‘‘assistant lecturer’’ elsewhere. On the other
hand, sometimes ‘‘assistant professors’’ were also
reported under ‘‘assistants.’’ Whenever these deviations were obvious, the ‘‘assistants’’ were moved to
the category of ‘‘physiology faculty.’’
Data represent mean percentages of course contents prorated to
100% of total responses.
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TABLE 6
Pr ofessional effort: Medical courses
Region
Teaching, total
Student contact
Lecture preparation
Marking papers
Other teaching
Research
Writing (science, teach)
Service (clinical, etc.)
Grants and reports
Committees, administration
Other
North
America
Latin America
and Caribbean
Western
Europe
Eastern and
East-Central Europe
Middle East and
North Africa
Africa
(sub-Sahara)
Asia and
Pacific
29 (9)
[11]
[9]
[4]
[5]
31 (7)
16 (6)
15 (2)
15 (4)
24 (9)
10 (1)
33 (8)
[15]
[16]
[6]
[8]
33 (8)
11 (4)
30 (3)
4 (3)
12 (5)
45 (7)
[13]
[20]
[8]
[4]
31 (7)
10 (3)
30 (2)
10 (7)
14 (4)
50 (14)
[27]
[14]
[8]
[5]
26 (11)
13 (14)
7 (6)
11 (10)
13 (12)
7 (2)
51 (5)
[23]
[20]
[7]
[1]
56 (12)
[18]
[23]
[6]
[10]
13 (10)
8 (8)
15 (5)
4 (6)
11 (9)
10 (1)
57 (29)
[24]
[19]
[8]
[9]
24 (18)
12 (19)
8 (5)
8 (21)
16 (19)
5 (2)
9
10
7
5
(4)
(1)
(3)
(2)
Data are means of fraction of time (%) spent on professional activity; nos. in parentheses indicate number of responses within categories.
Values in square brackets indicate time spent in various teaching activities.
ASSESSMENT
ogy courses, 69 report using multiple-choice questions in examinations or tests; 44 use short answers;
etc.
Table 10 should be read as illustrated by the following
examples:
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES
• Out of 85 respondents who teach in medical physiology courses, 59 administer minor examinations or
tests or ‘‘quizzes’’; in these 59 courses, the average
number of minor tests is 7 per course; and the
aggregate result of these tests counts, on average, as
31% of the final grade.
In Table 11 the first row shows the total number of
responses returned that are relevant to the questions.
Read this data as illustrated by the following examples:
• Out of 85 respondents teaching in medical physiol-
America, 9 reported library use for the students as
‘‘unlimited.’’ (Under ‘‘unlimited’’ were also included those responding that the library hours
available to the students are 6 days per week, 9:00
AM to 5:00 PM. Anything less was entered as
‘‘limited.’’)
• Out of the 10 responding medical schools in North
TABLE 7
Pr ofessional effort: Summaries
Prorated to
100% Total
As Reported
Medical Other
Teaching
Research
Writing
Service
Grants and reports
Committees,
administration
Other
49
25
12
14
8
(84)
(61)
(61)
(24)
(50)
15 (62)
6 (6)
41
31
17
19
10
18
(22)
(20)
(16)
(7)
(15)
(13)
5 (1)
All
45
30
15
16
8
12
(106)
(81)
(77)
(31)
(65)
(75)
6 (7)
• Out of the 10 responding North American medical
Medical Other All
38
19
9
11
6
12
36
28
15
17
8
16
34
23
12
12
6
9
4
4
4
schools, 5 provide computers for use by the students, and in these 5 schools, the average number of
computers is 28.
‘‘Computers by institute’’ refers to equipment purchased and provided by the school; ‘‘computers,
private’’ refers to personal property of the students. In
some cases both were listed for the same course. It
should be noted that, of all the data, computer use is
likely to have changed most in the years that have
elapsed between receiving the data and compiling
them.
Data represent means of fraction of time (%) spent on professional
activity both as reported, where nos. in parentheses indicate
number of responses within categories, and as prorated to 100% of
total responses.
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TABLE 8
Students and staff: Medical courses
Region
Number of students in course
Mean
Range
Number of physiology faculty
Mean
Range
Other basic science faculty
Mean
Clinical faculty in physiology course
Mean
Assistants and technicians
Mean
Total teaching staff
Mean
Range
North
America
Latin America
and Caribbean
Western
Europe
Eastern and EastCentral Europe
Middle East and
North Africa
Africa
(sub-Sahara)
Asia and
Pacific
126 (7)
72–200
509 (7)
70–2,700
143 (3)
70–180
226 (12)
100–300
250 (4)
100–450
193 (10)
33–350
159 (27)
50–720
8 (7)
7–13
13 (8)
2–50
7 (8)
4–13
7 (13)
1–13
10 (5)
1–14
6 (12)
1–14
8 (27)
3–19
1 (3)
4 (2)
11 (3)
2 (3)
2 (3)
3 (10)
5 (7)
6 (4)
7 (2)
1 (6)
3 (1)
2 (7)
3 (9)
6 (2)
50 (8)
14 (7)
12 (9)
12 (5)
7 (5)
5 (27)
22
4–43
31
8–39
21
6–47
17
5–32
15 (7)
9–27
73
11–300
19
5–36
Data are means or ranges, as indicated; nos. in parentheses indicate number of responses within categories. Values for total teaching staff are
means of sums.
impossible, and it should not be interpreted as a
value judgment. Czech or Japanese or Indian texts,
entered under the category ‘‘national,’’ may be as
good as or better than the international best-sellers.
Concerning textbooks:
• Only the textbooks crossing national boundaries are
listed by author. This was done only to avoid
expanding the listings until an overview becomes
TABLE 10
Assessment
TABLE 9
Students and staff: Summary
Number of students in course
Mean
Range
Number of physiology faculty
Mean
Range
Other basic science faculty
Mean
Clinical faculty in physiology course
Mean
Assistants and technicians
Mean
Total teaching staff
Mean
Range
Medical
Courses
Medical
Courses
Other
211 (70)
40–2,700
112 (29)
8–300
8 (79)
1–50
4 (25)
1–8
2 (20)
3(8)
4 (30)
3 (4)
12 (72)
4 (19)
25
4–300
Total number responding to these questions
Minor examinations and quizzes
Average number per course
Average weight, % of grade
Major examinations
Average number per course
Average weight, % of grade
Format of questions
Multiple choice
Short answer
Long essay
Short essay
Oral (viva voce)
Practical (laboratory)
Percentage of class failing at first try
Repeat attempts allowed
7
1–19
Other
85
29
7 (59)
31
6 (16)
25
3 (77)
70
2 (27)
71
69
44
25
35
51
54
19 (78)
2 (69)
16
12
13
12
7
15
13 (27)
2 (20)
Data for percentage of class failing at first try and number of
repeated attempts allowed are means. Data for question format
indicate number of respondents using each format. Nos. in parentheses indicate number of responses within categories.
Data represent means or ranges, as indicated; nos. in parenthesis
indicate number of responses within categories. Values for total
teaching staff are means of sums.
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TABLE 11
Materials and r esour ces
Medical Courses by Region
All
All
Africa
Asia and
Latin America Western Eastern and Middle East and
North
Medical Nonmedical
North Africa
(sub-Sahara) Pacific
and Caribbean Europe East-Central
America
Europe
Number of responses
Library use
Unlimited
Limited
Computers
Institute
Private
Lecture notes
Staff
Students
Textbook used
Berne and Levy
Best and Taylor
Ganong
Guyton
Schmidt and Thews
Vander et al.
West et al.
National
Monographs
In-house
Other text
Any text
Original literature
10
8
8
14
5
12
30
87
27
9
5
3
10
6
2
7
1
18
7
9
3
7
9
3
2
40
1
1
7
4
1
1
26
4
35
16
6
66
17
22
44
9
21
6
27
13
6
8
6
5
1
3
2
3
6
1
16
4
47
8
15
1
6
1
4
4
1
6
5
3
1
4
2
2
6
1
11
6
2
2
3
10
8
5
2
8
11
16
17
1
1
5
5
2
2
2
3
25
15
50
41
8
5
8
21
5
8
5
3
1
1
1
5
3
1
5
28
5
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
4
8
3
1
2
1
1
4
2
2
7
2
3
Data for computers show average no. of computers available for course; all other data are nos. of positive responses to queries. National,
textbooks originally in national language (translations are counted with original).
• Translated textbooks are counted with the original.
ful. They ranged from a couple of sentences to essays
of two or more pages. Unfortunately, it is not possible
to reproduce all of them in full. I have attempted to
distill their general flavor, with apologies to all whose
thoughts are so inadequately represented here.
• Numerous courses assign more than one textbook;
for these, each was entered.
• Under ‘‘other text’’ are books mentioned by just one
respondent.
The questionnaire expressly asked whether, in the
opinion of the respondent, teaching is improving or
deteriorating in his or her institution or country, or
worldwide. Optimists outnumbered pessimists in this
respect 14 to 4, whereas 2 noted progress in some
areas and regression in others. Among those reporting
improvement were three from the USA, two from
Slovakia, two from India, two from Iran, and three
from the Philippines; the others were scattered single
individuals. Three of the four who reported regression
were from Nigeria. Lack of money and shortage of staff
• ‘‘Guyton’’ includes Guyton and Hall.
• ‘‘Monographs’’ refer to textbooks limited to a topic,
whereas ‘‘original literature’’ refers to assigned reading of research papers or review articles.
EVALUATION AND COMMENT
Fifty respondents have submitted comments, and
most of these were thoughtful, pertinent, and insight-
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and equipment was a recurrent complaint among
respondents from Latin America, Africa, Asia, and
Eastern Europe. Lack of resources was, nonetheless,
not always correlated with a perception of deterioration. On the contrary, several of our colleagues feel
that teaching has improved in their institutions despite material obstacles.
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‘‘Clinicians complain that students arrive at the wards
with too much detail crammed into their heads. Yet
clinicians also cooperate in the teaching of Physiology.’’
‘‘Students arrive already full of information on cell and
molecular biology [from undergraduate college], none
on organ physiology.’’
There were numerous requests for assistance in the
dissemination of information by the International
Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) and other
bodies. Ideas ranged from a worldwide bank of
examination questions, or, more generally, a network
of teaching under IUPS auspices, to a computerized
exchange of up-to-date class notes and a guidebook
produced by the IUPS on physiology teaching.
‘‘The future is in the hands of teams, rather than
individual researchers.’’
‘‘Experienced teachers should mentor beginning teachers.’’
United Kingdom
‘‘Increased admissions brings more weak students
into the class, and results in more dropouts.’’
An oft-repeated concern was the poor appreciation of
teaching by deans and other higher authorities. It is
felt that promotion, tenure, and salary are functions of
success in research and only research. Whereas this
opinion is hardly new, it is surprising that it is
prevalent not only at institutions addicted to the flow
of funds collected as research overhead but also in
places where government funding is determined
mainly by the number of students enrolled.
Finland
‘‘Physiologists not only have the most important role
in the education of future health professionals; they
should also take responsibility in informing the general public.’’
Lithuania
Many of our colleagues in the developing countries
expressed appreciation for the congress workshops
and regional meetings devoted to teaching physiology, sponsored either by the IUPS or by their national
physiology societies. Many hope that the IUPS will
take an even more active role in assisting their efforts,
especially in disseminating information in print as well
as by electronic means.
‘‘Here we feel isolated and ‘out of the loop’ [of
information exchange].’’
Hungary
‘‘Even as technology augments the efficiency of teaching, the expansion of the material thwarts progress.’’
The following is a sampling of some of the more
striking thoughts expressed, excerpted and paraphrased; each paragraph is extracted from one person’s response (phrases in square brackets are my
explanatory notes, or, more rarely, my comment on a
comment).
Poland
Fr om the USA
‘‘Animal experimentation is threatened by student
activists, but the threat has so far been successfully
resisted.’’
‘‘Universities should be [remain?] publicly funded and
tuition should be free. Admission must be based on
merit only, not the ability to pay.’’
Slovakia
‘‘I am a convert to Problem Based Learning. I am
impressed, how fast ideas on innovative teaching have
spread.’’
‘‘Not enough time left to examine subjects in depth.’’
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Mex ico
Philippines
‘‘We are turning out good researchers but bad scientists. We should stimulate creativity, but everybody is
too busy collecting data.’’
‘‘The philosophy of teaching must be different for
each institution and must be adapted to needs of each
country.’’
Peru
‘‘Our students adopted the slogan: ‘We love Physiology’.’’
[A change in course design: ‘‘active learning’’ adapted
to a large class:] ‘‘Students receive lecture outline
ahead of the lecture; obligated to read relevant chapter; lecture itself is spent in discussion. Also: students
must prepare a topic in depth, to be presented in a
seminar.’’
Comment on the Comments
There seems to be a widespread unease concerning
the diminishing support, financial and moral, for teaching
in general, and for teaching physiology in particular.
There is a consensus that research is rewarded and
encouraged, but teaching is not. Blamed for this imbalance is university leadership as well as government
oversight and funding agencies. Nonetheless, many
are of the opinion that teaching is improving in their
institutions and/or their country. In fact, the number
of optimists exceeded the number of pessimists.
South Africa
‘‘A burning issue here: should course emphasize
content, or should it concentrate on improving logical
thought processes?’’
Zimbabwe
‘‘Too much detail hinders understanding.’’
It was not a surprise that the ratio of teachers to
students was lower in developing countries than in
the wealthy industrialized parts of the world, but the
class size in some of the Latin American universities
seems staggering even if the faculty in these institutions is assisted by an unusually large number of
assistants and technicians.
China
‘‘Teachers should acknowledge that most students
train to be practicing physicians.’’
‘‘Computer-based experiments can substitute for animal laboratory and save money, but many universities
still use kymographs in student laboratories [not a bad
instrument to demonstrate basic physiological processes].’’
It has been pointed out that university professors are,
as a rule, trained as scientists or scholars, almost never
as teachers.
India
‘‘A good physician is a good physiologist.’’
Enthusiasm for innovation is crossing boundaries,
geographic as well as economic. I also share a preference for teaching in small groups and problem-based
learning sessions over formal lectures, and I see the
utility of technological teaching aids. Yet some of the
formal lectures I have heard in my life were truly
inspiring and even instructive. I plead, we should not
indiscriminately discard all that which has worked
well for a long time.
‘‘Refresher courses are needed for practicing physicians.’’
‘‘Appreciation of our teachers based on their command of content, not of method of instruction.’’
‘‘Teaching should be adapted to the needs of each
country.’’
Japan
G. G. SOMJEN
Department of Cell Biology
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC 27710
(E-mail: g.somjen@cellbio.duke.edu)
‘‘We are always discussing improvement, but nothing
changes. In Japan, the [more] old, the more conservative.’’
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