TY - JOUR
T1 - Establishing consensus for the core concepts of physiology in the Australian higher education context using the Delphi method
AU - Tangalakis, Kathy
AU - Lexis, Louise
AU - Hryciw, Deanne H.
AU - Towstoless, Michelle
AU - Bakker, Anthony J.
AU - Beckett, Elizabeth
AU - Brown, Daniel
AU - Cameron, Melissa
AU - Choate, Julia
AU - Chopin, Lisa
AU - Cooke, Matthew B.
AU - Douglas, Tracy
AU - Estaphan, Suzanne
AU - Etherington, Sarah
AU - Gaganis, Voula
AU - Moorhouse, Andrew
AU - Moro, Christian
AU - Paravicini, Tamara
AU - Perry, Ben
AU - Phillips, Ruben
AU - Scott, Christopher James
AU - Todd, Gabrielle
AU - Uebergang, Tanya
AU - Wadley, Glenn
AU - Watt, Matthew
AU - Hayes, Alan
PY - 2023/9/1
Y1 - 2023/9/1
N2 - A set of core concepts ("big ideas") integral to the discipline of physiology are important for students to understand and demonstrate their capacity to apply. We found poor alignment of learning outcomes in programs with physiology majors (or equivalent) from 17 Australian universities and the 15 core concepts developed by a team in the United States. The objective of this project was to reach Australia-wide consensus on a set of core concepts for physiology, which can be embedded in curricula across Australian universities. A four-phase Delphi method was employed, starting with the assembling of a Task Force of physiology educators with extensive teaching and curriculum development expertise from 25 Australian universities. After two online meetings and a survey, the Task Force reached agreement on seven core concepts of physiology and their descriptors, which were then sent out to the physiology educator community across Australia for agreement. The seven core concepts and their associated descriptions were endorsed through this process (n = 138). In addition, embedding the core concepts across the curriculum was supported by both Task Force members (85.7%) and educators (82.1%). The seven adopted core concepts of human physiology were Cell Membrane, Cell-Cell Communication, Movement of Substances, Structure and Function, Homeostasis, Integration, and Physiological Adaptation. The core concepts were subsequently unpacked into themes and subthemes. If adopted, these core concepts will result in consistency across curricula in undergraduate physiology programs and allow for future benchmarking.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first time Australia-wide agreement has been reached on the core concepts of physiology with the Delphi method. Embedding of the core concepts will result in consistency in physiology curricula, improvements to teaching and learning, and benchmarking across Australian universities.
AB - A set of core concepts ("big ideas") integral to the discipline of physiology are important for students to understand and demonstrate their capacity to apply. We found poor alignment of learning outcomes in programs with physiology majors (or equivalent) from 17 Australian universities and the 15 core concepts developed by a team in the United States. The objective of this project was to reach Australia-wide consensus on a set of core concepts for physiology, which can be embedded in curricula across Australian universities. A four-phase Delphi method was employed, starting with the assembling of a Task Force of physiology educators with extensive teaching and curriculum development expertise from 25 Australian universities. After two online meetings and a survey, the Task Force reached agreement on seven core concepts of physiology and their descriptors, which were then sent out to the physiology educator community across Australia for agreement. The seven core concepts and their associated descriptions were endorsed through this process (n = 138). In addition, embedding the core concepts across the curriculum was supported by both Task Force members (85.7%) and educators (82.1%). The seven adopted core concepts of human physiology were Cell Membrane, Cell-Cell Communication, Movement of Substances, Structure and Function, Homeostasis, Integration, and Physiological Adaptation. The core concepts were subsequently unpacked into themes and subthemes. If adopted, these core concepts will result in consistency across curricula in undergraduate physiology programs and allow for future benchmarking.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first time Australia-wide agreement has been reached on the core concepts of physiology with the Delphi method. Embedding of the core concepts will result in consistency in physiology curricula, improvements to teaching and learning, and benchmarking across Australian universities.
KW - core concepts
KW - curriculum
KW - Delphi method
KW - physiology
KW - undergraduate education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85163902617&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1152/advan.00140.2022
DO - 10.1152/advan.00140.2022
M3 - Article
C2 - 36759148
AN - SCOPUS:85163902617
SN - 1043-4046
VL - 47
SP - 373
EP - 671
JO - Advances in Physiology Education
JF - Advances in Physiology Education
IS - 3
ER -