Developing a concepts-based physiology curriculum for bioengineering: a VaNTH project

Abstract

Physiology is recognized as a core topic for biomedical engineering but the physiology courses taught to bioengineering students vary widely in scope and depth from institution to institution. As part of the NSF-sponsored VaNTH Engineering Research Center in Bioengineering Educational Technologies curriculum project, a group of bioengineering, physiology, and learning science faculty have been developing a physiology taxonomy that could guide curriculum development. The initial efforts focused on a systems-based taxonomy but we have now changed to a concepts-based taxonomy that will be cross-referenced with topics taught in system physiology courses. The final product will include resources for developing a learner-centered bioengineering physiology curriculum.