Produção Nacional
Revisado por pares
The membrane potential puzzle: a new educational game to use in physiology teaching
2018; American Physical Society; Volume: 42; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1152/advan.00100.2017
ISSN1522-1229
AutoresRui Seabra Machado, Inaê de Oliveira, Ingrid Ferreira, Ben-Hur Souto das Neves, Pâmela Billig Mello‐Carpes,
Tópico(s)Education during COVID-19 pandemic
ResumoIlluminationsThe membrane potential puzzle: a new educational game to use in physiology teachingRui Seabra Machado, Inaê Oliveira, Ingrid Ferreira, Ben-Hur Souto das Neves, and Pâmela B. Mello-CarpesRui Seabra MachadoPhysiology Research Group, Federal University of Pampa, Uruguaiana, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Inaê OliveiraPhysiology Research Group, Federal University of Pampa, Uruguaiana, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Ingrid FerreiraPhysiology Research Group, Federal University of Pampa, Uruguaiana, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Ben-Hur Souto das NevesPhysiology Research Group, Federal University of Pampa, Uruguaiana, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and Pâmela B. Mello-CarpesPhysiology Research Group, Federal University of Pampa, Uruguaiana, Rio Grande do Sul, BrazilPublished Online:04 Jan 2018https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00100.2017MoreSectionsPDF (767 KB)Download PDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesGet permissionsTrack citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInWeChat INTRODUCTIONThe engagement of students with the use of educational games has proven to be great, and several reasons are pointed out (1). Additionally, the use of puzzles as an active learning methodology has shown positive results, considering students' performance (14). These results can be related both to the ability to acquire interpersonal relationships necessary for group cooperation, since games generally involve working in groups, and to the possibility of addressing the same content using different methodologies that could help the students' understanding.The way by which each student learns can be distinct (15), so learning tools should be varied (7, 14). The different learning styles are qualities considered in the use of games in the teaching-learning process (8). We use a puzzle to teach membrane potentials content due to the difficulty observed when the students try to understand this topic. Additionally, this content is important and necessary to understanding synapses and muscle contraction.Here, we describe a new didactic game proposed to study or review function of the membrane potential content: the membrane potential puzzle (MPP). We show that students consider that the use of the proposed game contributes to their understanding of the content, and that it is an interesting tool to use in physiology teaching.MATERIAL AND METHODSA group of Human Physiology students used the MPP as part of their classroom study of membrane potentials. The students were from Nursing and Physiotherapy programs of the Federal University of Pampa, Campus Uruguaiana (RS/Brazil). Forty-five undergraduate students participated: 20 from Physiotherapy and 25 from Nursing, with ages between 19 and 44 yr old. This activity was approved by the local Institutional Education Committee (Institutional Review Board no. 10.005.17) and was fulfilled in the first academic semester of 2017.The activity was applied by the professor of Human Physiology and two tutors (veteran students who were previously approved in the Physiology course). After a theoretically traditional class on "membrane potential," the 45 students were divided into groups of 5–7. The game requires ~50 min to be played.Each group received a board (Fig. 1), game pieces (Table 1), and printed instructions (Fig. 2). The students could be around the board (1 m × 1 m; Fig. 1) and interact with it, since the board has spaces to be filled by the game pieces (25 pieces; Table 1). All of the game's parts were made by the authors.Fig. 1.The puzzle board.Download figureDownload PowerPointTable 1. The puzzle piecesPiece Name/TypeNo. of PiecesThe electric stimulus (illustrated by lightening bolt)1Phases of action potential (named)3Electrical condition inside of the cell membrane (positive or negative)4Graphic representation of the cell membrane potential phase4Channels involved (drawings)4State of sodium channels (drawings)4State of potassium channels (drawings)4Fig. 2.The printed instructions.Download figureDownload PowerPointThe pedagogical idea of the puzzle is to help the students to realize the events that happen when the membrane is electrically stimulated and the action potential has been propagated in the excitable cell. In this process, students will review and learn more about the cell membrane conditions before its stimulation, the starting of action potential after a threshold electrical stimulation, and its relationship with the electrical-dependent channel opening (considering what channels and at what speed each channel opens). In this process, we want the students to realize that the flow of the ions through the membrane is what will causes the changes in membrane potential.Starting the game and following the instructions (Fig. 2), the students should first organize the pieces into categories (electric stimulus, phases of action potential, channels involved, state of the Na+ and K+ electrical-dependent channels, electrical condition inside of the cell membrane, and representative graphic illustration; Table 1).The pieces were designed to be very stimulating, so they are very colorful, attempting to ensure that the students were able to identify and differentiate one from the other (in the case of ion channels, for example; see Fig. 3).Fig. 3.Examples of the pieces' illustration. A: potassium channels in different conditions (left: opened; right: closed). B: sodium channels in different conditions (left: closed; middle: opened; right: inactivated). C: sodium-potassium bomb (left) and an open channel (right).Download figureDownload PowerPointAfter the pieces' categorization step, the students were invited to complete the board, following the instructions (Fig. 2). The columns are filled, taking into account the effects of the electric stimulus on the membrane state and the changes that occur when the threshold is reached; the characteristics of resting potential and the different phases of action potential; and the channels involved, the conformation changes of them, and the consequent increase/decrease of the membrane permeability to Na+ and K+.Following the steps proposed in the instructions (Fig. 2), during the game the students talked among themselves and discussed how to choose the correct place for each piece. Meanwhile, the professor and the tutors walked around the classroom, observing the groups' work. According to the position of the pieces, the group received feedback. The professor and tutors then asked the student groups questions to promote further reflection.At the end of the discussion process, the students put the pieces in their proper places and finished the game; they were then to discuss and answer some questions that were on the instruction paper (Fig. 2, step 10). The completed puzzle board is illustrated in Fig. 4.Fig. 4.The puzzle board filled with all of the pieces.Download figureDownload PowerPointOnce all of groups had completed their puzzles, the professor finalized the activity, coordinating a discussion about the most important events of the resting and action potential. At the end of the activity, to verify the students' perception about the activity proposed, the students were invited to answer some anonymous questions, evaluating the game:Did the puzzle contribute to your content understanding?Is this puzzle an interesting tool to use in physiology teaching?Did the questions proposed for discussion contribute to the increase of your learning?In your opinion, the use of a game in the classroom (students could choose as many alternatives as they want in this question): • Stimulated your curiosity and desire to learn more about the content. • Was interesting. • Was fun • Was unnecessary and/or a loss of time.Additionally, we asked the students to give a grade to the activity, considering a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being the low and 10 the high grade. Forty-three students answered the questionnaire. They could also leave suggestions for improvement of the activity, if they wanted.We also analyzed the students' results on examination questions about membrane potentials (see the four questions used in Table 2), comparing the results of the group who used the MPP (n = 45) to another group of students who had the same content with the same professor in the year before, using the same type of class, but without the MPP (n = 48).Table 2. Percentage of correct answers and errors for each examination question about membrane potentialsGroup 1 (with MPP; n = 45)Group 2 (without MPP; n = 48)Correct answersErrorsCorrect answersErrorsQuestion%n%n%n%n1. List three factors that contribute to the rest membrane potential maintenance.55.62544.42033.31666.7322. Which are the three main phases of the action potentials?91.1418.9472.93527.1133. How is the membrane permeability to sodium during the depolarization phase of the action potential?71.13228.91345.82254.2264. List two factors that influence the action potential propagation velocity.75.63424.41162.53037.518Mean73.33326.71253.62646.422n, No. of subjects.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe use of games in the teaching-learning process generally leads to good results, promoting better understanding and learning by students, helping the students to resolve doubts, engaging the students in the discussion of concepts, and promoting a better performance in the course (higher final grades) (6, 11, 12). The game is a tool that helps students to form mental images during the learning process (14), and, doing this, the game generates satisfaction for the students (12). This satisfaction can be used and even enhanced with competitive games by student engagement in the classroom (11).Here we proposed the use of the MPP to provide another way to learn about this challenging topic of how a membrane potential works. Several previous studies proposed the use of different games in physiology teaching and learning (3, 6, 11–15), including a game about action potential (10), but we consider it important and interesting to have more than one option, so that the professor can evaluate the options and select the most appropriate one for his or her students. We need to consider that different students learn in different ways (2, 11, 15), and traditional classrooms do not always guarantee understanding of the physiology contents for all students. One of the functions of the didactic games, when associated with a traditional class (using lectures, for example), is to reinforce what was taught in the theoretical classes (9).Our data reinforce the positive outcomes of using didactic games for learning physiology that have been shown to be effective by other scholars (6, 11, 12, 14). Our results showed that 100% of the students (n = 43) agreed that the use of the MPP contributes to a better understanding of the content (Fig. 5A). A previous study also proposed a didactic game to teach this topic, and the authors showed that the use of the educational game enhanced the university students' learning about membrane resting and action potential (10).Fig. 5.Students' perceptions of the use of the MPP in physiology teaching (n = 43).Download figureDownload PowerPointWhat differentiates our game from others is that it stimulates a reflection on the mechanics that act in coordination in the membrane to generate the potential. Considering that the game's form is a puzzle, it allows isolation of the effects of each piece involved in the process. Also, we can discuss what would happen if some piece works abnormally, asking, for example, what would happen if the electrical-dependent sodium channels were blocked (for example, by some anesthetics). Another point is that this puzzle is very simple and easy to play.When we asked if MPP could be considered an interesting tool for teaching physiology, 100% of the students agreed (n = 43; Fig. 5B). This result highlighted that the students were engaged with this type of active learning. It is known that active learning strategies facilitate learning and increase satisfaction in studying, allowing the students to have fun while learning (6). Considering the questions proposed for discussion at the end of the game, 100% (n = 43) of the students said that the questions contribute to increasing their learning (Fig. 5C). Really, the discussion promoted by games can be one of the greatest values of this teaching strategy (5).Considering the students' general opinion about the use of games in the classroom, 65% (n = 28) of them considered the use of games interesting; 62% (n = 27) that it instigated their curiosity and desire to understand more of the physiology content; and 51% (n = 22) considered the use of games fun. Only one student considered it unnecessary (Fig. 5D). Curiosity is an important characteristic, as well as the desire to understand more of the content: both are associated with the scientific spirit (4). Additionally, fun is a key factor to learning: it is know that, when the students are having fun, they are learning more and better, due to the emotional involvement (14).At the end of the evaluation questionnaire, we asked students to assign a grade to the proposed activity, evaluating it. They should consider a scale from 0 to 10. The mean grade given by students for the MPP activity was 9.5, which represents, together with previously related results, that students approved of the teaching proposal.Additionally, the students' results for examination questions about membrane potentials showed that the students who used MPP had a higher percentage of correct answers than the other group of students who had the same contents, with the same professor, but without the MPP (Table 2).So we are positively excited about the use of games in physiology teaching, in this case, specifically about the use of MPP, because our results are positive and suggest that the process of learning and memory formation of the contents can be much more meaningful with it, which helps a great deal in the process of long-term memory consolidation and, consequently, effective learning (11).GRANTSThe authors are grateful for the financial support of the Federal University of Pampa. R. S. Machado, I. Ferreira, and B. S. das Neves were supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). I. O. Marcelo was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). P. B. Mello-Carpes was supported by For Women in Science Program, L'Oreal Foundation, and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).DISCLOSURESNo conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the authors.AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONSR.S.M., B.-H.S.d.N., and P.B.M.-C. performed experiments; R.S.M., I.O.M., I.F., B.-H.S.d.N., and P.B.M.-C. analyzed data; R.S.M., I.O.M., I.F., B.-H.S.d.N., and P.B.M.-C. interpreted results of experiments; R.S.M., I.O.M., I.F., B.-H.S.d.N., and P.B.M.-C. prepared figures; R.S.M., I.O.M., I.F., B.-H.S.d.N., and P.B.M.-C. drafted manuscript; R.S.M., I.O.M., I.F., B.-H.S.d.N., and P.B.M.-C. edited and revised manuscript; R.S.M., I.O.M., I.F., B.-H.S.d.N., and P.B.M.-C. approved final version of manuscript; B.-H.S.d.N. and P.B.M.-C. conceived and designed research.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe authors thank Bárbara Luisa Femino, who is responsible for the illustration of the game pieces. The authors also thank all of the undergraduate students who participated in the implementation and development of the proposed activities.REFERENCES1. Bailey CM, Hsu CT, DiCarlo SE. Educational puzzles for understanding gastrointestinal physiology. Am J Physiol 276: S1–S18, 1999. Abstract | ISI | Google Scholar2. Bandura A. Human agency in social cognitive theory. Am Psychol 44: 1175–1184, 1989. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.44.9.1175. Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google Scholar3. Bhaskar A. Playing games during a lecture hour: experience with an online blood grouping game. Adv Physiol Educ 38: 277–278, 2014. doi:10.1152/advan.00006.2014. Link | ISI | Google Scholar4. Burguillo JC. Using game theory and competition-based learning to stimulate student motivation and performance. Comput Educ 55: 566–575, 2010. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2010.02.018.Crossref | ISI | Google Scholar5. Burleson KM, Olimpo JT. 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