{"title":"Approaches to teaching about mechanisms of obesity in undergraduate pathophysiology courses.","authors":"Kristen L W Walton","doi":"10.1152/advan.00122.2023","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Views of obesity as a consequence of \"lack of willpower\" or other behavioral choices, rather than a complex array of biological and other factors, are quite common among undergraduate students. Many undergraduates in prenursing or biology programs have little exposure to the physiology and pathophysiology of obesity, including learning about leptin and other hormones involved in appetite control. I developed materials for teaching about the pathophysiology of obesity in two different pathophysiology courses: one designed as a survey of pathophysiology topics for prenursing majors, and the other designed as an in-depth exploration of the molecular and cellular basis of selected diseases for upper-division biology majors. In the molecular basis of disease course, obesity is covered as part of a unit organized around metabolic syndrome. The discussion includes molecular and cellular mechanisms that link obesity to several other diseases, including type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis. This article briefly describes the approaches I have taken for teaching obesity to two different undergraduate student populations and lists several resources that may be useful tools for teaching about obesity.<b>NEW & NOTEWORTHY</b> This article describes approaches for teaching obesity in an allied health major pathophysiology course, and, additionally, in an upper-division biology major course on the cellular and molecular basis of disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":50852,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Physiology Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Advances in Physiology Education","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00122.2023","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/3/7 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Views of obesity as a consequence of "lack of willpower" or other behavioral choices, rather than a complex array of biological and other factors, are quite common among undergraduate students. Many undergraduates in prenursing or biology programs have little exposure to the physiology and pathophysiology of obesity, including learning about leptin and other hormones involved in appetite control. I developed materials for teaching about the pathophysiology of obesity in two different pathophysiology courses: one designed as a survey of pathophysiology topics for prenursing majors, and the other designed as an in-depth exploration of the molecular and cellular basis of selected diseases for upper-division biology majors. In the molecular basis of disease course, obesity is covered as part of a unit organized around metabolic syndrome. The discussion includes molecular and cellular mechanisms that link obesity to several other diseases, including type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis. This article briefly describes the approaches I have taken for teaching obesity to two different undergraduate student populations and lists several resources that may be useful tools for teaching about obesity.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This article describes approaches for teaching obesity in an allied health major pathophysiology course, and, additionally, in an upper-division biology major course on the cellular and molecular basis of disease.
期刊介绍:
Advances in Physiology Education promotes and disseminates educational scholarship in order to enhance teaching and learning of physiology, neuroscience and pathophysiology. The journal publishes peer-reviewed descriptions of innovations that improve teaching in the classroom and laboratory, essays on education, and review articles based on our current understanding of physiological mechanisms. Submissions that evaluate new technologies for teaching and research, and educational pedagogy, are especially welcome. The audience for the journal includes educators at all levels: K–12, undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs.