Physiology applied to everyday: the practice of professional contextualization of physiology concepts as a way of facilitating learning

Abstract

stimulate student participation. Participation in the seminars was not compulsory and not limited to students in the course; thus, the seminars were broadly attended throughout the institution. When we organized this activity, we hypothesized that this innovative pedagogy would improve student motivation for learning and enhance results of student learning (7). Thus, this activity offers students of different levels and different programs in health areas by promoting an interdisciplinary experience about the importance of human physiology for their future daily lives as a health professional. A previous study (5) has concluded that students involved in interdisciplinary programs are more likely than those in a single discipline to acquire integrated perspectives to strengthen their problem solving. To enhance the interest of student by learning (8), weekly 90-min seminars were offered to students. Each seminar involved a lecture by a professor, an active health professional, or an advanced student in a health discipline. To facilitate students’ preparation for the discussion, an abstract of the lecture theme was provided on the project’s website. The lecture was followed by a discussion with the participating