Physiology is often the subject that healthcare students on professional programmes, such as nursing, midwifery or therapies, love to hate. The essential basis for safe professional practice is in-depth knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and consequences of physiological disturbance(s) across the Lifespan, yet the evidence shows that pre- and post-registration students alike face considerable difficulty in understanding biosciences and applying theory to practice. 

 

Providing learning activities that support active learning in physiology can therefore be a challenge, given the wide educational background of students and the limited contact time available for educators within the packed professional curriculum. It is difficult to get to know the students well enough for meaningful exchanges about their specific challenges or strategies for learning who may be in very large lecture cohorts.

 

The Johari Window is a simple tool for illustrating and improving self-awareness and mutual understanding. Although most often used for team development, it has the potential to stimulate students’ thinking about their perceptions of, and emotional responses to, learning (Cassidy, 2014: Lowes, 2020). At the start of several modules at different levels, an adapted grid was used and 356 nursing students expressed their perceptions about their previous learning of physiology. The four quadrants covered topics they (students) liked, topics they disliked, aspects of learning that seemed easy and “tricky bits”. Responses were analysed using word cloud technology. Students consistently enjoyed the ability to apply their knowledge in practice settings but found the complexity of physiological interactions and relationships difficult. 

 

In response to these findings, a mind mapping activity was utilised to enable students to create a visual display (Vanides, 2005;  Safar et al, 2014) that examined the principles and dynamic nature of homeostasis. Each group then selected examples of homeostatic disturbances to deepen their exploration and relate examples of core concepts in physiology to patient care.  Since students were drawn from a range of different clinical areas, the discussion could sometimes become quite wide-ranging as they shared their experience. 

 

Learning about core concepts in physiology (Michael & McFarland, 2020) seems to have the potential to create the keystone for a solid and meaningful lifelong learning opportunities that fill the gap between theory and practice learning. Encouraging this open-ended approach to learning physiology served to form a framework for developing learning activities which helped to unpack students’ misconceptions, partial understanding and confusion. By exploring core concepts through discussion with other students, the mind mapping activities appeared to help students to verify their understanding and ability to integrate new learning in physiology with their experience in professional settings.