https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.130.45

Our focus group of early career lecturers share their thoughts on their career journeys in academia. They cover transitioning from teaching assistant to lecturer, the changing landscape of physiology teaching in the aftermath of the pandemic, challenges lecturers face and adopting new approaches and tools. We share snippets of their blogs below. Visit our blog for their full stories.

Reflecting on flipped classroom teaching
Dr Matthew Jacques, University of Nottingham, UK

COVID-19 resulted in many changes in how we teach, the most prominent being the shift to online teaching. We learnt a lot in the first year of the pandemic as we tried out different approaches, including more effective use of virtual learning platforms and integration of interactive tools into teaching. One of the most prominent and successful methods was the implementation of a flipped classroom approach.

Continue reading at physoc.org/blog/reflecting-on-flipped-classroom-teaching/

The changing landscape of physiology teaching
Dr Chinedu Agwu, Brunel Medical School, Brunel University London, UK

Historically physiology teaching has been approached using lectures, tutorials and complementary lab practicals to support learning. Rather than using traditional didactic lectures the main teaching pedagogy adopted in our programme is team-based learning (TBL), in which students learn in teams and scientists, alongside clinicians, teach in teams combining their diverse expertise.

Continue reading at physoc.org/blog/the-changing-landscape-of-physiology-teaching/

The academic shuffle
Dr Lewis Mattin, University of Westminster, UK

Academia is the finest job in the world. Or so they tell us. In all seriousness, what other job gives you the possibility to travel the world to exhibit and expose novel scientific findings and even undertake or observe a development in an area you are extremely passionate about? I believe all lecturers have an inquisitive mind about understanding the unknown.

Continue reading at physoc.org/blog/the-academic-shuffle/

An Early Career Lecturer’s insight into teaching
Dr Colleen Deane, University of Southampton, UK

As an early career lecturer in muscle cell biology, the idea of teaching physiology to medical students was daunting initially. In September 2022 I presented my first set of lectures (as a Lecturer) on the importance of protein and amino acids for muscle and bone. These lectures were very well attended, with more than 150 students out of approximately 200 in the lecture theatres at any one time.

Continue reading at physoc.org/blog/an-early-career-lecturers-insight-into-teaching-physiology/

Beginning a career in academia
Paul Lester, University of East London, UK

I worked as a lecturer at the start of the pandemic, then went into public health and returned to academia as the pandemic came to an end. I think the pandemic has had a substantial impact on resource-intensive disciplines, such as physiology, as students have not been able to access the facilities required to develop the practical and interpersonal skills to work as an exercise physiologist.

Continue reading at physoc.org/blog/beginning-a-career-inacademia-what-support-and-changes-could-help-physiologists/

The impact of COVID-19 on physiology teaching
Dr Harley Stevenson-Cocks, Newcastle University, UK

Given that physiology is the science of life, and life was put on hold over the course of the pandemic, COVID-19 obviously had a major impact on physiology teaching. Though we were fortunate to deliver some practical teaching during the pandemic, physiology practicals were not possible due to the very nature of involving data collection from, and close contact between, students.

Continue reading at physoc.org/blog/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-physiology-teaching-and-current-challenges/

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