Post-Practicum Reflection, BIOL 1111, Langara College, 10/20/21

For the second term of the CATL practicum I sought to diversify my experience by teaching guest lessons in introductory as opposed to upper-level classes. I was also hoping to gain experience teaching at a community college, because I am highly interested in that career path. To inquire about this possibility I reached out to a former member of my research lab who teaches at Langara College, and she was able to help set me up with opportunities in both the majors and non-majors introductory biology courses (which I am very grateful for!). This practicum lesson was in the non-majors course taught by the department head, Dr. Chris Conway.

It had been a relatively long time since I had studied introductory biology content, with the exception of some of the comps studying I did. Although I am most passionate about ecology and conservation, I always find this content fascinating and causing me to be much more aware of the inner workings of life. This structure and function lesson was my first time teaching human anatomy and physiology content, and I enjoyed learning and teaching the material more than I expected. The students were all very attentive and engaged in lecture, discussion, and activities which also enhanced the experience.

The two disciplinary “big ideas” that I highlighted in the lesson were 1) structure is closely correlated with function, and 2) structure-function relationships result from natural selection. To encourage students to adopt a disciplinary way of seeing by contemplating structure-function relationships for components of human bodies, I did a think-pair-share activity followed by a lengthy discussion of a diverse set of examples (some offered by the students and some that I posed).  On the topic of natural selection I made the connection between genotype and phenotype, and gave a review of the basics of natural selection by highlighting its key points and common misconceptions.

One concept not directly related to human anatomy and physiology that I explained to the students is homology. The purpose of this was to give students a sense of how structure-function relationships develop across a diversity of animal groups, and to link with the big idea of evolution due to natural selection. This was done by introducing bird wing structure and function including a diagram of the bones that points out similarities to the human arm, and then followed up with discussion centered on a classic figure comparing forelimb structure of a human, cat, horse, bat, and dolphin. Discussion of homology in body structure and function between a shark (fish), penguin (bird), and seal (mammal) provided another link to selective forces resulting in structural adaptation.

The second half of the lesson covered more discrete content on tissue types. I made a connection to my research on sockeye salmon infections when discussing epithelial tissue, but focused on human structure and function for the other tissue types. With each type after describing the structure and function I made connections to help students notice some of the causal mechanisms of their own physiology, and we briefly discussed some of these. For example, the differences in healing time between bones and cartilage due to levels of vascularization, and the reasons for more adipose tissue in the abdominal area.

This was a fun lesson enjoyed by me and the students, and I received encouraging feedback from Dr. Conway. I was especially happy with the higher-level content and discussions in the first half of the lesson. If I did it again, I would alter the second half to include more hands on individual and/or group activities regarding the tissue types and their structures and functions. That way it will be less of a content blitz and the students will get a better chance to wrap their heads around the details for each one at their own pace.