An interactive, self-instructional, online respiratory control practical: design and development

Abstract

The current University environment places substantial limitations on the funding of personnel to continue running practicals face-to-face. Pedagogically however, health science students require physiology that has a functional basis, which by its very nature needs to be dynamic and interactive. Most existing online resources refer almost exclusively to structural anatomy and present an obvious need for animal-based practicals in systemic physiology. To solve this problem, we used our expertise in this area (Jayachandran, Lee and Batmanian 1998) to design and develop a novel interactive practical, which allows students to question and understand the roles of various chemical, mechanical and nervous factors important in the regulation of ventilation.