학술논문

A Remote Laboratory Course on Experimental Human Physiology Using Wearable Technology
Document Type
Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Author
Mayerhofer, Patrick (ORCID 0000-0001-7964-376X); Carter, JamesDonelan, J. Maxwell (ORCID 0000-0003-3880-893X)
Source
Advances in Physiology Education. Mar 2022 46(1):117-124.
Subject
Laboratory Experiments
Science Instruction
Physiology
Cost Effectiveness
Measurement Equipment
Comparative Analysis
Computer Software
Open Source Technology
Laboratory Manuals
Diagnostic Tests
Classification
Distance Education
Undergraduate Students
Instructional Materials
Language
English
ISSN
1043-4046
Abstract
To help educators deliver their physiology laboratory courses remotely, we developed an inexpensive, customizable hardware kit along with freely available teaching resources. We based the course design on four principles that should allow students to conduct insightful experiments on different physiological systems. First, the experimental setup should not be constrained to laboratory environments. Second, students should be able to take this course without prior coding and electronics experience. Third, the hardware kit should be relatively inexpensive, and all other resources should be freely available. Fourth, all resources should be customizable for educators. The hardware kit consists of commercially available electronic components, with a microcontroller as its hub (Arduino friendly). All measurement systems can be assembled without soldering. The hardware kit is cost-effective (approximately the cost of a textbook) and can be customized depending upon instructional needs. All software is freely available, and we share all necessary codes in open-access online repositories for simple use and customizability. All lab manuals and additional video tutorials are also freely available online and customizable. In our particular course, we have weekly asynchronous physiology lectures and one synchronous laboratory session, where students can get help with their equipment. In this article, we only focus on the novel and open-source laboratory part of the course. The laboratory includes four units [data acquisition, ECG, electromyography (EMG), activity classification] and one final project. It is our intent that these resources will allow other educators to rapidly implement their own remote physiology laboratories or to extend our work into other pedagogical applications of wearable technology.