The “Learning Progressions: Principle-based reasoning in Undergraduate Physiology” (LeaP UP) project is an NSF-funded research collaboration (DUE 1660643) with the goal of creating a learning progression framework and assessments, which describe how students advance in their understanding of physiology over a typical 2 or 4 year curricula.

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This project aims to create the first learning progression on how students develop principle-based reasoning using the central ideas of Flux and Mass Balance in undergraduate physiology. These two core concepts, Flux (movement of substances) and Mass Balance (Conservation of Mass), are based on the principles of physics and are central to explaining the basic mechanisms underlying most organismal systems. A learning progression for these concepts can provide a key organizing framework for future redesign of undergraduate curriculum in physiology.

 

This project also will create a suite of constructed response (CR) assessments in various disciplinary contexts (e.g. cardiovascular and respiratory systems) to reveal where students are along the learning progression.  We will capitalize on advances in natural language processing and text analysis to create develop and refine computer models to accurately predict how experts would score students’ responses to these CR assessments. These automated scoring methods will rapidly score assessments from a large number of students nation-wide, across a range of institutions, and help map current trends in understanding. These assessments can also be used by instructors to determine where their students are along the spectrum of understanding of these key topics.

If you are interested in more information about the project, project updates or how you might get involved, please contact the project Principal Investigators:  Jennifer Doherty (doherty2@uw.edu) at University of Washington and Kevin Haudek (haudekke@msu.edu) at Michigan State University.