Tag: HAPS

Meet Becca!

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HAPS is a society focused on the teaching and learning anatomy and physiology, but educators are just half of this equation.  We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our students.  So welcome to a new series of HAPS blog posts featuring A&P student extraordinaire, Becca Ludwig.  

A message from Becca!
A post from Becca!

I have been a student for a solid 17 years if you count from the day when I first stepped into my kindergarten class in 1998 to the time I walk across the stage with my Occupational Therapy degree in 2015. This is my last semester of coursework in my program before I go off into the big world to practice the art of Occupational Therapy. This holds some bitter sweet feelings for me. I love the idea of being a professional and making and impact on my clients’ lives, but I also love being a student and learning new things.

I have been a member of HAPS for a year now and have come to appreciate the professor’s side of the educational process. What you guys do is not easy. Over the course of the semester I will be writing a short series of posts about the student perspective on common things related to college life. This is a chance for you HAPSters to get inside of the student mind….

WARNING: It may be a scary place!

Note I am not the typical student…… or person for that matter, but I will try my best to explain the student perspective.

It's all good!

HAPS News: Primal Pictures-HAPS Scholarship Nominations DUE 2/3/15

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A message from the ComCom
A message from the ComCom

In every class, there is at least one student who simply stands out from the rest.  S/he is enthusiastic, motivated, bright, and just gets fired up by learning about Anatomy and Physiology.  S/he is authentically interested in what you have to say and treats the learning experiences you offer as the amazing opportunities they really are.  These rare students often fuel you through each semester, and they truly make teaching the incredibly rewarding profession it is.

HAPS not only values its teaching members, but it values the students who HAPS-PP2-2inspire and fuel these fantastic teachers.  So if you have (or had) a student this year (2014-15) who is particularly exceptional, consider nominating her/him for the Primal Pictures-HAPS Scholarship.

The goal of this scholarship is to promote excellence in anatomy and physiology, encourage innovation and celebrate learning.  The winning student will receive a cash award of $1000, free entry to the Annual Conference in San Antonio, and up to $1100 for reimbursement of travel expenses.

Please consider nominating one of your best students for this award.

NOMINATIONS ARE DUE BY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd.

Instructors who nominate students must:
  • be teaching at an accredited institution in the US or Canada
  • have at least two years of Human A&P or Human Biology (broadly defined) teaching experience
  • have direct knowledge of the student being nominated and be able to explain why the nominee deserves this award.
Nominated undergraduate student must be:
  • a degree-seeking student enrolled full-time at an accredited higher education institution in the US or Canada during the 2014-2015 academic year
  • enrolled in at least one Human A&P or Human Biology course in the 2014-2015 academic year
  • a person who would benefit from attending the HAPS Annual Conference

Award recipients will receive their award at the HAPS Membership Meeting on May 25, 2015 and must be present to receive the award.

HAPS Web 14- The Histology Challenge

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An archived imaged from an old histology challenge...
An archived imaged from an old histology challenge…

The HAPS Histology challenge, a fantastic benefit of  HAPS membership, was a the subject in an article on page 23 of the HAPS-EDucator’s Winter 2015 edition.  The abstract of the article states:

(The Histology Challenge) presents actual patient cases, in the form of photomicrographs of biopsy or surgical specimens, along with a “live” online discussion. Each case includes a series of questions designed to guide readers through the process of interpreting the photomicrographs, beginning with basic histology and progressing through the process of diagnosing the case. In this article, we review the history of the Histology Challenge, describe how it works, and describe some sample cases, to illustrate how they reinforce basic histology and introduce clinical applications. This article will also include suggestions for how these Histology Challenges can be used in A & P courses, and ways in which interested instructors can participate both in the online discussions and in production of future cases. 

The histology challenge serves many valuable functions for HAPSters and their students.  Some instructors use the challenge to beef up their own histology skills.  Others use the challenge to provide hands-on experiences for their students!  Either way, the challenge is a stimulating resource for HAPSters and their students.  So check out the Winter 2015 HAPS-EDucator and learn more about how you can take advantage of this fantastic benefit of being a HAPS member.

HAPS Web 11- Thieme and HAPS join forces!

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As part of a larger partnership that includes 30% off all Thieme products for HAPS members and students, the HAPS leadership is proud to announce a new award to recognize and reward excellence in undergraduate A&P instruction.
As part of a larger partnership that includes 30% off all Thieme products for HAPS members and students, the HAPS leadership is proud to announce a new award to recognize and reward excellence in undergraduate A&P instruction.

HAPS is always trying to find ways to make the lives of its members easier.  For example, HAPS offers scholarships to ease the financial burden of participating in HAPS conferences or HAPS-I courses.  But HAPS also negotiates deals for its members, like the most recent partnership between HAPS and Thieme.

This new partnership has two excellent member benefits.  First, Thieme is proud to now offer all HAPS members and their students 30% off and free shipping* for all titles from Thieme.com. This generous deal benefits members AND their students.

Second, Thieme is sponsoring the 2015 HAPS-Thieme Excellence in Teaching Award!  This award is designed to recognize and reward excellence in undergraduate A&P instruction.  Award winners must be nominated by colleagues and will demonstrate the core value of HAPS.  Nominations are allowed from instructors or administrators at accredited institution in the US or Canada.  The winner of this award will receive a $1,500 cash prize and free registration for the 2015 Annual HAPS conference in San Antonio.
The deadline for  nomination is January 1, 2015.

Nominators must have:

  • Experience as an instructor or administrator at an accredited institution in the US or Canada
  • At least two years of A&P (broadly defined) teaching experience or administrative experience
  • Direct knowledge of the instructor being nominated and be able to explain why the nominee deserves this award

Nominees must:

  • Be teaching an A&P course (broadly defined) in 2014-2015 academic year with an expectation that he/she will continue as an A&P instructor going forward
  • Be a HAPS member in good standing on January 1, 2015
  • Be an exemplary teacher
  • Provide a CV and a note saying that he/she understands that he/she must attend the annual conference.

*Free shipping applies only to orders placed on www.thieme.com  and  ebookstore.thieme.com. Offer available in the continental US only. All prices are subject to change without notice. This promotion is available for a limited time only.

HAPS Web 6- A Message From Your HAPS-Ed Team!

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The HAPS-EDucator is a great way to share ideas!
The HAPS-EDucator is a great way to share ideas!

This week, the Communications Committee brings you a message from the co-editors of the HAPS EDucator, Jennelle Malcos and Sarah Cooper.

You may have read the post a couple weeks ago focusing on the HAPS EDucator and all the exciting resources it has to offer.  We would like to now share with you some information about how you can share your ideas and contribute to this resource.  Submitting an article is easy to do with out new “Author Submission Packet” posted on the HAPS EDucator website.

The goal of the EDucator is to foster the advancement of A&P education by promoting communication and collaboration between HAPS members – also known as sharing your ideas!  You may be wondering what types of articles are considered for publications.  There are many types and vary from innovative teaching techniques or lesson plans, reviews of trending topics in A&P or summaries of noteworthy events or experiences.  We also feature our popular Edu-Snippets:  quick and easy ideas to use in the classroom or lab.  We encourage you to think outside the box and publish in areas that interest and excite you because they will likely excite others.

Starting in 2014, regular article submissions are now undergoing a peer-review process based on the standards of “Educational Scholarship”.  If you submit an article, 2-4 members of the HAPS EDucator Editorial Board will review your article based on the following criteria:

  1.  Is the article appropriate and relevant for HAPS members and the society’s goal of promoting excellence in human anatomy and physiology teaching?
  2.  Is the article scientifically accurate and reflects the author’s preparation and knowledge in the field?
  3.  Is the presented information organized and free form spelling and grammatical errors?

You will receive targeted feedback and the opportunity to make corrections if necessary.  Through this process, published articles are considered peer-reviewed and can be used for the purposes of promotion and tenure at your institute.

After the annual conference we also look for members to share their experiences in the “HAPS EDucator Annual Conference Edition”.  We encourage workshop and poster presenters to share a summary of their work or attendees to share there favorite part of the conference.  This becomes a valuable resource for those that cannot make the journey to the annual conference.

Submitting an article is a great way to contribute to HAPS and help promote your career.  If you ever have any questions about the submission process, please feel free to contact us at haps-ed@hapsconnect.org.  Now take a break from reading this blog and start sharing your ideas!

Your Co-Editors,

Jennelle Malcos and Sarah Cooper

Competency in A&P

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I wrote last week about attending the SoftChalk User Conference in Baltimore.  At the end of 2 days of workshops, I attended a presentation about competency-based education. This is something of a buzz word, as nontraditional certification programs develop ways to certify individuals to be capable for employment. It’s also a natural consequence, I think, of acknowledging that a grade in a course doesn’t guarantee the ability to apply, or even remember, what was learned in a course.

So, I’m interested in finding ways to teach, and document, competency to and for our students.  The topic of this workshop was competency in a speech course, but I think the basic idea can be translated to other academic areas.  The presenter had a very narrow designation for competencies: every specific, individual skill at the most basic level that could be explained and tested was a competency.  The way she used these in her course involved allowing students to demonstrate competency and accumulate them for credit.

This got me thinking – can we take the HAPS learning outcomes, at the finest level, and develop short lessons that focus on those individual skills/ideas, then construct an organizational framework that builds into a conceptual structure that students can apply to higher levels?  These could be parked in a HAPS-approved repository, such as LifeSciTRC. They could stress different learning styles and incorporate various resources (such as video files) that would help students with different learning styles.  HAPS members could contribute to a pool of resources that could be tagged by learning style, HAPS objective, and maybe Bloom’s levels.

I can’t say I have a fully-formed idea of this in my head, but I think I’ll try to pull something together, and post it in SoftChalk (which has a new initiative called SoftChalk Share) for feedback.

I realize there could be issues of copyright, competition, and other complications, and I’m interested in both the pros and the cons. So, please share – what do you think? I know there are some wonderful resources developed by HAPS members and others…does this idea fill a niche?  Is it something you could use? Would you be willing to contribute?

Thanks, as always, for your thoughtful input.

Betsy Ott
HAPS President-Elect

HAPSweb 2: The Email Listserv

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Bag of gold
The HAPS listserv is as fantastic as a bag of gold!

The HAPS email listserv is where some of the most interesting conversations in A&P are taking place!  The listserv is a members-only benefit that is an extremely valuable resource.  If you are a member of HAPS, but have not yet joined the listserv, you are missing out on one of the best parts of membership.

For example, Ken Saladin, author of three A&P textbooks, wrote, “I have found the HAPS-L listserv to be an invaluable resource. Occasionally I know something edifying to other list participants, which is gratifying, but more often, I learn from others brighter or better informed than I. HAPS-L discussions have alerted me to many new perspectives in A&P that have found their way into my textbooks, and to issues where I’ve needed to re-evaluate my assumptions and correct or update my information. As a rich source of ideas for improvements and corrections, HAPS-L ranks at least as high as, or maybe higher than, the peer reviews we commission for each new edition.

“As an active classroom professor, I mention new information from HAPS-L often in my A&P lectures, explain my teaching and testing with reference to what I know the nationwide US-Canadian norms to be, and occasionally check with my HAPS-L colleagues on questions my students ask that I can’t immediately answer. My students seem to appreciate that I’m actively engaged in this network of A&P instructors, sometimes referring their questions to the listserv and always formulating my teaching practices not in isolation, but in the context of the expectations of A&P courses everywhere. ”

The current HAPS President, Tom Lehman, added, “I smile on Fridays when I see multiple posts shooting out from colleagues who are trying to find reasons not to grade their latest exam.  Some of the posts are goofy and some are serious, but they’re almost all – on those Friday afternoons – a chance for educators to brainstorm and vent and share.  Even when we’re swamped with work, they give us a chance to flesh out some idea that has been percolating in the back of our minds, knowing that we have several colleagues who we can trust to consider our crazy idea and help build it into something amazing for our students.  The list-serv is one of the best aspects of being a member of HAPS.”

Well said, Mr. President.

HAPS-I Scholarships

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The HAPS Institute offers working Anatomy and Physiology instructors the opportunity to earn graduate credits or just gain Professional Development in a variety of flexible formats tailored to their busy schedule.
The HAPS Institute offers working Anatomy and Physiology instructors the opportunity to earn graduate credits or just gain Professional Development in a variety of flexible formats tailored to their busy schedule.

This might surprise you (!) but we Anatomy and Physiology instructors are usually pretty busy people.  HAPS, as usual, aims to support us by offering opportunities for professional development via HAPS Institute (HAPS-I) courses.  These courses are designed to broaden our understanding of our subject by enabling us to participate in interactive learning communities made of peers who are also teaching anatomy and/or physiology.  HAPS-I courses include both subject-specific content as well as practical teaching and learning methodology and in this way exemplify the mission of HAPS as a whole.  Additionally, each course provides participants with the opportunity to publish their work in the peer-reviewed Life Science Teaching Resource Community.  Courses are available in two separate tracts to maximize flexibility for participants, allowing them to earn graduate credits or simply participate in the course for professional development.

The next round of HAPS-I courses are scheduled to begin between August 24 and September 15.  I’d personally like to take all of them.  Dr. Margaret Weck’s course on Rational Course Design “briefly reviews the major concepts associated with the “backwards design” model of rational course development, which stresses the value of thinking through the ultimate outcome goals (both in content mastery and cognitive skill development) for a course as a first step the course design process.”  I want to take that class!  And Dr George Ordway’s course on Advanced Cardiovascular Physiology will “provide college-level instructors with an opportunity to develop their understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system, including key cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for function of the heart and blood vessels.”  Oooh!  I want to take that class too!  And then Dr. Chad Wayne will be offering THREE classes on reproductive physiology.  Whaaaat?!?!?!  I want to take ALL of those classes!

And not only does HAPS offer these amazing courses, they also offer scholarships to support you in TAKING these cool courses. In fact, the next scholarship deadline is August 15.  To be eligible for this scholarship, you need to be a HAPS member in good standing, you must be a regular full-time employee teaching anatomy and physiology, and you must have a teaching load that includes at least one section/class of anatomy and/or physiology.

So pick the fall HAPS-I course you’d like to complete, and apply for that HAPS-I scholarship by August 15.  And then vote on which class you think should I take!

Why Join HAPS? So Many Reasons…

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Join HAPS.
Check out the list of reasons why you should be a member of HAPS.

Are you a member of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society?  If not, it is time to make it happen.  Being a member of HAPS is, without a doubt, the single most important thing I’ve done in my career to become a better teacher.  Two years ago, when I was deciding to flip my Anatomy class for the first time, I posed several questions to the email listserv, requesting input and pedagogical advice that helped define and hone my approach.  Once, I asked the list about the wisdom of comprehensive exams.  Dee Silverthorn sent me a copy of her comprehensive exam as an example.  And I can’t even count the number of times that Valerie O’Loughlin has pumped me up with enthusiastic pep talks.  My students get wide-eyed when I tell them the authors of their textbooks are answering my questions (and theirs).   To me, this alone is worth the price of membership.  And yet this is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to the benefits of being a dues paying HAPSter.

We will soon begin a series on the blog describing all the benefits of joining HAPS.  You might be surprised at some the resources you have access to as a HAPSter.

As the chair of the Communication Committee, I am excited to help increase membership.  So tell me true.  Why are you a member of HAPS?