Each chapter has a consistent organization to help students learn the concepts explained in the text and illustrated in the figures. The numerous pedagogical features can aid students in their quest to master new terminology, learn new concepts, analyze and understand physiological principles, and finally apply this knowledge in practical ways. The chapter organization, and the learning devices built into each chapter, facilitates this growth by providing mechanisms for active learning of the chapter contents. Because mastery of the content of a human physiology course requires such active learning, students are advised to make use of the learning aids in each chapter.
Chapter Openers Set the Stage
Chapter Objectives
Students can look over the objectives before reading the chapter to get a feeling for the material covered, and check off the objectives as each major section is completed.
Chapter at a Glance
Students can use the chapter outline to get an overview of the chapter, or to find specific topics.
Refresh Your Memory
This boxed information at the beginning of each chapter alerts students to material from previous chapters that they may need to review as they begin a new chapter.
Take Advantage of the Technology
Also located opening spread of each chapter, these short sections acquaint students with the resources available at the Online Learning Center (text website).
In-text Aids Keep Students Focused
Perspectives
Immediately following each major section heading is a concise statement of the section's central concepts, or organizing themes, that will be illustrated in detail in the text that follows. These brief introductions are designed to help students place the sections in perspective, before getting involved with the specifics.
Test Yourself Before You Continue
Each major chapter section ends with a set of learning activities and essay questions that relate only to the material presented in the section. Students are encouraged to answer the essay questions, draw the outlines and flowcharts requested, and otherwise actively participate in their learning of this material. Thus, these sections serve as both a "reality check" for the student and as a mechanism for active learning.
Clinical Content Adds Interest
Clinical information is presented throughout the text to underscore the real-life importance of understanding human physiology and to provide concrete examples that demonstrate the application of complex physiological concepts.
Clinical Investigation
Clinical Investigations are diagnostic puzzles provided at the very beginning of each chapter. These thought-provoking cases are designed to engage students' interest and motivate them to delve into the content of each chapter. Students must read the chapter, understand the concepts, and look for clues in order to arrive at the correct diagnosis.
Clinical Investigation Clues
Scattered within each chapter, these short boxes remind students of the ongoing clinical investigation puzzle and provide clues to the solution. Clues are carefully placed so they always relate to the information presented in the preceding text. These clues help reinforce comprehension of the text material and spur students to continue reading so they can gather all of the pertinent information needed to solve the puzzle. After attempting to diagnose the case, students can find the solution to each Clinical Investigation in Appendix A.
Boxed Clinical and Fitness Applications
Applications—in clinical medicine, general health, and physical fitness—of basic physiological principles are found intermittently throughout the body of the text. Placement of these applications is precise—they always relate to concepts that have been presented immediately preceding the application. As such, they provide immediate reinforcement for students learning the fundamental principles on which the applications are based. This is preferable to longer but fewer magazine-article-type applications that are separated from the text information. The immediate reinforcement allows students to see the practical importance of learning the material they have just studied.
HPer Links Establish Connections
Interactions: HPer Links
Interactions pages can be found at the end of each chapter or group of chapters relating to a particular body system, and also at the ends of chapters 3, 5, and 6. These resource pages list the many ways a major concept applies to the study of different body systems, and the ways that a given system interacts with other body systems. Each application or interaction includes a page reference to related material in the textbook.
The term HPer Links is a hybrid of "hyperlinks" and the initials of "Human Physiology." On the Internet, a hyperlink is a reference that you can click with a mouse to jump from one part of a document or web page to another. Students can use the cross-references offered on the Interactions pages in a similar way to find interrelated topics in the textbook.
Chapter Review Pages Summarize and Challenge
Chapter Summaries
At the end of each chapter, the material is summarized in outline form. This outline summary is organized by major section headings with page references, followed by the key points in the section. Students may read the summary after studying the chapter to be sure that they haven't missed any points, and can use the chapter summaries to help review for examinations.
Review Activities
A battery of questions collectively titled Review Activities follows each chapter summary. These self-examinations are organized into three increasingly difficult learning levels to help students progress from simple memorization to higher levels of understanding. Test Your Knowledge of Terms and Facts is a series of multiple-choice questions that prompt students to recall key terms and facts presented in the chapter. Answers to these questions are found in Appendix B. Test Your Understanding of Concepts and Principles consists of brief essay questions that require students to demonstrate their understanding of chapter material. Test Your Ability to Analyze and Apply Your Knowledge questions stimulate critical thinking by challenging students to utilize chapter concepts to solve a problem.
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2004 McGraw-Hill Higher Education