Effects of Active Learning in an Undergraduate Physiology Class Using Hands-On and Simulation Labs

Increasing student engagement has been shown to have positive effects on students and can be achieved by incorporating varied active learning strategies into the laboratory. Currently, the undergraduate human physiology lab at Missouri State University utilizes PhysioEx simulation labs to practice physiological concepts. Three simulations were replaced with hands-on labs using iWorx software to evaluate engagement and learning. Informed consent and IRB approval was obtained. Student engagement was assessed using a voluntary, anonymous survey on Qualtrics. This was a ten question Likert-scale survey gauging students perceived engagement, motivation, usability of software, and learning outcomes. If 80% of students complete the survey, the entire class will receive five bonus points towards their final grade. Exam average scores will be analyzed to assess changes in learning. Exams were organized using Bloom’s taxonomy levels to analyze lower-order and higher-order thinking skills. The proposed project aims to evaluate if incorporating hands-on labs would improve student learning and/or their engagement. The hypothesis is engagement will be increased in hands-on labs, but grades will not differ significantly, based on previous literature, and students will perform better on lower order thinking questions. Preliminary results show that engagement was increased when using hands-on labs. Students cited increased engagement due to the hands-on component compared to the simulation and the collaboration with their lab partners. Students who found engagement between lab modalities to be equal stated that the iWorx software was difficult to use, taking focus away from the lab content. Exam data is still under analysis. Missouri State University This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.