At a Glance

Discipline

  • Health science
  • STEM
  • Biology

Instructional Level

  • College & CEGEP

Course

  • Anatomy and Physiology (101-DDB-05 and 101-806-AB)

Tasks in Workflow

Social Plane(s)

  • Individual
  • Group
  • Whole Class

Type of Tasks

  • Discussing
  • Analyzing
  • Reading

Technical Details

Useful Technologies

  • Pen & Paper

Class size

  • Small (20-49)

Time

  • Single class period (< 90 mins)

Instructional Purpose

  • Application & knowledge building
  • Consolidation & metacognition

Overview

This case study provides the opportunity for students to review the following topics: Metabolism, anatomy of a muscle organ and muscle fiber, neuromuscular junction, muscle contraction, and muscle cell metabolism.

Before class, students prepare to engage with a realistic experience by reading an emotional account of a teenager’s experience with the disorder. Students review specific topics related to exercise, muscle metabolism, and muscle contraction. Students are encouraged to read through the patient brief and consider the targeted questions before class.

In this case scenario, students work together to answer the patient’s questions and explain how a mutation in a single gene is responsible for the patient’s symptoms.

In Part A, students are introduced to the wild-type and mutated gene variants. Students are asked to translate the gene variants and discuss the impact of mutations on protein function. In Part B (part 1), students examine and identify the structures of the skeletal muscle fiber. In Part B (part 2), students consider the sequence of muscle contraction, describing tthe molecular events at each step. While student work together, the instructor pauses several times to review their progress, solves the puzzles, and answers the discussion questions before the class moves on to the next part.

Finally, students take the remaining 30-40 minutes to work together to complete Part C, where they apply their learning to answer questions regarding the case. These responses allow them to integrate the content from each of the previous parts into a coherent and comprehensive understanding of the muscle fibers and its metabolism.

Instructional Objectives

  • Define the study of Anatomy and Physiology and describe the hierarchical organization of the human body into chemicals, cells, tissues, organs and systems.
  • Describe the structure and functions of the animal cell.
  • Describe the gross anatomy of a muscle organ and the microscopic anatomy of a muscle fiber.
  • Describe the neuromuscular junction.
  • Outline the sequence of events between the arrival of a nerve impulse and contraction of a muscle fiber.
  • Compare aerobic and anaerobic respiration in muscle cells and state the biochemical causes of muscle fatigue.

Workflow & Materials

Workflow

Activity Workflow

View on CourseFlow

Contributor's Notes

Benefits
Challenges
Tips
Benefits

This activity helps explain the consequences of homeostatic disruption in a muscle experiencing peak intensive exercise, all the while linking dysfunctional protein with the biochemistry of muscle contraction.

Challenges

I’ve found that students have difficult linking the consequences of metabolism with the symptoms of the disease. In response, I’ve asked students to consider answering the discussion questions at the end of the patient story. This has greatly helped make connections throughout the case study on the day it is presented.

Tips

Provide students with the answers to the discussion questions at the end of the patient story prior to lecture. The case study is best started with the translation activity, while the discussion questions are meant for student preparation. Key words have also been highlighted in the patient story, and I encourage students to consider these as they review the course notes.

Applied Strategies

Feedback

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