MERLOT - Multimedia Education Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
Home Communities Learning Materials Member Directory My Profile About Us

Peer Review

Become a Member | Log In

Cyberheart: CardioPhysiology Tutorial

 

Ratings

Overall Rating:

4 stars
Content Quality: 3.75 stars
Effectiveness: 3.5 stars
Ease of Use: 4.5 stars
Reviewed: Dec 17, 2012 by Biology Editorial Board
Overview: This is one module out of several that covers the heart for an introductory Anatomy and Physiology class. It simulates the affect of adding saline, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, epinephrine (adrenaline), acetylcholine and digitalis on the heart rate, blood pressure and EKG. There are also heart physiology questions for the student to answer. This was very easy to use. The simulation was focused on the effects of adding different solutions to the heart, but the questions were more scattered covering a wider range of cardiac physiology.
Learning Goals: The student will learn basic elements of heart physiology, especially the affect of various elements, transmitters and drugs have upon the heart.
Target Student Population: This was prepared for introductory Anatomy and Physiology students so Seniors in High School to Freshmen in College. This could also be helpful as a review for upper division students.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: In order to answer the questions given and to understand the affects of the simulation, the student needs to be familiar with basic heart physiology.
Type of Material: Interactive tutorial
Recommended Uses: Out of class activity or possible use in a lab.
Technical Requirements: Flash

Evaluation and Observation

Content Quality

Rating: 3.75 stars
Strengths:
  • An interesting site in which students can bathe a heart in different solutions and see the effect on heart rate and blood pressure.
  • In order to advance, the students must answer a random question correctly.
  • Very easy to use and does not cover a broad range of material.
  • Concerns:
  • It was not immediately clear to me that I had to scroll to see an entire question or answer choice. You must have some knowledge of the material to be able to answer the questions. That is material I assume the student could get from class notes or the text book.
  • There isn't much background information provided for the students to understand what the solutions they are adding contain.

  • Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

    Rating: 3.5 stars
    Strengths:
  • The site is engaging and somewhat interactive in that the students can vary the solutions they add to the heart and are asked quiz questions.
  • This module concentrates on focused area of cardio physiology.
  • Concerns:
  • The site would be much more effective if the questions were not random and instead tried to get the students to make a connection between the solution they just added and the affect on the heart.
  • The current quiz questions are random, and there is no information provided on the site that would help the students to answer the quiz.
  • Objectives aren’t specifically stated in the module.

  • Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

    Rating: 4.5 stars
    Strengths:
  • Simple single page site, so navigation is not an issue.
  • engaging graphics of a beating heart.
  • Concerns:
  • Quiz questions are required to be answered before a student can add a different solution to the heart, so if the student is trying to follow the effects of different solutions, they are constantly interrupted with random questions. Having the two work independently would be more effective.

  • Other Issues and Comments: Two of the links weren't available anymore ("EKG Library" and "Virtual Heart").
    --%>