"N.A.M.E." FUN! Emojis may illustrate structure-function relationships of neurotransmitters to health professions students. Journal Article

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Author: Mahaffey, AL
Article Title: "N.A.M.E." FUN! Emojis may illustrate structure-function relationships of neurotransmitters to health professions students.
Abstract: This article provides a qualitative examination of student responses to an enjoyable online experience illustrating structure-function relationships of chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) in the human nervous system via text messaging emojis (often employed during mobile phone messaging). The "N.A.M.E." (Neurotransmitters as Messaging Emojis) FUN! experience was presented to 218 undergraduate health professions students enrolled in a Human Physiology Course during Spring 2020 (N = 118) and Spring 2021 (N = 100) semesters as a learning tool, during a time in which students struggled with the concepts of neurotransmitter function. Additional goals for this fun experience design are to: 1) Engage health professions students in the topics of chemical messengers in the nervous system, 2) As a learning tool for students enrolled in the Human Physiology courses and a 3) Memorization online worksheet for select neurotransmitter function. Student participants were able to access the online neurotransmitter fun experience via mobile phone and/or laptops. Resulting analysis of the voluntary and anonymous survey highlight positive responses in both Spring 2020 and 2021 semesters, to the online "N.A.M.E." experience, and further the recommendation of student participants to include this online experience in future lecture assignments for the Human Physiology course. Here, we examine several data sets (tables), as we review student choices for matching emojis to neurotransmitter function and qualitative responses on the efficacy of this online match-up fun as a learning tool in Human Physiology for health professions course.
Journal Title: Advances in Physiology Education
Publisher: Unknown  
Date Published: 2021