SCS2159 - Our Faculty

Our Faculty

Welcome to the Department of Physiology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Our Department plays a central role within the Faculty of Medicine and collaborates in many of its programs with the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, allied Health Sciences and with a number of the Hospital-based research institutes in Toronto. This site is designed to introduce visitors and students to our Department, its research, teaching, and administrative activities. It also serves as a major mechanism of communication between the Department and our undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty members and administrative staff.

Physiology is the study of how the body works in health and disease at all levels including molecular, genomic, proteomic, ionic, cellular, organ and whole organism. Our Department is dedicated to understanding fundamental physiological processes and translating these to clinical care.

To this end, the objectives of Physiology remain the same as 100 years ago. The scientific intuition and curiosity that lead Banting and Best to their seminal studies of diabetes and the discovery of insulin are carried on by the members of the Department. Of course the enthusiasm of our curiosity is guided through the rigorous application of the scientific method (hypotheses- and experimentally-driven research). What has changed drastically over the years is the remarkable elaboration and increase in the sophistication of the experimental tools available for the study of Physiology. Our traditional methods of measuring function, such as measurements of blood pressure, respiration rate, urine production, hormone levels, electroencephalogram etc. have been supplemented with molecular biological techniques, advanced genetic manipulations, and sophisticated computational and electronic measurements. In fact, the Department of Physiology is poised to exploit the vast information arising from the scientific revolutions of genetics and proteomics (identification of the proteins transcribed by human genes) in order to better understand both human health and disease. These are perhaps the most exciting of times for the study of Physiology and we welcome you to the Department.

Prof. Stephen G. Matthews

HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT [CLICK HERE FOR HISTORY BOOK]

A Brief Historical Account of the Department of Physiology, University of Toronto
Harold L. Atwood and Mladen Vranic (2016)

The Department of Physiology is best known as the site of the discovery of insulin and its therapeutic values in 1921 and shortly thereafter. This work led to one of the most dramatic medical advances ever realized, and to prolongation and improvement of the lives of millions of people suffering from diabetes. The discovery was recognized by the award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (Canada’s first) to F.G. Banting and J.J.R. Macleod. Both before and after this landmark event, the Department of Physiology fostered a strong record in research and education, which continues to the present day. The Department remains positioned to contribute in many ways to modern knowledge and education.
The Department’s course was set by its earliest leaders, who led by example. They established a strong tradition in research and teaching and created the physical and intellectual environment that made the discovery of insulin and subsequent research possible. Their successors have endeavoured to remain on course, keeping in view the two main objectives of the Departmental mission: research and education.

FACULTY SURVEY COMMENTS (FOR ONLINE HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY - SCS2159)

Dr. X was very engaging to listen to. For a non-science student, I felt his teaching styles very helpful and beneficial for my learning experience.
The lecturer is good at presenting the material. He repeats the difficult and key concepts over and over gain and it is good for me as a learner. His lecture documents are clear and well organized. Thank you.
I like Dr. X's way of making it clear what is essential to know in able to move forward with the concepts. I appreciate his use of every day examples to clarify the subject. I really feel he is speaking to us directly so he keeps my attention.
Explains the material clearly, and has effective slides. I like that he explicitly states when he gives information that is beyond the scope of what would be expected for us to remember.
Dr X does an amazing job of teaching the course. Very clear and to the point.
The lecturer is very good at giving analogy examples of the course material. I find this very helpful to improve my understanding of the what I am learning.
Dr. X is an enthusiastic professor who uses good analogies to explain the material.
He presents the information that we are going to be tested on throughly but I feel there is some information that could be elaborated on when he is explaining. It would be easier to undestand why things are the way they are.
Dr. X is a very effective instructor. I like his demonstrations and practical applications of concepts!
Dr. X uses lots of simple analogies and sometime visual aids, which are very helpful.
Overall he is very good, he speaks clearly and at a good pace and throws some subtle humour in to Xp your attention. I really can't think of any needed improvements.
Dr. X shows a lot of enthusiasm that seems to be contagious. If I'm feeling hesitant about listening to today's lecture, it doesn't take long for Dr. X to pull my attention to him and become involved in the topic.
I appreciated Dr. X's use of examples to explain the text.
Strengths: funny and makes difficult concepts a little easier to understand
I found that at times Dr.X was a bit repetitive, but it's clear that it's to ensure people understand.
I find his teaching very clear and easy to understand. I learnt a lot from the first section with him and look forward to the next.
I like Dr. X's sense of humour. I really like his slides since they contain all the key words/topics that he talks about. There were points in lectures where he could have explained certain concepts/ideas a bit more clearly and his delivery was slightly confusing. But overall, I really enjoyed his section.
I would like to say that Dr. X is a great lecturer and is able to explain the material thoroughly, as well as provide real-life examples and analogies that help make the information much more clear. Coming from a non-science background I really appreciate his attempts to give examples that clarify concepts and even the silly jokes because they really stick and help me remember the information.
I've really enjoyed his lectures so far. It took one or two to get the rhythm and style, but now that he's taking a break, I miss it.
Loved his enthusiasm and his pace was perfect considering the fact some of us don't have much of a science background. He made the lectures interesting and fun with a few jokes, stories and analogies. No complaints! :)
Strengths: Clear voice, enthusiasm in the material, made some jokes which makes the experience more enjoyable, good flow of material, interesting topics.
Improvements: a few lectures were very long with a high amount of material to take in at once.
Strenghts: The use of analogies and examples to explain and remember class material, Uses good diagrams, Shows enthusiasm in the lectures
Improvements: Lectures are too long, Lectures go too much into detail for every concept, There is too much information in each lecture
Dr X makes the concepts covered easy to understand by explaining it slowly, repeating key concepts and also seems to be interested in what he is teaching.
Dr. X reviewed material throughout lectures, rephrasing and providing examples. This was very helpful! The examples he used and comparisons he made were memorable and clear. He also emphasized important points and concepts, so I know what to focus on first when I study.
I really appreciate Dr. X's humour, hand gestures, and overall enthusiasm for the subject matter. He is a great teacher.
Dr. X is a great lecturer and makes complex concepts easier to understand, through metaphors and real life applications. It's evident that he enjoys the material, and this enthusiasm comes across in his lectures.
Everything was presented quite clearly. Great examples relating course material to everyday life. As well, his jokes helped provide a great flow for the lectures.
Took time to explain material in a different manner in order to enhance the understanding of students
Used good diagrams and explained them further
A suggestion would be to add more information to the slides as it is difficult to copy down everything that is said and pay attention at the same time
Love the jokes!
I was very comfortable with the pace of the lecture. It was very informative and easy to write down the concepts as the lecture progressed. Thank you, Dr. X.
Dr. X is a great lecturer! He explains concepts slowly and thoroughly, and also makes it interesting!
Amazing professor! He really made my least favourite part about physiology memorable!
I gave a C for question 4 just because I had a few emails unanswered, though they weren't critical. All critical and urgent matters were addressed efficiently. I really enjoy Dr. X's lectures and gain a lot from them. What I notice about Dr. X's lectures is that he's not reading a script but rather delivering the material as he might live in front of a class. This apparent unscripted and casual manner (though very organized!) of presenting the material improves the impact of the delivery, at least it has for me.
Dr. X was a very enthusiastic and clear professor while explaining his topics. I felt that I always understood the lectures afterwards and anything fuzzy was always cleared up within the lecture by being review multiple times. I felt that this was a useful way of getting information to stick.
I love the way Dr. X lectures. It is very clear and concise. He ensures you understand what it is he is trying to get across. Great professor !
He uses the standard slides. It might be better to develop personal slides so that more important topics are highlighted with more ease. Also, the quality of the lecture notes of this instructor is low when posted on the website.
I really like the way Dr. X teaches. At first I thought he was repetitive but then I realized how easy it makes it to learn the material. Though some material is difficult, he is able to present it in a way that makes it very easy to understand. I even enjoy his jokes haha :)
Dr. X shows great enthusiasm in the course which encourages the student to engage in the material. Dr. X also has very helpful analogies that aid in understanding the material better.
Lecturer had very good examples that allowed me to remember each different concept individually. Used a lot of hand expression which helped convey the concept and made understanding the lecture material easier. Overall I thought his teaching method was very good and after each of his lectures I felt like I had a good overall understanding of the concepts he taught.
Lecturer maintains a very good pace and holds my attention from beginning to end. His stories and jokes make the lectures much more interesting.
Makes the material easy to understand
Dr. X made learning about the nervous system easy and interesting. His lecture notes were very easy to follow and contained all of the information needed, allowing for less time to be spent trying to jot down notes, and more time to focus on his explanations.
Awesome descriptions and explanations, truly does seem to love physiology and teaching it.
Clarity is also excellent, and repetition of difficult concepts has assisted in my learning.
Dr. X is great!
As someone with a limited chemistry background, I found Dr. X to be exceptionally good at explaining the processes of cellular communication and transport. His slides are clear and well organized, and his quiet humour made the lectures very enjoyable. There were some basic concepts that I would have liked a little more grounding in (such what the difference is between electrical and chemical driving force), while dragging equilibrium potential out over several lectures was excessive.
There were also a couple of times where Dr. X used the phrase "and we talked about this last lecture" where we hadn't, in fact, talked about whatever it was last lecture. These were mostly anecdotes that didn't connect and aren't really important but it was a little strange.
Strengths: pace of teaching is great, really explains the material well.
Improvements: Sometimes when a point is trying to be made during the video lectures, too much repetition becomes a bit boring.
I liked how Dr. X gave analogies that made the concepts easier to understand. Furthermore, I liked how he formatted his lectures to align with the textbook, so that it was easy for me to locate the material and delve deeper into the concepts introduced in the lectures.
It was clear that Dr. X tried his best to make sure everyone understood his materials.
Dr. X explained things in a very concise fashion, and repeated the very important concepts often, which was very helpful. Also, his examples and small jokes helped Xp the lectures engaging even when dealing with very complex and difficult material.
Dr. X was funny and enthuisiastic about course, but did go fast, but I can stop the video and replay! Was tough...
Strengths - complicated things are explained in simple manner, clear. Positive attitude.
I think Dr. X explains the material very well in his lectures. He uses examples to supplement the material and also repeats the concepts which makes it so much more helpful to understand the concept. I think he is a great professor!
He is very knowledgeable.
Dr. X is a great lecturer! He shows real passion for the subject and conveys this through humour, anecdotes and so on. He lectures at a good pace, and is very good at repeating material that is important. It is clear that he takes pride in his lecturing and does his utmost to make a difficult subject as focussed and easy for students as possible. He pointed out what students had struggled with before, and how he'd changed his approach to teaching it in an easier way to understand.
Lectures were easy to follow, and I appreciated the fact that you repeated and recapped certain concepts just to make sure that they were understood.
Pace was good and the slides were well done.
Strengths: reinforcement of main points, themes, useful analogies, good use of gesticulation, slides corresponded well with pace of speaking
His strength is when he's not reading! I found I learned the best when he was giving his own examples and really enjoyed talking about the material. He's the best lecturer by far!
Dr. X presented the material of this class very well. He used humor and was very clear on expectations for us during tests. He also responded to issues raised on the discussion board very quickly.
I enjoyed his lectures very much!
DR.X has good way of explaining things. He always repeats important points which helps to remember things. I like the way he use props including his hands which make the lecture more interactive.
I know the time is less to learn in depth but I would suggest to give examples when explaining some mechanism from everyday life other than given in the book.
best one
I was always excited when I saw that a section was being taught by Dr X because I knew that I would understand it.
Dr X--you are enthusiastic, clear and well paced in your instruction.
I found that the concepts were reinforced an adequate amount, leaving me feeling like I had a grasp on the material.
You made physiology feel very empowering. Thank you!
Sometimes it was difficult following the lecture when the lecturer lost his place while reading from the teleprompter. This often happened when the lecturer went into more detail on a specific subject - I found it difficult at times to get back on track, when the lecturer lost his place. Otherwise, I felt that perhaps a more natural method of delivery (in front of a classroom, being videotapes) would have created a more inviting learning environment.
Dr. X is a very enthusiastic and knowledgable lecturer. He explains the most difficult parts in a very concise manner and repeats the material we should pay our close attention to several times. He applies the examples which are easy to understand and makes his lectures very fascinating and interesting!
Good approach and quick responses both on the discussion board and via email.
Subject matter and related slides were well paced, and significant information emphasized and repeated to ensure understanding.
Thanks for the learning!
I have been incredibly impressed with Dr. X's lecture style. My prediction going into an online based lecture system for a course was that it would be difficult to follow and impersonal. I have found exactly the opposite to be true with Dr. X's lectures. I have been most impressed with the way he is clearly passionate about the material, but also very skilled at teaching. He presents topics and terms in a fashion that allows for easy understanding of the course expectations. When a term or concept is important to know or memorize, he places emphasis on it and is intentional in using scientific terms, whereas when material is part of the concept but not required to be memorized, he clearly outlines that in both his more "everyday language" usage, often specifically stating that it is not required to memorize. This, with a witty joke thrown in here and there, make for a great learning environment. His very clear teaching style has reintroduced me to my own love for this science, and makes it possible to not only succeed, but excel in this quite difficult and detailed course material.
I found that it was a lot of material to cover in a short amount of time. I understand that the course is normally done over a year's time but I would have preferred to have more online quizzes with less course material on each, a midterm, and a final exam. I found that the weight of the test and exams to be very high and would have preferred a smaller break down. I appreciate the e-mails that were sent between us at the beginning but after a late reply on my part I have never heard back since.
overall is the most likable professor to me and I enjoyed his lectures. I like the hand gesture for the examples and I like Dr. Khee Xps repeating the important points. But maybe he does not need to repeat 5 times for one things but can save some time for other things at the end of the lecture, because I feel he is rushing when the lecture ends or maybe the time limitation.
I like how Dr. X reviews the material he covers at the end of each topic. I also like how he speaks slow and it's easy to follow what's being said. I would love it though if the handouts for lectures has extra space for writing so I don't have to write in different pieces of paper and accumulate things at the end.
I really enjoyed his real-life applications and he used difficult terminology but supplemented it with good descriptions (using vocabulary that was easy to understand)!
Dr. X displays a level of enthusiasm that I have infrequently seen among my previous university instructors. He was remarkable with respect to the delivery of course information and he was adept at explaining abstract concepts in a meaningful way (as an example, his lectures regarding the human heart were well developed and easy to follow).
The only recommendation I have, is that in the future he spend more time fleshing out the material outlined in the course text. Throughout his series of lectures, there were times where he mentioned concepts in passing and, because of the nature of the course text, it was difficult to understand fully the nature of the topic. For example, I feel that his lecture on the autonomic nervous system and skeletal muscle could have been extended over one brief lecture. While his overview of the autonomic nervous system was well developed, there were many key points from Chapter 12 (skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle) that were touched upon briefly or omitted entirely. This made it difficult to piece together this information when preparing for the third quiz.
I understand that the material is quite dense, and therefore results in the Lecturer referring to his notes, but I found Dr X to be referring to his notes quite a bit. At times, this led him to sound more monotonous, making it difficult to stay focussed and interested.
Dr X's lectures are by far the best of the online series.
I found he is able to integrate different styles of learning (multi-modal) into one lecture. (combining visual, auditory, etc etc, with a solid use of metaphor for easier information retrieval) and the main ingredient, humour.
Great lectures so far, with some of the best (most memorable) being Lecture 22 and 23. (I still have a solid foundation of how actin and calcium work b/c of the canoe paddle metaphor).
I liked how he followed the textbook which made it easier when studying for the first quiz. It was also helpful when he repeated important concepts several times.
Dr X was a great lecturer and he explained concepts clearly, but he tended to constantly repeat himself, that is, he would explain the same concept more than 3 times using similar wording. This method is effective for when the lecture is live, but because we have the opportunity to stop and repeat points if we don't understand them, the constant repetition just takes up time and stops the flow of the lecture.
I love having Dr. X as an online lecturer. He does such a good job of explaining the course material, always uses good example to help us remember and re emphasizes concepts often. I would love to have an entire course with him as our lecturer.
I thought Dr. X did an excellent job. He always responded quickly to any questions I, or any other students, had. He speaks at a slow pace and repeats things so I can better understand them.
Presented an amazing amount of information, all very clearly explained and documented.
I loved how Prof. X reviewed the material so much - it really helped!
I really liked the humour brought out by this lecturer. It made the lectures a little bit more interesting. I also liked the real life examples he used. It helped me remember the material a little bit more easily. My only comment was that he wasn't always so quick to answer questions on the discussion board, or to clarify issues the students were having.
I liked the approach that Dr. X used to present the lectures. He presented them in a calm, well-paced, and clear way. Also, his use of humorous references just made the lectures fun and kept my interest in the material. Performed very well as a lecturer for this course!
I really enjoy watching Dr. X's lectures. He is very clear in his presentation and repeats things multiple times and in different ways for optimal understanding. I find that I am able to grasp concepts better and Dr. X's lectures have offered a lot of clarity to material presented in the text. I also like how he promptly respondes to student's questions to help us all better understand. I really like his teaching style and I would actually prefer if all lectures could be done by him.
I really enjoy Dr. X's lectures. He makes it easy for me to understand the concepts. The lectures are never boring.
I really enjoyed your teaching style and found your lectures to be quite engaging. It is obvious that you are passionate about what you are teaching.
The disadvantage of this course is that it is on-line, which makes the learning component much more challenging, as one cannot ask for clarification during a lecture. Because of this, I found the quizzes to be superfluously difficult, and I was often disappointed when questions regarding the quiz were not clearly addressed.
I think that students would really benefit from the Physio Ex exercises counting towards participation marks.
Thank you for teachings, I am very happy to have participated in this course.
The graphics, being able to see the faces and slides are helpful. The volume should be adjusted. it should be higher. I would like to see more animation, not just still pictures.
the lecture delivered was quite clear and easily comprehended. room for doubts was very less.
although increase in volume would help in better concentration.
Great enthusiasm, great explanations. Test questions were a little difficult and tricky compared to what was explained in lecture
I especially enjoyed the sections that Dr. X taught because of how he presented the material. I really enjoyed the analogies he used to teach concepts because they helped me remember them. He also was great at being repetitive on important and hard to understand concepts. Great job.
Dr. X was very well organized and conveyed the material for this course very well at a good pace. He comes off very knowledgable and I am enjoying the lectures thus far. I specifically enjoy his humorous examples and the way he relates things to real life situations.
Dr. X was very prompt in replying to any and all questions posted. Some lectures involved more material than others. In future would it be possible to provide review questions prior to quizzes?
I have always found Dr. X to be very helpful and he seems to enjoy what he is lecturing about :)
One of Dr. X's main strengths is that he takes the time to ensure that you understand the basic information so that when he elaborates everything is crystal clear. One slight change that could be made in the future is ensuring that the slides of scanned textbook pictures are not blurry. That way I would save time recopying out the textbook onto my easily portable notes.
Dr. X presented the material in a way that made it very easy to follow the lectures and how they relate to the readings. Uses mnemonics very effectively to help emphasize important points. Much appreciated.
i enjoyed dr. X the most out of all the lecturers... ive taken anatomy before in college .. i did terrible in this online course but I think it was just the structure itself ... for me without someone physical present it was much harder to learn. His analogies helped alot though.
great lecturer, and presents material very well
Dr. X if very enthusiastic and interested in the topic. He is very attentive to his students.
I wish the lecture notes were more broad so that it is more helpful to articulate the concept, if not clear on the text book. As it is an online course, it would be more helpful to have more detailed lecture notes.
I really like how enthusiastic Dr. X is when presenting the topics. He is also very funny too. I like the way he presents the information, and it helps a lot when he does it by the order of how the information is presented in the textbook. He is very clear and makes good analogies when trying to explain something. I enjoyed listening/watching his lectures.
Thank you Dr. X. Your enthusiam and jokes made the lectures more enjoyable. I did like how you repeated points several times and let us know what was important to focus on; however, it did seem a bit repetitive at times. Also, a suggestion for future lectures, it would be better to have your slides with diagrams/figures in a larger size/font as you could not read them when printed out.
Thank you!
Dr. X should be let known that saying "it makes perfect sense" about 10 times a lecture can make a student feel like a moron. You hold a MSc and a PhD, so while all these topics may make perfect sense to you, they don't necessarily make perfect sense to the undergrad students in this course.
i like your teaching style Dr X. i like how you make witty side comments and jokes. brings a lighter atmosphere in learning heavy topics. Xps me from getting bored. great job!
Great analogies, jokes, examples.
Slides had all the info on them, so lecture was easy to follow.
Quiz questions are a bit tough compared to the other profs. CORRECT and INCORRECT very hard to distinguish when in a rush; should be changed to TRUE and FALSE.
I like Dr. Goode's style of teaching the best because you are not trying to find where he is on the slide and if you need to write it down or not; instead just listen and make notes like in a real classroom -- not the same with powerpoints.
From my point of view, Dr. X makes a fantastic job. The lectures are really clear with all the concepts very good explained. The only little thing which could be a bit improved is the quality of some slides (blurry as they were scanned from the book). But this is also not a big deal as we can get them anyway from there. Just sometimes I do not have the book with me and if I print out the slides, the images are not clear.
Otherwise, I wish I could see his lectures not only online because I think he's made to teach
I really am enjoying this online course, mainly because of Dr. X's teaching style. I find myself not even needing to review the chapters much during his lectures since he goes in detail to explain, and presents it in a way I can understand it. His enthusiasm in his lectures in what I appreciate most, since pulls my attention and focus, as well as making it enjoyable. I like his examples, and he is good at repeating himself during the lectures to emphasize key things.
Very good and logical progression through the course information. At points it was repetitive but I found that helpful in reinforcing the topics. Overall very good.
Dr. X should be given a teaching award. He is incredible at conveying the material and makes it really interesting.
Dr. X is very clear and straight forward in his lecture style. I enjoy the real life examples he uses to explain the concepts.
Dr K is a great lecturer - always interesting to listen to.
I always appreciate his use of analogies and gestures to illustrate concepts.
Some lectures were very repetitive, and perhaps too much time was spent on basic concepts.
Overall he is a great teacher and addresses students' needs directly and appropriately.
Dr. X makes the course interesting and he tries to explain things with examples which makes it easy to understan. he presents the concepts on the book clearly and with the perfect example that the concept sticks to your mind.
Overall, I thought Professor X did a great job in presenting the material. He presented with interest and enthusiasm which is, I think, a key trait a lecturer needs for online courses. It can get a little tedious at times (and to be honest, just plain boring) but when the professor conveys the message through expression and enthusiasm, it really helps grab the attention of the student.
Professor X did speak a little fast at times, but made up for it by repeating the concept. So, not a major problem.
Thank you and great job!
I enjoyed Dr. X's enthusiasm, and especially appreciated the random asides, and analogies involving elephants! One criticism - I felt the lecture slides didn't add much to the lectures, as they were simply taken directly from the textbook. Thanks for a great course! I enjoyed it!
I really appreciate Dr. X's enthusiasm for the subject, and the way he explains things in a logical fashion. It always makes perfect sense!
Dr. X is an excellent professor, one of the best I have ever encountered. He explains concepts very clearly through use of interesting and simple examples to make the difficult material easier to grasp.
Great enthusiasm in all your lectures. Thank you.
Dr. X's teaching was very solid- thorough and comprehensible. I really enjoyed watching his lectures and liked his quiet, practical teaching style. Great hand gestures too! And pretty good jokes.
I enjoyed all of your lectures very much. Thank you for all of your time and effort put into this course.
I enjoy Dr. X's lectures a lot. He has a lot of enthusiasm for the subject and always includes little side notes which are interesting (e.g. why we faint and why you can't directly look at stars). I also like that Dr. X follows the same structure as the textbook. That way, I use his lectures as an outline, make notes while he speaks and then I can refer directly to the textbook if I need a sentence or topic clarified.
His use of balloons during a demonstration of arteries as pressure reservoirs and veins as volume reservoirs was very memorable. I liked that he used props to illustrate the topic.
His lecture notes are clear, but perhaps he could enlarge his slides a little on the pdf file so that when we print them out, all the texts and diagrams are legible.
I like that the lectures where closely aligned with the text. It was easy to read up afterwards if I misunderstood a concept.
Some of the lectures started to feel long when material was reviewed/repeated throughout. Maybe one main review at the end of the lecture would be more helpful than reviewing new concepts throughout the lecture.
I found Dr. X to be very knowledgeable on the course material. I really appreciated the way he would highlight information, repeat important ideas and pick out key ideas. He summarized the textbook without actually reading from it and elaborated on ideas using analogies and gestures. I found all this was very helpful. During the times when lots of info was presented, he would either say "You don't need to know this...." or "You're just going to have to remember this..." which helps to narrow the studying. Also, he showed lots of enthusiasm with the course material which made it easy to sustain my attention throughout the lectures.
I liked how Dr X broke things down to help us understand them better. His slides were also the most relevant and best to follow along with. My only frustration was that sometimes the subject moved along at lightning speed as there was often so much information to cram into one lecture! I also felt he was the most communicative professor and it provided a level of assurance that you could be in communication with him when necessary.
In general for the course:
The lecture style with the slides on the screen w/o any highlighting or pointing to the particular section of the slide in question can be difficult to follow. Something that either breaks it down more thoroughly (perhaps use close ups of sections of the slides or multiple slides to cover one topic) or consider using a smart board linked to the screen when teaching so you can include diagrams. This would absolutely enhance the course.
Dr. X is very organized in his lectures and his lecture slides.
Dr X did a great job as a lecturer and I always looked forward to viewing his. He does a good job of using analogies to aid understanding and puts things in different terms. It helped me a lot to think about these systems and organs in different ways and he made physiology accessible and interesting. I liked that he reviewed each major section and did a brief review at the beginning and end of each lecture. He is very enthusiastic and good at explaining complex systems. He is also good at illustrating the 'big picture'. He didn't present too much information at once and kept a good pace.
Good lecturer, Dr. X presents the material in a logical way matching the lecture with the textbook to assist the student's in learning the material is extremely helpful.
I enjoyed how Dr. X, brings in examples to assist in his teaching and emphasize the more important points.
Slide print-outs should be organized in landscape so figures can be more easily read
Excellent teaching method. Dr. X shows a personal interest and passion for what he teaches and it definitely shows. He teaches in a manner that allows for easy understanding with lots of analogies to help us learn! He is enthusiastic and makes watching these lectures interesting!!
Dr. X is obviously very Xn about physiology and that comes across in lectures and in his sense of humour. He is very clear and concise. I enjoy his manner of teaching.
Dr. X presented clear and interesting lectures while adding a bit of humour to make it more interesting/enjoyable. He responded promptly to e mails and overall was a great help in my learning experience through continuing studies.
Great sense of humour and wonder about the human body, which added so much to the lectures and my own fascination.
Occasionally presented some materials at great length and then rushed through other materials too quickly.
Overall, great lecturer and helpful with student questions. Thank you!
I enjoyed Dr. X's lecturers. At times, however, I found that his pace was slow and he repeated himself a great deal. I know he stated that he was sorry about that a number of times. I imagine that many people found the repetition useful. I think repeating it 2 times may be alright but any further repetitions were a bit tedious to me.
He seemed genuinely excited about what he spoke of and that made his lectures a pleasure to listen to.
I am of the opinion that largely any short comings in the lecture is for two corrigible reasons - shortage of time on the part of the lecturers who are constrained with so much to teach and so little time for delivery; and my personal reasons of having to face challenging family health issue shortly after joining the course.
Dr. X is hands down one of the best lecturers I have ever had. His passion and enthusiasm and comfort with the topics at hand were inspiring and contagious.
I thouroughly enjoyed his lectures and feel I learned and retained more from his teachings because of his energy and jokes!
Really good professor, addresses student inquiries, makes material understandable, goes over concepts enough times that it becomes impossible not to remember (haha). unfortunate that Dr X couldn't be the lecturer for ALL topics covered in the course.
I love Dr. Xs style of teaching and appreciate his enthusiasm throughout his lectures. He makes human physiology very relatable to everyday life which makes concepts easier to learn and remember.
I have already taken the overall course survey and forgot to mention an idea that will save students a lot of frustration throughout the course. I understand (or at least I think I do) the idea of posting the lectures in a PDF format, but it is very difficult to see the wording and figures clearly being that the slides are so small. I either suggest setting the slides to two per page or perhaps posting the lectures as powerpoints. I know if the lectures were presented differently, I would have appreciated the lecture notes a lot more and would have also saved a lot more time throughout the course.
Thank you for your time and dedication!
made the lectures very interesting and humorous-explained things very clearly and precisely
Many examples.
Very enthusiastic.
Seemed comfortable in front of the camera and with the course material.
Answered many questions in the discussion board.
His sense of humor and enthusiasm helped make the complicated subject matter enjoyable!
great sense of humour and engaging lecturer!
Dr. X was very engaging - his lectures flowed well and he clearly has a natural ability to make complex concepts easier to digest (pardon the pun here- he did cover the digestion system after all).
One suggestion I might make in terms of his lecture documents is to decrease their volume, particularly when he is referring to one image over the course of 10 slides. Probably not necessary :-)
Strengths:
very enthusiastic, makes the lecture interesting
love the analogies used!
slides are very organized
overall a pleasure to listen to
Weaknesses:
sometimes I felt like concepts were repeated too many times
nothing else really!
Dr. X is a good lecturer who I find repeats things a good amount of times. Rarely too quickly to Xp track, and rarely too many to be tedious. Perhaps in the digestive section, the reviews got to be excessive. He is obviously passionate about the material. Some of his analogies can be a little cheesy, but it certainly doesn't make it harder to remember the concepts.
improvements: A lot of the lecture material was read straight from the textbook. If the lectures were worded differently from the book, it would aid in understanding the material.
I really appreciated how he brought humour and real life applications into the lectures- it made them much more enjoyable.
I also really appreciated how quickly Dr. X got back to me, and other students, with any problems we brought up.
The lectures were very well organized.
The only complaint is that the lectures were a bit redundant. The reviews did help understanding a bit, but I found that Dr. X was clear enough the first time and that the repetition made the lectures a bit too long
Dr X is very enthusiastic, and clearly likes his work. His little anecdotes during lectures do help in remembering the content. I thoroughly enjoyed Dr X's lectures.
Perpahs lecture notes can be made in powerpoint version or slides can be prepared larger so that it is easier to read lecture notes
Dr. X is a very good lecturer with an obvious interest in the subject matter he is presenting. He is easy to follow and was enjoyable to listen to.
Dr. X is a very effective presenter in this online format. He covers the content in the lectures capably, while also taking the time for repetition, clarification, and to give relevant, every day examples. He has a dry sense of humour which helps liven this lecture delivery format -- it is more challenging to learn in this more passive way, but helps to stay focused when there is some levity injected. I get the sense when listening to Dr. X's lectures that he very much wants students to understand, and he makes a great effort to suggest ways in which to make the concepts more easily remembered, beyond just rote memorization, by making connections and using logic. One thing I also really like is when he mentions that a side topic is additional information, not course material, or that another concept is important to remember for future evaluation. I don't get a sense that physiology is hard when I listen to the lectures, though there is a massive amount of material to wade through. As for the bulletin board, Dr. X monitors content closely, and gives the students opportunity for peer comment and reflection before he weighs in or makes a comment. His comments are useful and help further understanding.One thing I would appreciate for Dr. X's lecture documents is a little larger slide size, as the diagrams can often be a little small to actually read the labels. Additionally, I like to make notes about the individual slides on the same page, so a bit more room in between would be great, but that is a personal preference.
Strengths: Dr. X provides useful real life examples which greatly improve my retention. I find his aside stories are always relevant to the subject matter and good for a laugh. Dr. X is humorous and he ensures the key points are illustrated - repeatedly - which is extremly helpful. He identifies the topics of interest improving the usefulness of the textbook (I read everything but he identifies the key topics) His lectures are orderly and follow a reasonable path throughout the textbook. His slides contain the right amount of info and space/oppurtunity to fill in extra points from each audio lecture. He also provides a brief review of the previous lecture at the start of each new lecture - jogs the mind!Improvements: Having completed University and College previously I can say honestly Dr. X is one of my favorite Professors and his lectures are enjoyable - I see no obvious need for any improvements. Super A+ Prof.
love the examples! especially when you used balloons to demonstrate the idea of compliance between vessels and arteries. visualizations really help.
For me he's the best lecturer. He lectures from the heart and he seems very concerned to students' learning. It's very obvious that he wants to be understood for every topic he discusses. He fits for the job. I really like the way he explains everything. I give the best score for the evaluation because he deserves it. His effort is highly appreciated.
Dr X is certainly an enthusiastic lecturer and I rarely, if ever, felt sleepy during his lessons even though it is only he who is doing the talking. I also found some of his metaphors, similies, analogies and jokes interesting and funny and it kept my attention for the entirety of the lecture, and often I would not even notice the 50minutes pass by during his talks. I would comment that his Neurophysiology lectures were much better organized than his Cardiovascular Physiology lectures. There was also a great deal more of repetition and reiterations in the latter which sometimes led to confusion. I am a huge proponent of repetition as it solidifies information within our minds, in fact Dr X's repitions were a huge help to me during NP lectures; but I also believe there is an upper limit to the amount of repetition that should be done in lectures. Nevertheless, I thank Dr X for being an active member in the DB interactions and his effective mannerism of delivering lectures.
Was very happy with the lectures. I enjoyed the jokes. I found the review very helpful in my understanding of the material.
No improvements, great job!
Thank-you.
There were a few cases where having a few more definitions down first might have facilitated understanding more swiftly down the road, but a great job overall!
I very much enjoy Dr. X's lectures. He is enthusiastic and has a knack for explaining concepts in a way that makes them much easier to grasp. He is a touch repetitive, but I don't really mind that at all. I would rather have someone drive the point home by repeating things as opposed to missing key concepts because they felt they had already explained them enough when they, in fact, have not.I very much appreciate your lectures Dr. X!
I am Xnly interested when Dr X is lecturing. He tries to be funny and give relative examples. His way of relating the material so that we remember it more accurately (FCER) is very helpful. My only suggestion would be to have him lecture the entire course rather than sharing the material with other professors as I am used to his style and technique.
Dr.X's lecturers are very clear and attractive.
I really enjoyed the way you explained difficult topics regarding cell permeability and diffusion. I think the lecture were really well presented and easy to follow.
I have been amazed at Dr. X's ability to make this course come alive; from a fairly tiny box in the corner of my screen. This is due in no small measure to his personable style, but also to his masterful balancing of scientific vocabulary and everyday speech. I am also grateful for his weighting and emphasis of concepts importance. This helps me organize my review of what would otherwise be a vast sea of daunting material. I must also mention my appreciation for his comments on the discussion board. It is my first academic experience with this tool and I am profoundly impressed with how much it has enriched my learning experience. But, I would remiss if I didn't express that it is Dr. X's input and moderating that makes it work. Otherwise, I fear it would devolve into some sort of physiology facebook.
Dr. X is a fantastic lecturer and provides information in an easy to understand way. His examples and analogies are very useful and he does a good job of breaking things down. Sometimes the information he gives will be talked about in a later slide, so it would be more useful if he waited until we reached that slide to present it. He is very active in monitoring the discussion board and gives everyone a chance to answer before he jumps in, but it is also nice to know that he will respond to questions and correct any wrong answers. He is also very supportive. Overall a great educator.
I love Dr. X's analogies - they really help in understanding the class materials. He also takes time to emphasize and repeat the important parts of the lectures. This being my first online class, I think Dr. X does a wonderful job of presenting the material.
Dr. X's examples and way of presenting the lectures make comprehending the materials easy for a science novice like me. He is doing a great job!!!
He can give lectures in a way that on will be able to know the objectives and the question . he also uses illustation in his lecture which makes it possible for one who has no idea about physiology and anatomy to understand.. I don't know of any weakness at the moment.
Uses analogies and overall shares his interest in the topic. Makes watching the lectures online much more interesting!
I really liked that Dr. X kept repeating the important points and gave us analogies for various functions. It helped to remember the key points, as well as understand what the key points were. I also liked that he would integrate the various lectures he gave and would bring up past information to help understand the current topics or merge them.Weaknesses - none at the moment. If only my previous university professors were as enthusiastic about the material they taught!
For topics that have a lot of detail a few more slides with information would be beneficial as some lecture running time plus stoping to write notes makes them take 1.5 - 2 hours.
I actually really enjoy watching Dr. X's lectures. They are extremely clear and I feel I get a good understanding of the concepts. I also like that he incorporates analogies to help us understand. They are actualy very effective. He also tells a few jokes which definately helps to Xp my interest.
Dr. X explains the lectures well and provides examples that will make you understand the concept easier and far better.He is the best professor here so far, and so is his humor, which, injects life into a boring lecture.
Dr X is a really good speaker and teacher. I really appreciate his efforts to help us remember the material by repetition and injecting funny side notes. I only wish that he could make each slide bigger so that we don't have to squint to read the printed slides. Another concern is that sometimes there is ambiguity in what will be covered in quizzes especially when part of the assigned chapters are not covered in class. Rather than saying that we should concentrate on what will be tested, it would be more helpful if we know what will NOT be tested.
Dr. X always presents the material in an organized and logical manner. His companion notes are well written and always have sufficient information on that such that we can listen to the lecture and fill in more information if needed. He's always funny and enthusiastic and provides great examples that really help with understanding the concept.
Very good lectures, appreciate the repetition.
Excellent lectures, well organized, and delivered at a good pace. Like the fact that Prof. X repeats certain points to emphasize their importance.
The lecturer presents concepts well and provides useful hints for assimilating the materials for later recall.
great analogies! really does help put course material into prespective!
Frequent review and summarizing information is good for the purpose of note-taking given that it is an online course. - Lectures made more interesting by use of humour in examples given.- Identifying tangent information good for purpose of
Repetition is good when learning this way. But the way the material is presented verbally is not always effective. For example, when introducing a topic, the instructor often digresses before continuing on that topic. Listening comprehension is then overly exercised which sometimes interferes with learning. Other than that, the examples provided to assist learning are often beneficial.Overall, I really enjoy this lecturer.
I enjoy the lectures so far i find them informative and helpful.
Amazing job. At first, I thought I would get frustrated by the repetition, but by the end of it, I realized that when it came down to studying, I already knew a lot and didn't have to review the material as much. Xp up the good work! I really really appreciate you talking SLOWLY and repeating key info.
Very much like the conceptual approach taken, rather than forcing students to memorize minute details. Pictures on the slides could be a lot clearer. If possible, give students the option to print slides however they want (1 per page…)
Prof X is a geart lecturer. He make sure that students understand what he's trying to teach. He does this by giving analogies; by reiterating the important point many times. This sort of helps understand the concepts by simple relation.
No improvements can be made.Teaching skills are excellent.My personal favorite teaching strategy of Dr. X's is his excellent use of hand gestures to create a visual aspect while learning.He also repeats himself in many different ways to enable students to full grasp and understand the material.AWESOME JOB!
While Dr. X is one of the best professors I have ever seen, I feel like the lecture slides need some improvement.Dr. X delivers the materials very clearly, if we get a better set of lecture slides (more information, more picture illustrations etc), I believe we can understand the concepts much more clearly and quickly.
I am really enjoying the course and am thankful that this was an available option for students in need of the Physiology prerequisite. I think Dr.X has done an excellent job delivering fun, informative lectures and am impressed with how involved he is in the Discussion Board. (I received more insight from him in the first weeks than I have from most of my professors throughout my university career).I think my only suggestion would be a little more feedback in regards to the lab, I know that TA hours are available for just that, but I am experiencing difficulty attending the alotted times. I think any resources that would provide assurance that I am on the right track with my understanding of the concepts and course material would be very welcomed and appreciated.
I'm really enjoying the course so far. I like the changing of professors, as you benefit from a variety of teaching styles. I also appreciate the enthusiasm and availability of the instructors and T.A. As I live in a rural area, I'm really grateful to be taking a U of T course right from my home. I'd recommended this course.
Good work Dr. X. I am impressed by your enthasiam in Physiology. And your use of analogy makes the lectures more interesting to listen. As well, when you use one hand to represent the body organ under discussion and the other hand to show the neural pathway for signal transduction, that actually helps me to vistual the concept and get a better grasp of it. Also, the lecture notes are well organized. I would definitely take other online courses if opportunities come in the future. All the best, Dr. X.
I believe the course is layed out very well. The lectures are easy to follow and the textbook is a lifesavor for further understanding of the lecture material. The only issue I have is that it is alot of information to be covered and tested on. Maybe if the quizzes had more than 20 questions, we were quizzed every two weeks or even if you allowed 35 mins or 40 mins. That would allow us some time to think through the questions, rather than rushing through them. Also maybe a few more straight forward questions. Some are very hard, especially with no time to think it through. If there is a time limit, I believe the questions shouldn't be as hard. Also more sample quizzes!! But over all, I believe the course is run well and I understand that it is an online course and online can be alot more difficult.
I enjoyed being able to pause the lectures and replaying certain sections. This really helped me grasp certain concepts.
The use of analogys in explaining difficult terms was quite useful.
I mentioned this at the meet and greet: i think the virtual classroom is great! our lives are busy enough as it is and especially if we're registered FT in a program at a different school, there is no need to travel from one campus to another after a long day at school. you can study at home, at work or wherever you happen to be--and that will also allow for the flexibility to hear the lectures at your pace etc. and for the students who are parents, it allows them time to be with their family.the virtual classroom also allows for a student to learn from home if they can't make it into class. thank you very much for the great learning experience!
I have very much enjoyed the course so far, EXCEPT I have had major problems with viewing the lectures online. That is, to date, with the exception of #6, no lectures have had clear visuals or, most problematically, clear sound. (Interestingly, below the video screen in #6 there was a green ;lightning; icon; none of the others have had this icon.) The professors, etc., have been helpful with suggestions, but unfortunately none have helped me. The problem is also restricted to this portal, as I have no problems with viewing videos, hearing sound, etc., on my computer on news sites, etc. There are definitely some words/phrases that I miss in lectures; occasionally rewinding; helps, but not usually.
Dr. X has been my favourite professor so far. I liked how during the lectures he would repeat things over and re-phrased definitions or descriptions to make them easier to understand. I also enjoyed how he was more laid back and made the lectures easier to follow than some of the other professors. My suggestions for the course overall are that some practice questions/quizzes would be a good resource.
More dynamic lectures would be helpful - more enthusiastic tone of voice and inflection and more confidence/assuredness in the material being presented - more animated/dynamic slides - the presentations are quite static and 1-D and a change in this might improve the interest level of the lecture help in focusing in on the key points - tutor should/could do this - there is a ton of material to cover off and know and it's improbable that students will retain it all. some help in understanding where to focus our attention would be great especially given the tests and final exam are so broad in the areas they cover and have so few questions in which to test your understanding
The only trouble I've had is that the volume is too low. Even with volume on my laptop maxed if there was any ambient noise arounde (ie. children playing/talking) I couldn't hear it very well. Otherwise I've really enjoyed the experience so far!
Dr. X is a very dependable professional. His commitment to his students doing well in this course is obvious and appreciated. Thank you for making this course as enjoyable as can be.