DISCIPLINE
Human Biology/cell physiology

DURATION
Over one study time for students, with a chance to use it for reinforcement as much as they choose.

ICT USED
CD-Rom, Interactive multimedia (animations)

DELIVERY CONTEXT
Currently at Curtin, Sarcomotion is used

• as an animation in a lecture (60 students);
• as a basis for a guided tutorial in skeletal muscle physiology;
• as a self-directed learning resource for students to take away with them.

Thus it is used at multiple times throughout the session.

TARGET AUDIENCE
Mainly first-year undergraduate Health Science students from various backgrounds, including nursing, physiotherapy, medical imaging, medical laboratory science, environmental health, etc.

Students use the CD-Rom in tandem with either lecture or tutorial support or textbook references but it can be done without either. No prior knowledge is required as such but students would need to be focussed on some sort of cell physiology to make sense of it.

COHORT
Approximately 1100 per year

There is no maximum number of students and in fact with the implementation of online delivery and off-shore students the numbers are increasing all the time.

BROADER CONTEXT
This resource is used by students from a number of different courses, but all within an introduction to basic physiological processes.

Students will apply this material in varying ways in the rest of the course depending on the professional focus.

A deep understanding of the molecular processes of skeletal muscle contraction, with emphasis on control function of calcium. ("Deep understanding" refers to more than the ability to recognise the key characters in the action but to understand their interrelationships and the dynamic nature of what they do).

IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES
Sarcomotion contributes to the syllabus but is not assessed as a separate entity.

Students are assessed on the material in a number of ways depending on the individual units which use Sarcomotion, but in my experience it is usually through short-answer questions asking students to explain the roles of various characters involved in the molecular process of muscle contraction. These are in the final written exam, so are individualised.

IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES USED
The assessment activities give students an opportunity to demonstrate that they have an understanding of how the various characters/components fit together in the total process. This is true of the total assessment for the units involved, of which muscle contraction is a small part of the syllabus but is integrated into other parts of the syllabus involving control of cell functions. The assessment is not negotiated with the students in the majority of units using Sarcomotion. These units are mostly service units so the serviced School negotiates with our School to agree on assessment outcomes.

WHY ICT IS USED
There are two main reasons:

• The difficulty of explaining a dynamic process with static explanation and pictures.
• Not enough face-to-face contact to deal with individual students' needs for looking at the process from different perspectives or directions.

HOW ICT USE HELPS
The animation and the random non-linear order in which the resources are accessed.

MOST IMPORTANT ICT CONTRIBUTION TO LEARNING DESIGN
Students can use the material in ways which best suit their learning, and are therefore less dependent on the way the lecturer/tutor may wish to present the material.