Before you start Unit Warm-Up we have some quick questions for you.
Hi everybody, welcome to Human Physiology. My name is Amanda Hawkins and I'm the unit assessor for this unit.
Now, human physiology studies the normal functioning of the human body, and for most people they walk around in life, just you know, not really even thinking about what's going on inside your body to keep you alive, to keep you functioning etc. and have you ever really wondered about how come when you eat a salty meal you get really thirsty, or if you get a bit scared your heart rate goes up, orhow you can just smell food and you start to salivate. Well, by the time you finish this unit, you'll know the answer to all of those questions and much, much more.
So, human physiology is actually a basic foundational unit for pretty much every student studying health science degrees. It doesn't really matter what vocation you're studying for because learning the normal functioning of the human body is the starting point that you then add extra information onto, so then you learn about what can go wrong in the body or what changes occur with exercise etc.
You don't actually need any prior knowledge to study this unit. When you have a look at your unit information guide, what you'll see is that the unit's organised in a series of recorded lectures, as well as on campus lab classes.
Now in those recorded lectures I actually start right from the verybeginning and I teach you basic physical and chemicals concepts that you need to understand, and then I build a step by step by step picture about how the body is put together and how it functions.
The lab classes that you attend are lots of fun we relate what you find back to theoretical concepts that you’ve learnt in the lectures.
So, to be successful in this unit, you really need to engage with the lecture material, you need to take notes, you need to ask as many questions as you need to, to make sure that you fully understand the concepts. What I'd say is, check your blackboard site regularly. I will always inform you about what you need to be doing and when. This is a very, very content rich unit, but i promise you if you engage fully, the information that you'll learn is so rich and so valuable that you'll be so glad that you did engage wholeheartedly.
For me personally, I've always been interested in the human body, I actually love anything to do with health and healing. I love the science of the body and I also love the magic of the body, and I'm really excited about teaching this unit. For me it's a bit like sharing my hobby with you, and I want you to be able to see the human body and get excited about it the same way that I do, so looking at it through my eyes and getting excited about how the body works.
Download Your Unit Information Guide
| Web view Unit Information Guide | PDF Unit Information Guide |
Student 1: Sleeping and day dreaming of his university life; socialising, working out and getting high distinctions.
Student 2: Finds student 1 sleeping. ‘What are you doing?’
Student 1: Wakes up.
Student 2: ‘It’s TIME to get started NOW.’
Student 1 and 2: ‘Watch Podcasts 2 and 3 BEFORE the week 1 videolink lecture.’
Student 1: Asks ‘Anything else?’
Student 2: ‘There’s a bit more.’
Student 1 and 2: ‘Also watch Podcasts 3 to 6 BEFORE the week 2 lab session.’
Student 1 and 2: Wave goodbye.
Check if you know your lectures from your labs.
The schedule tells you what to do and when.
Simon: Hi Kat, I’m Simon. I’m doing Human Physiology next session and I just wanted to know if I could ask you some questions about it
Kat: Yeah go for it!
Simon: So, you’ve done Human Phys.Kat: Yes Simon: What kind of things do you think I should prepare for in my first lab?
Kat: Yep. So, probably the best thing to do is to go in prepared. Watch podcasts or lectures. You get those online. So watch as many of those as you can before you go in. You’ll go into class and you’ll basically leave knowing more than when you walked in, so don’t stress about that. But, if you do go in prepared, then you’re building on that knowledge, it’s not just fresh to you. That’ll really help you learn, it will help you understand and will help you retain the information.
Simon: If there would be the one tip that you could give me, what would be the main overruling one?
Kat: Something that really saved me was going to those PASS sessions. I don’t know if you’ve heard of those they’re called Peer Assisted Study Sessions and what actually happens in them, it’s a second or third year student that has done the unit before and has done really well in it. So they will actually guide you through the weekly subjects and they kind of pinpoint the things that you need to know, the take home messages, the bigger picture. So, if you focus on those and learn them, it’ll really help you with the exams and your overall understanding, so that absolutely saved me. Go to one, go to as many as you can, you know if you’re behind, go to the session anyway, you’re going to learn something and you’re going to meet other students in the exact same position as you and you know, you might get a study buddy out of it. You get to talk about the content, you can say, I don’t get it can you explain it to me? Or if someone else doesn’t get it you can explain it to them and it’s all part of learning and understanding.
Simon: Sometimes in class you feel even weird asking a question.
Kat: Exactly. You think it’s a stupid question and you think that “I don’t understand this, but everyone seems to kind of get a grip on it all”. But, you know, you’d be so surprised, you’ve probably got so many other people that are thinking, “Oh, that’s probably a stupid question” and it’s not. It’s like learning a whole new language and if you ask questions it’ll help with your understanding, if you don’t know something, find out, because it’s going to basically help you get ahead and help get to that next stage and the next week’s content and the next week’s content. Human Physiology is so important to any Health Science degree, so if you learn the foundation, it’s just going to help you throughout your entire degree, not just this unit.
Simon: Smooth sailing
Kat: Yes, yes, so definitely get ahead with this unit and just, it’s going to sound corny, but just embrace it. Like, it’s really interesting stuff and if you, if you, fear it, it’s just going to make it harder for yourself. So just try and embrace the learning and just try and go with it, week by week and just stay on top of it.
Simon: I feel better.
Kat: Awesome, that’s so good. Good luck!
Simon: Thank you.
How is Human Physiology Relevant to me?
Now that you've completed your Unit Warm-Up, you can access your announcements and learning resources through your MySCU Unit Learning Site (Blackboard).
The Discussion Board is there too, why not head over and connect with other students?
Unit Warm-Up will remain open until the end of week 1.
Before you leave Unit Warm-Up we’d love you to tell us what you think. Please click here to answer a short survey.