Project lead: Erin C. McKiernan1 (emck31 at gmail)
Participating professors: Marco A. Herrera Valdez2, Rodrigo A. Martín Salas1, Sergio E. Solis Najera1, Lucia Medina Gómez1
Student contributors: Diego Alberto Barceló Nieves3, Rogelio Barrios Rosas3, Diana Alejandra Cuevas Salazar4, Daniel Gómez Pérez3, José Carlos Hernández Herrerías4, Carlos Ignacio Herrera Nolasco5, Carol Molina Martínez3, Juan Carlos Morales Cordova3, Jenifer Alejandra Parra Reyes3, Noel Isaías Plascencia Díaz4, Estíbaliz Margarita Ramírez Vázquez3, Ana Daniela del Río Pulido3, Angélica Rubio García7, Mitsui Myrna Salgado Saito6
1 Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias (FC), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
2 Departamento de Matemáticas, FC, UNAM
3 Licenciatura en Física Biomédica, FC, UNAM
4 Licenciatura en Física, FC, UNAM
5 Licenciatura en Matemáticas, FC, UNAM
6 Licenciatura en Ciencias de la Tierra, FC, UNAM
7 Licenciatura en Biología, FC, UNAM
Electrophysiological techniques, such as electromyogram, electrocardiogram, and electroencephalogram recordings, are frequently used in research and clinical laboratories to study excitable tissues and even diagnose diseases. Thus, it is important, especially for students in the biomedical sciences, to learn about the underlying theory and applications of these techniques. The goal of this project is to develop a series of hands-on learning practicals designed to teach undergraduate students instrumentation, electrophysiological recording techniques, and data analysis of electrophysiological recordings. Additional practicals will deal with related skills, such as dissection, tissue preparation, and cell imaging. All educational materials (documents, data, code) are shared under open licenses to allow sharing, reuse, and adaptation.
For more information on this project, please see our paper:
McKiernan E.C. and Medina Gómez L. Building capacity through open approaches: Lessons from developing undergraduate electrophysiology practicals [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]. F1000Research 2021, 10:187 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.51049.1
Currently, some materials are available only in English and others only in Spanish. We are working on translating all materials so there are English- and Spanish-language versions of all materials. In addition, over the next year, we will be working on more analysis and experimental practicals, and will also be adding raw data. So, please check back regularly for new materials. The latest versions of all our educational materials can be found in this repository, but you can also visit our project website for a more user-friendly interface, photos, etc. https://electrophys.wordpress.com.
This work was supported by the Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico (DGAPA), Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos para la Innovación y Mejoramiento de la Enseñanza (PAPIME) at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Project numbers: UNAM-DGAPA-PAPIME PE213817 and PE213219.