Teaching High School Physiology Using a Popular TV Medical Drama

Abstract

Teachers know that educational experiences extend far beyond the classroom. With a wide variety of science-related programs on television, there is a need for more research into how these programs can be utilized in a classroom setting. In this mixed-methods study, we asked the question: Can student understanding of human physiology be improved through the use of multimedia resources, specifically through the use of popular television? Episodes of Fox's popular medical drama "House, M.D." were incorporated into high school biology curricula during instructional units on two body systems: the nervous system and the immune system. Through the use of integrated media and classroom discussions, students were exposed to the social aspect of learning as they worked together to analyze what they viewed on TV. This study was conducted over a traditional school year in a general biology class at a lower-socioeconomic urban high school.