Interactive classroom: from motoneuron activity to skeletal muscle contraction and relaxation.

Active learning and practices are strongly encouraged or made mandatory by local, national, and european organizations. Therefore, we set up an interactive practical classroom, engaging all of the attending students of the year (n = 47). Each student was assigned a physiological role (marked on a cardboard sign) in the following events: stimulation on motoneuron dendrites, sodium ions (Na) influx and potassium ions (K) efflux, action potentials onset and saltatory conduction along the axon, acetylcholine (Ach) neurotransmitter exocytosis following Ca influx, Ach binding to postsynaptic membrane receptors, Ach-esterase action, excitatory post-synaptic potential (EPSP), release of Ca from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, mechanism of muscular contraction and relaxation, rigor mortis. A sketch was drawn with colored chalks on the ground outside the room: the motoneuron with its dendrites, cell body, initial segment, myelinated axon, synaptic bouton, the postsynaptic plasma membrane of the muscle fiber and the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Students each had their own role and were asked to position themselves and move, accordingly. This resulted in a complete, dynamic and fluid representation being performed. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the students' learning was limited at this pilot stage. However, positive feedback was received in the self-evaluation reports which were written by students on the physiological meaning of their own role, as well as in the satisfaction questionnaires requested by the University. The rate of students who successfully passed the written exam and the rate of correct answers that included the specific topics addressed in this practice were reported.