UDC 613:378.661

Professor O. A. Lastkov, Associate Professor S. F. Sorokina, and D. M. Kosmodamianskaya, Candidate of Medical Sciences

Experience in the Use of Structural-Logical Schemes in Teaching Hygiene

Donetsk Medical Institute named after M. Gorky

Various studies on optimizing the educational process have emphasized the need to integrate it, identify interdisciplinary connections, and develop a structural-logical plan (scheme) for the teaching process, an individual subject, or an individual topic. Such schemes make it possible to establish the structure, content, and scope of instructional material (A. G. Molibog). The schemes, charts, and technological structures presented by G. L. Taukach and coauthors mostly provide a plan of action or an algorithm for assembly or design and are generally intended for instructors. I. A. Reingard describes graphical schemes used to study individual sections of a course, but these are primarily algorithms for the instructor’s actions: what to present, when to wait for an answer, and so on.

In recent years, structural-logical schemes for individual instructional topics have been widely used in teaching at the Department of General Hygiene of the Donetsk Medical Institute. The schemes are primarily informational: they reveal the internal logic of a topic and the connections between its individual instructional elements. They are graphical models of the structure and functional relationships of the instructional elements of the topic being studied (I. A. Reingard). The introduction of structural-logical schemes has made it possible to formulate the instructional task and the objective of the class more clearly, define the range of questions with which the student becomes acquainted and which the student masters during the class, and specify the scope and nature of the practical skills the student should acquire in studying the topic. The schemes facilitate assessment of knowledge acquisition because they clearly distinguish the principal and supplementary instructional questions.

It should be emphasized that our structural-logical schemes are not algorithms for action. When performing laboratory work, students use instructional manuals that describe the methods for the investigations being conducted.

For students, a structural-logical scheme reveals the internal logic of a topic and shows the scope of the required knowledge and skills; for instructors, it serves during the class primarily as a basis for standardizing the teaching process. Guided by the structural-logical scheme, the instructor has a fuller picture of all the questions that should be addressed in class and all the work that students must perform in studying the topic to acquire the necessary practical skills. At the same time, developing a structural-logical scheme makes it possible to define more clearly the place of the topic within a section of the course and of the section within the course as a whole. Thus, the structural-logical scheme of an instructional topic provides the basis for developing a structural-logical ...

Structural-Logical Scheme: Physiological and Hygienic Assessment of the Menu and Food Allocation Plan

Formulation of recommendations

Assessment outcomes: Normal; insufficient; excessive; unbalanced; disrupted meal schedule.

Hygienic assessment of the daily menu and food allocation plan

• Quantitative and qualitative composition of the diet
• Caloric value
• Protein, fat, carbohydrate, mineral salt, and vitamin content
• Ratio of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates
• Caloric quota
• Ratio of animal to plant proteins and fats
  • Amino acid composition; saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids
• Mono-, di-, and polysaccharide content
• Ca:P and Ca:Mg ratios

• Vitamin-to-calorie coefficients

• Meal schedule

• Number of meals
• Distribution of calories among meals
• Time allotted for eating
• Consistency of meal times
• Intervals between meals

Standard for a balanced, rational diet, taking into account:

• Nature and intensity of work and working conditions
• Climatic conditions
• Sex
• Age
• Level of communal services

…of the course scheme, establishing interdisciplinary connections, and more fully integrating teaching material both within the course and with related departments, vertically and horizontally. Developing a structural-logical scheme also makes clearer the need to equip the class with instructional technology and visual teaching aids.

In our experience, the use of structural-logical schemes helps optimize the educational process and, in particular, teaching itself—the transmission of knowledge and its acquisition by students. As an example, we present the structural-logical scheme “Physiological and Hygienic Assessment of a Menu and Food Allocation Plan” (see scheme). It is used in teaching the nutrition hygiene section to medical and dental students. The scheme covers a broad instructional topic whose mastery requires students to synthesize knowledge acquired in the departments of physiology, chemistry, biochemistry, and others. Drawing on this knowledge, the instructor focuses students’ attention on physiological nutritional requirements, the concept of a balanced diet, and the method of hygienic assessment of a menu and food allocation plan. To solve the main instructional problem, students must independently determine, using their own diets as an example, all the data needed to formulate a conclusion. They can obtain these data only by carrying out the tasks specified in the squares outlined with heavy lines in the structural-logical scheme. As students work through the scheme, they see the internal connections among all the questions and elements of the topic. The instructor draws their attention to the main points. After examining the scheme, it becomes clear that a diet is balanced and rational only when all the elements shown in the scheme are combined optimally. A deficiency in or deviation from any of these elements, which characterize the quantity and quality of food as well as the eating pattern, permits a substantiated unfavorable physiological and hygienic assessment of the diet and leads to the formulation of constructive proposals for optimizing it.

Our experience with structural-logical schemes has shown that they do indeed help standardize the educational process and increase its informational value. They arouse active interest among students, who make extensive use of them in independent study. The prescribed body of knowledge does not change when structural-logical schemes are used, but systematization makes it possible to identify logical connections and key questions and to redistribute the time allotted to their discussion.

Thus, the use of structural-logical schemes helps improve teaching and enhance pedagogical skill, since the schemes incorporate the experience of the best and most highly qualified instructors. Experience shows that structural-logical schemes can be recommended for use in the educational process.

References

Molibog, A. G. Programmed Instruction. Moscow, 1967.

Reingard, I. A. In: Programmed Instruction, 1977, no. 14, pp. 39–45.

Taukach, G. L., Chernenko, V. K., Fedosova, E. E., et al. Ibid., pp. 34–44.

Received June 19, 1979.