Flow down gradients initiate, regulate, and maintain nearly all physiological functions. Given the vast number of flow down gradients within physiology, providing students a framework to understand and identify this important core concept (Michael and McFarland, 2011) is critical for their learning of physiology. In this learning module, educators will be provided the tools to help students apply their knowledge of flow down gradients across physiological systems.
At the completion of this interactive learning module, participants should be able to:
define the terms flow, gradient, and resistance within the
context of physiology;
describe the relationship between flow, gradient, and resistance;
provide physiological examples of different types of flow down gradients;
list teaching strategies that facilitate the transfer of knowledge; and
use the flow down gradients reasoning tool to explain physiological phenomena.