Sunday, May 6

The second week of the immunology began with an intracellular signaling lecture by Dr. Pastor.  The students had already been taught the lock and key model for the agonist and receptor, but not what occurs after that. The lecture mainly focused on some of the central intracellular signaling pathways, which are used by many receptors and responsible for multiple actions in cells. There was an hour break after class that we attempted to see if the students had any questions with the lecture. However, many students said they wished to go home and go over the lecture before asking questions, as this was the first time they had seen the information. It also seems like the students will mostly focus on the PBL material and go over the lecture material closer to exams -- it might be better to try and focus on helping the students with the PBL material instead. On the topic of PBLs, today was the first day we were able to sit in on the PBLs. Watching the students work through the PBL was very helpful in identifying any knowledge gaps the students had in their understanding of the material – something we should try and resolve in the tutorials!