The project goal is to upgrade the quality of the undergraduate physiology laboratory by purchasing four 4-channel datagraph recorders which have the capacity to measure many of the important physiological parameters that are emphasized in the physiology courses. Previously only some of these phenomena were included in laboratory exercises due to equipment limitations. The scope of the laboratory portion of the physiology courses (which have served approximately 340 women students in the past five years) is being greatly enhanced. The data graphs are being used, for example, to demonstrate blood pressure regulation, cardiac alterations in response to varying stimuli, and variations observable on the electrocardiogram when the subject is at rest or exercising. Previously there was no true exercise component to the lab experiments, not even in the areas of cardiovascular or respiratory physiology. The addition of these instruments to the laboratory permits the development of two important new exercises. The grantee institution is matching the NSF award with an equal sum obtained from non-Federal sources.
