Teaching Track
The Teaching Track runs throughout the congress and brings together a diverse range of sessions on physiology education. It includes the Didactic Lecture, organized by the DPG PG Lehre, three Teaching Lunch Bites and two Didactic Workshops organized jointly by SPS and DPG.
Open to all congress participants, regardless of career stage, the programme invites inspiration, discussion, and exchange across different teaching contexts and levels of experience.
Didactic Lecture
Interaction of the enteric nervous system and students of physiology
Description: As part of our annual instructional development session in physiology, we are pleased to welcome Prof. Gemma Mazzuoli-Weber (Hannover Medical School). She is not only a leading and methodologically versatile scientist in the field of mechanosensitivity of enteric neurons and their role in gastrointestinal motility, but also an exceptionally dedicated educator at the Institute of Physiology and Cell Biology in Hannover.
Speaker: Prof. Gemma Mazzuoli-Weber, Hannover, Germany
Chairperson: Prof. Rudolf Schubert (Augsburg, Germany)
Duration: 30 min, 19.09.2026; 9:00-9:30
Teaching Lunch Bite #1
From surviving to thriving - being a teacher and loving It
Description: What keeps us motivated as teachers, especially when expectations grow and our roles become increasingly multifaceted? Teacher motivation and wellbeing matter not only for the individual teacher, but also for students’ engagement and learning experiences.
In this interactive 45-minute session, you will use a simple, structured self-reflection model to identify personal and organisational factors that affect teaching motivation. You will map your own motivation profile, exchange perspectives with peers, and leave with one or two realistic actions that can strengthen teaching joy and sustainability in your local context.
Speaker: Prof. Nicole Schmitt, Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 45 min; 17.9.2026; 13:00-13:45
Teaching Lunch Bite #2
From teaching questions to medical education research
Description: Many physiology teachers have questions worth exploring: Why did students struggle with this concept? What made this activity work? How could we know whether a change in teaching actually helped learning?
This session explores how such everyday teaching questions can become starting points for inquiry-based projects within a community of practice. Through two short examples presented by colleagues from the physiology teaching community and a guided discussion, participants will consider how teaching practices can be examined, shared, and, in some cases, developed into publishable work. The session offers inspiration, exchange, and concrete first steps for approaching teaching and learning in physiology more systematically.
Speaker: Prof. Nicole Schmitt, Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 45 min; 18.9.2026; 12:45-13:30
Teaching Lunch Bite #3
Let’s talk about AI - conversations that support learning and integrity
Description: Generative AI is becoming part of students’ study practices, whether we welcome it or not. Many teachers therefore need ways to address AI without turning the topic into policing or a debate about rules.
In this interactive 60-minute session, you will explore how conversations about AI can support both learning and academic integrity. You will gain practical strategies and language for discussing AI use with students, including how to frame AI as a sparring partner that supports thinking rather than replacing it. You will leave with concrete ideas you can immediately apply in your own teaching and supervision.
Speaker: Prof. Nicole Schmitt, Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 60 min; 19.9.2026; 11:30-12:15
Didactic Workshop #1
Make formative assessment matter!
Description: Quizzes aren’t just for grading - they can drive learning! This workshop invites you to explore quizzing as a formative, engaging tool that promotes active participation and meaningful feedback in both, live and self-paced settings. You’ll learn how to design stronger multiple-choice questions, integrate quizzes into large lectures or lab teaching, and use them to strengthen the constructive alignment between intended learning outcomes, teaching activities, and examinations. Together, we’ll experience best practices for synchronous and asynchronous learning concepts, test different digital tools, try hands-on quiz design activities, and see how generative AI can support question creation. Discover how smart quizzing can make physiology teaching more interactive, motivating, and effective!
Speaker: Anastasia Piterou, Copenhagen, Denmark; Prof. Alexander Schwoerer, Hamburg, Germany
Duration: 60 min; 17.9.2026; 14:00-15:00
Didactic Workshop #2
Igniting the sparks of curiosity
Description: How can we inspire our students to move from passive listening to active learning? This workshop invites you to explore playful learning — a structured, creative and research-informed approach that sparks curiosity and actively supports deeper conceptual understanding. Together, we’ll experience simple, adaptable activities such as card-based challenges, storytelling formats, and quick games that energize both large lectures and small-group teaching. You’ll experiment, reflect, and design playful elements that fit your own teaching context—strengthening engagement and fostering collaboration without losing disciplinary depth or rigor. Bring your ideas and curiosity—let’s make physiology teaching more dynamic!
Speaker: Prof. Nicole Schmitt, Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 60 min; 18.9.2026; 11:30-12:30
