Ann McNeal

My Biography

Ann P. McNeal, Emerita Professor of Physiology, received her B.A. from Swarthmore College and her Ph.D. from the University of Washington (physiology and biophysics). Her interests include human biology, physiology, exercise, neurobiology, and women's issues. She did research on human posture and how it adapts to movement. Professor McNeal is also interested in Third World health issues, especially in Africa.

Dr. McNeal is retired as of December 2004.

I have enjoyed teaching at Hampshire since 1972. My main interest is the human body and how it works (physiology). I do research on how muscles control movement. I am also involved in feminist studies and in studies of human health, including Third World health issues. I am always working on new ways for students to be actively engaged in learning science, especially through research-based courses. I teach faculty workshops on active learning and I am co-editor of the book Student-Active Science: Models of innovation in undergraduate science education.

Designing Research-Based Courses

CURRICULUM VITAE Ann P. McNeal [Woodhull] School of Natural Science Hampshire College, Amherst MA 01002

Education

Swarthmore College, B.A. (Mathematics) 1964

University of Washington, Ph.D. (Physiology and Biophysics), 1972

Scholarships and Honors

National Merit Scholar

B.A. with Distinction

N.I.H. Predoctoral Fellow, 1967-1972

N.I.H. Postdoctoral Fellow, 1972

Positions held

Peace Corps Volunteer, high school mathematics teacher in Nigeria, 1965-1967

Assistant Professor of Biology, Hampshire College, 1972-1978

Lecturer, Neurobiology Department, Harvard Medical School, Spring 1975

Associate Professor of Physiology, Hampshire College, 1978-1988

Professor of Physiology, Hampshire College, 1988-present

Program Director, Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation 1993-4

Scientific Publications (* Student co-authors)

R.B. Setlow and A. McNeal, 1961. Physical state of intracellular DNA of phage OX174. Biophysical Society Abstracts.

A.S. Woodhull and A.M. Woodhull, 1969. Twin Galago demidovii born in captivity. Laboratory Primate Newsletter 8(4):12-13.

Ann M. Woodhull, 1972. Ionic Blockage of sodium permeability in voltage-clamped frog nerve. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Washington.

Ann M. Woodhull, 1973. Ionic blockage of sodium channels in nerve. Journal of General Physiology 61:687-708.

B. Hille, Ann M. Woodhull, and B.I. Shapiro, 1975. Negative surface charge near sodium channels of nerve: divalent ions, monovalent ions, and pH. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 270:301-318.

C. Levenson* and Ann M. Woodhull, 1979. Occurrence of a tetrodotoxin-like substance in the red-spotted newt, Notophthalmus viridescens. Toxicon 17:184-187.

Ann M. Woodhull, Kris Maltrud*, and Belinda Mello*, 1985. Alignment of the Human Body in Standing. European Journal of Applied Physiology 54:109-115.

Ann P. Woodhull-McNeal, 1986. Activity in torso muscles during relaxed standing. European Journal of Applied Physiology 55:119-126.

David Bloom* and Ann P. Woodhull-McNeal, 1987. Postural adjustments while standing with two types of loaded backpack. Ergonomics 30:1425-1430.

Watkins, A P Woodhull-McNeal, P Clarkson, and C Ebbeling*, 1989. "Lower extremity alignment and injury in young, preprofessional, college, and professional dancers, I: Turnout and Knee-foot alignment. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 4(4): 148-153.

Ann P. McNeal, Andrea Watkins, Priscilla M. Clarkson, and Isabelle Tremblay, 1990. Lower extremity alignment and injury in young, preprofessional, college and professional ballet dancers: dancer-reported injuries. Med. Prob. Perf. Art. 5: 83-88.

Ann P. Woodhull-McNeal, Priscilla Clarkson, Robert James, Andrea Watkins, and Susan Barrett*, 1990. How linear is dancers' posture? Med. Prob. Perf. Art. 5: 151-154.

Ann P. Woodhull-McNeal. (1992) Changes in posture and balance with age. Aging Clin. Exp. Res 4: 219-225.

Educational and other Publications

Ann M. Woodhull, 1981. Modes of inquiry: a report on Division I at Hampshire College. (Part of the Ten Year Review of Hampshire College). Available from ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center).

Nancy Lowry and Ann M. Woodhull, 1983. New directions in science education. Science for the People 15(1):33-36.

Ann M. Woodhull, Nancy Lowry, and Mary Sue Henifin, 1985. Teaching for change: feminism and the sciences. Journal of Thought 20:162-173.

E. Frances White and Ann Woodhull-McNeal, 1986. Challenging scientific myths of race and gender. Radical America 20(4): 25-34.

Ann P. Woodhull-McNeal, 1987. "Educating Women in Science", review of Women in Science, a report from the field, edited by J. B. Kahle, BioScience 37:515-516.

Ann P. Woodhull-McNeal, 1989. Teaching science as inquiry: a course example. College Teaching 37(1):3-7.

Ann McNeal, 1989. Real science in the introductory course. In F. S. Weaver (ed.) Promoting Inquiry in Undergraduate Learning. New Directions in Teaching and Learning No. 38. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Ann P. Woodhull-McNeal (1992) Project Labs in Physiology. Advances in Physiology Education 8(1): 29-32

Ann P. McNeal (1994). "Engendering a New Science" review of Lifting the Veil: the feminine face of science. by Linda J Shepard. BioScience 44(3): 183-4.

Ann P. McNeal and Michelle Murrain (1994). Drugs in the nervous system: a course in learning to learn science. College Teaching 42(2):47-50.

Ann P. McNeal and Michelle Murrain. 1995. Tips on writing a library research paper. College Teaching 43(1): 15-16.

Ann P. McNeal (1995). Introduction. Proceedings of the "Project Impact" conference. Washington DC, 1994, sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

Ann P. McNeal (1995). Science and "The Other"--a seminar on science, women and the Third World. Transformations 6(2): 54-63.

Ann P. McNeal and Charlene D’Avanzo. (eds.) 1997. Student-Active Science: Models of Innovation in Undergraduate Education. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishers

Charlene D’Avanzo and Ann P. McNeal. 1997. "Research for all students: structuring investigation into first-year courses" in Ann P. McNeal and Charlene D’Avanzo. (eds.) Student-Active Science: Models of Innovation in Undergraduate Education. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishers.

Ann P. McNeal. 1997. "Teacher-active workshops: collaborative structures for curricular reform" in Ann P. McNeal and Charlene D’Avanzo. (eds.) Student-Active Science: Models of Innovation in Undergraduate Education. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishers.

Ann P. McNeal (in press) Several chapters for Investigations in Physiology, being published by Prentice-Hall in 1996, each with student guide and teacher’s guide:

Muscles and Movements--an introduction to electromyography

Experiments with Human Movement

How Does the Skin Feel?

Heart, Lungs and Fitness (with Merle Bruno)

Peer-editing

How to read a scientific paper

Ann P. McNeal (in press) Interdisciplinarity at Hampshire: Bringing People together around Ideas. Proceedings of the Conference on Interdisciplinary education, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA

Ann P. McNeal (1998). Death of the Talking Heads: participatory structures for faculty workshops. College Teaching 46 (3): 90.

Ann P. McNeal, Dee U. Silverthorn and Donald B. Stratton (in prep.). Involving students in experimental design: three approaches. Advances in Physiology Education

Grants

NSF/ILI #USE-8950556 (1989-1991), Principal investigator, "A computer and instrumentation network for physiology and experimental design."

NSF/ILI #USE-9151339 (1991-1993), Principal investigator, "Computerized equipment for introductory biology courses."

NSF #DUE- 9552886 (1995-6), Co-PI, "Conference and book on: Student-active science: models of innovation in college science teaching."

HHMI (1996-2000) PI for $1.3 million grant to Hampshire College for undergraduate science teaching

NSF/DUE Institution-wide Reform grant "Inquiry Project Course: Real Science Investigations for All Students" 1997-1999, $165,420

Numerous college grants for summer research and course development.

Recent talks and posters:

Opening remarks "Project Impact: Disseminating Innovation in Undergraduate Education" conference Wash DC May 31-June 3, 1994.

"Hampshire College: an innovative science program" at Div Undergrad Ed NSF June 21, 1994.

"Group Projects: Science at Hampshire College" and

"Emerging patterns in the reform of undergraduate science education" both at conference From science made to science in the making at Portland State University October 11-12, 1994.

"Teaching introductory science through inquiry" at Biology Dept, University of Oregon, October 14, 1994.

"Strategies for designing introductory courses to develop science inquiry skills."

Ann McNeal and Merle Bruno, poster at AAAS, Atlanta, Feb 1995.

"Diverse topics for introductory science courses: reaching out to all students" Nancy Lowry and Ann McNeal, poster at AAAS, Atlanta, Feb 1995.

"Research-style learning in introductory science--four models" Ann P. McNeal, John Reid and Charlene D'Avanzo, National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Union College May 1995.

"Inquiry learning in introductory courses," Keynote address to faculty of Beloit College at the start of their curriculum revision workshop. August 1995.

"Designing research-based courses" workshop at Project Kaleidoscope "Research in the Undergraduate Curriculum" conference. October 27-29, 1995. Harvey Mudd College.

"Introducing undergraduate students to research" Poster presented at Experimental Biology ‘96, April 1996.

"Teaching Invention." Faculty workshop sponsored by the Lemelson Foundation at Hampshrie College, July 1996.

Workshop on assessment and evaluation, Project Kaleidoscope annual convocation, October 1996, Kansas City, MO.

"On being of service," "Village elder" talk at Project Kaleidoscope annual convocation, October 1996, Kansas City, MO.

"Collaboration in physiology courses—what works?" poster at Experimental Biology 97, New Orleans LA April 7, 1997.

"Collaborative learning" faculty development short workshop at Elms College,. Holyoke MA February 26, 1997.

"Current issues in college science education nationwide" talk at faculty curriculum workshop, Portland State University, May 26, 1997.

Teaching seminar for Natural Science faculty at Hampshire May 15, 1997

Leader, faculty development workshop, Portland State University July 28-August 1, 1997.

Co-convenor, Project Kaleidoscope workshop on "The Research-Rich Environment" held at Bryn Mawr College, July 18-20, 1997.

"Wavelet analysis of EMG from fatiguing contractions of the Adductor pollicis." Peter A Ward and Ann P. McNeal, poster at Experimental Biology 98, San Francisco April 18-22, 1998

"Designing research-based courses." Ann P. McNeal, poster at Experimental Biology 98, San Francisco April 18-22, 1998

Societies and Professional Activities

American Physiological Society: representative to the program Advisory Committee and Executive Board of Teaching Section (1997-)

Society for Neuroscience

AAAS: elected to AAAS Council as representative from Biology Section, 1998-

Council for Undergraduate Research, Biology Councilor 1995-7

Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, Councilor 1994-7

Consulting Editor, College Teaching (1995-)

Task force co-leader, Project Kaleidoscope: the "Research-Rich Environment"--co-organizer of two workshops at Bryn Mawr in summer 1997 and at University of Arizona in November 1998

Reviewer, NSF/DUE

My Research Interests

I am fascinated by questions of human movement and exercise, particularly how we humans maintain upright posture. Human posture is controlled by the brain and largely dictated by our skeletal structure. Ideally, we should be balanced upright on our bones, the weight transmitted down the skeleton. But instability is also built into our systems, since the spinal column is flexible. I have studied the posture of dancers, elderly women, and college students, looking both at the alignment of the joints and at the muscle activity needed to stay upright. The elderly subjects had the widest variations in posture, but many were able to avoid stooping over, despite stress fractures in their spines (see figure below). More recently, my research is mainly in collaboration with Division III students in the area of exercise science. For example, I am pleased to be overseeing the Division III project of Lane Errickson, who is studying the metabolism of white-water kayakers.

Fig 1. "Typical" postures of college-age and elderly subjects, showing the relationship of joint centers to the line of gravity.

My educational research concerns two questions, How can we teach science in creative ways? Why should we teach differently? These questions arise from my teaching at Hampshire, where my classes include many active-learning strategies. I love teaching workshops across the country in which faculty learn to use techniques other than traditional lectures. I encourage faculty at widely diverse institutions to incorporate small-group work into their courses and to design research-based courses. With Charlene D’Avamzo, I co-edited the book Student-Active Science: models of innovation in undergraduate education.

Ways you can reach me

Ann P. McNeal
Professor of Physiology
School of Natural Science
Hampshire College
893 West St.
Amherst MA 01002

phone: 413-559-5358
email: amcneal@hampshire.edu
Find me at Cole Science Center 309

Courses I Regularly Teach

How People Move
Human Physiology
Drugs in the Nervous System

Student-Active Science

At Hampshire, we believe in engaging students in doing "real science" at all levels, especially in introductory courses. Therefore, we design "research-based courses" instead of survey courses like Biology 101 or Chemistry 101. In these courses, students probe interesting topics and learn to ask their own questions. Small groups of students carry out original research projects and report their findings to the community. For example, students in Hampshire courses

designed projects to test the effectiveness of different types of sit-ups; other students examined the consequences of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. (my course "How People Move")
examined the outflow from a local aquaculture facility. ("Aquatic Ecology" taught by Charlene D'Avanzo)
looked at the trace elements in "designer" bottled water ("Pollution and Our Environment" taught by Dula Amarasiriwardena)

more about

A book on Student-Active Science, edited by Ann McNeal and Charlene D'Avanzo of Hampshire College, contains many examples of research-based courses and related techniques. It was published by Saunders College Publishing, and now is available through Thomson Learning Systems. For information, contact Christopher Delgado:
Christopher.Delgado@wadsworth.com
designing research-based courses
listing of Hampshire science courses
the research-based course "How People Move"
the introductory investigative course "Drugs and the Nervous System"
the Problem-Based Learning course Human Biology [link to NS 120 home page]
the Howard Hughes grant to Hampshire and student research funded by this grant.

I have enjoyed teaching at Hampshire since 1972. My main interest is the human body and how it works (physiology). I do research on how muscles control movement. I am also involved in feminist studies and in studies of human health, including Third World health issues. I am always working on new ways for students to be actively engaged in learning science, especially through research-based courses. I teach faculty workshops on active learning and I am co-editor of the book Student-Active Science: Models of innovation in undergraduate science education.