Abstract
Many introductory biochemistry students have problems understanding metabolism and acquiring the skills necessary to study metabolic pathways. In this paper we suggest that this may be largely due to the use of a traditional teaching approach which emphasises memorisation rather than understanding. We present an alternative approach to teaching carbohydrate metabolism which is designed to promote understanding of pathways. The approach also enables regular monitoring of, and reflection on, student progress and the identification of student reasoning and conceptual difficulties through the use of specially designed problems. Preliminary results are presented giving examples of specific student difficulties and the extent to which they were addressed by the alternative instructional approach. A qualitative evaluation of the approach is also presented.
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Specializations: metal accumulating plants biochemical education.
Specializations: physics education, conceptual development, instructional design, improvement of tertiary science education.
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Anderson, T., Grayson, D. Improving students' understanding of carbohydrate metabolism in first-year biochemistry at tertiary level. Research in Science Education 24, 1–10 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02356323
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02356323