The jigsaw technique has been used in a fourth-year biochemistry course to increase problem-solving abilities of the students. The jigsaw method is a cooperative-learning technique that involves a group structure. Students start with a “home” group. That group is responsible for learning an assigned portion of a task. Then the instructor separates students into new groups, the “jigsaw groups”, by assigning one member from each home group to a new group. In the jigsaw group, students share information and complete some sort of project or product: in this case, several protein-sequencing problems. The implementation of this technique increased student scores in this particular area on an individual exam and on the final exam.

Chromodulin (also known as low-molecular-weight chromium-binding substance, LMWCr) is a chromium-binding oligopeptide proposed to play a role in insulin signaling and chromium transport in mammals. This laboratory has isolated and purified this material from a non-mammalian source, an avian. Spectroscopic and physical characterization of the isolated material suggests the material is an oligopeptide with a multinuclear chromium assembly bridged via asparatate and glutamate residues very similar to its mammalian counterparts. The isolated material also possesses a biological activity similar to other LMWCr isolates.

Recently in this Journal, we published a laboratory experiment called "Ripening Bananas: What Is Happening and Can We Control It?" that is used in our nutritional biochemistry course, taken by students who are majoring in nutrition, not in chemistry or biology (1). While our students enjoy this experiment and have had much success with it, we decided to create an experiment that is more "user friendly" for these inexperienced laboratory students. Over the counter glucose test strips have been incorporated into this experiment similar to Melton's note published in this Journal (2).

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