Exploration of Student Approaches to Creative Exercises in Undergraduate Biochemistry

Abstract

Developing and exploring new tools to engage students in the learning process have been major foci of chemistry education research. Creative exercises are one such tool that has drawn increasing interest from researchers over the past decade. While studies have reported the impact of creative exercises on learning and types of student responses generated, how the students engage with these particular exercises has yet to be explored. This study seeks to fill this gap within the literature by exploring student approaches to the creative exercises, within the context of biochemistry, through semistructured, think-aloud interviews. Analysis of 10 participant interviews investigated how undergraduate biochemistry students actively and verbally engaged in creative exercises. Findings reveal the variation in how the participants approached the creative exercises as well as the role that the course modality played in shaping the student approaches.