Teachers as learners in a cooperative learning biochemistry class

Abstract

Upper level college students majoring in biochemistry at the University of New Mexico have the opportunity to participate in an advanced biochemistry course entitled "Biochemistry Education." This course introduces theories of teaching and learning, provides opportunities for participation in course organization, design, and assessment strategies, and requires practice in lecturing, exam writing, and grading. One component of this course required the biochemistry majors to act as educational assistants, leading problem-based learning sessions in a cooperative learning introductory survey biochemistry course for nonmajors. Problem-based learning scenarios used in this course were based on real-life biochemistry problems. As a result of their participation, the educational assistants increased their understanding of the biochemistry principles, gained an appreciation for the difficulty of the job of a "good teacher," developed new approaches to their own learning, and became more confident speakers. The participating biochemistry faculty were also positively affected by the collaborative approach they were attempting to model for the two sets of students and realized the benefits of truly cooperative team teaching.Keywords: Cooperative learning, peer tutor.The benefits to peer tutors leading cooperative learning groups are well described in the literature [1][2][3][4]. A recent article [5] discussed specifically the positive effects that peer tutoring has on understanding of scientific concepts and the tutors' attitudes toward learning. At our university medical school, where problem-based learning (PBL) 1 tutorials have been used in the curriculum since 1981, tutors also have commented on their enjoyment of the process and the amount of self-learning that it engenders.For two semesters, we offered a nonmajors biochemistry course that consisted mainly of case discussions in a small group PBL tutorial setting in which undergraduate or recent biochemistry graduates served as peer tutors (who we called educational assistants or EAs). Assessment of the performance of the students in this nonmajors introductory course is discussed in the accompanying article [6] and will not be further elaborated here. We were also interested in documenting, at least in part quantitatively, any increases in knowledge and alterations in attitude experienced by our EAs as a result of their tutoring experience and their concomitant participation in a biochemistry education course that was designed to increase their understanding of the teaching and learning processes. That evaluation of our EAs is presented in this article.Of equal interest was the effect of this cooperative teaching experience on the faculty members (hereafter labeled instructors) who led both courses. Do they undergo a similar growth in understanding and creativity as a result of interacting with their colleagues and students? In other words, are faculty members also pupils who benefit from cooperative learning? We attempt to answer these questions as well. MATERIALS AN...

Development and analysis of an instrument to assess student understanding of foundational concepts before biochemistry coursework*

“…That statement has many implications for the way science is taught since as described by Garvin‐Doxas et al “…a new concept cannot be learned until the student is forced to confront the paradoxes, inconsistencies, and limitations of the mental model that already exists in the student's mind” [25]. Different teaching strategies have been reported as a way to overcome incorrect ideas, such as the use of active learning [15, 26] or cooperative learning [27–29], the use of analogies [2, 4, 30], and the use of computer software [31–33]. However, all these teaching strategies may fall short if teachers cannot identify which incorrect ideas students bring to the course.…”

An assessment of resource availability for problem based learning in a Ghanaian University setting

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Spatial-Problem Based Learning (SPBL) development (preliminary studies for geography learning)

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