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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2003  > December  >
In the Classroom
Does Active Learning through an Antisense Jigsaw Make Sense?
Mahadevan Seetharaman
Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0421

Karin Musier-Forsyth
Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0421

Cover
December 2003
Vol. 80 No. 12
p. 1404
Abstract
Three journal articles on nucleic acid antisense modification strategies were assigned to 12 students as part of an active learning "jigsaw" exercise for a graduate-level chemistry course on nucleic acids. Each student was required to read one of the three articles. This assignment was preceded by an hour-long lecture on the basic concepts in antisense–antigene technology. On the day of the jigsaw, the students with the same article (three groups of four students) discussed their article briefly, and then formed four new groups where no one had read the same article. Each student spent about five minutes teaching his or her article to the other group members, using specific questions provided to guide the discussion. This exercise laid the foundation for bringing the discussion to the entire class, where most of the students actively participated. To test the students' comprehension of the reading materials, a problem set was designed that required not only an understanding of the three articles, but also application of the concepts learned. The effectiveness of this active learning strategy and its applicability to other topics are discussed in this article.
More Information
*  Citation
 Seetharaman, Mahadevan; Musier-Forsyth, Karin. J. Chem. Educ. 2003 80 1404.
*  Keywords
 Collaborative / Cooperative Learning; Graduate Education / Research; Nucleic Acids / DNA / RNA; Teaching / Learning Aids
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 October 31, 2003
February 28, 2005
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