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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2008  > February  >
In the Classroom
Active Learning of Biochemistry Made Easy (for the Teacher)
Joseph A. Bobich
Department of Chemistry, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX 76129
Cover
February 2008
Vol. 85 No. 2
p. 234
Abstract
This active learning pedagogical technique aims to improve students' learning in a two-semester, upper-division biochemistry course sequence in which the vast majority of students enrolled will continue on to medical or graduate schools. Instead of lecturing, the Instructor moves to the side of the room, thereby becoming "the guide on the side". Students take turns being the "Discussion Leader" (DL, instructor for the day) and administer an oral quiz that requires answering questions of the DL's own devising. The remaining students, knowing they must learn the assigned material in advance, come prepared for every class. They prepare by creating written work abstracting the most important things they have learned on the given topic. Students use their prior writing and learning to answer the questions asked by the Discussion Leader; they also annotate these abstracts as they learn more during class. At the end of each class, the annotated writing is turned in to the Instructor for grading: that grade combined with points for oral performance yields the day's grade for each student. The students appear to learn biochemistry better using these procedures compared to the previous lecture-based approach.
More Information
*
Citation
Bobich, Joseph A. J. Chem. Educ. 2008, 85, 234.
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Keywords
Biochemistry; Biological Cells; Chemical Education Research; Communication / Writing; Inquiry-Based / Discovery Learning; Professional Development; Upper-Division Undergraduate
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History
Created:
Last Updated:
1/4/2008
1/9/2008
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