1. Integrating Biology and Chemistry Into the Biochemistry Class Through Student-Centered Instruction Christina Miller Adams State College Alamosa, CO

2. Outline My class and school demographics Student-centered instruction In-class activities Material for the Activities Student evaluations of the activities Student learning outcomes and course satisfaction Conclusions

3. School and Course Demographics Adams State College is a four-year liberal arts institution of about 2500 students in rural southern Colorado. Biochemistry I and II (CHEM 401 and 402) are required for Molecular Biology and Biochemistry degrees. They can be used for other Chemistry and Biology degrees. In the past five years at Adams State I have educated 71 students; 11 biochemistry, 9 chemistry, and 51 biology majors. This year I had 17 students; 6 biochemistry, 1 chemistry, 10 biology majors.

4. Student-Centered Instruction This is the third year that I have used active learning in my course. Give individual/group blue-book quizzes at start of class. Stop during lecture to ask questions of individuals, sometimes after small group discussion. Use graded in-class activities.

5. In-class Activities Students may be assigned to read material outside of class. They are assigned different groups each time. They answer graded questions in their groups. They may use their notes and their textbooks. This material appears on their lecture exams.

6. Material for the Activities Articles from Chemical and Engineering News (for the chemists) - “Supersize Enzymes Come into Focus” March 13, 2006 - “How is this low-resolution structure different/like the structure shown in our textbook? What are we still waiting to find out?” - “Vesicle Talk” October 28, 2002 -“What do the red parts of this molecule look like?”

7. Medical Case Studies from a Clinical Companion to our text (For the biologists) - “Citric Acid Cycle: Danger of 2- carbon fragments” -“Explain why any time this alcoholic eats, his lactate levels soar.” - “Carbohydrates: Nothing to Sneeze at” -“Mucus is a heavily glycosylated family of proteins lining your airways. How might this help avert infection?” Saltsman, Berg, Tomaselli (2002) A Clinical Companion to Accompany Biochemistry, Fifth Edition. W.H Freeman and Co, NY.

8. Difficult Questions Posed (For the biochemists) - “Why are some Sugars Reducing?” -“You saw the demo. Why are all monosaccharides reducing? Why are some disaccharides not reducing?” -“A Hemoglobin Dilemma” Kendrew and Priestly, 1935 -“Why does CO poisoning at 50% saturation kill you while anemia does not?”

9. QuestionStrongly Agree (4) Agree (3) Disagree (2) Strongly Disagree (1) 1. I feel that the in-class activities are more fun than just listening to lecture 2. I feel that I learn a great deal from the in- class activities 3. I feel that I understand biochemistry better because of the in-class activities 4. I do better on the exams because of information learned in the in-class activities 5. I enjoy working in groups to answer questions concerning activities 6. I would rather be given these activities as homework to do individually 7. I would prefer not to do in-class activities and spend more time in lecture

10. Evaluation of the Activities; the Questions Q1: Fun Q2: Learn a lot Q3: Under stand more Q4: Better on Exam Q5: Group is helpful Q6: Do it home -work Q7: Drop and lec- ture 3.233.183.062.533.351.761.94

11. Evaluation of the Activities; comments on what students like best “The activities offer valuable information that the text book does not.” “Makes material relevant.” “I like it that we are able to talk in groups and work through difficult concepts.” “Seeing how biochemistry is intertwined with clinical problems.” “A nice break from lecture.”

12. What they like least “Not everyone in the group contributes their fair share.” “I always have to write.” “Dominant person will steer the group down a bad path to the wrong answer.” “Questions are tough.” “The activities take too long.” “Can’t pick my own group.”

13. How they would use the activities if they were the teacher “I would do things just as you have done.” “Get into groups for discussion and then answer the questions as homework.” “Add an end-of-class-discussion to the activity.”

14. Statistics from Exams “Explain why consumption of alcohol inhibits the citric acid cycle and leads to fatty liver.” (From Exam 2) -Correct- 4, incorrect-2, Did not choose- 11 “What does the fatty acid synthase look like in the low-resolution structure now available?” (From Exam 3) -Correct- 10, incorrect- 1, Did not choose- 6

15. Did they help students from the three disciplines enjoy the class? My course evaluations have risen steadily since I began using active-learning in my courses. Before using, my course average for Biochemistry was 3.95/5.00 (n=5). After using, my average was 4.50/5.00 (n=4). The number of biochemistry majors has risen from 4 to 12.

16. Conclusions The students like the activities, as evidenced by student evaluations. They had to learn the hard way to study the material we did as activities for exams. The use of activities has increased student satisfaction with the course and with biochemistry. Based on student evaluations I will make some changes to the activities.