Teaching biochemistry at a medical faculty with a problem-based learning system

A guide to using case-based learning in biochemistry education

Studies indicate that the majority of students in undergraduate biochemistry take a surface approach to learning, associated with rote memorization of material, rather than a deep approach, which implies higher cognitive processing. This behavior relates to poorer outcomes, including impaired course performance and reduced knowledge retention. The use of case-based learning (CBL) into biochemistry teaching may facilitate deep learning by increasing student engagement and interest. Abundant literature on CBL exists but clear guidance on how to design and implement case studies is not readily available. This guide provides a representative review of CBL uses in science and describes the process of developing CBL modules to be used in biochemistry. Included is a framework to implement a directed CBL assisted with lectures in a content-driven biochemistry course regardless of class size. Moreover, this guide can facilitate adopting CBL to other courses. Consequently, the information presented herein will be of value to undergraduate science educators with an interest in active learning pedagogies.

Effectiveness of problem-based learning on academic performance in genetics

This study aimed at comparing the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL)1 and traditional lecture-based instruction on elementary school students' academic achievement and performance skills in a science unit on genetics while controlling for their reasoning ability. For the specified purpose, twoinstructional methods were randomly assigned to intact classes of two different teachers. Each teacher had both PBL classes and traditional classes. Although students in PBL classes (n = 126) worked on ill-structured problems cooperatively with the guidance of the teacher, students in traditional classes (n = 91) received instruction based on teacher's explanations, discussions, and textbooks. Genetics Achievement Test was developed by researchers to measure the academic achievement and performance skills. Multivariate Analysis of Covariance results showed that the PBL students had higher academic achievement and performance skills scores (M = 11.44 and M = 2.67, respectively) when compared with those in traditional classes (M = 10.91 and M = 2.20, respectively). This indicated that the PBL students tend to better acquire scientific conceptions related to genetics and integrate and organize the knowledge. Moreover, it was found that the reasoning ability explained a significant portion of variance in the scores of academic achievement and performance skills.

Students' preferred teaching techniques for biochemistry in biomedicine and medicine courses

The aim of this study was to investigate the students' preferred teaching techniques, such as traditional blackboard, power-point, or slide-projection, for biochemistry discipline in biomedicine and medicine courses from São Paulo State University, UNESP, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. Preferences for specific topic and teaching techniques were determined from questionnaires on a Liquert scale from 1 to 5 (strongly disagree; disagree; neither agree, nor disagree; agree; strongly agree) distributed at the end of biochemistry discipline to 180 biomedical students (30 students/year) and 540 medical students (90 students/year), during the years 2000-2005. Despite of the different number of hours applied to the course topics for the two groups of students, the majority of undergraduates from biomedicine and medicine preferred metabolic topics. Although the perception of a medical student is expected to be different than that of a biomedical student, as the aims of the two programs are different, 92.4% of students from each course agreed or strongly agreed with the biochemistry topics, and 92.1% thought highly on this subject. The majority of students, a number of 139 undergraduates from biomedicine and 419 from medicine course, preferred traditional blackboard teaching than slide-projection, or power-point class. In conclusion, it is imperative that the health courses reflect on sophisticated technology and data presentation with high density of information in biochemistry discipline. The traditional classes with blackboard presentation were most favored by students from biomedicine and medicine courses. The use of students' preferred teaching techniques might turn biochemistry more easily understood for biomedical and medical students.