Kanin Maralee R, Pontrello Jason K
Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, 02454.
Biochem Mol Biol Educ. 2016 Mar-Apr;44(2):168-78. doi: 10.1002/bmb.20930. Epub 2015 Nov 12.
Calls to bring interdisciplinary content and examples into introductory science courses have increased, yet strategies that involve course restructuring often suffer from the need for a significant faculty commitment to motivate change. Minimizing the need for dramatic course reorganization, the structure, reactivity, and chemical biology applications of classes of biological monomers and polymers have been integrated into introductory organic chemistry courses through three series of semester-long weekly assignments that explored (a) Carbohydrates and Oligosaccharides, (b) Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins, and (c) Nucleosides, Nucleotides, and Nucleic Acids. Comparisons of unannounced pre- and post tests revealed improved understanding of a reaction introduced in the assignments, and course examinations evaluated cumulative assignment topics. Course surveys revealed that demonstrating biologically relevant applications consistently throughout the semesters enhanced student interest in the connection between basic organic chemistry content and its application to new and unfamiliar bio-related examples. Covering basic material related to these classes of molecules outside of the classroom opened lecture time to allow the instructor to further build on information developed through the weekly assignments, teaching advanced topics and applications typically not covered in an introductory organic chemistry lecture course. Assignments were implemented as homework, either with or without accompanying discussion, in both laboratory and lecture organic courses within the context of the existing course structures.
将跨学科内容和实例纳入基础科学课程的呼声日益高涨，但涉及课程重组的策略往往因需要教师做出重大承诺以推动变革而受阻。为尽量减少大幅课程重组的必要性，通过三个为期一学期的每周作业系列，将生物单体和聚合物类别的结构、反应性及化学生物学应用整合到基础有机化学课程中，这些作业系列探讨了：(a) 碳水化合物和寡糖；(b) 氨基酸、肽和蛋白质；(c) 核苷、核苷酸和核酸。对未宣布的课前和课后测试进行比较后发现，学生对作业中引入的反应的理解有所提高，并且课程考试评估了累积作业主题。课程调查显示，在整个学期中持续展示与生物学相关的应用，增强了学生对基础有机化学内容及其在新的和不熟悉的生物相关实例中的应用之间联系的兴趣。在课堂之外涵盖与这些分子类别相关的基础材料，腾出了课堂时间，使教师能够进一步拓展通过每周作业所形成的知识，教授基础有机化学讲座课程中通常未涵盖的高级主题和应用。作业作为家庭作业实施，在现有课程结构的背景下，在有机化学实验课和讲座课中，无论有无附带讨论。
