Halmo Stephanie M, Sensibaugh Cheryl A, Bhatia Kush S, Howell Alexandra, Ferryanto Ersta P, Choe Bryant, Kehoe Kaitlin, Watson Morgan, Lemons Paula P
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 30602.
Biochem Mol Biol Educ. 2018 Sep;46(5):453-463. doi: 10.1002/bmb.21166.
Protein structure-function is a key concept in biochemistry. We used the perspective of domain-specific problem-solving to investigate students' solutions to a well-defined protein structure-function problem. We conducted think-aloud interviews with 13 undergraduate students and performed qualitative content analysis to examine the differences in the domain-general and domain-specific knowledge among correct and incorrect solutions. Our work revealed that students used domain-general and domain-specific knowledge in their problem solving. We also identified difficulties for students with the amino acid backbone, amino acid categorization, and causal mechanisms of noncovalent interactions. Using the identified difficulties, we make recommendations for the design of instructional materials targeted to improve protein structure-function problem solving in the biochemistry classroom. © 2018 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 46(5):453-463, 2018.
蛋白质结构与功能是生物化学中的一个关键概念。我们从特定领域解决问题的角度出发，研究学生对一个明确的蛋白质结构与功能问题的解决方案。我们对13名本科生进行了出声思考访谈，并进行了定性内容分析，以检验正确和错误解决方案中一般领域知识和特定领域知识的差异。我们的研究表明，学生在解决问题时运用了一般领域知识和特定领域知识。我们还确定了学生在氨基酸主链、氨基酸分类以及非共价相互作用的因果机制方面存在的困难。利用所确定的困难，我们对旨在提高生物化学课堂上蛋白质结构与功能问题解决能力的教学材料设计提出了建议。© 2018国际生物化学与分子生物学联盟，46(5):453 - 463，2018。
