Shay Jackie E, Solis Ruth, García-Ojeda Marcos E
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, United States.
Front Microbiol. 2020 Nov 5;11:588918. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.588918. eCollection 2020.
Governmental and educational organizations advocate for the adoption of inquiry-based, student-centered educational strategies in undergraduate STEM curricula. These strategies are known to benefit students by increasing performance, enhancing mastery of class content, and augmenting affect, particularly in underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students. Among these strategies, case study and project-based learning allow students to master course content while collectively tackling relevant, real-world societal problems. In particular, environmental pollution with paper-based products provide a current problem by which microbiology students learn about the role of microorganisms in paper waste management as well as the microbiological and biochemical processes involved in protein secretion, nutrient uptake, and energy metabolism. Delivered in a flipped, hybrid class in a Technology-Enabled Active Learning (TEAL) laboratory, this lesson taught students about exoenzyme secretion, biopolymer hydrolysis, intracellular transport of sugars, and sugar catabolic reactions. Students demonstrated increased comprehension of exoenzyme function and secretion, as well as how cells uptake the products of exoenzyme hydrolysis. However, students had challenges in placing the transported exoenzyme products within metabolic processes. Our results show increased perceived learning from the students as well as an understanding of the societal implications of these microbiological concepts. Our lesson deviated from knowledge silos in which students learn information in discrete topics. While departing from employing traditional, compartmentalized learning approaches, this student-centered guided lesson frames the systemic nature of the microbiological and biochemical processes underlying the decomposition of organic matter in a real-world context.
政府和教育组织倡导在本科STEM课程中采用基于探究、以学生为中心的教育策略。众所周知，这些策略通过提高成绩、增强对课堂内容的掌握以及增强情感，尤其对代表性不足的种族/族裔少数学生有益。在这些策略中，案例研究和基于项目的学习让学生在共同解决相关现实世界社会问题的同时掌握课程内容。特别是，纸质产品造成的环境污染提供了一个当前问题，微生物学专业的学生借此了解微生物在纸张废物管理中的作用以及蛋白质分泌、营养吸收和能量代谢所涉及的微生物学和生物化学过程。在一个技术支持的主动学习（TEAL）实验室的翻转混合课程中讲授这一课时，让学生了解胞外酶分泌、生物聚合物水解、糖的细胞内运输以及糖分解代谢反应。学生们对胞外酶功能和分泌以及细胞如何摄取胞外酶水解产物的理解有所增强。然而，学生们在将运输的胞外酶产物置于代谢过程中时遇到了困难。我们的结果表明，学生的感知学习有所增加，并且对这些微生物学概念的社会影响有了理解。我们的课程偏离了知识孤岛，即学生在离散的主题中学习信息。在摒弃传统的、 compartmentalized学习方法的同时，这一以学生为中心的引导课程在现实背景中构建了有机物质分解背后的微生物学和生物化学过程的系统性本质。 （注：原文中“compartmentalized”可能有误，推测应为“compartmentalized”，意为“划分的、分隔的” ）
