Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824.
Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309.
CBE Life Sci Educ. 2023 Dec;22(4):ar50. doi: 10.1187/cbe.23-05-0071.
Concerns regarding students' difficulties with the concept of energy date back to the 1970s. They become particularly apparent for systems involving adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which plays a central role in maintaining the nonequilibrium state of biological systems and in driving energetically unfavorable processes. One of the most well-documented misconceptions related to ATP is the idea that breaking bonds releases energy, when the opposite is true. This misconception is often attributed to language used in biology referring to the "high-energy bonds" in ATP. We interviewed chemistry, biology, and biochemistry instructors to learn how they think about and teach the mechanism(s) by which ATP is used as an energy source in biological systems. Across 15 interviews, we found that instructors relied primarily on two mechanisms to explain the role of ATP: 1) energy release, focused on ATP hydrolysis and bond energies; and/or 2) energy transfer, focused on phosphorylation and common intermediates. Many instructors shared negative and uncomfortable experiences related to teaching ATP and energy release. Based on these findings, we suggest instructional strategies that: 1) aim to ease the concerns expressed by introductory biology instructors, and 2) emphasize the role of ATP so as to support students' understanding of molecular mechanisms.
人们对于学生在理解能量概念上存在困难的担忧可以追溯到 20 世纪 70 年代。当涉及到三磷酸腺苷（ATP）这类在维持生物系统非平衡态和驱动非能量有利过程中起着核心作用的系统时，这种困难变得尤为明显。与 ATP 相关的最有案可稽的误解之一是，打破键会释放能量，而事实恰恰相反。这种误解通常归因于生物学中用于描述 ATP 中“高能键”的语言。我们采访了化学、生物学和生物化学教师，以了解他们如何思考和教授 ATP 在生物系统中作为能量来源的机制。在 15 次采访中，我们发现教师主要依赖两种机制来解释 ATP 的作用：1）能量释放，重点是 ATP 水解和键能；和/或 2）能量转移，重点是磷酸化和常见的中间产物。许多教师分享了与教授 ATP 和能量释放相关的负面和不适的经历。基于这些发现，我们提出了一些教学策略，旨在：1）缓解基础生物学教师所表达的担忧，以及 2）强调 ATP 的作用，以支持学生对分子机制的理解。
