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Online discussions in biochemistry to increase peer interactions and student interest
Author(s) -
Wilson Kristy J.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
biochemistry and molecular biology education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.34
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1539-3429
pISSN - 1470-8175
DOI - 10.1002/bmb.21487
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , mathematics education , information literacy , computer science , psychology , pedagogy , paleontology , biology
The online environment poses a number of challenges, including creating opportunities for students to interact and get to know each other. I propose adding online discussions that can allow students to explore the real‐world implications of biochemistry to provide course context, build the classroom community, diversify student assessment, and practice communication and information literacy skills. Utilizing current events and elements of students' daily lives can help students interconnect what they are learning and increase student interest in the course. These discussions ask students to explore a topic, reflect on what they would like to learn, find information, and report back on what they have learned. Herein I provide an example of a discussion prompt, a table of other potential discussion topics that are aligned with common biochemistry course topics, and results from student survey supporting discussion format.