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Identifying and refining threshold concepts for biochemistry using a community of faculty and students (618.1)
Author(s) -
Loertscher Jennifer,
Minderhout Vicky,
Green David,
Lewis Jennifer
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.618.1
Subject(s) - situated , process (computing) , curriculum , computer science , mathematics education , engineering ethics , chemistry , psychology , pedagogy , engineering , artificial intelligence , operating system
Threshold concepts are concepts that when mastered, represent a transformed understanding of a discipline, without which the learner cannot progress. We have undertaken a process involving over 75 faculty members and 40 undergraduate students to identify a working list of threshold concepts for biochemistry. The process of identifying threshold concepts for biochemistry was modeled on extensive work related to threshold concepts across a range of disciplines. Three major sources of information were used to identify threshold concepts for biochemistry: faculty workshops, student interviews, and existing data from the literature and other sources. We will report on use of an iterative process to identify three to five concepts to be the focus of future curriculum and assessment materials development. The concepts are likely to relate to foundational ideas from chemistry yet be situated in essential biochemical contexts. Candidate concepts relate to equilibrium, inter/intramolecular interactions, and individual versus populations of molecules. The finalized working list is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather is meant to identify a subset of threshold concepts for biochemistry for which instructional and assessment tools for undergraduate biochemistry will be developed. Grant Funding Source : NSF‐DUE 1224868