An end-of-session quiz for biochemistry students

18 lation of interest in biological molecules. Naturallv it is not possible to state categorically if this has been the case - - a control consisting of students who did not prepare posters would be the ideal comparison, but this is not possible since all students must be exposed to the same opportunities if they are to be assessed by examination. However, if examination performance is taken as a true reflection of student knowledge and academic abilities then preparation of the posters has clearly helped to ensure an understanding of the topic.

Concluding comments

i ~ , ,¢~,,~

'

I

This was a successful educational exercise as judged by the interest shown by the students and their resulting praiseworthy efforts. The subsequent examination of performances of the students indicated that the experience gained in preparing and presenting the posters did build a solid foundation in protein structures and functions, which was reflected in their subsequent examination performances. Consequently, all the authors feel this was a successful and worthwhile exercise. References J Various authors (1985) Whole issue, Sci Amer, 253(4) -'Smith. C A and Wood, E J (1991) Biological Molecules, Chapman & Hall. London, pp 205 Hendrickson. W A and WiJthrich, K (1991) Macrornolecular Structures 1991, Current Biology Ltd. London, pp 287 4 Hendrickson, W A and Wtithrich. K (1992) Macromolecular Structures 1992, Current Biology Ltd. London, pp 367 ~Smith. C A. Dawson. M M. Head. M B and Jones, M F (1993) Biochem Educ, in the press

...........1

Figure lb A selection of typical miniposters prepared by the students. Unfortunately full colour, not available to this journal, is necessary to show them to best advantage Table 3 The criteria used in assessing the 'miniposters Criteria are arranged in an arbitrary order • • • • • • • •

Overall attractiveness; Attention grabbing; Layout of poster, eg positioning main model centrally; Quality of d i a g r a m s , p o s t e r was u p g r a d e d if s t u d e n t s had done their own a n d d o n e t h e m well; U n c l u t t e r e d a p p e a r a n c e , with a p p r o p r i a t e a m o u n t of writing of suitable size; "Appearance'; A d h e r e n c e to the set criteria: Accuracy

The value of preparing posters of this type as an educational exercise was also assessed by analysing the students' subsequent examination performance. The examination consisted of two parts, A and B. 'A' consisted of short compulsory questions, 'B' of six extended questions from which a free choice of three was allowed. The question testing the poster topic area was the second most 'popular' and gained the highest mean mark. Interestingly, a question on the structure and activities of nucleic acids was also attempted by a relatively large number of students and gained the second highest mean mark. This may indicate a general stimuBIOCHEMICAL

E D U C A T I O N 22(1) 1994

An End-of-session Quiz for Biochemistry Students E A CARREY Department of Biochemistry University of Dundee Dundee DDI 4HN Scotland, UK Introduction We provide a weekly one-hour period of problem-solving and data analysis for the Junior Honours students in our Biochemistry BSc course. Usually there is a 'homework" element, which is assessed and returned to the students before discussion in the next class. The idea of a quiz for the final period at the end of the spring session was appealing because individual scores could be obtained immediately, eliminating the 'homework' for both staff and students, and informing the students on their general knowledge before the revision for the intermediate degree exams. The class comprised 34 students; about 25 attended for the quiz. I planned to deliver the quiz as a series of quick questions, requiring general knowledge across the syllabus. Students were to be tested on their rapid recognition of biochemical and experimental processes and molecules, their expertise in 'puzzles', and their

19 ability to handle simple calculations. I hoped that students might be entertained - - and educated - - by looking at biochemistry from a different angle, as illustrated in some of the sample questions.

Preparation About a month before the proposed date for the quiz, I asked colleagues to contribute questions related to their lectures in the course. I suggested some informal ways of phrasing the questions: odd-one-out, rearranging order of processes, definitions, puzzles, true-or-false, and mental arithmetic. These categories were suggested by analogy with television quiz shows and puzzle books, which seem to appeal to all age groups. I covered the inevitable gaps in replies from the course text books, and from the scripts already used for the problem-solving and practical classes. The latter aspects of the course might not otherwise have been examined, and in fact some illuminating gaps in practical knowledge were exposed by the quiz. The questions were selected to cover as much of the syllabus as possible, and divided into three papers corresponding to the rounds of the quiz. The time allocated to each question, the number of points allocated, and the correct answers were indicated on a copy of the papers for the benefit of the staff delivering the quiz. Reduced-size photocopies of the questions were given to the students after they had completed the quiz. Examples of the questions are given below.

Procedure I delivered the quiz, with a second member of staff, in the one-hour period scheduled for the problem-solving session. The students were asked to write their names at the head of three sheets of paper, one for each round of the quiz. Each round comprised five or six questions. Next year we plan to use 90 minutes, which will allow questions covering a wider area to be asked in four rounds. The questions were displayed one by one, using the overhead projector. I found it easiest to adapt the text I had prepared already by wordprocessing, enlarged to 18point or 24-point Palatino. Spacing was adjusted so that one question fitted on to a page of A4, and hence could be photocopied directly on to acetate sheets for the overhead projector. Questions were displayed for different periods. One minute was sufficient time for the quick definitions; five minutes was the maximum, for a complex genetic puzzle. Each question was then removed from the overhead projector and replaced with the next one as the students wrote down the answer. It is useful for one member of staff to be in charge of timing while the other reads out the question with appropriate emphasis on important points. I gave hints if the question was met by a bemused murmur, and indicated if more marks would be given for more information. For example, one point was given for a correct true/false answer, and a second point for the correct reason. With this system, it was unlikely that any two cumulative scores would be identical. Students were

BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 22(1) 1994

allowed to confer during the time the question was displayed, but each student decided what answer to write down. At the end of the round, papers were exchanged between neighbours, and the questions were displayed again to give the answers and allocate the marks. Any queries or confusion could be sorted out by the staff 'on the spot', and some answers were amplified if necessary. By the time the first round had been marked, the students had a better idea of the approaches to take in answering each type of question. The three-round format allowed us to judge the time more accurately than if all questions had been marked at the end of the session. The breaks also provided a period to relax. Students added up their neighbour's scores for each round so that the final score could be rapidly calculated at the end of the third round. A final question was available as a tie-breaker! We asked students to declare if their score fell into the top band by working downwards from the maximum possible score; thus the majority of students could keep their scores confidential, and each was competing only indirectly with colleagues. It turned out that the top score was 67 out of an available 85 points. The next highest scores were separated by one or two points from each other and from the top score.

Results The class budget allowed the purchase of four gift tokens for the highest scorers; the top-scoring student was also given a silver foil badge declaring him as 'Number One'. I asked the students to hand in their papers at the end of the session, so that I could calculate the grade to be given for the continuous assessment total. I found that the students were fairly accurate in marking their friend's papers; only a few scores needed to be adjusted by one or two points. The individual work allowed each student to use the quiz as an aid to revision, exposing weak areas for some and reassuring others. It was also interesting to analyse the questions that had caused most problems, since this can expose misconceptions arising from the lecture course. Students seemed to find the genetics problems difficult, partly because of the limited time available to study the material. Some students caught on very quickly, and scored well on these questions, while others were unable to work out how to start on them. 'Quick calculations' were not well done either, perhaps because of time pressure. Perhaps the students would have preferred 'real' calculations rather than mental arithmetic. Surprisingly, given the wellillustrated textbooks that are now used, students were not skilled at recognising molecules - - whether a sketch of thyroxine, or a description of immunoglobulin, as seen in the examples. Many students showed a poor recall of materials and processes from the practical classes. Such a short quiz, with a restrictive timed format, could not hope to examine the students in their comprehension of complex biochemical concepts. It did appear, however, to illuminate points across the syllabus where students could not quickly recall elementary concepts or facts.

20 Feedback from the students

3 Place the following in chronological order of function

The quiz was not singled out in the feedback questionnaire given to students at the end of that part of the course. The few responses that mentioned the quiz were positive. As I have mentioned above, analysis of the answers showed up some deficiencies of general knowledge in a large part of the class. It achieved the object of avoiding homework, as well as entertaining the staff and giving a festive air to the last week of the lecture course.

(a) eDNA: gene: mRNA: transcript (b) GI: G2: S: M (c) ras: insulin receptor: MAP kinase kinase: MAP

kinase: G subunit of protein phosphatase 1: insulin: MAP kinase kinase kinase: MAP kinase-activated protein kinase Time Four minutes Answers (a) 4, 1,3, 2 (in vitro processes); (b) GI, S, G2. M (or circular

Acknowledgements I am grateful to those colleagues who contributed questions; especially to Dr Mike Stark, who devised the 'genetics puzzles' from his own research data, and who helped to deliver the quiz.

The Quiz

permutations); (c) 3, 2, 5, 6, 8, 1 . 4 . 7 (signalling pathway) Score Two points each for (a) and (b); four points for (c), only if

completely correct Comments Many students reversed the orders of the kinases

4 What is it?

1 Odd one out

(a) A DNA sequence cloned in single-stranded phage vector M13 is to be mutagenised at one particular nucleotide position. Which one of the following is not required? DNA polymerase: DNA ligase: mutagenic primer: reverse transcriptase: competent E coli

Behaves as a dense structure on gradients of sucrose or Percoll; acidic; rich in degradative enzymes Time One minute Answer Lysosome Score Two points

5 Name the proteins:

(b) Which of the following would not be found in an electrophoresis gel used for separating proteins? SDS: ammonium sulphate: acrylamide: Tris buffer: glycine (c) Which is the odd one out and why? Eadie-Hofstee: Shine-Dalgarno: Lineweaver-Burk: Michaelis-Menten (d) Which step is not part of a protein sequencing process? Edman degradation: FAB MS: trypsinolysis: Amadori rearrangement: HPLC 2 True or false

(a) Sickle cell disease is a sex-linked disorder of blood clotting. (b) Glucagon (KD 10 -1° M) has a higher affinity than an analogue (KD 10 -s M) for its receptor. (c) A restriction enzyme recognising the sequence 5' GTAC 3' will cut at more sites than an enzyme that recognises 5' GTNNAC 3' (where N represents any base).

(a) Associated stoichiometrically with microtubules, regulates microtubule assembly and cross-linking, implicated in Aizheimer's disease. (b) Serum protein, iron transporter, recycles through the early endosomes. (c) Most abundant protein in mammalian tissues, secreted by fibroblasts, one sub-type forms the basal lamina of cells. (d) Large soluble protein with several disulphide-linked chains, released into serum from rapidly proliferating cells for specialised binding activity. Time Four minutes Answers (a) tau protein, (b) transferrin, (c) collagen, (d) immuno-

globulin (IgG) Score Two points per section Comments Very few students recognised IgG from the description

6 What is it?

(d) A 1% w/v solution of a protein contains 1 mg protein per ml solution.

A chemically simple drug is used to treat a disorder affecting 1% of the worldwide population. It is an enzyme inhibitor with an unusual inhibitory mechanism and may work by reducing the synthesis of critical second messengers. What drug, what disorder?

Time Four minutes were allowed for each of these questions Score Two points per section; one for correct choice, one for the reason Answers l(a) reverse transcriptase. (b) ammonium sulphate. (c) Shine-

Time One minute Answers Lithium ions, manic depression Score Two points for each part

Dalgarno, (d) Amadori rearrangement; 2(a) false - - autosomal gene coding for haemoglobin. (b) true, (c) false because N does not increase specificity of sequence. (d) false Comments Good attempts made by most students

7 Odd one out

BIOCHEMICAL

EDUCATION

22(1) 1994

Which is the odd one out in each set, and why?

21 (a) 5-OH tryptamine: ~-amino butyrate: acetyl choline: adrenalin: histamine

Biochemical Education in Leisure*

(b) inositol 1,4-bisphosphate: inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate: inositoi 1,3,4,5,-tetrakisphosphate: diacyglycerol: cyclic AMP

Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh-202002 (UP), India

(c) colour blindness: haemophilia: Huntington's chorea: Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Introduction The traditional and general form of teaching in almost all educational institutions is lecturing. The main objective is to prepare graduates who will be able to function as scientists or teachers or investigators. Teachers and learners are the two main components in teaching in which teacher must be an active participant whereas learner may play a passive role. A major drawback may be the lack of active learning by the students. Even after exploiting the use of brain-storming and other techniques, active learning is difficult to achieve. Educational playing cards is one approach where the learners can be encouraged to be active learners whilst playing games. Alternatively, biochemical comic books can be written, based on biochemical stories.

(d) keratin: vimentin: lamin: tubulin: desmin Time Four minutes Answers (a) acetyl choline (not synthesised from amino acid), (b)

inositol 1,4-bisphosphate (not a second messenger), (c) Huntington's chorea (not X-linked recessive), (d) tubulin (makes microtubules, not intermediate filaments) Score Three points per section, if reasons given; otherwise one point Comments Good attempts made by the majority of students

8 'Genetic puzzle' Yeast cell proliferation is inhibited by addition of a protein toxin made by Kluyveromyces lactis to the growth medium. A number of yeast genes which cause resistance to the K lactis toxin have been identified. Below is shown the growth of these strains when they have been transformed with a construct in which the toxin gene is expressed from the galactose-inducible GAL promoter. What single important conclusion can be deduced from these data?

Mutant gene

Growth on G A L A CTOSE

Growth on GLUCOSE

ktil kti2 kti3 kti4 kti6 kti7 kti8

yes no yes no yes no no

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

Time 5 minutes Answers and scores There are two types of resistant strain (2 points):

those strains that die when the toxin gene is induced by galactose must normally be resistant because the toxin cannot enter the cells to attack the target; other strains have mutant or missing target (4 points) C o m m e n t Few students made a good attempt at this question

'9 Name the molecule

SAAD TAYYAB

Educational playing cards There are two sets of cards; one showing structures of biomolecules and the other having the corresponding names (see Figure 1). Cards bearing structures are allotted marks and the allotment of marks is based on the complexity of the structure of the biomolecule. A total of 52 cards (showing both structures and names) have been prepared for Amino Acids and Proteins. (Copies of these may be had by writing directly to the author). The other side of all the cards is indistinguishable. How to play: Rules

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)

(10) Time one minute A n s w e r and score Tetraiodothyronine, T4 (4 points); Thyroxine (3

points); Thyroid hormone (2 points); a hormone, an amino acid (1 point) Comments No score for those who thought it was a cross-linking reagent!

BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 22(1) 1994

(11)

A maximum of four persons can play. Shuffle the stack of cards before play. Distribute an equal number of cards among all players, except one, who will be given an extra card. Keep the remaining stack aside. Each player has to make correct pairs of a structure and its corresponding name. Now, at this step, the player having an extra card has to throw away one card not of his choice. The next one can either take the same card or pick up one from the stack to make a suitable match. Steps (6) and (7) are repeated unless one has all matched pairs. The game ends when the player having all matched pairs makes a show after throwing away the extra card. Then all other players have to show their cards and the marks of unmatched cards are noted with a negative sign against person's name. Finally, grading will be done according to the total

*This paper was presented at the 6th FAOB Congress held in Shanghai, China, November 16-21, 1992