- Email: [email protected]
Biochemical Institutes
12
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION
A u t u m n 1972
NUMERICALPROBLEMSIN THE TEACHING OF BIOCHEMISTRY complicated B I O C H E M I S T R Y (continued from page 8} logical reasoning. Therefore it is often necessary to include the aims of the experiment either implicitly in the data or in a short introduction to the question. Although in this Department quantitative questions in the examinations are used as a "carrot" (or "stick") to encourage students to attempt numerical examples throughout the year there may be differences between the ideal examination question and that which is most suitable for teaching purposes. Data handling problems which simply involve manipulating numbers have little value in either teaching or assessing students. It is essential to devise problems which require students to reason logically, to assess the significance of their interpretation and if necessary to comment on the limitations of the experimental approach used. If the question is to be used for examination purposes, it must obviously be capable of indicating the relative abilities of the students and the simplest way of achieving this is for the question to be divisible into several separable but related problems of graded difficulty. In a "teaching" question the interpretation of the data can be considerably more
BIOCHEMICAL INSTITUTES A series of articles is being published in the International Journal of Biochemistry on various Departments and Institutes of Biochemistry and the work in progress there. The first article
BOOK REVIEWS
i
Lipid Biochemistry: An Introduction. By M.I. Gurr & A.T. James. pp. 231. Chapman and Hall Ltd., London. Paperback, £2.50. The authors of this book can be well-satisfied. One of their avowed aims in writing it was to produce a text on lipid biochemistry which students And teachers would profit by and also take some pleasure in reading. In this they have been eminently successful, providing as they do a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the whole subject in a compact and attractive format. The expert may quarrel with some of the interpretations of his work and the treatment of the various topics is somewhat uneven: as the authors say, their own interests can be detected. However, this is no great drawback and though most students may not see the need to purchase a book on such a specialized topic for themselves, it is without doubt one that should be in their university and departmental libraries. Moreover, it will certainly be an extremely useful text for the busy university teacher, faced with a lecture course in a subject in which he is no expert. What of the other main aim of the authors: that of hopefully influencing some students towards research in the area of lipid biochemistry? To what extent, in other words, do the authors convey their enthusiasm for their subject to their readers? Personally, despite the lighter-than-average "tone", I did not find the book particularly successful in this respect. Nevertheless I hope I am wrong: because, of course, the authors are quite correct and lipid biochemistry is a fascinating field to be in at the present time. D.S. Robinson
and the students should be encouraged to discuss the problem among themselves and to look in textbooks for possible parallel examples. For both assessment and instruction there are considerable educational advantages in designing "open-ended" questions. Thus for example a question on sequence determination would yield more than one possible solution and the student be asked to suggest further experiments to distinguish between the various possibilities. Data handling questions should be designed not only to encourage students to reason clearly and logically but also to emphasize the more mundane but essential aspects of experimental work. These will include the ability to deal with dimensions for example to differentiate between moles and Molar, to prepare standard curves and calculate simple dilutions. These seemingly trivial aspects are of prime importance to any experimental scientist and it is possible to incorporate these vital but unexciting manipulations into questions with interesting implications. It is hoped that the use of data handling questions not only teaches students to think about the interpretation of experimental data but also gives them some insight into the approaches and reasoning used in the practice of biochemical research.
(1972, 3, 125-137) is about biochemistry at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw, and is by Barbara Grzelakowska-Sztababert, a senior worker in the Department of Cellular Biochemistry. The Editor, Professor Gerald Kerkut, tells us that other articles are in the press or in" preparation and will deal with biochemistry in Hungary, Beirut and Finland and maybe in other places too.
Stereochemistry and its Application in Biochemistry By William L. Alcock. pp. 311. Wiley Interscience, New York. £7.25. The scope of this text is accurately described by its sub-title "The Relation between Substrate Symmetry and Biological Specifity." Thus it does not cover such topics as symmetry considerations in polynucleotide structure; indeed, the author's limitation of his descriptions to the Schoenflies notation effectively precludes discussion of any crystallographic data. His apology for writing on substrate symmetry is amply justified by two astonishing quotations from very highly regarded biochemistry text-books. In both extracts, the authors are discussing the Ogston effect, the classical example of an enantiotropic substrate. Both texts state or imply that citric acid is a "completely symmetrical molecule." One goes further in its discussion of succinate. The symmetry properties of succinate are ignored and the remarkable inference is drawn that the "explanation" for the lack of a n enantiotxopic effect tn the sueeinate dehydrogenase reaction must be due to this substrate binding to the enzyme through only two points of attachment! Obviously biochemists (including very distinguished ones) need to be taught the elements of molecular symmetry. From his lucid exposition and witty style there is no doubt that Dr. Alcock is the ideal teacher. The question raised by his book is, how do you undertake such a task without over-playing your hand? Although the Preface implies that the book is aimed at introductory biochemistry students, at £7.25 it is unlikely many would purchase a copy. The first 90 pages constitute an introductory description of conf'tgurational conventions. The next 90 pages cover the major examples of enantiotropic reactions in elementary biochemistry. The discussion of chymotrypsin is especially well done.
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION
A u t u m n 1972
NUMERICALPROBLEMSIN THE TEACHING OF BIOCHEMISTRY complicated B I O C H E M I S T R Y (continued from page 8} logical reasoning. Therefore it is often necessary to include the aims of the experiment either implicitly in the data or in a short introduction to the question. Although in this Department quantitative questions in the examinations are used as a "carrot" (or "stick") to encourage students to attempt numerical examples throughout the year there may be differences between the ideal examination question and that which is most suitable for teaching purposes. Data handling problems which simply involve manipulating numbers have little value in either teaching or assessing students. It is essential to devise problems which require students to reason logically, to assess the significance of their interpretation and if necessary to comment on the limitations of the experimental approach used. If the question is to be used for examination purposes, it must obviously be capable of indicating the relative abilities of the students and the simplest way of achieving this is for the question to be divisible into several separable but related problems of graded difficulty. In a "teaching" question the interpretation of the data can be considerably more
BIOCHEMICAL INSTITUTES A series of articles is being published in the International Journal of Biochemistry on various Departments and Institutes of Biochemistry and the work in progress there. The first article
BOOK REVIEWS
i
Lipid Biochemistry: An Introduction. By M.I. Gurr & A.T. James. pp. 231. Chapman and Hall Ltd., London. Paperback, £2.50. The authors of this book can be well-satisfied. One of their avowed aims in writing it was to produce a text on lipid biochemistry which students And teachers would profit by and also take some pleasure in reading. In this they have been eminently successful, providing as they do a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the whole subject in a compact and attractive format. The expert may quarrel with some of the interpretations of his work and the treatment of the various topics is somewhat uneven: as the authors say, their own interests can be detected. However, this is no great drawback and though most students may not see the need to purchase a book on such a specialized topic for themselves, it is without doubt one that should be in their university and departmental libraries. Moreover, it will certainly be an extremely useful text for the busy university teacher, faced with a lecture course in a subject in which he is no expert. What of the other main aim of the authors: that of hopefully influencing some students towards research in the area of lipid biochemistry? To what extent, in other words, do the authors convey their enthusiasm for their subject to their readers? Personally, despite the lighter-than-average "tone", I did not find the book particularly successful in this respect. Nevertheless I hope I am wrong: because, of course, the authors are quite correct and lipid biochemistry is a fascinating field to be in at the present time. D.S. Robinson
and the students should be encouraged to discuss the problem among themselves and to look in textbooks for possible parallel examples. For both assessment and instruction there are considerable educational advantages in designing "open-ended" questions. Thus for example a question on sequence determination would yield more than one possible solution and the student be asked to suggest further experiments to distinguish between the various possibilities. Data handling questions should be designed not only to encourage students to reason clearly and logically but also to emphasize the more mundane but essential aspects of experimental work. These will include the ability to deal with dimensions for example to differentiate between moles and Molar, to prepare standard curves and calculate simple dilutions. These seemingly trivial aspects are of prime importance to any experimental scientist and it is possible to incorporate these vital but unexciting manipulations into questions with interesting implications. It is hoped that the use of data handling questions not only teaches students to think about the interpretation of experimental data but also gives them some insight into the approaches and reasoning used in the practice of biochemical research.
(1972, 3, 125-137) is about biochemistry at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw, and is by Barbara Grzelakowska-Sztababert, a senior worker in the Department of Cellular Biochemistry. The Editor, Professor Gerald Kerkut, tells us that other articles are in the press or in" preparation and will deal with biochemistry in Hungary, Beirut and Finland and maybe in other places too.
Stereochemistry and its Application in Biochemistry By William L. Alcock. pp. 311. Wiley Interscience, New York. £7.25. The scope of this text is accurately described by its sub-title "The Relation between Substrate Symmetry and Biological Specifity." Thus it does not cover such topics as symmetry considerations in polynucleotide structure; indeed, the author's limitation of his descriptions to the Schoenflies notation effectively precludes discussion of any crystallographic data. His apology for writing on substrate symmetry is amply justified by two astonishing quotations from very highly regarded biochemistry text-books. In both extracts, the authors are discussing the Ogston effect, the classical example of an enantiotropic substrate. Both texts state or imply that citric acid is a "completely symmetrical molecule." One goes further in its discussion of succinate. The symmetry properties of succinate are ignored and the remarkable inference is drawn that the "explanation" for the lack of a n enantiotxopic effect tn the sueeinate dehydrogenase reaction must be due to this substrate binding to the enzyme through only two points of attachment! Obviously biochemists (including very distinguished ones) need to be taught the elements of molecular symmetry. From his lucid exposition and witty style there is no doubt that Dr. Alcock is the ideal teacher. The question raised by his book is, how do you undertake such a task without over-playing your hand? Although the Preface implies that the book is aimed at introductory biochemistry students, at £7.25 it is unlikely many would purchase a copy. The first 90 pages constitute an introductory description of conf'tgurational conventions. The next 90 pages cover the major examples of enantiotropic reactions in elementary biochemistry. The discussion of chymotrypsin is especially well done.