Hints for Lectures

40

Monitor CHARLES F A BRYCE Department of Molecular and Life Sciences Dundee College of Technology Dundee, Scotland A d a m s o n , I, An Appraisal of a New Undergraduate Biochemistry Research Project, J Chemical Education 57, 180 (1980) The author outlines a scheme in which part of the allocated biochemistry research project time is replaced by a pre-project set of experiments from which the students gain further experience in literature searches, extracting experimental protocols, generating data and interpreting results. A list of suggested experiments together with their appropriate original reference is included. [Department of Biochemistry, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria[

Hargreaves, M K, Hints for Lecturers, Chemistry in Britain 16, 552-555 (1980) This paper suggests ways in which the quality of oral presentations at lectures and conferences can be improved by the implementation of a set of guidelines. These guidelines include advice on the maximum amount of material, both visual and textual, that should be included in a single slide, the way this material should be presented (ie typesize, typeface, projection time, use ofcolour, slide format, etc), the optimal screen size for a particular lecture theatre, the use and production of overhead projector transparencies, the use of cine projectors and of the blackboard. Also included is a checklist of seventeen items designed for use by the organizers of meetings and conferences and a parallel checklist for lecturers containing fourteen items which warrant their consideration. [Department of Chemistry, Nort East London Polytechnic, London El5 4LZ, UK]

P i n n i c k , H R, Michaelis-Menten Enzyme Kinetics, Quantum Chemistry Program Exchange 12, 384 (1980) This computer program and associated documentation is a new addition to the Quantum Chemistry Program Exchange scheme (QCPE). The program is written to deal with those enzymes which conform to Michaelis-Menten kinetic theory. The experimental data is processed using either the Lineweaver-Burk, the Eadie-Hofstee or the Woolf linear transformation procedures, the choice being that of the user. In addition, the program which is written in FORTRAN IV will handle the kinetic data derived in the presence of an enzyme inhibitor (competitive, non-competitive, uncompetitive). Charges for the program, documentation, handling and postage together with details of membership of the scheme are available from the organizers. [QCPE, Chemistry Department, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47401, USA]

Rickards, J P, Notetaking, Underlining, Inserted Questions, and Organizers in Text: Research Conclusions and Educational Implications, Education Technology 20, 5-10 (1980) The author has reviewed the educational research findings on the subject of facilitating the reading of text, and has concentrated on two common methods used by students, notetaking and underlining, and two methods employed by the teacher, inserted questions and organizers. The research findings with regards to benefits that can be accrued from taking notes suggest that (i) the mere act of taking notes helps the individual encode and organize this material (the encoding hypothesis) and (ii) the primary benefit is derived from the opportunity to review these notes at a later date (external storage hypothesis). One factor which seems to influence the quality of a student's notes is the test mode expectancy, that is, the findings show that if the student expects an essay type test then his/her notes contain higher level, more conceptual material than if he/she were expecting an objective test type paper in which case the notes have more emphasis on specific details. BIOCHEMICAL

EDUCATION

9(1)

1981

As far as underlining (or highlighting) is concerned it appears that students should be encouraged to underline what they feel is important in their notes as this helps overall comprehension. On the other hand, unrestricted underlining has been shown to be of no benefit to the student and so they use this strategy in a limited way. It is, however, not possible to suggest an optimal amount of underlining since this will clearly be dependent on the information density and the number of lines and words on the page. Although the teachers can also use underlining as an aid to facilitate reading and recall, the present article concentrates on two alternative tactics that the teacher can employ. The first of these is the use of inserted or adjunct questions. The research findings on adjunct questions indicated that an important factor in their use was the placement with respect to the associated text and these typically were before the relevant text or immediately after the relevant text (adjunct prequestions and adjunct postquestions respectively). In general, the adjunct postquestion was the most beneficial but if a high level of processing (mental or physical) is demanded then adjunct prequestions appear to be more effective. The second strategy that can be employed by the teacher is the use of advance, comparative and expository organizers. In this approach, the student is provided with a general, abstract conceptual framework before being given a lower level set of information. In this way it is considered to be easier to assimilate the new material into the pre-existing cognitive structure. [Department of Educational Psychology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA]

Trader, M C, A Checklist for Teaching to an Objective, Educational Technology 20, 36-40 (1980) In order to plan, implement and evaluate learning-objectives in a meaningful and systematic way, the author has constructed a detailed checklist which will be of value to those lectures involved in this aspect of teaching practice. The checklist includes, for example, issues like the optimal sequence for teaching a specific objective, the criteria for mastery, the length of time required for instruction, media or methods to be employed, the evaluation and scoring procedure to be used and feedback from implementation, where each consideration is presented as a specific question in tabular form. [Maryland State Department of Education, Baltimore, Maryland, USA]

Wood, P, Glutamine Synthetase: an Enzyme Suited to Many Levels of Post-school Student Practical Work, J Biological Education 14, 153-162 (1980) This paper provides detailed descriptions of practical exercises relating to glutamine synthetase. For each experiment there is a useful step-by-step account of the methodology employed including details of assay conditions and procedures, the composition of buffers, reagents, growth media, etc. Typical results obtained by students are included and these, together with comments on possible extensions of the work, are discussed in the light of possible sources of experimental error, possible improvements in experimental design and comparison with published work on enzymes from other cellular sources. The organism chosen for this study, is the photosynthetic marine bacterium, Beneckea natriegens, because of the ease and speed of its growth and because it has an active and stable glutamine synthetase. The experiments include a study of the influence of growth medium on the resultant enzyme level, a comparative study on the effectiveness of different modes of cell disruption during enzyme isolation, an enzyme-purification scheme involving centrifugation, streptomycin and ammonium sulphate precipitations, column chromatography (gel permeation and ion-exchange) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and finally a kinetic study on the inhibition of the enzyme by a variety of its metabolites in order to illustrate cumulative inhibition. The experiments would occupy six three-hour laboratory periods but individual experiments can be selected to illustrate particular techniques or concepts. At various points within the article, suggestions are given as to the format for student reports and for discussion points that can be raised with the student in an effort to consolidate both their theoretical knowledge and their practical skills. [Department of Biology, Sunderland Polytechnic, Sunderland SRI 3SD, UK1