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The Future of Science Education
96
Monitor CHARLES F A BRYCE Department o f Biological Sciences Napier College o f Technology, Edinburgh, Scotland Adams, K A H, Storer, A C and Cornish-Bowden, A Enzyme Kinetics Calculations -- The Direct Linear Plot Procedure. J Chemical Education, 61,527 (1984) The authors describe a computer program in BASIC for the Commodore PET microcomputer capable of fitting experimental data to the Michaelis-Menten equation according to the direct linear plotting procedure of Eisenthal and Cornish-Bowden. The user is prompted to input [S] and v pairs followed by the units of concentration and velocity. The program calculates and prints the median values of Km and Vma x with associated units and provides the option for the user to plot v against [S] on the screen. The striking advantage in the use of this procedure in student experiments is that one very bad experimental point has little effect in determining the median whereas it can have a marked effect on a least squares calculation. The program is available from the address below as hard copy, cassette tape or PET 4040 diskette at a cost of $4, $15 or $25 respectively or as a PET 8050 diskette for $4 from project S E R A P H I M (address supplied in the article). The program requires only minor alterations to allow it to be run on other microcomputers. [Department of Chemistry, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada E0A 3CO]
Frazer, M .The Future of Science Education. ICI Science Teachers' Magazine, Issue 3, 12-13 (1985) Although Professor Frazer specifically concentrates on secondary school science education in this article, and adaptation of his Presidential Address to the British Association, he does relate this en passant to science education at primary level and higher education. The major thrust is that teachers at all levels of education should aim for a better balance between academic content and the development of scientific skills and attitudes. He argues that it is very much better to provide students with opportunities to develop skills of communication, finding out from existing sources of information, working in a team, identifying, defining and solving problems, rather than expecting them to remember a large amount of factual material. To achieve this he favours a problem-solving approach whilst accepting that this puts the onus on the teacher to develop meaningful and relevant problems, a process which can be very time-consuming. For this reason, he argues that provision for the teacher should be made in terms of adequate time allowance, staff development and in-service courses and adequate funding for such developments. The author also discusses the advantages of well-designed practical schedules and suggests that, if this takes time, a few experiments done well are of much greater educational benefit than many which do not work. [School of Chemical Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK]
Holladay, L A Estimation of the Denaturation Equilibrium Constant for Ribonuclease. J Chemical Education, 61, 10261027 (1984) This simple and inexpensive laboratory exercise allows the student to study the ability of a denaturant to unfold a protein and to demonstrate directly that denaturation is rapidly reversible upon dilution. Also, the use of difference spectroscopy as a probe for the denatured state illustrates environmental
B I O C H E M I C A L E D U C A T I O N 13(2) 1985
effects on the absorption spectrum of a chromophore. A series of nine test tubes is set up each containing 1 mg ribonuclease and a varying amount of 8M guanidinium chloride to give a final concentration of denaturant, [D], in the range 0-6.4M. A tenth tube was composed of a sample of RNAse which had been denatured in 3.2M guanidinium chloride then diluted to give a final concentration of denaturant of 1.6M. The experimental data were first plotted as A287nm versus denaturant concentration to determine, by extrapolation, the extent of solvent perturbation effects during pre- and post-denaturation. In this way, denaturation constants (Kd) could be evaluated at each [D] and a plot of In Kj versus [D] yielded the denaturant equilibrium constant in buffer. Whilst there was a considerable degree of variation in estimates by the student groups, about half of the class obtained estimates within the range of literature values. [Department of Biochemistry, Louisiana Tech Ruston, L A 71272, USA]
Palmer C University
University,
Teachers: The Necessity of Training.
Chemistry in Britain, 21, 155 plus 161 (1985) This short article focuses attention on the teachers' roles in the universities' continuing major commitment to teaching. The viewpoint is that it is possible to learn to teach through association with experienced teachers coupled to direct on-thejob experience but the conclusion is that such an approach can perpetuate bad practice. By surveying common practice at a number of universities it would appear that there is a need and desire for such basic training although there is as yet no agreement on the nature and extent of this provision. The author concludes by identifying the skills, attitudes and knowledge that a university science teacher should possess. These included such things as the ability to select the most appropriate teachinglearning method for a specific task, the ability to communicate to various sized groups, the ability to plan and devise learning support materials, the ability to participate successfully in course team planning and to devise, implement and mark valid and reliable methods of evaluation and assessment. [Educational Services Unit, The University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK] Rasmussen, M Computer-Assisted Learning in Chemistry: the Project. Programmed Learning and Educational Technology, 21,336-339 (1984)
ANU-CALchem
The author describes the background to the requirement for a computer-based tutorial scheme in his University and then goes on to discuss the early development and implementation of such a system. Hardware selection and the principal sources of essential software are outlined prior to a description of their present-day C A L provision which comprises of some 50 individual programs grouped into 15 subject-based program suites. As a result of a 'consumer' test, the author identified 28 desirable features which he considers under the four headings: 'accentuate the positive', 'user-friendly features', qnterest enhancement' and 'goof-proofing'. Such a list would serve as a very useful checklist for program authors in a wide variety of disciplines. For the present application, the record keeping for these materials was designed to identify student usage patterns rather than diagnosing areas of specific or general student difficulty. Lastly, the author outlines the way the material was evaluated both internally and by an independent university group and he concludes that C A L can function adequately as a flexible firstqine tutorial stream but needs the support of a traditional tutorial back-up to assist with specific problems and to cope with those students disaffected with the C A L approach. [Department of Chemistry, The Australian National University, Box 4 GPO, Canberra ACT, Australia 2601]
Monitor CHARLES F A BRYCE Department o f Biological Sciences Napier College o f Technology, Edinburgh, Scotland Adams, K A H, Storer, A C and Cornish-Bowden, A Enzyme Kinetics Calculations -- The Direct Linear Plot Procedure. J Chemical Education, 61,527 (1984) The authors describe a computer program in BASIC for the Commodore PET microcomputer capable of fitting experimental data to the Michaelis-Menten equation according to the direct linear plotting procedure of Eisenthal and Cornish-Bowden. The user is prompted to input [S] and v pairs followed by the units of concentration and velocity. The program calculates and prints the median values of Km and Vma x with associated units and provides the option for the user to plot v against [S] on the screen. The striking advantage in the use of this procedure in student experiments is that one very bad experimental point has little effect in determining the median whereas it can have a marked effect on a least squares calculation. The program is available from the address below as hard copy, cassette tape or PET 4040 diskette at a cost of $4, $15 or $25 respectively or as a PET 8050 diskette for $4 from project S E R A P H I M (address supplied in the article). The program requires only minor alterations to allow it to be run on other microcomputers. [Department of Chemistry, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada E0A 3CO]
Frazer, M .The Future of Science Education. ICI Science Teachers' Magazine, Issue 3, 12-13 (1985) Although Professor Frazer specifically concentrates on secondary school science education in this article, and adaptation of his Presidential Address to the British Association, he does relate this en passant to science education at primary level and higher education. The major thrust is that teachers at all levels of education should aim for a better balance between academic content and the development of scientific skills and attitudes. He argues that it is very much better to provide students with opportunities to develop skills of communication, finding out from existing sources of information, working in a team, identifying, defining and solving problems, rather than expecting them to remember a large amount of factual material. To achieve this he favours a problem-solving approach whilst accepting that this puts the onus on the teacher to develop meaningful and relevant problems, a process which can be very time-consuming. For this reason, he argues that provision for the teacher should be made in terms of adequate time allowance, staff development and in-service courses and adequate funding for such developments. The author also discusses the advantages of well-designed practical schedules and suggests that, if this takes time, a few experiments done well are of much greater educational benefit than many which do not work. [School of Chemical Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK]
Holladay, L A Estimation of the Denaturation Equilibrium Constant for Ribonuclease. J Chemical Education, 61, 10261027 (1984) This simple and inexpensive laboratory exercise allows the student to study the ability of a denaturant to unfold a protein and to demonstrate directly that denaturation is rapidly reversible upon dilution. Also, the use of difference spectroscopy as a probe for the denatured state illustrates environmental
B I O C H E M I C A L E D U C A T I O N 13(2) 1985
effects on the absorption spectrum of a chromophore. A series of nine test tubes is set up each containing 1 mg ribonuclease and a varying amount of 8M guanidinium chloride to give a final concentration of denaturant, [D], in the range 0-6.4M. A tenth tube was composed of a sample of RNAse which had been denatured in 3.2M guanidinium chloride then diluted to give a final concentration of denaturant of 1.6M. The experimental data were first plotted as A287nm versus denaturant concentration to determine, by extrapolation, the extent of solvent perturbation effects during pre- and post-denaturation. In this way, denaturation constants (Kd) could be evaluated at each [D] and a plot of In Kj versus [D] yielded the denaturant equilibrium constant in buffer. Whilst there was a considerable degree of variation in estimates by the student groups, about half of the class obtained estimates within the range of literature values. [Department of Biochemistry, Louisiana Tech Ruston, L A 71272, USA]
Palmer C University
University,
Teachers: The Necessity of Training.
Chemistry in Britain, 21, 155 plus 161 (1985) This short article focuses attention on the teachers' roles in the universities' continuing major commitment to teaching. The viewpoint is that it is possible to learn to teach through association with experienced teachers coupled to direct on-thejob experience but the conclusion is that such an approach can perpetuate bad practice. By surveying common practice at a number of universities it would appear that there is a need and desire for such basic training although there is as yet no agreement on the nature and extent of this provision. The author concludes by identifying the skills, attitudes and knowledge that a university science teacher should possess. These included such things as the ability to select the most appropriate teachinglearning method for a specific task, the ability to communicate to various sized groups, the ability to plan and devise learning support materials, the ability to participate successfully in course team planning and to devise, implement and mark valid and reliable methods of evaluation and assessment. [Educational Services Unit, The University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK] Rasmussen, M Computer-Assisted Learning in Chemistry: the Project. Programmed Learning and Educational Technology, 21,336-339 (1984)
ANU-CALchem
The author describes the background to the requirement for a computer-based tutorial scheme in his University and then goes on to discuss the early development and implementation of such a system. Hardware selection and the principal sources of essential software are outlined prior to a description of their present-day C A L provision which comprises of some 50 individual programs grouped into 15 subject-based program suites. As a result of a 'consumer' test, the author identified 28 desirable features which he considers under the four headings: 'accentuate the positive', 'user-friendly features', qnterest enhancement' and 'goof-proofing'. Such a list would serve as a very useful checklist for program authors in a wide variety of disciplines. For the present application, the record keeping for these materials was designed to identify student usage patterns rather than diagnosing areas of specific or general student difficulty. Lastly, the author outlines the way the material was evaluated both internally and by an independent university group and he concludes that C A L can function adequately as a flexible firstqine tutorial stream but needs the support of a traditional tutorial back-up to assist with specific problems and to cope with those students disaffected with the C A L approach. [Department of Chemistry, The Australian National University, Box 4 GPO, Canberra ACT, Australia 2601]