Ann Wright

Essential concepts and underlying theories from physics, chemistry, and mathematics for “biochemistry and molecular biology” majors

Over the past two years, through an NSF RCN UBE grant, the ASBMB has held regional workshops for faculty members from around the country. The workshops have focused on developing lists of Core Principles or Foundational Concepts in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, a list of foundational skills, and foundational concepts from Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics that all Biochemistry or Molecular Biology majors must understand to complete their major coursework. The allied fields working group created a survey to validate foundational concepts from Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics identified from participant feedback at various workshops. One‐hundred twenty participants responded to the survey and 68% of the respondents answered yes to the question: “We have identified the following as the core concepts and underlying theories from Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics that Biochemistry majors or Molecular Biology majors need to understand after they complete their major courses: 1) mechanical concepts from Physics, 2) energy and thermodynamic concepts from Physics, 3) critical concepts of structure from chemistry, 4) critical concepts of reactions from Chemistry, and 5) essential Mathematics. In your opinion, is the above list complete?” Respondents also delineated subcategories they felt should be included in these broad categories. From the results of the survey and this analysis the allied fields working group constructed a consensus list of allied fields concepts, which will help inform Biochemistry and Molecular Biology educators when considering the ASBMB recommended curriculum for Biochemistry or Molecular Biology majors and in the development of appropriate assessment tools to gauge student understanding of how these concepts relate to biochemistry and molecular biology.

The second Conceptual Assessment in the Biological Sciences workshop

A second National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop on Conceptual Assessment in Biology was held in January 2008. Reports prepared for the workshop revealed that research groups working in a variety of biological sciences are continuing to develop conceptual assessment instruments for use in the classroom. Discussions at this meeting largely focused on two issues: 1) the utility of the backwards design approach of Wiggins and McTighe (11), in which identification of learning outcomes (determining what to assess) lies at the beginning of course design; and 2) the utility of defining expected learning outcomes as the building of runable mental models (and designing conceptual assessments that would test the correctness of these mental models). A third meeting is being planned that will focus on the processes involved in writing and validating conceptual assessment instruments.

A conceptual framework for homeostasis: development and validation

We have developed and validated a conceptual framework for understanding and teaching organismal homeostasis at the undergraduate level. The resulting homeostasis conceptual framework details critical components and constituent ideas underlying the concept of homeostasis. It has been validated by a broad range of physiology faculty members from community colleges, primarily undergraduate institutions, research universities, and medical schools. In online surveys, faculty members confirmed the relevance of each item in the framework for undergraduate physiology and rated the importance and difficulty of each. The homeostasis conceptual framework was constructed as a guide for teaching and learning of this critical core concept in physiology, and it also paves the way for the development of a concept inventory for homeostasis.

Development and Validation of the Homeostasis Concept Inventory

The Homeostasis Concept Inventory (HCI) is a 20-item multiple-choice instrument that assesses how undergraduates understand homeostasis. The authors explain how they developed the HCI and collected evidence about its validity and reliability. The process included seeking feedback from students and instructors at all types of undergraduate institutions.

What Is the New Paradigm and What Is New About It

With the publication of Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions in 1962, the term “paradigm” took on several specialized meanings. It is our contention that the changes to physiology education that we are recommending constitute a new paradigm in the Kuhnian sense.

What Are the Core Concepts of Physiology

What are the core concepts of physiology? Michael et al. (Adv Physiol Educ 33:10–16, 2009) defined nine core concepts in physiology. As a result of surveying physiology faculty at a wide variety of institutions in the USA and elsewhere, Michael and McFarland (Adv Physiol Educ 35:336–341, 2011) expanded this list to a set of 15 core concepts for physiology.

The “Unpacked” Core Concept of Homeostasis

We define homeostasis to be the maintenance of a constant internal environment by active functioning of cells, tissues, and organs organized into a negative feedback system.

Core Concepts and the Physiology Curriculum

We begin by defining what we mean by a “curriculum” and describing the critical features of a curriculum. We next describe the enormous diversity of students and programs in physiology and how the curricula reflect this diversity. We then propose how each of the three core concepts we have detailed can be sequenced through the courses that make up a curriculum. Finally, we consider how to assess student mastery of the core concepts across the courses that make up the curriculum.

Organizing an Introductory Physiology Course Based on Core Concepts

We begin by defining a typical sequence of topics that make up an introductory physiology course. We then describe how one might introduce students in the course to the core concepts and general models. We then discuss how to revisit the core concepts as they occur in the physiology being learned. What is essential is the use of consistent terminology and visual representations of the core concepts. It is also essential that the learning objectives (the definition of what is required for student mastery) include the recognition and use of the core concepts. We end with a discussion of the time constraints that are associated with every course while at the same time adding an emphasis on the core concepts.

The “Unpacked” Core Concept of Flow Down Gradients

The core concept of flow down gradients is also a general model of how things, whether animate or inanimate, move in the physical world.