Kimberly J. Linenberger

Generating Cognitive Dissonance in Student Interviews through Multiple Representations.

This study explores what students understand about enzyme–substrate interactions, using multiple representations of the phenomenon. In this paper we describe our use of the 3 Phase-Single Interview Technique with multiple representations to generate cognitive dissonance within students in order to uncover misconceptions of enzyme–substrate interactions. Findings from 25 student interviews are interpreted through the lens of multiple theoretical frameworks, including personal constructivism and coherence formation. The importance of classroom teachers engaging students in dialogue about representations is discussed.

Development of the enzyme–substrate interactions concept inventory†

Enzyme function is central to student understanding of multiple topics within the biochemistry curriculum. In particular, students must understand how enzymes and substrates interact with one another. This manuscript describes the development of a 15‐item Enzyme–Substrate Interactions Concept Inventory (ESICI) that measures student understanding of enzyme–substrate interactions. The validity and reliability of ESICI data were established through multiple methods. Results from the administration of the ESICI to biochemistry students across the United States (N = 707) are discussed in terms of instrument quality. The manuscript concludes with suggestions for how to use the ESICI for both teaching and biochemistry education research.

Biochemistry Instructors' Views toward Developing and Assessing Visual Literacy in Their Courses

Biochemistry instructors are inundated with various representations from which to choose to depict biochemical phenomena. Because of the immense amount of visual know-how needed to be an expert biochemist in the 21st century, there have been calls for instructors to develop biochemistry students’ visual literacy. However, visual literacy has multiple aspects, and determining which area to develop can be quite daunting. Therefore, the goals of this study were to determine what visual literacy skills biochemistry instructors deem to be most important and how instructors develop and assess visual literacy skills in their biochemistry courses. In order to address these goals, a needs assessment was administered to a national sample of biochemistry faculty at four-year colleges and universities. Based on the results of the survey, a cluster analysis was conducted to group instructors into categories based on how they intended to develop visual literacy in their courses. A misalignment was found between the vis...