Articles

AMPc - Intracellular signaling: an educational software

Daniela K. Yokaichiya; Leonardo F. Fraceto; Márcio A. Miranda; Eduardo Galembeck; Bayardo B. Torres Published by Química Nova (ISSN: 0100-4042), June 2004

Chemicals binding to membrane receptors may induce events within the cell changing its behavior. Since these events are simultaneous and hard to be understood by students, we developed a computational model to dynamically and visually explore the cAMP signaling system to facilitate its understanding. The animation is shown in parts, from the hormone-receptor binding to the cellular response. There are some questions to be answered after using the model. The software was field-tested and an evaluation questionnaire (concerning usability, animations, models, and the software as an educational tool) was answered by the students, showing the software to be a valuable aid for content comprehension.

Full article Related work

Adapting a biochemistry course to distance education

Daniela K. Yokaichiya, Eduardo Galembeck and Bayardo B. Torres Published by Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education (ISSN:1539-3429), January 2004

Internet-based distance education seems to be an attractive alternative to offer courses dealing with specific topics that are not conveniently explored in undergraduate courses. This is a good way to provide access to the recent and updated discoveries in this research area and to reach people who could not take the classes in the traditional mode. Using the communication advantages available via the Internet, we adapted the course “Biochemistry of Nutrition,” first offered as a summer course to be entirely carried out at distance. The adaptation explored the use of online tools such as E-mail communication among students and teachers, computer conferencing in small groups to discuss specific subjects, and texts and software downloads to be used as main references. Graduate students had their first real experience as teachers, which proved to be very productive for both the development of the Internet version of the course and their integration with undergraduate students.

Full article Related work

O QUE ALUNOS DE DIFERENTES CURSOS PROCURAM EM DISCIPLINAS EXTRACURRICULARES DE BIOQUÍMICA

Daniela K. Yokaichiya, Eduardo Galembeck, Bayardo Baptista Torres Published by Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular (ISSN: 1677-2318), June 2004

The rigorous selection of contents to be included in a Biochemistry course both attends the interest of each specific undergraduation course and excludes many subjects of general interest. The great number of enrollment in non-obligatory courses dealing with subjects not deeply treated in most introductory Biochemistry course suggests the concern of the students in improving their knowledge in the field [1]. During the Biochemistry of Nutrition distance education course in 2000 and 2003, we collected studentsreports about their interest on the course and their satisfaction with the developed activities. For this purpose we made several courses evaluation (during and at the end of each course). The detailed analysis of these data let us to verify studentsexpectations related to the Biochemistry contents according to their graduate courses. From this analysis, it was possible to conclude that even though students from different courses have specific interests in biochemistry contents, the aspect that promoted more satisfaction in Biochemistry of Nutrition distance education course was the participantsinteraction and the exchange of information even superficially considered among students with different knowledge background. Nevertheless, courses about specific contents should be offered to a more restrict public, with restrictive pre-requisite so that deepening discussions can be held

Full article Related work

LTE 2024 - Educational Technology Lab - IB - UNICAMP