Meeting Abstract

P2.62  Sunday, Jan. 5 15:30  Use of Modeling as a Pedagogical Tool in an Undergraduate Biology Teaching Laboratory WHITWORTH, K; RAKES, C; LEUPEN, S*; BUSTOS, M; University of Maryland Baltimore County; University of Maryland Baltimore County; University of Maryland Baltimore County; University of Maryland Baltimore County leupen@umbc.edu

Biology students tend to have an overly contextualized understanding of learned concepts, having difficulty applying those concepts to new systems. Further, they have difficulty understanding how quantitative models apply to biological systems. Our objective was to use rigorous, quantitative computer simulations as tools to teach biological concepts and improve quantitative literacy. We developed stochastic modeling laboratory supplements for two enzyme experiments performed in our introductory experimental biology laboratory class and designed a study to examine the efficacy of the simulation in enhancing student learning. In the control group, students collected all data through the traditional hands-on laboratory procedures. In the treatment group, students explored the model outcomes instead of doing the traditional hands-on laboratory procedures. In Week 1, course sections were randomly assigned to the treatment or control conditions. In Week 2, treatment and control sections were switched. We found that the use of computer simulated experiments for either enzyme lab neither enhanced nor detracted from student understanding of enzyme kinetics. Students who used simulations changed their views of the use of simulations and modeling in teaching labs, and teaching assistants were more enthusiastic about the simulations than about the standard wet labs. In conclusion, exposure of students in an introductory teaching lab to modeling techniques that partially replace hands-on laboratory procedures increases student and teaching assistant engagement without harming conceptual understanding of enzyme physiology.