"They want to find out if students are understanding, rather than just hoping they understand."

-workshop student

Examples of Concept Activities

Protein synthesis:

Understanding the way in which genes control the appearance and functioning of an organisms through the creation of proteins is one of the most important and most difficult tasks a biology students faces. We have found modeling to be an effective teaching tool for complex, abstract concepts like protein synthesis. Students use a variety of "building blocks" (pop-beads, styrofoam shapes, pipe cleaners, etc.) to construct their own models of protein synthesis. We do not tell them how to build their models, however; each group of students must decide for themselves which elements in the process to represent and how to represent them. We ask students to build models which could be used to teach their classmates about protein synthesis, and which they can use to persuade us that they understand the process. We also ask each group to consider the strengths and limitations of their model and models in general.

This activity, and other labs focused on genetics, have significantly improved workshop students' understanding of these concepts. One of our instructors is currently preparing a paper on the effectiveness of various protein synthesis activities.

Heart Exploration:

A key concept lab we use in winter term is a "heart exploration." In no other lab has the difference between the methods of the traditional class and the workshop class been so evident. Students in both labs dissected hearts (sheep hearts in the workshop and pig hearts in the traditional class) in order to learn about their structure and function, but the design of the two labs made for very different experiences.

The traditional labs followed the pattern of most anatomy labs: the instructor began by showing diagrams of the heart, labeling the major structures with their anatomical names, and instructing the students in how they should proceed with the dissection and what they should expect to observe. The focus was on identifying and naming parts (a practice which, incidentally, involved a large amount of new terminology). The students then proceeded to follow the instructions and perform a detailed dissection.

In the workshop, we began with the idea that identifying parts is secondary to understanding how the form of the heart relates to its function. Our students began their dissections with no terms, no diagrams, and no directions, save to make careful observations of how the heart was structured. They were encouraged to formalize their observations with drawings and descriptions. Several leading questions on their handout asked them to infer the function of the different areas of the heart, and the path of blood flow. The idea of "double-loop" blood flow was unfamiliar to most students, and has been shown to be a source of misconceptions (Arnaudin & Mintzes, 1985) but they were able to infer this process from their observations. We introduced terminology only as it facilitated discussion about the different parts. Students thus not only gained a good understanding of form and function of the heart, but also began the term with some experience in making observations and inferences. Some students felt uncomfortable going in "cold," with no prior knowledge of heart structure, but most felt it was a valuable learning experience; in fact, last winter term it was the highest-ranked course activity of any kind. Again, their conceptual understanding proved to be much higher than that of the traditional students.