Construction
of concept maps as tool for Biochemistry learning
Silvia
Lopes de Menezes, Erik Montagna, Juliano Rodrigo Guerreiro,
Bayardo B. Torres
Departamento
de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, USP, C.P. 26077,
05508-900, São Paulo, SP.
The
use of concept maps on the teaching of sciences has been object of
worldwide research with different purposes: to detect the previous
knowledge of the students on certain topics or to evaluate learning,
among others. Based on Ausubel´s cognitive psychology, concept
maps assume that the learning is accomplished by assimilation of new
concepts and propositions to the students´ cognitive structure,
contributing to establish links between the previous and new
knowledge. It is especially interesting on the approach of
interdisciplinary issues, as many studied in Biochemistry.
The
relevance of the use of concept maps on biochemistry learning was
evaluated on a thirty-hour undergraduation optional course, with
interdisciplinary topics, which are not usually included on
introductory Biochemistry courses. The course Biochemistry of
Animal Venoms was structured in seven module where the
biochemical action mechanisms of the venoms of Crotalus sp (south
american rattlesnake), Bothrops sp (jararaca), Loxosceles
sp (brown spider), Tityus sp (yellow scorpion),
Phoneutria sp (armed spider), Apis mellifera
(honey bee) and Latrodectus sp (black widow) were
discussed. The students worked in small groups and, at each
module, there were (1) an oriented study, guided by questions, texts
and schemes, supervised by the teachers, (2) the construction of
individual concept maps, where the local and systemic effects of the
venoms should be predicted by their biochemical composition and (3)
the construction of a new map by the group, incorporating the
information of the individual maps. The difficulty level of these
tasks was gradually increased throughout the course, with lesser time
to carry out the tasks, lesser assistance during the oriented study
and even lesser information on the venom effects.
The
course assessment was given by the number, quality and correction of
the concepts relationship present in the concept maps, through a
questionnaire and by the teachers’ observation. The concept maps
produced exceeded the expectation, being gradually more complex at
each module. The answers to the questionnaire, in a 1 to 5 scale,
showed that the course answered the students’ expectations (4,3),
that the topics chosen were satisfactory (4,4) and that the students
recommend the course to colleagues (4,6). Besides, the majority
agreed that the concept maps improved the learning of the course
content (4,5) and that this methodology should be adopted in other
courses and disciplines.
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