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Vol. XIX, Nº 1, 2007
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WEB PAGES AND MULTIMEDIA AS A TOOL
FOR BIOCHEMISTRY INSTRUCTION
Angel He áez
Depa amen o de Bioquímica y Biología Molecula , Uni e sidad de Alcalá
Abs ac
Nowadays he use ulness o aking ad an age o mul imedia ma e ials as a suppo ool in eaching
is well es ablished. Fo una ely, he means o access hese esou ces a e inc easingly a ailable. This
app oach becomes pa icula ly use ul in he li e sciences a ea, whe e pe cep ion o h ee-dimensional
ea u es o biomolecule s uc u e and in e ac ions is c ucial, as well as o he dynamic na u e o all
p ocesses ha ake place in li ing beings.
In his communica ion, we will p esen expe iences on he use o di e se ma e ials as a suppo o
eaching in he class oom and, likewise, as a ool o assis he s uden in his/he pe sonal s udy and lea ning
p ocess.
The de elopmen and use o hese ma e ials a e s uc u ed h ough he web page o ma , since his
o e s a se ies o ea u es ideally sui ed as “uni e sal con en con aine ”: a single en i onmen is p o ided
o di e en ypes o ma e ials: ex , images, anima ed diag ams, mo ies, sound, molecula models,
exe cises, sel -assessmen , in e ac i e con en .; e e y hing is handled wi h a so wa e amilia o he use ,
a ailable easily and a no cos ; he same ma e ial se es as suppo ool o he eache du ing lec u es
and as a s udy esou ce o he s uden s; i can be made a ailable unde mul iple se ings: in he class oom,
in he labo a o y, in he s uden ’s pe sonal compu e , on he ha d disk, on CD-ROM, h ough a local
ne wo k, h ough in e ne , e c.; i allows easy upda e o con en s, as o en as needed.
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In oduc ion
In he mode n iew o he eaching p ac ice, he
ole o a eache is o en desc ibed as a “ acili a o ”
in he s uden ’s pe sonal p ocess o lea ning. As such,
one o his/he esponsibili ies is o ake ad an age o
wha e e ools become a ailable o assis ha p ocess.
E e ybody knows examples o such an adop ion o
new ways o suppo eaching, e.g. om he use o
blackboa d and chalk, o o e head anspa encies o
slides, o ideo playe s and compu e display p ojec o s.
Equally acknowledged a e he so wa e acili ies,
mainly he widely used sc een-p ojec ed p esen a ions
using Mic oso Powe Poin o simila slide-show
p og ams. In his same con ex , we wan o b ing in o
a en ion he web pages, which may be less commonly
ecognized and used. This o ma o e s se e al
no able ad an ages ha will be discussed he e,
p ominen ly he abili y o in e ac i e con en . This is
use ul o he commonly ad oca ed swi ch om
unidi ec ional, eache -d i en p esen a ion o a s uden -
cen e ed, pe sonal lea ning expe ience, al hough
designed and o ien ed by he ins uc o . Con a y o
wha may be a common pe cep ion, using he web
page o ma does no equi e he use o in e ne and
does no mean o build a dis ance-lea ning en i onmen ,
bu can e ec i ely be used as a complemen o
lec u es and p esen ial eaching.
Ma e ials and me hods
Fo he au ho ( he ins uc o himsel o assis an s,
i a ailable): The main need is a web page edi o
so wa e. This may ange om he simple, such as
Ne scape Compose [1] and mo e mode n equi alen s
Mozilla Compose [2] and N u [3], o he p o essional,
sophis ica ed ools such as D eamwea e [4]. C ea ion
and modi ica ion o images and anima ions is a second
issue, ha may be necessa y o di e en ex en s;
equi ing some deg ee o g aphic design abili ies.
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Vol. XIX, Nº 1, 2007
Thi d, ue in e ac ion wi h he use equi es mo e
ad anced knowledge, e.g. edi ing o Flash documen s
o coding in Ja aSc ip as pa o he web page.
Finally, depending on he in ended ange o use,
space on a web se e and access o ile upload may
be needed.
Fo he use : Using he web pages equi es jus a
web b owse ; in ac , any one, i he pages a e w i en
consciously. This is included wi h he compu e
ope a ing sys em o anyhow is a ailable easily and a
no cos .
Discussion
Following 7 yea s’ expe ience in web page
de elopmen as suppo o eaching in a Uni e si y
en i onmen , some examples, ad ice and conclusions
can be p esen ed he e.
Ad an ages o web page o ma
All so s o con en a e allowed in a single
en i onmen : ex , images, anima ions, mo ies, sound,
molecula models, di e se in e ac i e elemen s.
Guidance can be included along wi h he ma e ial
i sel .
The use is con on ed wi h a single piece o
so wa e ( he web b owse ), usually al eady known
and a ailable anywhe e. No need o ins all new and
di e en p og ams, o lea n how o use hem, o o be
ied o speci ic compu e s.
The same ma e ial can be used as a eache s’ ool
du ing lec u es and o he s uden s’ pe sonal s udy.
Also, i can be handled locally on ha d disk, on po able
media (CDROM, USB disk), o dis ibu ed ia in ane
o in e ne , p ojec ed in he lec u e hall, iewed on
one’s compu e sc een, o e en p in ed on pape .
Au ho ’s e o is hence educed and esou ces
op imized: w i e once, use in di e en en i onmen s.
Easy implemen a ion o modula i y o con en s,
allowing adap a ion o di e en audiences, le els, o
subjec s.
In e ac i i y wi h he use /s uden can be p o ided,
wha leads o a mo e ac i e lea ning.
Applica ion o eaching
Al hough hey a e con inually in e wined, we can
desc ibe wo k in wo on s, somewha independen
wi h espec o concep , upda e, o ganiza ion and
eaching p ac ice:
S andalone esou ces: Examples a e elabo a ion
o ins uc i e ma e ials, mos p ominen ly in e ac i e,
h ee-dimensional molecula models. In addi ion, a
compila ion o guided, anima ed schemes, buil om a
selec ion o excellen ma e ials al eady a ailable on
in e ne and, in many occasions, ansla ion o hem
in o Spanish. Thi d, a collec ion o ques ions and
exe cises, wi h answe s included, allowing o sel -
e alua ion and specially o di ec ing he lea ning
p ocess. Fo an example, isi [5].
Cou se- ela ed pages: Edi ion o a companion web
si e o suppo eaching o speci ic cou ses. Among i s
possible con en s, we can ci e cou se in o ma ion,
syllabus, scheduling p og ess o he classes on a
calenda , access o suppo ing ma e ial–specially
igu es, chap e summa ies, p esen a ions used in he
lec u e–, bibliog aphy o each chap e –bo h on
ex books and wi h links o he web–, ques ions,
p oblems, exe cises, means o con ac he ins uc o ,
esul o exams. Fo an example, isi [6].
Sui abili y o Biochemis y and Molecula
Biology
This subjec a ea has se e al ea u es ha make
pa icula ly p o i able he use o mul imedia and web
pages. Fi s , he dynamic na u e o biological p ocesses,
which is mo e easily demons a ed by using anima ed
images o schemes; o example, he syn hesis o
nucleic acids and p o eins can be illus a ed in mo ion.
Second, and e y p ominen , he h ee-dimensional
cha ac e is ics o biomolecules, essen ial o
unde s anding hei s uc u e and he basis o hei
unc ion, as well as he in e ac ions among di e en
molecules; pe cep ion o his spa ial ela ions is o en
con on ed by a di icul y by many pe sons o isualize
a 3D wo ld using 2D ep esen a ions. The use o
physical o ac ile molecula models, al hough ad isable,
is a ely a ailable, and compu e ized models o e a
success ul al e na i e.
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Vol. XIX, Nº 1, 2007
O he gene al conside a ions
Fu he o wha has been discussed, web page
o ma is na u ally amenable o be used on a web
se e . Open a ailabili y h ough in e ne esul s in
dissemina ion o esou ces, sha ing o ma e ials wi h
colleagues om o he uni e si ies and coun ies, and
exchange o expe ience. I is was e ul o ime and
esou ces ha each ins uc o has o build ma e ials
ha o he s ha e al eady w i en; he e is no need o
“ ein en he wheel”, bu ins ead he wo ld-wide web
o e s ample space and capabili ies o open
collabo a ion. On he o he hand, he inhe en modula
na u e o he web pages allows o adap a ion o
pe sonal p e e ences, o sui di e en subjec s, le els
and en i onmen s.
Re e ences
[1]Ne scape Communica ions websi e: h p://ww.ne scape.com
[2] Mozilla P ojec websi e: h p://www.mozilla.o g
[3] N u P ojec websi e: h p://www.n u.com
[4] Adobe websi e: h p://www.adobe.com
[5] “Biomodel” websi e a Uni e si y o Alcalá de Hena es
(Spain): h p://biomodel.uah.es
[6] Companion websi e o Molecula Biology and Gene ic
Enginee ing cou se a Uni e si y o Alcalá de Hena es (Spain):
h p://www2.uah.es/bioquimica/ -bmig.
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