Web pages and multimedia as a tool for biochemistry instruction

3 Vol. XIX, Nº 1, 2007    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.  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. 4 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.  5 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. 