Garage Demos: Using Physical Models to Illustrate Dynamic Aspects of Microscopic Biological Processes

Abstract

Colorful PowerPoint presentations with detailed drawings, micrographs, and short animations have become the standard format for illustrating the fundamental features of cell biology in large introductory classes. In this essay, we describe a low-tech tool that can be included in a standard lecture to help students visualize, understand, and remember the dynamic aspects of microscopic cell biological processes. This approach involves use of common objects, including pipe insulation and a garden hose, to illustrate basic processes such as protein folding and cloning, hence the appellation "garage demos." The demonstrations are short, minimizing displacement of course content, easy to make, and provide an avenue for increasing student-faculty interaction in a large lecture hall. Student feedback over the past 4 years has been overwhelmingly positive. In an anonymous postclass survey in 2007, 90% of the respondents rated garage demos as having been very or somewhat helpful for understanding course concepts. Direct measurements of learning gains on specific concepts illustrated by garage demos are the focus of an ongoing study.

Student responses to a hands-on kinesthetic lecture activity for learning about the oxygen carrying capacity of blood

“…While the efficacy of clickers as a motivating tool has been well documented (6), we suggest that hands-on models might also be beneficial. Our activity adds to the growing list of material objects being created to help improve student understanding of physiological concepts (1,4,8,15,16). The use of simple, inexpensive materials and quick setup for our activity enables many students to actually touch the objects, perhaps increasing the likelihood of a greater impact on student learning and motivation.…”

“…Students learn that the dissolved oxygen content of the blood is inadequate for metabolic needs due to the low solubility of oxygen in plasma. After having taught this area of human physiology for many years, we have noticed three distinct but related concepts concerning oxygen carrying capacity that students inevitably struggle to understand: 1) oxygen molecules are present in the blood in a dissolved form, and their concentration is usually expressed as partial pressure (i.e., PO 2 ) in units of mmHg; 2) the concentration of dissolved oxygen directly determines the amount of oxygen bound to hemoglobin; and 3) hemoglobin releases some oxygen in the tissues as a direct result of a decrease in the amount of dissolved oxygen.One approach to teaching difficult abstract concepts in physiology is to use physical models, which are generally used in the laboratory setting or via demonstration during lecture (1,4,8,15,16). We designed a new hands-on activity on oxygen carrying capacity to be performed by the students themselves during the lecture period.…”

“…One approach to teaching difficult abstract concepts in physiology is to use physical models, which are generally used in the laboratory setting or via demonstration during lecture (1,4,8,15,16). We designed a new hands-on activity on oxygen carrying capacity to be performed by the students themselves during the lecture period.…”

El estudio de la estructura atómica con modelos tridimencionales y la web 2.0 mejoran el desempeño de estudiantes de educación media en pruebas específicas

“…Sin embargo, en la docencia tradicional predomina el ambiente pasivo y con exposiciones magistrales como principal herramienta, se trasmiten procesos complejos, dinámicos y frecuentemente microscó picos (Modell, 1996;O'Dowd&Aguilar-Roca, 2009). …”

Using a Physics Experiment in a Lecture Setting to Engage Biology Students with the Concepts of Poiseuille's Law

“…There is no single method of active learning, although one way is to provide lecture demonstrations and objects that make the content more meaningful (Huck et al ., 1985; Di Stefano, 1995; Crouch et al ., 2004; Morgan et al ., 2007; Krontiris-Litowitz 2008; O’Dowd and Aguilar-Roca, 2009). When properly used, a highly effective lecture demonstration can be a part of any science curriculum, enliven the lecture atmosphere, and provide unique, three-dimensional learning experiences.…”