The DNA Landscape: Development and Application of a New Framework for Visual Communication about DNA

Abstract

The DNA Landscape provides a research and learning tool that describes figures of DNA in two dimensions: scale and abstractness. Undergraduate biology textbooks tend to focus on particular parts of the landscape, but overuse of certain types of images may not be optimal for learning.

Visual Literacy of Molecular Biology Revealed through a Card-Sorting Task

“…The hypothesized surface feature categories were chemical structure, sequence, ladder, helix, box and line, and chromosomal. The surface levels were based on previous work in which we explored the various ways in which DNA could be represented in introductory and advanced biology textbooks ( 28 ). Our hypothesized deep conceptual categories were DNA replication, mutation, gene expression, meiosis, and DNA repair, which are topics covered in almost all introductory biology, molecular biology, and cell biology textbooks.…”

“…Specifically, we wondered whether students were capable of seeing past surface details to identify underlying concepts in common visual representations in molecular biology, particularly ideas that center around DNA (e.g., replication, mutation, etc.). We built upon our prior experiences investigating visual representations in molecular biology ( 27 , 28 ) to create a variety of images to use and test with students and experts. Similar to the previously described card-sorting tasks, we also implemented the strategy of combining a “surface” feature with an underlying concept.…”