This overall reaction accounts for the participation of half of the available triose phosphates: therefore the other half can yield the final product of six ribulose bisphosphates which were originally employed in the fixation of 6 CO2 (eqn 2). The overall reaction for .the complete regener- ation will therefore be:

6 ATP 6 ~DP 6 G 3 P + 4 D H A P ~ - 6 R u B P (5)

Conclusion Calvin cycle can be viewed then as the combination of two sets of reactions. The first is the formation of fructose phosphate (combination of reaction sets 2 and 3) and the second is the regeneration of ribulose bisphosphate (reaction set 5). The result is the synthesis of fructose phosphate from six CO2.

12 ATP + 12 N A P H + 6 RuBP + 6 CO2 --~ 6 G3P + 4 D H A P + F6P + 12 ADP

+ 13 Pi + 12 NADP + (2) and (3)

6 A T P + 6 G 3 P + 4 D H A P - - * 6 R u B P + 6 A D P + 4 P i (5)

Sum: 18 ATP + 12 N A D P H + 6 C O 2 ---) F6P + 18 AD P + 17 Pi + 12 N A D P +

Figure 1 gives an overview of the Calvin cycle.

11~ NAI=~P Py~12 G 3 P ~ ' ~ I ~ 1 2 ADP

12PGA ~ZNADP* 10G3P IZ Pi

6RuBP

G3P 2G3P -~* DI.~'A~-~ F a P p-~ F 6 P

2G3P ÷ 2DHAP

\ 2FBP

6ATP/ADP 6Ru5P

P ,%%

4X5P ~ 263P 2DHAP 2E4P + 2X5P

k~ 2XSP + 2 R S P / 2SHBP / ~ ~ - ' " E - - 2 S H P z~'-~p~ ~

Figure 1 The Calvin Cycle. Abbreviations: DHAP: Di- hydroxyacetone phosphate, E4P: Erythrose 4-phosphate, F6P: Fructose 6-phosphate, FBP: Fructose 1,6-bisphos- phate~ G3P: Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, PGA: 3-phos- phoglycerate (glycerate 3-phosphate), R5B: Ribose 5- phosphate, Ru5P: Ribulose 5-phosphate, RuBP: Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate, SHP: Sedoheptulose 7-phosphate, SHBP: Sedoheptulose 1, 7-bisphosphate, X5P: Xylulose 5- phosphate

133

0307-4412(95)00022-4

Drama: A Novel Evaluation Tool

ENEIDA DE PAULA, CAETANO DA COSTA DENISE VAZ DE MACEDO

Departamento de Bioquimica, Instituto de Biologia Universidade Estadual de Campinas CP 6109, CEP 13083-970, Campinas, SP Brasil

and

Introduction In traditional biochemistry courses there is an agreement between teacher and student concerning the learning process: the goal is achieved when the students memorize certain pathways, names and chemical structures. This need for memorization can make basic biochemistry classes boring, difficult and even "useless" in the eyes of the students. Curiously and paradoxically, the beautiful logic of life, whose main characteristic is simplicity, becomes an impossible puzzle. In careers such as Physical Education, Nursing, etc, with only a recent scientific tradition, it is even more difficult for teachers to hold the students' attention. In particular, when considering a Biochemistry course for Physical Education students using the tra- ditional approach, we may often feel that students are failing to appreciate the relationship between biochem- istry and exercise (unbelievable though this may be), making teaching difficult and unrewarding. Because of this, teachers dislike giving classes to Physical Education students.

The challenge of using new teaching and learning tools increases with the new generation: the new students are different from those of a few years ago. They are more 'visual' and ' touch-oriented' , and less and less prepared for lectures or classes with poor audio-visual resources. These students require more and more motivation, including the use of practical classes closely related to the lectures so that the matter as a whole can be visualised.

There is a worldwide tendency towards the populariz- ation of sport. Sports are related to a better life quality and most university students practice some kind of sport and are concerned about fitness and good nutrition. This is particularly true and relevant of course, for under- graduate students of Physical Education, since their field of work includes training (when they are athletes), coaching (other athletes) and teaching new coaches. This is a good reason for making great efforts to ensure that Basic Biochemistry, mainly the metabolic aspects, is one of the most interesting and fascinating courses from the point of view of these students, and it is important that they are able to fully understand all the topics. If they understand this background, it is clear that this knowledge makes them better prepared as compared to other professionals trained according to the 'memorization school'.

BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 23(3) 1995

134

Achieving understanding Now people only learn something completely and fully when they understand both the simplicity and the useful- ness of the knowledge. With the goal of achieving full understanding, we set up a program for the Basic Biochemistry course for Physical Education students at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, scheduled for 3 hours/week for 15 weeks. Since the course is short, we limited ourselves to teaching the main metabolic pathways of cellular metabolism, believing that this knowledge is essential for these students. The evaluation was done through weekly ' instantaneous' tests, two written (partial) tests, and a drama. Final examinations were applied to students with average grades <5.0.

Over the last four years we have adopted some educational proposals, based on the use of small work groups to solve questions, according to W o o d , I and Torres (personal communication), with some adaptations which include mixing the use of advance organizers 2 and work groups with fast lectures. It should be pointed out that this approach was made possible by the use of a very concise textbook, 3 that allowed the students to solve the problems in the classroom.

Although we obtained quite good results with this methodology, we still felt the need to find new forms of evaluation that would not require memorization. In the last three years we have been trying different forms of evaluation, such as a monography or seminars on a specific subject, as a way of checking the students' understanding of the main metabolic pathways. In spite of the good results obtained, we were not entirely satisfied.

Drama to help learning In the present communication we describe a novel evaluation applied to Basic Biochemistry taught to Phys- ical Education students: a drama, created and conducted by the students, instead of a written test. The play, called "Inside Marathon Man", was based on what happens inside an athlete's body during a marathon. The students were divided into six groups, each group being responsible for the interpretation of one of the following themes, which represent the full program: (1) the biochemistry of muscle contraction (leading to the need for increasing the ATP supply); (2) how aerobic metabolism generates ATP (consuming 02 and eliminating CO2); (3) the respiratory proteins involved in gas transport; (4) the increase in anaerobic glycolysis (as the marathon begins), using endogenous glycogen degradation subjected to hormonal control; (5) the role of fatty acid metabolism during exercise and, (6) how muscle proteins are broken down (supplying substrates for gluconeogenesis and increasing urea excretion during a long-term run). The evaluation was done by ourselves and by one invited professor. In Appendix A we give the script presented to the students to help them to develop the drama. The students were evaluated according to script content, creativity and participation in the work group.

It should be emphasized that the students were highly

motivated, not only when playing but also during the preparation period. Many of them came to consult the teachers after class hours, to discuss the topics (see schedule in Appendix A), present ideas, etc. During the performance we could see a high degree of cooperation and involvement of the students in their own and in the other groups' presentations.

At the end of the course the students were invited to fill in a form, grading from 1 (less, bad) to 5 (more, good) specific educational points of the course. A summary of the results is shown in Table 1. Most students assigned the highest grade (5) to items A, C and D; The students also presented some suggestions for the improvement of the course: (1) to include practical (lab) classes; (2) to enhance the biochemical examples related to Physical Education, and (3) to continue improving pedagogy and the use of new teaching tools.

Increased motivation Our experience showed that drama is a useful tool in the at tempt to get students to relate more closely to biochem- istry. It helps communication between teacher and students, with language difficulties overcome by the active role of the students. Most importantly, for the drama, memorizat ion is not enough. The change in language (that the students were forced to make) implies or requires an understanding of the concepts. The evaluation method itself became an important instructional activity since much more work had to be done by the students in order to understand the concepts they were required to act out.

The students' motivation for the course was quite high after the drama. It is worth mentioning that the number of students (57) enrolled in the course in the present year, after the use of drama, exceeded the average of the last 3 years (40), without any other academic reasons. Some students from other courses (such as Food Engineering) were also interested in attending the clases, as an optional course! We were grateful to confirm this involvement, noting that the students' performance in the first partial written test during the present year was significantly bet ter as a result of the interest in biochemistry classes shown by the senior students.

For Physical Education students, the Basic Biochem- istry course is considered now as one of the most important disciplines in their education, and teaching them biochemistry has become an easier task.

Table 1 Student's evaluation of the course

1 2 3 4 5

Subject Percent distribution

A Methodology 10 4 5 22 59 B Self-evaluation 6 9 22 36 27 C Teacher 's performance 1 1 10 35 53 D Course as a whole 1 4 13 31 51

BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 23(3) 1995

135

A p p e n d i x A - - P l a y S c r i p t

I N S I D E M A R A T H O N M A N

begin! Let 's prepare ourselves to see how our body reserves are used (oxidized) to produce ATP in order to get to the finishing line.

Let us start our "marathon" with a voyage to the center of the muscle. We are athletes at the beginning of a competition . . .

A C T 1 What is the source of energy for our muscle fibers to contract? What is the contraction mechanism?

ACT 5 The lipids start acting . . .

Script: - - Hormonal regulation - - Fatty acid transportation to the mitochondria - - Lynen cycle ([3-oxidation)

Script: - - cellular signalling - - messenger discharged - - ATP role in the contraction mechanism

Very good! Now we have discovered that Ca 2+ signalled the contraction mechanism to start. And the energy for this mechanical work is chemical energy which comes from ATP.

A C T 2 How can we produce ATP from our body resources? What is the energy source for A D P phosphorylation (ADP + Pi --> ATP)?

The marathon seems e n d l e s s . . , we need to maintain glucose levels in the blood in order to reach the end.

A C T 6 Muscle proteins are b r o k e n . . , that's gluco- neogenesis!

Script: - - Oxidative amino acid degradation - - Transamination - - Gluconeogenesis - - Urea cycle

We got there, we win!

Script: - - Acetyi -CoA - - Krebs Cycle - - Respiratory chain - - Oxidative phosphorylation

To produce ATP we use oxygen and produce CO2. That is interesting.

A C T 3 How do we transport 02 from our lungs to our muscles (to be used). How is the CO2 produced in the muscles (due to enhanced activity of the Krebs cycle) transported to the lungs to be expired?

A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s

The authors wish to thank Dr Bayardo B Tortes for reading the manuscript and for helpful suggestions.

References Wood, E J (1988) Tutorials and small group teaching Biochem Educ 16, 13-16

2Torres, B B (1993) An advance organizer for the teaching of metabolism Biochem Educ 21, 188-189

3Marzzoco, A and Torres, B B (1990) Bioquimica B6sica, Guanabara- Koogan, Rio de Janeiro

Editor's note: In 1985 we published an article entitled 'Molecular Drama in Biochemical Education' by M V T Reyes and M V R de Santes (University of the Philippines), Biochem Educ 13, 11-13

Script: - - 02 liberation by hemoglobin - - CO2 transportation to the lungs - - 02 liberation by myoglobin - - O x y g e n affinity regulation (2,3-diphosphoglycerate

and pH)

The marathon goes on . . . Welcome Epinephrine! Oxy- gen uptake is increased 10 to 15 times!

A C T 4 Muscle energy resources: Glycogen - - the first and the last to be broken.

Script: - - Hormonal regulation - - Glycogen final targetting - - Lactate metabolism (the Cori cycle)

Very good! Your attention now: the marathon is about to

0307-4412(95)00024-0

O n T e a c h i n g B i o c h e m i s t r y : A H e u r i s t i c - t e l e o n o m i c

A p p r o a c h

B E R N A R D O M A N T O V A N I

Department of Biochemistry Ribeir~o Preto Medical School University of S?to Paulo 14049-900 Ribeir~o Preto, SP, Brazil

I n t r o d u c t i o n

It is often said that the philosophy of education is nothing more than an extension and a refinement of common sense, but the way in which this philosophy should be applied in teaching particular disciplines is a formidable task. In considering the teaching of Biochemistry I shall argue against the merely descriptive presentation fre- quently used in teaching this science no matter how

B I O C H E M I C A L E D U C A T I O N 2 3 ( 3 ) 1 9 9 5