ERIC Number: EJ1430738
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Jul
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1470-8175
EISSN: EISSN-1539-3429
Available Date: N/A
Use of Interactive Mathematical Simulations in Fundamentals of Biochemistry, a LibreText Online Educational Resource, to Promote Understanding of Dynamic Reactions
Henry V. Jakubowski; Henry Agnew; Bartholomew Jardine; Herbert M. Sauro
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, v52 n4 p426-435 2024
Biology is perhaps the most complex of the sciences, given the incredible variety of chemical species that are interconnected in spatial and temporal pathways that are daunting to understand. Their interconnections lead to emergent properties such as memory, consciousness, and recognition of self and non-self. To understand how these interconnected reactions lead to cellular life characterized by activation, inhibition, regulation, homeostasis, and adaptation, computational analyses and simulations are essential, a fact recognized by the biological communities. At the same time, students struggle to understand and apply binding and kinetic analyses for the simplest reactions such as the irreversible first-order conversion of a single reactant to a product. This likely results from cognitive difficulties in combining structural, chemical, mathematical, and textual descriptions of binding and catalytic reactions. To help students better understand dynamic reactions and their analyses, we have introduced two kinds of interactive graphs and simulations into the online educational resource, Fundamentals of Biochemistry, a LibreText biochemistry book. One is available for simple binding and kinetic reactions. The other displays progress curves (concentrations vs. time) for simple reactions and complex metabolic and signal transduction pathways. Users can move sliders to change dissociation and kinetic constants as well as initial concentrations and see instantaneous changes in the graphs. They can also export data into a spreadsheet for further processing, such as producing derivative Lineweaver-Burk and traditional Michaelis-Menten graphs of initial velocity (v[subscript 0]) versus substrate concentration.
Descriptors: Biochemistry, Mathematics, Graphs, Simulation, Scientific Concepts, Textbooks, Spreadsheets, Educational Resources
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) (DHHS/NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01GM12303204
Author Affiliations: N/A