Measuring cognitive load & impact of modeling activities in undergraduate biochemistry

Abstract

Among the STEM disciplines, biochemistry presents a particular challenge to students with abstract concepts that can lead to rampant, resistant misconceptions that impede learning. The development of undergraduate students' conceptual understanding of abstract structure‐function relationships in biochemistry a the long‐term goal of the collaborative research team from University of Minnesota, Rochester (UMR) and Kennesaw State University (KSU). The objective of this study is to facilitate this process by implementing three‐dimensional (3D) virtual and physical modeling activities across the (bio)chemistry curriculum that optimize cognitive load and thereby enhance student learning in (bio)chemistry. As such, we aim to characterize the cognitive load of the 3D physical and virtual modeling activities by defining what and how many cognitive tasks and concepts are accessed using the 3D modeling activities. To this end, a UMR cohort participated in a simulated learning environment completing the modeling activities while tracking cognition by means of eye‐tracking and electroencephalogram (EEG) technologies. Here, we will present the first set of data from fall 2017 interviews and inclass activities from a biochemistry course. Ultimately this project would provide evidence to more intelligently design and execute modeling activities that optimize the cognitive load, deepen students' ability to understand biochemistry concepts, and overcome misconceptions; thus creating better consumers of (bio)chemistry education.Support or Funding InformationThis project is supported by the National Science Foundation under award number IUSE 1711402/1711425 to University of Minnesota, Rochester and Kennesaw State University.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.