The effectiveness of images in the development of conceptual understanding in undergraduate biochemistry classes: What do we know?

Abstract

Many students who are required to take biochemistry find it difficult to understand. One factor which may contribute to this is the abstract nature of the subject, which is understood almost entirely through representations, analogies, models, and maps. An enormous selection of images representing biochemical concepts is available on the internet, and in text books, yet we know very little about how, or whether, they work in communicating important concepts accurately. This presentation starts by exploring general aspects of visual literacy and then reviews the few investigations of student comprehension and interpretation of biochemical images reported in the literature. The contribution of images to difficulties in conceptual understanding is discussed, and a possible role for students’ cognitive differences is considered. It is argued that we need to know much more about how and whether the images we use in communicating biochemical concepts ‘work,’ and some implications for educational practice in biochemistry are raised.