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Connecting Structure–Property and Structure–Function Relationships across the Disciplines of Chemistry and Biology: Exploring Student Perceptions

While many university students take science courses in multiple disciplines, little is known about how they perceive common concepts from different disciplinary perspectives. Structure–property and structure–function relationships have long been considered important explanatory concepts in the disci...

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Autores principales: Kohn, Kathryn P., Underwood, Sonia M., Cooper, Melanie M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Society for Cell Biology 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5998324/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29786475
http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.18-01-0004
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author Kohn, Kathryn P.
Underwood, Sonia M.
Cooper, Melanie M.
author_facet Kohn, Kathryn P.
Underwood, Sonia M.
Cooper, Melanie M.
author_sort Kohn, Kathryn P.
collection PubMed
description While many university students take science courses in multiple disciplines, little is known about how they perceive common concepts from different disciplinary perspectives. Structure–property and structure–function relationships have long been considered important explanatory concepts in the disciplines of chemistry and biology, respectively. Fourteen university students concurrently enrolled in introductory chemistry and biology courses were interviewed to explore their perceptions regarding 1) the meaning of structure, properties, and function; 2) the presentation of these concepts in their courses; and 3) how these concepts might be related. Findings suggest that the concepts of structure and properties were interpreted similarly between chemistry and biology, but students more closely associated the discussion of structure–property relationships with their chemistry courses and structure–function with biology. Despite receiving little in the way of instructional support, nine students proposed a coherent conceptual relationship, indicating that structure determines properties, which determine function. Furthermore, students described ways in which they connected and benefited from their understanding. Though many students are prepared to make these connections, we would encourage instructors to engage in cross-disciplinary conversations to understand the shared goals and disciplinary distinctions regarding these important concepts in an effort to better support students unable to construct these connections for themselves.
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spelling pubmed-59983242018-07-02 Connecting Structure–Property and Structure–Function Relationships across the Disciplines of Chemistry and Biology: Exploring Student Perceptions Kohn, Kathryn P. Underwood, Sonia M. Cooper, Melanie M. CBE Life Sci Educ Article While many university students take science courses in multiple disciplines, little is known about how they perceive common concepts from different disciplinary perspectives. Structure–property and structure–function relationships have long been considered important explanatory concepts in the disciplines of chemistry and biology, respectively. Fourteen university students concurrently enrolled in introductory chemistry and biology courses were interviewed to explore their perceptions regarding 1) the meaning of structure, properties, and function; 2) the presentation of these concepts in their courses; and 3) how these concepts might be related. Findings suggest that the concepts of structure and properties were interpreted similarly between chemistry and biology, but students more closely associated the discussion of structure–property relationships with their chemistry courses and structure–function with biology. Despite receiving little in the way of instructional support, nine students proposed a coherent conceptual relationship, indicating that structure determines properties, which determine function. Furthermore, students described ways in which they connected and benefited from their understanding. Though many students are prepared to make these connections, we would encourage instructors to engage in cross-disciplinary conversations to understand the shared goals and disciplinary distinctions regarding these important concepts in an effort to better support students unable to construct these connections for themselves. American Society for Cell Biology 2018 /pmc/articles/PMC5998324/ /pubmed/29786475 http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.18-01-0004 Text en © 2018 K. P. Kohn et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2018 The American Society for Cell Biology. “ASCB®” and “The American Society for Cell Biology®” are registered trademarks of The American Society for Cell Biology. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License.
spellingShingle Article
Kohn, Kathryn P.
Underwood, Sonia M.
Cooper, Melanie M.
Connecting Structure–Property and Structure–Function Relationships across the Disciplines of Chemistry and Biology: Exploring Student Perceptions
title Connecting Structure–Property and Structure–Function Relationships across the Disciplines of Chemistry and Biology: Exploring Student Perceptions
title_full Connecting Structure–Property and Structure–Function Relationships across the Disciplines of Chemistry and Biology: Exploring Student Perceptions
title_fullStr Connecting Structure–Property and Structure–Function Relationships across the Disciplines of Chemistry and Biology: Exploring Student Perceptions
title_full_unstemmed Connecting Structure–Property and Structure–Function Relationships across the Disciplines of Chemistry and Biology: Exploring Student Perceptions
title_short Connecting Structure–Property and Structure–Function Relationships across the Disciplines of Chemistry and Biology: Exploring Student Perceptions
title_sort connecting structure–property and structure–function relationships across the disciplines of chemistry and biology: exploring student perceptions
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5998324/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29786475
http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.18-01-0004
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