New Perspectives in Science Education

Being aware that a change was needed in the style of laboratory teaching at our university, mainly based in the use of cookbook laboratory protocols, our Educational Innovation Group TR4BIOCHEM (PIE22-067) is working in the design and implementation of new training activities based on Problem Based Learning, applicable to different subjects of the last courses of the degrees of the Faculty of Sciences. In this way, the learning process of disciplines such as biochemistry and analytical chemistry, is transformed through a competency-based approach, making students to get more actively involved in their learning process, with the professor as a mere "facilitator". Thus, many of these students have to face for the first-time issues that are common in a professional setting, such as the acquisition of reagents and materials, the assessment of the necessary instruments and equipment, the adaptation and scaling of experimental protocols, and the analysis of costs and operational feasibility, among others. This new approach motivates the students’ interest, as they are in the final phase of their studies and are particularly concerned about their upcoming incorporation into an increasingly demanding job market. This communication will present our experience from the last years at University of Malaga in the design and implementation of new teaching resources in which the hands-on laboratory work was just a part of a more complete sequence of learning activities [1-3]. [Supported by funds ranted to Innovative Education project PIE22-067, University of Málaga, Spain]

Keywords: Problem-based learning, laboratory experiments, Laboratory instruction, Hands-on learning, Bioanalytical chemistry, Undergraduate

References
[1] García-Caballero M, Moya-García A, Torres-Vargas JA, García-Ponce ÁL, Rodríguez-Quesada A. A course-based undergraduate research experience to illustrate the early stages of the drug discovery process. Biochem Mol Biol Educ. 2022; 50(5):437-439

[2] García-Ponce, A. L., Torres-Vargas, J. A., García-Caballero, M., Medina, M. A., Blanco-López, A.,  Quesada, A.R. Bringing light to science undergraduate students: A successful laboratory experiment illustrating the principles and applications of bioluminescence. J Chem Educ., 2021; 98(7), 2419-29.

[3] García-Ponce, A. L., Martínez-Poveda, B., Blanco-López, A., Medina, M. A., Quesada, A. R. Not all has been said about glucose oxidase/peroxidase: New pedagogical uses for a classical and robust undergraduate laboratory experiment. Biochem Mol Biol Educ. 2019; 47(3):341-347.