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TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY
1 Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas 2 Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: E. Galembeck, Laboratório de Tecnologia Educacional, Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, CP 6109, Campinas CEP 13083-970, Brazil (e-mail: eg{at}unicamp.br)
Abstract
Obesity has been recognized as a worldwide public health problem. It significantly increases the chances of developing several diseases, including Type II diabetes. The roles of insulin and leptin in obesity involve reactions that can be better understood when they are presented step by step. The aim of this work was to design software with data from some of the most recent publications on obesity, especially those concerning the roles of insulin and leptin in this metabolic disturbance. The most notable characteristic of this software is the use of animations representing the cellular response together with the presentation of recently discovered mechanisms on the participation of insulin and leptin in processes leading to obesity. The software was field tested in the Biochemistry of Nutrition web-based course. After using the software and discussing its contents in chatrooms, students were asked to answer an evaluation survey about the whole activity and the usefulness of the software within the learning process. The teaching assistants (TA) evaluated the software as a tool to help in the teaching process. The students' and TAs' satisfaction was very evident and encouraged us to move forward with the software development and to improve the use of this kind of educational tool in biochemistry classes.
Key words: distance education; educational software
IN THE Biochemistry of Nutrition web-based course (51), an optional discipline offered at the University of Campinas since 2000, "obesity" is one of the main topics. "Metabolic rate," "Lipid oxidation rate," "Sensitivity to insulin," and "Genes responsible for obesity" were the topics discussed by groups of students enrolled in the course, and the discussions were conducted under the principles of collaborative learning (17, 22, 26, 28). Research activity on obesity is currently very intensive, and a great deal of new information on the mechanisms leading to obesity has been published. Most of these new reports describe important findings about insulin and leptin cellular signaling, but this subject is rather complex, due to the many nonlinear relationships among the component parts of the whole process and to the many reciprocal interferences of the hormones involved. In fact, the biochemical and physiological relationships or crossing signaling pathways between insulin and leptin are not completely understood, nor are they totally described in the literature, particularly in textbooks. Multimedia tools have been extensively used in biological and biomedical sciences showing important effects on student learning, such as introducing novel concepts or enhancing the learning process (12, 16, 42, 51, 52). Informatics resources may help to deal with such multiarticulated information: hyperlinks, texts, or specially developed software are suitable tools for use as learning materials in similar cases. Considering that dynamic illustrations and animations make a great contribution to teaching and learning processes (15) and give us the possibility to communicate with a large audience (51), this biochemistry education research group developed educational software on obesity to be used online as an additional source of review information for undergraduate students, teaching assistants (TAs), and teachers interested in this issue.
Thus, the main purpose of this software is not only as a literature review but also for providing an alternative interactive and easily accessible tool to students, connecting the vast array of information to explain the cross-signaling mechanisms between leptin and insulin.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Software Structure
The software is divided into three main sections: 1) insulin, the hormone of abundance; 2) leptin, the satiety hormone; and 3) the relation between insulin and leptin in obesity. Sections 1 and 2 present texts, illustrations, schemes, and animations about insulin and leptin structures and synthesis, receptors, and cellular signaling as well as metabolic and physiological effects. Section 3 presents an illustrated scheme showing the proposed integration between insulin and leptin functions in fasting and satiety.
Also presented in the software are an introductory text about obesity including the most recent findings on the subject, a software map with the list of contents linked to the corresponding part of the software, and the list of references.
The software was developed using FLASH Adobe.
Software Contents
Section 1. Section 1 presents texts, illustrations, schemes, and animations about insulin, including the following:
hudel/bs99a/lecture26/lecture7_3.html).
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, a global activator of fatty acid oxidation and uncoupling protein genes; increases the responsiveness of skeletal muscle to insulin by activation of PKB and inhibition of GSK-3; and decreases levels of PKC, which has been implicated in the pathogenesis of lipid-induced insulin (7, 37, 19, 30, 31, 33, 34, 38, 47). Section 3. Section 3 explores the interaction between insulin and leptin by showing a scheme illustrating this interaction (Fig. 3). The scheme was designed based on the previously referenced scientific literature. The main purpose of this part of the software is to stimulate discussion among students and TAs based on the concepts presented in sections 1 and 2, leading them to remind themselves of the cross-talk pathways between insulin and leptin at the molecular level [IRS, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), and MAPK] and the opposite metabolic effects in peripheral tissues.
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RESULTS
Software Evaluation by Students and Course Personnel
Quantitative evaluation. Forty-two students (70% of the enrolled students) and six TAs (60%) answered an evaluation survey about the software structure, content presentation, and contribution to the teaching/learning process. The survey was based on the statements shown in Table 1, and the evaluators had to indicate the alternative that best fit his/her perception based on Likert's scale (29). The evaluation results are shown in Table 1.
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Student 1 stated that
... the subject is complicated; the written and animated reactions make it much easier to imagine, but the subject is arduous. It's necessary to have a text, software and help from the TAs, and the discussion, because sometimes we don't even realize that we don't know the subject well until discussion time.
Student 2 stated that
I thought the ‘obesity software’ very didactic and succinct, which facilitates the understanding of the subject. But I believe it became clearer after I read the supplementary text, i.e., it's important to have other sources, because it facilitates the understanding of the schemes and allows a deeper exploration of the software content. I think it's an excellent resource for distance education courses, because it makes the individual studying possible in a very didactic way.
Student 3 stated that
The obesity software is extremely pertinent and in this way, it helps the learning and comprehension of some mechanisms that are not so trivial, which certainly summarizes information from books and articles. Not to say that one should refrain from articles and books, but the connection that the software creates is very objective, as ‘an initial kick-off’ for great discoveries about metabolism!!
The following are TA comments about the software and its use in the course:
In my opinion, the visual memory is both efficient and important to one's ability to acquire and retain knowledge ... As it is common in biochemistry, we often fail to fully understand a subject because of the difficulties to visualize an event. Many times, we struggle to visualize all the reactions that occur simultaneously in our metabolism, which affects our overall understanding of the process. A similar situation occurs in the study of hormones (one which is particularly related to this topic) with visualization of the combined effects of leptin and insulin in metabolic functions.
... I believe that some parts of the software where the text does not match the information from the animation, or when the latter is displayed too fast, are still points that need improvement. It would be better if the animations could be presented a little slower, or maybe in a step-by-step pace as it happens with some others on the software. In my opinion, this last type of animation would be more appropriate to the more complex, multi-step, schemes ... Another comment should be to an improvement on the text itself, which does not make clear to the student the difference between the effects of leptin on the adipose tissue and the brain.
The students couldn't realize the importance of adrenalin in this topic, and, consequently, they would come to the chat with a fixed idea that the effects of the leptin were strictly catabolic. They also could not make the necessary connections to understand the integration of leptin and insulin, as it happens in the last part of the software.
However, in an overall perspective, I found the idea of the software most valuable.
I believe the understanding of the students on the subject would be far less without the software. It is indeed a complex subject, in which even the literature data are uncertain and confusing.
DISCUSSION
In general, as shown in Table 1, students found the software easy to handle (statement 1), and experienced no difficulties in using it (statement 9). The evaluation revealed that the signaling mechanism is well presented (statement 3), the representation of biochemical phenomena is not confusing (statement 4), the sequence of events involved in the signaling is clear (statement 5), and, therefore, the animations contribute to the understanding of the given subject (statement 2). The students did not consider the texts and animations hard to follow (statement 5) but indicated that using the software required some reasoning (statement 4), pointing out the need for supplemental material to help understanding the subject (statement 10). Using the software helped the discussions carried out in the chatrooms (statement 13) and was not to be neglected when discussing a theme (statement 14); instead, using it brought considerable contribution to the comprehension of the subject (statement 15). As far as the help of TAs on the mechanisms described in the software was concerned (statement 8), some students (42% of the respondents) did not believe it was necessary. However, a significant number (28% of the respondent) felt indifferent or undecided. Some other students (30%), perhaps the ones least familiar with the subject, considered the aid of TAs necessary to understand the mechanisms described in the software. The majority of the students disagreed that the software offered no advantage over a traditional lecture (statement 11) and stated that they would not have preferred to study this subject in some other way (statement 12). For distance education courses, the majority agreed that the presentation of texts and animations in teaching software improved learning significantly (statement 16). The TAs' response pattern was similar to that of the students. The results of student and TA assessments were used to introduce improvements in the following edition of the Biochemistry of Nutrition course. The software described herein is freely available both in English and Portuguese through the Digital Library of Sciences at http://www.ib.unicamp.br/lte/lep.
Conclusions
Software designed to teach the signaling relations between insulin and leptin and their roles in obesity is a powerful tool for introducing the subject to undergraduate students. The animated step-by-step models showing the signal transduction of insulin and leptin significantly contributed to subject understanding. The software evaluation performed by students shows that the modeling of the combined effects of leptin and insulin in metabolic functions (section 3 of the software) combined with discussion conducted and assisted by TAs gave students a good understanding of insulin and leptin relations in obesity. TAs agreed that the software effectively helped them to perform their tasks.
GRANTS
Financial support for this work was provided by the Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo.
Acknowledgments
We thank the teachers and graduate students who helped to develop and test the software: Dr. Carmen V. Ferreira, Dr. Eneida de Paula, Ana C. S. Sousa, Bayki H. Kassab, Cleyton C. Domingues, Fernanda L. Lazarin, Juliana M. do Nascimento, Lucas S. Tessuti, Maria E. F. da Silva, and Paulo S. C. Preté. We thank Prof. Dr. Rui Curi for critical review of the software content. We also thank Prof. Dr. Alba R. M. S. Brito, Prof. Dr. Domingos da S. Leite, and Prof. Dr. Carmen V. Ferreira for suggestions and Alexandre B. P. Braga for help with the text. We are especially grateful to the 60 students of the Biochemistry of Nutrition distance education course of 2003.
Received for publication February 27, 2007. Accepted for publication May 21, 2008.
REFERENCES
This article has been cited by other articles:
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  Y. Tang, S. Zheng, and A. Chen Curcumin Eliminates Leptin's Effects on Hepatic Stellate Cell Activation via Interrupting Leptin Signaling Endocrinology, July 1, 2009; 150(7): 3011 - 3020. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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