Lessons learned from a great master!

• Main Author: Wagner Seixas da Silva
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, SBBq 2015-06-01
• Series: Journal of Biochemistry Education
• Subjects: Leopoldo de Meis, Editorial
• Online Access: http://bioquimica.org.br/revista/ojs/index.php/REB/article/view/547

<p>Teaching Biochemistry is a huge challenge in the basic cycle of many undergraduate courses. How to convince students that this discipline is important for their academic degree so early in their college journeys? It may be hard to define in words a good teaching strategy for this purpose, but during the 70s'/80's a group of professors accepted this tough task! Professor Leopoldo de Meis paid particular attention to the way of teaching biochemistry. As a very sensitive person, he realized that the secret to a good teaching would be to keep the students motivated with doses of challenge.<br />With this in mind, Prof. de Meis joined a small group of professors and graduate students from the former Department of Medical Biochemistry, now named Institute of Medical Biochemistry Leopoldo de Meis, at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and proposed to use the Discovery learning method in classroom. The idea was to present the contents of the biochemistry course while challenging students to interpret the original data of the major biochemical findings. For this purpose, each biochemistry theme was shown through the experiments that led to the originally obtained conclusions currently present in the textbooks. Thus, students were motivated to ask questions and propose experiments that allow the interpretation of the scientists’ historical results. At first the methodology seemed very novel and difficult, but over the first few minutes the environment became a place for broad scientific discussion, where students enthusiastically participated and developed the ability to draw up the necessary questions to decipher the functioning of metabolic pathways. The parallel between the observed experimental facts and the physiological state of the experimental model used in classic experiments permitted the development of a broad and critical knowledge in the learning of biochemistry.<br />To imagine that the students were motivated to develop the autonomy of critical thinking as early as the their first semester was something revolutionary and very attractive. This teaching strategy was so well accepted that was common to find either students who had already approved the course of Biochemistry or students attending advanced semesters returning to attend the class and to see the beloved teacher once again! In class it was possible to both discuss biochemistry and learn history! To have the classroom invaded by "actors" playing the judgment and beheading of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier over 100 years after his death while discussing his experiments caused a whirlwind of emotions in the students. This was important to sensitize them to the challenges experienced by renowned scientists who paid with their lives to defend their ideas. Thus, students became protagonists of story and the biochemistry classes more interesting and challenging. This challenge was shared by the "actors", who actually were students of the Biological Chemistry program sharing the classroom with the great master. For these graduate students, it was an experience where they raised awareness of the importance of dedication to the teaching of Sciences.<br />Prof. de Meis’ speech where he stated no one owns the truth or all knowledge was another point closing the relationship with the undergraduate students. In the modern world it is nearly impossible to keep yourself up to date, so we ended up specializing in something. De Meis used to cause some perplexity among the students by showing a picture with all copies of a single reputable scientific journal in the biochemistry field published over a year. Surprisingly, this stack of magazines was 1.5 meters tall! Could you imagine that all recent knowledge in biochemistry is compiled in few pages of a textbook? de Meis, then, revealed that we do not know everything, but we do need to learn how to interpret new facts, a new experiment, a new concept, a new technique, a new discovery. We need to develop critical thinking to face the challenges imposed by the modern world.<br />Over the past 20 years, Prof. de Meis, along with a group of artists of the UFRJ School of Fine Arts, dedicated part of his time on the elaboration of videos and graphic novels designed to arouse emotion in the students during biochemistry teaching. One could easily see Prof. de Meis talking about the importance of bringing emotion to the students!<br />Our dear master left us at the end of last year. However, he left alive in all of us the need of carrying out our activities with love, dedication and humbleness. Only then will we be able to keep young people motivated to learn biochemistry and to face the world’s challenges!</p><p>Prof. phD. Wagner Seixas da Silva<br />Instituto de Bioquímica Médica - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)</p>