Visualizing the Complexity of the Molecular World: Examining the Role of Animated Representations in the Development of Undergraduate Students’ Understanding of Dynamic Cellular Events

The purpose of this study was to examine the relative effectiveness of three-dimensional visualization techniques for learning about protein conformation and molecular motion in association with a ligand and receptor binding event. Increasingly complex versions of the same binding event were depicte...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jenkinson, Jodie
Other Authors: Woodruff, Earl
Language:en_ca
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1807/32748
id ndltd-LACETR-oai-collectionscanada.gc.ca-OTU.1807-32748
record_format oai_dc
spelling ndltd-LACETR-oai-collectionscanada.gc.ca-OTU.1807-327482013-04-17T04:19:48ZVisualizing the Complexity of the Molecular World: Examining the Role of Animated Representations in the Development of Undergraduate Students’ Understanding of Dynamic Cellular EventsJenkinson, JodieAnimationBiomedical VisualizationUndergraduate BiologyMolecular BiologyVisual RepresentationVisual Complexity071003070714The purpose of this study was to examine the relative effectiveness of three-dimensional visualization techniques for learning about protein conformation and molecular motion in association with a ligand and receptor binding event. Increasingly complex versions of the same binding event were depicted in each of four animated treatments. Students (n = 131) were tested at three time points, and over both the short and longer term, the most complex of the four animated treatments was the most successful at fostering students’ understanding of the events depicted. A follow-up study including eight biology students was conducted to gain greater insight into the students’ underlying thought processes and better characterize their understanding of the animated representations. Analysis of verbal reports and eye tracking data suggest that students are able to attend to the same narrative elements regardless of the level of complexity depicted in each animation. Analysis of verbal protocol data revealed a positive correlation between the number of explanatory statements expressed by participants and the complexity of the animation viewed. As well, prior knowledge was positively correlated with the number of explanatory statements contained in each protocol. Overall, students demonstrated an understanding of protein conformation and molecular crowding. However results suggest that students have difficulty understanding and associating randomness with molecular events. The verbal reports contained several instances of students’ attaching agency to protein and ligand, anthropomorphizing their movements and subsequent binding. Ordinarily cellular events, owing to their sheer complexity, are depicted in a highly schematized, simplified form. The results of this study would suggest that under select circumstances this may not be the most appropriate approach to depicting dynamic events. However additional attention must be given to exploring techniques that can satisfactorily balance the random nature of molecular events with narrative explanations of these processes.Woodruff, Earl2012-062012-08-22T19:26:58ZNO_RESTRICTION2012-08-22T19:26:58Z2012-08-22Thesishttp://hdl.handle.net/1807/32748en_ca
collection NDLTD
language en_ca
sources NDLTD
topic Animation
Biomedical Visualization
Undergraduate Biology
Molecular Biology
Visual Representation
Visual Complexity
0710
0307
0714
spellingShingle Animation
Biomedical Visualization
Undergraduate Biology
Molecular Biology
Visual Representation
Visual Complexity
0710
0307
0714
Jenkinson, Jodie
Visualizing the Complexity of the Molecular World: Examining the Role of Animated Representations in the Development of Undergraduate Students’ Understanding of Dynamic Cellular Events
description The purpose of this study was to examine the relative effectiveness of three-dimensional visualization techniques for learning about protein conformation and molecular motion in association with a ligand and receptor binding event. Increasingly complex versions of the same binding event were depicted in each of four animated treatments. Students (n = 131) were tested at three time points, and over both the short and longer term, the most complex of the four animated treatments was the most successful at fostering students’ understanding of the events depicted. A follow-up study including eight biology students was conducted to gain greater insight into the students’ underlying thought processes and better characterize their understanding of the animated representations. Analysis of verbal reports and eye tracking data suggest that students are able to attend to the same narrative elements regardless of the level of complexity depicted in each animation. Analysis of verbal protocol data revealed a positive correlation between the number of explanatory statements expressed by participants and the complexity of the animation viewed. As well, prior knowledge was positively correlated with the number of explanatory statements contained in each protocol. Overall, students demonstrated an understanding of protein conformation and molecular crowding. However results suggest that students have difficulty understanding and associating randomness with molecular events. The verbal reports contained several instances of students’ attaching agency to protein and ligand, anthropomorphizing their movements and subsequent binding. Ordinarily cellular events, owing to their sheer complexity, are depicted in a highly schematized, simplified form. The results of this study would suggest that under select circumstances this may not be the most appropriate approach to depicting dynamic events. However additional attention must be given to exploring techniques that can satisfactorily balance the random nature of molecular events with narrative explanations of these processes.
author2 Woodruff, Earl
author_facet Woodruff, Earl
Jenkinson, Jodie
author Jenkinson, Jodie
author_sort Jenkinson, Jodie
title Visualizing the Complexity of the Molecular World: Examining the Role of Animated Representations in the Development of Undergraduate Students’ Understanding of Dynamic Cellular Events
title_short Visualizing the Complexity of the Molecular World: Examining the Role of Animated Representations in the Development of Undergraduate Students’ Understanding of Dynamic Cellular Events
title_full Visualizing the Complexity of the Molecular World: Examining the Role of Animated Representations in the Development of Undergraduate Students’ Understanding of Dynamic Cellular Events
title_fullStr Visualizing the Complexity of the Molecular World: Examining the Role of Animated Representations in the Development of Undergraduate Students’ Understanding of Dynamic Cellular Events
title_full_unstemmed Visualizing the Complexity of the Molecular World: Examining the Role of Animated Representations in the Development of Undergraduate Students’ Understanding of Dynamic Cellular Events
title_sort visualizing the complexity of the molecular world: examining the role of animated representations in the development of undergraduate students’ understanding of dynamic cellular events
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/1807/32748
work_keys_str_mv AT jenkinsonjodie visualizingthecomplexityofthemolecularworldexaminingtheroleofanimatedrepresentationsinthedevelopmentofundergraduatestudentsunderstandingofdynamiccellularevents
_version_ 1716580859609350144