The Molecular CaseNet Pipeline for Authoring, Piloting, and Evaluating Molecular Case Studies
Author(s): Alexandra Pettit1, Elizabeth Pollock2, Kristen Procko3, Kasandra Riley4, Didem Vardar-Ulu5, Shuchismita Dutta6
1. Carleton University 2. Stockton University 3. The University of Texas at Austin 4. Rollins College 5. Boston University, Chemistry Department 6. RCSB Protein Data Bank, Rutgers University
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Description
Interactive biomolecular visualization tools enable teaching and learning biomolecular structure and function, a core concept in biochemistry and molecular biology. The Molecular CaseNet (MCN) engages multidisciplinary educators and scholars in developing and using Molecular Case Studies (MCSs) at the interface of Biology and Chemistry. Each MCS incorporates storytelling, a powerful pedagogical tool, to engage students in exploring biomolecular structures and their functions. Through these explorations, students can examine the molecular basis of problems with societal impact - e.g., understanding clinical conditions and their treatment options or investigating specific environmental challenges. The MCSs provide opportunities to identify, visualize and analyze three-dimensional biomolecular structures relevant to the case theme. Relating structural features and the interactions of these biomolecules to information about their functions derived from the scientific literature and bioinformatics resources can provide novel insights into the case study topic. Published MCSs are Open Educational Resources freely available to be used as-is or adapted to meet the needs of specific curricular contexts. While most MCSs are authored by undergraduate educators, one or more students have contributed to developing some of these case studies. A committee of MCN members has recently established a pipeline to facilitate the development of molecular case studies, from authoring to publishing. We present an overview of the pipeline herein and invite undergraduate educators to join the MCN community to develop new case studies on their favorite topics. These contributions will enable Molecular CaseNet to host a variety of MCSs for educators and scholars worldwide to use when exploring molecular structure and function in multidisciplinary curricula.
Funding: NSF DBI-1827011 and 2018884
Cite this work
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
- Pettit, A. S., Pollock, E., Procko, K., Riley, K., Vardar-Ulu, D., Dutta, S. (2023). The Molecular CaseNet Pipeline for Authoring, Piloting, and Evaluating Molecular Case Studies. 2023 BIOME Institute, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/9G7Y-8E04