Glycolysis Can Be Fun: Rediscovering Glycolysis as a Problem-Solving Introduction to Metabolism
Date
2024-08-19
Journal Title
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Publisher
CourseSource
Abstract
A thorough understanding of glycolysis forms a foundation for students to analyze subsequent topics in metabolism, a core competency recognized by multiple national societies for biology and biochemistry. However, when confronted with the names of over ten chemicals and enzymes, along with various energy inputs and outputs, students can regard glycolysis as a daunting memorization task. Here we describe a card sorting activity in which small groups of students work out the steps of the glycolysis pathway before any lectures on the topic. They examine the chemical structures of glycolytic intermediates and deduce their logical order. Subsequent analysis of the reactions and the role of cofactors and substrates is reinforced with a POGIL worksheet. In the process, the students engage in productive discussions of topics often introduced didactically in lecture. The activity was implemented at six different institutions in small (~12 students) and large classrooms (100+ students), and can be adapted to hybrid/online formats. This highly engaging exercise has been well-received by students and instructors in various undergraduate course contexts.
Description
This article was originally published in CourseSource. The version of record, article files, and supporting documents are available at: https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2024.22.
Copyright: © 2024 Genova, Procko, Grimes, Williams, Cornely, Shor, Greene, Bibel, Kumar, and White. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Keywords
problem based learning, POGIL, enzymes, glycolysis, metabolism, fermentation, chemical reactions, card sorting activity, cofactors
Citation
Genova LA, Procko K, Grimes CL, Williams G, Cornely K, Shor A, Greene AS, Bibel B, Kumar SV, White HB. 2024. Glycolysis Can Be Fun: Rediscovering Glycolysis as a Problem-Solving Introduction to Metabolism. CourseSouce 11. https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2024.22