Using Primary Literature in an Undergraduate Assignment: Demonstrating connections among cellular processes

Learning basic cell biology in an essential module can be daunting to second-year undergraduates, given the depth of information that is provided in major molecular and cell biology textbooks. Moreover, lectures on cellular pathways are organised into sections, such that at the end of lectures, students might not see how various processes are connected to one another. To help students contextualise and integrate their understanding of cellular processes, a read- and write-to-learn assignment was designed, making use of a research article that demonstrated links between an enzyme functioning in glycolysis and the processes of protein trafficking and cell division in cells. The students were required to make associations among these topics through writing an essay that required them to answer questions on how these processes functionally interact. In an exam question that tested students' ability to integrate what they had learnt in separate topics, students provided a range of answers making use of knowledge from different topics. In a post-intervention survey, students indicated that the research article helped them construct links among seemingly unrelated topics. Thus, a deliberate choice of research data incorporated into purposefully designed assignments can help students integrate concepts in a constructivist manner.