Apertura

Vol. 8, Núm. 2 / octubre 2016 – marzo 2017 / ISSN 2007-1094

 

Virtual experimentation with Dose-Response simulator

as a teaching tool in biology

 

Arturo Reyes Lazalde[1]

Marleni Reyes Monreal[2]

María Eugenia Pérez Bonilla[3]

 

Abstract

We present an educational innovation strategy that consists on the implementation of a virtual investigation project in biology. In university education, some lab practices are prohibitive due to high costs. For distance university education, there are few virtual educational resources that can be used instead. In this paper we share the experience of using the dose-response simulator 1.0. The simulator has been developed in our lab to explore the usability and the learning levels achieved by the students. An exploratory study was conducted with a group of students from the Research Methods I course of the Bachelor’s degree biology program. The work corresponds to a virtual, structured, semi-closed type, guided by specialized teaching supervision. Two levels of knowledge were evaluated: the management of the program and the understanding of theoretical knowledge. 69.2% of the students stated that using the simulator was easy. According with Bloom's taxonomy, from 100 to 92.3% performed well in activities at the apply and analyze levels, and 76.9 to 61.5% at the synthesize level. 7.7% did not adapt at all. The results indicate a high level of student learning. Simulators are an alternative for teaching when lab practices are expensive.

 

Keywords: Virtual laboratory; Learning method; Virtual learning; Simulators.

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The teaching of science through laboratory practices or research projects results rather expensive, especially when laboratory equipment, test animals, and reagents are required. The questions that result from this are: are there teaching alternatives? Are simulators an alternative? Is the learning achieved with virtual practices equivalent to that achieved with traditional laboratory practices? Is it possible for each student to individually carry out the laboratory practices? Is the learning achieved during group practices what was expected? Does a demonstrative laboratory practice produce superior learning in comparison with virtual practices? Do the high costs of some projects and laboratory practices justify overlooking some subjects or do they incentivize looking for alternatives? The information published regarding these aspects is still lacking. Some results indicate a favorable response, especially in the teaching-learning of engineering (Cooper, 2005). In Mexico, developments and studies carried out in this regard are practically zero.

 

In this article we explore, in a pilot group, the usability of the dose-response simulator 1.0, developed by our work group, and its impact in the learning of the subject: the effect of the agonists to glutamatergic receptors. The strategy was to situate the student in a virtual research environment. The students were guided during the investigation. With the results generated by the simulator, we analyzed the data and each student redacted a research article. This paper was carried out in the context of the Research Methods I of the third quarter of the Biology bachelor’s degree.

 

The laboratory work in the teaching of science.

 

In general, the inclusion of laboratory work in the curricula dates to 1960. The approaches posed have passed through various stages: from learning through discovery, a focus in processes, up to contemporary constructivist approaches (Barolli, Laburú and Guridi, 2010; Hodson, 1996). The initial and central ideal consists on replicating the means and methods of how scientists develop new discoveries. Consequently, the students, by carrying out laboratory practices, learn how to “conduct science” in some way.

 

Nedelsky (1958) explores the relation between physics and reality, stating that “an empiricist vision lays the foundation for scientific education”. The laboratory work is seen as a research process. In the case of biological sciences, this focus implies a didactic strategy that goes beyond setting up a simple practice. During the disciplinary practices and the laboratory works, emphasis is placed on the guide of the student’s learning process (Cronbach & Snow, 1977); this idea is contrary to the hypothesis that the students learn better when they are not guided or has a minimum guide, so that they can discover or build essential information by themselves (Bruner, 1961).

 

An analysis of these two contrary means of searching for better learning showed that the learning with a specialized guide is more effective than that obtained through discovery with a minimal guide (Kirschner, Sweller & Clark, 2006; García, 2005). According to Hacking (1983), “the experiments play a central role in the teaching of science, so long as a planned intervention is carried out”. López-Trujillo, Nava-Monroy, and Moreno-Colin (2013) note that “the Biology students show different learning styles with a greater preference towards visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and as a group”. These characteristics challenge teachers to the design of specific strategies in order to achieve significant learning. The greatest problem manifests when the laboratory practices linked to a scientific approach are so expensive that they are impossible to carry out. A viable alternative is to use computational simulators for this purpose.

 

Virtual laboratories and their efficiency.

 

With the new technologies we can move on to computational simulation in order to carry out a series of experiments, obtain data, analyze it and understand the meaning of quantitative research. The virtual laboratories are highly useful tools in the teaching of biology in order to work with subjects that, due to various reasons, do not allow for experimentation in a school laboratory. They consist on simulations of practical activities, i.e., digital imitations of laboratory practices or reduced field practices in a computer screen. They are of great interest in order to address biological processes in which experimentation is limited due to safety, time, material availability, ethics, specialized equipment, etc. This manner of addressing biological processes gives rise to virtual experiments.

 

In this paper we used the definition of Cooper, Vik and Waltemath (2014): “We define a virtual experiment as the in sílico analogue of a laboratory or field experiment, carried out on a computational model instead of the real system or physical model.” The simulation allows reproducing these processes by outlining research activities to the students, who can interact with the program. The virtual experiments are an essential support in teaching science in a presence-based modality and online. Therefore, the development of computational simulators is seen as a rather important tool for the teaching and learning processes of this century (García and Gil, 2006).

 

Computational technology and the Internet have a potential to promote the learning of engineering in a highly interactive environment. “The functions of the professors and students are changing, and there are, without a doubt, means of learning that have yet to be discovered” (Ertugrul, 2000). Before beginning a laboratory practice with simulators, it is necessary to plan the pedagogical strategy; have in mind a chronogram with the sequence of topics prior to using the simulator, and establish objectives, abilities, skills, and capabilities to be developed in the student. These recommendations have been proposed by various authors (Lefèvre, 1988).

 

The support of the simulators in teaching.

 

According to Waldrop (2013), “it is the time to start thinking in education in a completely new way”. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) are starting and are available for tenths of thousands of students. The universities in developed countries are starting to associate with MOOC companies, and it is expected that in the next couple of years they will be offering science related courses. For this type of online science courses, it is necessary to design and build virtual laboratories where the student can learn with scientific discoveries (García and Gil, 2006). This does not refer to hardware simulators, such as a plane simulator for example; rather, it refers to process simulators through which the users assimilate the performance protocols, methodology and logical steps in a natural manner. There already exist various virtual laboratories whose objective is to teach by means of this type of simulators. The results in learning prove to be favorable (Ray, Koshy, Diwakar, Nair & Srivastava, 2012; Bernhard, 2010; Dantas and Kemm, 2008; Ravert, 2002).

 

In the teaching-learning of medical disciplines, Zhang, Thompson and Miller (2011) made a revision of the inter-professional education (IPE) based on simulations. These authors undertook a search in various bases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO) for the years 1999 to 2009. They focused on the design of the study and the research strategies. They reviewed 356 papers, of which 138 articles used simulators and, in addition, collaborated two or more professions (IPE). Of these articles, 45 carried out an educational investigation; 19, a qualitative study; 25, a quantitative study, and in one of them the impact on the students was not reported. The authors found that the educational instruction was rather diverse; however, the majority of authors report a combination of active learning strategies, in addition to a combination of didactic material available in online modules or readings followed by an activity with the simulator.

 

In the majority of these cases the satisfaction of the participants, the perception of learning, and the action of the students during the simulation process were shown. Results were positive in all these cases. The behavior of the students was enthusiastic. The evaluated levels were: attendance, satisfaction with the program, knowledge acquisition, and competencies. Regarding subjects of a medical nature the following is added: attention to the patient and attention to the community. The other papers reviewed focus on addressing the design and development of the simulators.

 

Thus, in this type of papers there are two guidelines: the design of the simulators, in which the results generated by the simulator are analyzed to see if they are similar to those found in real experiments, and putting to the test its usability and use as didactic tools. In the first guideline the mathematical model from which it is derived is put to the test; the relations between the variables are observed and, as the case may be, new relations between variables are discovered or variables that in real experiments could not be measured are calculated. In Mexico, there is scarce development of proper simulators; for example, there have been simulators reported by Govea-Valladares, Medellín-Castillo, Lim, Khambay, Rodríguez-Florido, and Ballesteros (2012). The reports on the educational impact are even scarcer.

 

Problem Statement

 

The impact of laboratory work in teaching science has been sufficiently addressed. There is a great number of papers, especially regarding the learning of physics and mathematics. However, the study of the impact of virtual practices in the teaching of biology is scarce. The knowledge, abilities and skills that can be attained have been scarcely explored. The development of simulators to teach biology in Mexico is incipient. In this paper we describe the experience and strategies for the use of the dose-response simulator. We intend to assess the learning reached on the subject and demonstrate that guide virtual experimentation situates the student in an activity that allows them to obtain a general idea of what is a scientific work and how it is carried out.

 

 

MATERIALS AND METHOD

 

During the Investigation Methods I course of the Biology bachelor’s degree, one of the simulators designed and developed in the Laboratorio de Biología Interactiva by the authors of this paper was utilized. The simulator called dose-response 1.0 is executed in a Windows® environment, from XP to version 8, in a PC-compatible computer. The computing requirements are 2 MB of free space in the hard drive and a Pentium processor or greater with a SVGA monitor with true color depth. We used the computer room with one student at each computer.

 

Thirteen students used the simulator and each of them had individual access to the program. The CREATE (consider, read, establish a hypothesis, analyze and interpret data, and think on the following experiment) method was followed, proposed by Hoskins, Stevens and Nehm in 2007.

 

The work was frontal, i.e., everyone carried out the same practice. The simulator generates different data within an interval of real values, for reach run, so that a personalized practiced is executed. According to Gómez (1999), “This type of frontal work is what most closely approximates the students to scientific experimental research.” Interaction between students was allowed at all times. The virtual laboratory practice had a methodological nature of the semi-closed type in accordance with the classification by Crespo and Álvarez (2001), i.e., only some developed knowledge is facilitated to the students. With the employment of the problematic situation, it motivates to investigate, assume and issue a hypothesis (Siso, Briceño, Álvarez and Arana, 2009; Crespo and Álvarez, 2001). According to Fraga (1996), we resort to a research, experimental and project focus, and not like a cooking recipe. The results emitted by the simulator were analyzed using the program Origin^® version 3.0.

 

For the implementation of the practice, the students follow a rubric, describe objectives, suggest a hypothesis, plan the stages to carry out the experiment (methods and procedures), observations and measurements that can be recorded and the conclusion that can be drawn from the experience.

 

Development of the experience

 

The thematic sequence planned and the activities programmed are summarized in Table 1.

 

Table 1. Strategy for the educational use of the dose-response simulator.

Subject	Sessions*	Objective That the students are capable of
Types of investigation	3	Differentiate between experimental and non-experimental investigation.
Search of scientific articles through the internet	5	Acquire the abilities to carry out searches of scientific articles, differentiating them from dissemination articles and begin to form criteria to select the more adequate articles for your investigation.
Mathematical models	5	Intuitively understand the differential equations, the meaning of their solution, their relation with the identification of variables, and the relation between them.
Mathematical functions	3	Understand the mathematical functions as solutions of a differential equation and their use in the adjustment of experimental data.
Use of the Origin® program	3	Acquire the abilities and skills in the use of the Origin® program for the analysis and adjustment of experimental data.
Neuroanatomy and basic physiology of the vestibular system	2	Understand the basic biological subject of the project to be developed.
Ligand-receptor interaction	1	Understand the meaning of the dose-response curve and of dose fifty. Apply this knowledge in the analysis of the collected data.
Introduction to writing scientific articles	5	Acquire the basic knowledge for the writing of scientific articles.
Use of the dose-response simulator	2	Generate experimental data of the extracellular record of the simulated vestibular nerve.
Analysis of the data generated with the simulator	Extra class Activity in the computer room. In collaboration with their classmates.	Develop the abilities learned during the previous sessions.
Write a scientific article from the results generated by the simulator	Extra class activity. In the course of a week interaction between students is allowed. They may check with the professor.	Begin writing a scientific article.
Review in pairs	1	Participate in reviewing the articles written by their classmates; issue a critique of the work and suggestions for improvement.
Correct the work	Extra class activity	Receive critiques on their work and be able to correct it.
Evaluation and specification of errors in the work	One week	Recognize and correct the errors.
Feedback	1	Hand-in the corrected work to receive a final grade.

*Each session corresponds to one hour. The students could use the simulator throughout the entire course and freely outside of it. The simulator was located in the server of the school and was available on the Biology webpage throughout the entire course.

 

The subjects are specifically focused on biology, which in this case is the ligand-receptor interaction and the generation of dose-response curves. This means, e.g., that the subjects related to mathematics or statistics are directed towards the solution of the problem stated and there is no intention to develop students in the broad sense of mathematics, rather, for the student to manage to integrate a series of tools that allow them to solve a specific problem.

 

Use of the Origin® program.

 

Before carrying out the virtual practice, the group received three one-hour sessions on the use of the Origin® program. During the first session they received a rundown on the program and were shown the menu bar, how to execute the program, and how to open and save a new file. Emphasis was placed on the data entry and on how to select the data in order to create various graph types, as well as how to modify the titles of the axis, the size of the font and of the graph, and how to design their own graph. During the second session, the student learned how to carry out basic statistical analysis in columns and lines, and graphs with error bars and their meaning. During the third session they were taught the use of statistics and the mathematical analysis of the data allowed by the program.

 

Levels of learning.

 

The use of the simulator was accompanied by a series of subjects and activities that favored the learning of the student and that aid in reaching the established abilities, skills and objectives. According with the taxonomy of Bloom (1956) and of Anderson and Krathwohl (2001), that the aim is for the student to have a reflective learning with the processes to remember, understand and apply. The independent creation of content is intended by evaluating and summarizing, and by creating, through the writing of their own article, it is intended for the student to acquire independence (see table 2).

 

Table 2. Activities according to Bloom’s updated taxonomy.

 

Brief description of the simulator.

 

The simulator is based on experiments that were carried out on the vestibular organ of the Axolotl (Ambystoma tigrinum). The material and method used in the real experiment was presented in PowerPoint and is explained step by step by the student. The potentials of the vestibular nerve are recorded with a suction electrode. The negative pressure on the electrode is maintained throughout the experiment, with which it is ensured that the nerve is kept within the electrode (see Figure 1).

 

The dose-response simulator reproduces the experimental results. The interface window shows: in the left half, the work table on which one can observe a microscope, the micromanipulators, the syringe to achieve the described negative pressure, and three buttons: ≪Control≫, ≪Q. A.≫ and ≪K. A.≫, which allow to simulate the control frequency and the effect of the administration of the quisqualic acid and kainic acid, respectively.

 

The right half shows a window that sometimes has the function of an oscilloscope, a box where the corresponding trigger frequency is shown, and at the bottom there is a button to start recording (see Figure 2). In order to use the simulator, the first step is to select the ≪Control≫ button to indicate to the program to send results in control conditions. In order to make the records, simply press the ≪Start recording≫ button. Each time this button is pressed, a new simulation is generated (see Figure 2).

 

 

Figure 1. Simulation of the extracellular record with suction electrode. The diagram on the left shows the vestibular preparation of the axolotl with the recording electrode, whereas the left diagram shows the trigger frequency. The interval comprised between the two vertical lines corresponds to the records that will be simulated.

 

 

Figure 2. Simulation of the application of quisqualic acid. In the module, on the lower part, a horizontal sliding bar is located. Sliding to the right increases the does to be administered. Once having selected the dose, press the ≪Apply≫ button. Subsequently press the ≪Start recording≫ button to execute the simulation.

 

Evaluation of the process.

 

Our study was explorative and descriptive, and no inferential statistics were used. We followed an evaluation similar to that proposed by Gaytán and Pásaro (2001), with some modifications. We evaluated two levels of knowledge: the management of the program and the comprehension of the theoretical knowledge. For the first point, we carried out a survey on the usability of the program, whereas for the second, there were two related activities: the writing of the simulation’s results in the form of a scientific article and a knowledge exam.

 

 

RESULTS

 

Examples of simulations.

 

With the dose-response program experiments with the quisqualic acid (Q. A.) and kainic (K. A.) acid were simulated. Figure 2 shows a simulation with the first acid; in this case the ≪Q. A.≫ button is pressed and a module is shown to select the administered dose. In this example: 41.2 μM. The trigger frequency is recorded in the oscilloscope. In the square below the average frequency is shown: 409 Hz.

 

In order to obtain the dose-response curve, we administered growing concentrations of the drug. Figure 3 shows the registered response for each administered dose. With the increase of the dose so did the response increase in a non-linear manner. A rapid growth begins until reaching a maximum. The program reproduces a different response each time a new simulation is started.

 

 

Figure 3. Examples of agonist administration. Simulations that show the trigger frequencies produced by increasing the dose of quisqualic acid. (A) Response of 118.40 Hz at a concentration of 3.1 μM. (B) Response of 212.17 Hz with a concentration of 10.1 μM. (C) Response of 353.34 Hz with 20.2 μM. (D) Response of 449.18 Hz with 48.3 μM.

 

The dose-response curve was built with various simulations, in which the response is recorded facing the increase of the concentration of the drug. It is necessary to press the ≪Q.A.≫ button each time that a new simulation is to be carried out. For each selected concentration thirty records were made. The mean and standard deviation of the data was calculated. Consequently, the students carry out statistical tests of the data generated by the simulator. Figure 4 shows the results.

 

 

Frequency (Hz)

Quisqualic Acid (μM)

 

Figure 4. Dose-response curve of the quisqualic acid. The dose of the drug was increased on each simulation for a total of thirty records at nine different concentrations in order to obtain the corresponding mean and standard deviation. The curve is adjusted to a sigmoid function. The frequency reaches a maximum, indicative that the receptor has been saturated (graph presented in the article of a student).

 

Results of the process evaluation.

 

Two levels of knowledge were evaluated: the management of the program and the understanding of the theoretical knowledge (writing the results of the simulations as a scientific article and a knowledge exam).

 

Usability of the simulator.

 

We explored how easy or difficult it was to use the simulator. Figure 5 shows the results: 69.2% of the students indicated that it was easy

to use; 23.1%, that it was regular; and 7.7% that it was difficult.

 

% of students

Usability; Easy, Regular, Difficult

 

Figure 5. Usability graph. For the majority of students, the simulator was easy to use.

 

Exploration the activities performed

 

Writing a scientific article

In the final part of the work an intervention was carried out in order to analyze if the student achieved a reflective learning that would allow them to write their own scientific article based on the data collected with the simulator. The intervention combined the collaborative review in pairs and with the professor.

 

The writing was done in two steps: writing the first rough draft and its review in pairs, and writing the final article with the corrections. The students wrote an article following the copyright instructions provided. One-hundred percent of the students adequately followed the format, sections and report of the bibliography. Eight of the students (61.5%) described in the abstract and in the introduction the importance of the work performed; 76.9% (10) of the students implicitly described a working hypothesis at the end of the introduction; nine of them proved their hypothesis with the results. Thirteen students (100%) showed the effect of kainic and quisqualic acid. The calculation of the D₅₀ was reported by ten students (76.9%). All of the students created the graphs in accordance with what they learned in the corresponding sections and were able to make scientific bibliographic searchers in accordance to the subject; twelve students found specific bibliography regarding the effect of quisqualic and kainic acid on the vestibule of the axolotl (see Figure 6).

 

 

STUDENTS %

1. Follow the instructions...

2. Describe explicitly...

3. Propose explicitly...

4. Demonstrate the hypothesis...

5. Report the effect of the...

6. Report the effect of...

7. Determine the D50 for the...

8. Determine the D50 for the...

9. Carry out adequately...

10. Report the bibliography...

11. Report the bibliography...

 

Figure 6. Graph of the performance of writing the article. The abilities reached by the students are shown in the following – rubrics analyzed: 1. Follow the copyright instructions. 2. Explicitly describe the importance of the work. 3. Implicitly propose a hypothesis. 4. Demonstrate the hypothesis through the results. 5. Report the effect of the quisqualic acid. 6. Report the effect of the kainic acid. 7. Determine the D₅₀ for the quisqualic acid. 8. Determine the D₅₀ for the kainic acid. 9. Adequately create the graphs. 10. Report the bibliography related to receptors, agonists and antagonist of the receptor to glutamate. 11. Report the bibliography related to the activity of the agonists utilized in the vestibular nerve of the axolotl. The scale from 0 to 100 corresponds to the percentage.

 

According to Bloom’s taxonomy, the results show that the activities: to generate data with the simulator, to experiment with growing agonist doses, to graph the results (rubrics 1 and 9), located in the apply level, and to discover the effect of the agonists, classify and report specialized and specific bibliography (rubrics 5, 6, 10, and 11), in the analyze level, were achieved by 100 – 92.3% of the students. Rubrics 7 and 8, which also correspond to analysis, were reached by 76.9%, and a higher level such as synthesize (rubrics 2, 3, and 4), was reached by 76.9 to 61.5% of the students.

 

Knowledge test

 

The learning reached by the students was explored. Six multiple choice questions were formulated. Table 3 shows the questions, the answers and the percentage of students who selected each response.

 

Table 3. Knowledge test.

 

 

Figure 7. summarizes the results. Each vertex of the hexagon corresponds to a question. The numbering of the questions follows that from Table 3.

 

CORRECT

INCORRECT

1. The administration of the acid...

2. The administration of the acid...

3. Of the previous results...

4. What differences are observed in the...

5. In a dose-response curve what is the...

6. With the data generated by the simulator:

 

Figure 7. Graph that shows the results of the knowledge test. The numbers 1 to 6 correspond to the questions from Table 3. The numbers from 0 to 100 are the percentage. The majority of the students answered all the questions correctly; 7.7% answered questions 1 and 5 incorrectly.

 

 

DISCUSSION

 

The laboratory equipment and the reagents used in the experiments are extremely expensive; definitely, in our conditions, they are impossible to carry out for the teaching-learning. Due to the fact that the subject posed in the virtual experiments corresponds to an activity of the disciplinary background, it has great meaning for the students. It consists on carrying out a guided virtual experiment in order to achieve the building of knowledge (López-Bonilla, 2003; Cronbach and Snow, 1977).

 

Comparing the results in this work with real experiments is impossible due to the high costs it implies. However, a similar experience was carried out in Biology in the University of Sevilla (Gaytán and Pásaro, 2001). These authors carried out a pilot student on the interactive learning of neurobiology. For this, they designed an interactive informatics application. They evaluated two levels of knowledge: the comprehension of the theoretical concepts and the technical training, which refers to the management of the program (the recording equipment) and the analysis of said recording. The students were evaluated through three activities: a revision work, a discussion session, and a session of panels. The authors indicate that the majority of the students recognized having improved their understanding of the neuronal physiology.

 

Our work is exploratory; we designed and developed an interactive computer program for the multi-unit extracellular recording of the vestibular nerve of the axolotl. We studied the same knowledge levels: comprehension of the basic concepts, management of the program, and data analysis. In order to explore these points, the students wrote a scientific article and took a knowledge exam. Our results agree with those of Gaytán and Pásaro (2001).

 

There are various studies on the use of simulators in other disciplines. Table 4 summarizes the perceived results on the learning achieved with the simulators on three different works: virtual instruments, chemical reaction simulator, and hemodynamics simulator. In the first, 146 professors gave their perception on the learning of the students. In the second, 30 students expressed their perception on the benefit regarding their knowledge, with a scale of 1 to 10. In the third, 90 students provided their perception on its clinical benefit. In all cases, the study was descriptive. Both the teachers as well as the students recognized the benefit in the use of simulators with regard to learning. Our work agrees with the results of these authors.

 

 

 

 

Table 4. Perception results of the learning.

 

 

It is worth noting that the scientific subject addressed in the simulator is found in the eighth quarter of the bachelor’s degree, and the students that participated in the processes were in their third quarter. Nevertheless, 69.2% achieved the highest learning level. This suggests an acceleration of the learning that ought to be investigated in future Works.

 

 

CONCLUSIONS

 

The simulation of the laboratory experiments allows the students to situate themselves in a real scientific activity, carried out on the computer. A real experiment of this type has a duration of five to seven hours, and obtaining a dose-response curve requires multiple experiments. With the simulator, the times decrease considerably; an experiment is carried out in minutes. The simulators allow the implementation of experiments that, due to their high costs, are impossible to carry out in the study of a bachelor’s degree.

 

In online courses, where the implementation of laboratory practices is necessary, the simulators are a good alternative. The simulator is a good didactic tool that makes use of the new technologies, but which does not substitute the professor. The methods used to evaluate the process are complementary and allowed for the distinction of different learning levels. We observed that the technical part (apply) was achieved that all the students. As the learning level increases, the quantity of students that achieved it lowered (analyze, 92.3%; synthesize, 76.9%; evaluate and create, 69.2%). There is a group of students (7.7%) that did not adapt to this type of teaching-learning. In order to meet the high order objectives (analyze, synthesize, evaluate and create), it was necessary to increase the mental effort of the students: going from the simple demonstrative or expositive practices recipe type to a laboratory practice of the structured research type.

 

 

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Received: 19/01/2016

Published: 18/03/2016