Adapting to student learning styles: using cell phone technology in undergraduate biology, chemistry, and biochemistry instruction

• DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.lb306
• Publication Date: 2021-06-21T21:46:50Z
• Authors: Candace Timpte; Deborah Sauder; Richard Pennington; Mai Yin Tsoi; Julia Barker Paredes; David P. Pursell
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 03 medical and health sciences; 4. Education

Students of biology and chemistry traditionally make 3x5 flash cards to assist learning nomenclature, structures, and reactions. Advances in educational technology over the past ten years have enabled flash cards viewed on computers, offering an endless array of drilling and feedback for students. The current generation of students is less inclined to use computers, but they use their cell phones 24 hours a day. This report outlines these trends in student educational technology use and reports on our novel use of educational technology, that of using cell phone flash cards to help students learn biology, chemistry, and biochemistry nomenclature, structures, and reactions. Students responded positively to cell phone flash cards in a pilot study and a more detailed study in general chemistry, general biology, organic chemistry, and biochemistry sections is ongoing and results will be reported.