%0 Thesis %A Rodriguez, Jon-Marc G %D 2019 %T STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF MICHAELIS-MENTEN KINETICS AND ENZYME INHIBITION %U https://hammer.purdue.edu/articles/thesis/STUDENTS_UNDERSTANDING_OF_MICHAELIS-MENTEN_KINETICS_AND_ENZYME_INHIBITION/7798814 %R 10.25394/PGS.7798814.v1 %2 https://hammer.purdue.edu/ndownloader/files/14523833 %K Chemistry Education Research %K Enzyme Kinetics %K Mathematical Reasoning %K Graphical Reasoning %K Biochemistry %K Biochemistry %K Education %K Higher Education %X

Currently there is a need for research that explores students’ understanding of advanced topics in order to improve teaching and learning beyond the context of introductory-level courses. This work investigates students’ reasoning about graphs used in enzyme kinetics. Using semi-structured interviews and a think aloud-protocol, 14 second-year students enrolled in a biochemistry course were provided two graphs to prompt their reasoning, a typical Michaelis-Menten graph and a Michaelis-Menten graph involving enzyme inhibition. Student responses were coded using a combination of inductive and deductive analysis, influenced by the resource-based model of cognition. Results involve a discussion regarding how students utilized mathematical resources to reason about chemical kinetics and enzyme kinetics, such as engaging in the use of symbolic/graphical forms and focusing on surface-level features of the equations/graphs. This work also addresses student conceptions of the particulate-level mechanism associated with competitive, noncompetitive, and uncompetitive enzyme inhibition. Based on the findings of this study, suggestions are made regarding the teaching and learning of enzyme kinetics.

%I Purdue University Graduate School