The importance of spatial visualization and visual literacy in teaching molecular cell biology and biochemistry topics in high school biology textbooks

Document Type : Review Article

Author

Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Visualization is an essential skill for all students and biologists studying and researching molecular cell biology and biochemistry. In this study, the nature and importance of visualization in the teaching of molecular cell and biochemistry topics in high school textbooks are discussed. The argument is that students should be explicitly taught visual literacy and visualization skills as essential components of biology courses. The current review research was done using the library-document method. The desired information resources using the keywords of education, biology, molecular cell, biochemistry, visual literacy, and visualization; and were extracted from Science Direct, Google Scholar, and PubMed databases. The results showed that although a great variety of static, dynamic, and multimedia visual displays continue to flood schools with modern educational resources at an exponential rate, very little educational attention has been paid to visual literacy and visualization in biology education. In this article, based on selected research findings from other fields of science education and my own research experience in biology education, basic instructions are proposed to promote visualization and visual literacy among students who study in the experimental field.

Keywords

References

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Research in Biology Education
Volume 4, Issue 2 - Serial Number 11
February 2023
Pages 19-30

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