Biology
Much of the content material covered during my observations of biology was abstract in
nature. To teach biology, Ellen relied heavily on diagrams and graphs. During observations,
she represented concepts such as species survival curves, biomass pyramids, and nutrient
cycles. Ellen explicitly stated that she kept photographs to a minimum when teaching
biology. When she did use photographs, they were for decorative purposes. For example, as
she was discussing ecological disaster on Easter Island, she displayed a photograph of the
statues on the island. The photograph was not imperative in understanding the content
material, but served more to give students a context.
Similarly, Margaret visually represented material with both graphs and diagrams. She
included graphs of free energy, graphs of enzyme activity, and diagrams that illustrated
relationships between processes (ex. endergonic and exergonic reactions). Although she
relied heavily on diagrams, contrary to Ellen‘s ideas, realism remained an important factor.
For example, Margaret used a visual representation of an enzyme that was very realistic in
nature, even though the common textbook illustration represents an enzyme having an oval
shape. Animations were used often in this course to teach processes like diffusion across the
cell membrane. In her interview, Margaret states, ―It really is amazing how they look at an
animation and go ‗Oh, okay.‘ We‘ve talked about [diffusion] all week, but seeing it, now they
really get the idea.‖ Likewise, when teaching anatomy and physiology, real pictures of tissue
cross-sections were preferred in this course. The only diagrams used represented structures
that could not be shown in a photograph. For example, a cross-section of the layers of the
skin cannot be seen with a photograph as they can in a diagram. Although she sees value in
real pictures, she recognizes the lack of labeling can be a problem for students. Therefore, she
focuses their attention on important features with questions such as, ―Do you see the
branching?‖ and ―Do you see the nuclei all squeezed down in there?‖