Providing a project-based experience in an undergraduate
biochemistry laboratory class can be complex with large
class sizes and limited resources. We have designed a 6-
week curriculum during which students purify and characterize
the enzymes invertase and phosphatase from bakers
yeast. Purification is performed in two stages via ethanol
precipitation and anion exchange chromatography, and
students perform both direct and coupled enzyme assays.
By completion of the experimental series, students are able
to identify which enzymes they have purified and have
obtained kinetic parameters for one. This experimental series
requires minimal instructor preparation time, is cost
effective, and works with multiple sections of large groups
of students. Students participating in this sequence showed
increases in conceptual understanding of biochemical concepts
as measured through in-class assessments and anonymous
surveys. VC 2013 by The International Union of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 41(4):251–261, 2013