Biochemistry Teaching Through Food Label Analysis

• Autor(a) principal: Barbosa, N.L.
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Outros Autores: Correia, Y.M., Nascimento, M.M., Oliveira, H.D.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista de Ensino de Bioquímica
• Texto Completo: http://bioquimica.org.br/revista/ojs/index.php/REB/article/view/128
• topic: Biochemistry Teaching, Food Labels, Education.

Traditional classes of Basic Biochemistry often rely on memorization of facts and concepts.  For  this  reason,  many  educators  have  evaluated  new  strategies  and tools  to  enrich  learning  and  motivate  undergraduate  students.  As  a  result  of different  methodologies  used  for  this  purpose,  several  commited  professors  are convinced  that  students  learn  more  effectively  if  the  knowledge  they  acquire  are inserted and contextualized in relevant real-life. This work aimed to report the use of  a  new  strategy  to  provide  first-semester  physiotherapy  students  with  a  more practical  and  interesting  approach  to  Biochemistry.The  method  consisted  in  the use  of  food  label  analysis  as  an  approach  to  study  the  structure  and  function  of biomolecules.The  activity  was  developed  at  Faculdade  Christus  (located  in Fortaleza)  using  15h  of  extra  classes.  Firstly,  the  students  were  requested  to collect  food  labels  during  a  week.  Secondly,  they  were  teached  to  read  and interpret  a  food  label  according  the  dietary  recommendations  of  World  Health Organization  and  National  Health  Surveillance  Agency  -  Brazil,  contrasting different  types  of  foods  with  regard  to  their  calories  and  nutrient  content.  In  this activity, the analysis of structure and function of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins was made to support the understanding of basic concepts. The last activity aimed to organize a healthy breakfast, considering the concepts learned during the food label  analysis.  The  activities  were  evaluated  by  the  students  through  written questionaires  and  informal  conversations,  indicating  good  acceptance  and approval of this method and showing that this activity is a valid educational tool.