Using PowerPoint animations to illustrate biochemical processes

CHED 480

S. Scott Zimmerman, scott.zimmerman@byu.edu, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, C205 BNSN, Provo, UT 84602-5700
Chemistry and biochemistry students often struggle to relate the static pictures printed in their textbooks with the dynamic processes that occur in the laboratory or in living cells. To help bridge the gap between static pictures and dynamic processes in biochemistry, I have developed a set of animations using PowerPoint to illustrate replication, transcription, translation, enzyme kinetics, and hemoglobin function. These animations take advantage of the powerful built-in custom animations feature of PowerPoint. The resulting PowerPoint presentations allow instructors to show “movies” of biochemical events, pause at any moment, step through animations, repeat or reverse animations, customize animations, import or embed the animations in their current PowerPoint presentations, and distribute the animations to students for use outside the classroom. Students report that the animations are helpful in helping them visualize and learn biochemistry.