More than just a novel teaching tool, this new approach aims to foster deep understanding and critical thinking, moving away from rote memorization - a skill rapidly becoming obsolete in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).
Derek Jackson
Derek Jackson, the undergraduate program director and associate professor in the Faculty of Science, and sessional lecturer Kyle Belozerov - both in the Department of Chemistry - say they continue to be inspired by the phrase "future-proofing students" after winning a provincial Minister's Award of Excellence in this category in 2023.
Kyle Belozerov
"That's a great concept: future-proofing students," says Belozerov. "This principle guides our approach to the course. University education is re-orienting itself toward a deeper, more conceptual understanding it will be an advantage in the workplace (that students) are about to enter where only a deep, conceptual understanding of a subject is going to matter, because trivial facts can be accessed easily with the use of AI."
The new course introduces students to the fundamental principles and modern methods of enzyme design. Enzymes are special protein molecules that speed up chemical reactions and are essential for life and industrial applications. There is great potential for using enzymes in industrial processes, such as converting waste materials into useful products.
Using VR technology, students can visualize and manipulate these complex, three-dimensional molecular structures, achieving a deeper understanding and learning application-based problem-solving.
Jackson remembers clearly his first experience of looking at enzymes via a VR headset.
"I remember it being so cool and so beautiful. I just couldn't put it down," he says. "I was exploring all these structures and looking at them immersively, thinking how amazing this would be as a teaching tool."
Professors Kyle Belozerov and Derek Jackson in VR
Both say the course has received support from York and externally, including an Ontario Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS) grant, which aims to drive growth and advancement in virtual learning. York also provided funding for the purchase of headsets, and the VR facility is now equipped to provide every student enrolled in CHEM4055 with their own device for the semester.
This term, the inaugural offering of the course, attracted 42 students, making CHEM4055 one of the most popular fourth-year courses in the Department of Chemistry.
After students use the headsets to work with the models of the structures, the class discusses the application of these concepts using examples of enzymes designed for bioremediation, natural product synthesis and biofuel production. VR technology is a vital tool in the classroom, augmenting the students' learning as they examine, manipulate, design and document the molecules.
In the first segment of the course, students learn about protein structure and the mechanisms of enzymatic activity. They examine a variety of enzyme structures in VR to better grasp the concept of these foundational topics. In the second segment, students learn the theory and practice behind modern methods of rational enzyme design, directed evolution approaches and hybrid methods.
Students engaged in the class with their VR headsets
Belozerov and Jackson say the widespread adoption of AI tools is changing the approach to education, moving away from superficial learning to a need for deeper understanding of subjects. More senior students in STEM streams are becoming increasingly aware of this reorientation trend in teaching and learning practices and welcome it in their courses.
"That's changed the approach students are taking to their education," Belozerov says. "And, of course, that's also shaping our teaching approaches and our philosophies of teaching."
Jackson recalls his days as an undergraduate student learning biochemistry, looking at static slides of enzyme molecules and not being able to visualize them. Websites that showed molecules in three dimensions, and allowed for their basic spatial manipulation, did provide an alternative, but not enough. "I did find that helpful, but I'm not sure it really stuck with me.
"But now, with VR, the idea is that you're looking at these structures in a very immersive, three-dimensional way," Jackson says. "This is certainly an amazing way to learn about a very complicated topic."
This story was originally featured in YFile, York University's community newsletter.
