Evaluation of the importance of models in biology teaching through the application of a representative model of the desmosome intercellular junction

Abstract

The present work involved the development of a representative model of the desmosome junction and its application to 172 students divided into beginners (1o semester of Nutrition and Biological Sciences) and veterans (2o of Nutrition and 4o of Biological Sciences) to test its effectiveness on the teaching-learning process. It was found that 78% of beginners and 82% of veterans were female; 98% had between 17 and 30 years-old; the majority (61% and 50%, beginners and veterans, respectively) assumed it was the first occasion they had contact with a model although at least 90% of them recognized the main represented structure (the desmosome); the majority of both groups said that the model allowed the recognition of junctional structures; 97% of beginners and 99% of the veterans declared that their knowledge about intercellular junctions and desmosome enhanced and 72% of beginners affirmed that their teachers possess models for practical classes compared to 33% in veterans. The attribution of scores exceeding 7 to the model revealed that its use in practical lessons is productive.