Making Sense of a Biochemistry Learning Process and Teacher’s Empathy: Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Using Emoji Symbols

Abstract

Teaching biochemistry concepts can be a challenging task, as it requires learners and teachers to integrate abstract concepts from chemistry and biology. Students struggle to grasp the molecular processes, as they find it difficult to visualize them. Incorporating Information Communication Technology (ICT) implementations during lessons is known to encourage learners’ involvement in a collaborative learning process and is especially effective when training preservice teachers (PSTs). In the current study, we describe an example in which the teacher plays an important role in creating the Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) in this environment to encourage peer learning while coping with complicated material. We believe that one of the important components in guiding such peer work is the teacher’s ability to sense each group’s progress and to employ empathy in the classroom as a tool for coping with the difficulty and challenge of acquiring new knowledge and for creating a productive dialog between groups that disagree. In this example, the process of Information Communication Technology (ICT) implementation encouraged the preservice teachers (PSTs) to create an alternative set of symbols, which eventually served as a “language” and help them understand the biochemical processes.