Text in English / A descriptive survey was used in order to determine • whether professional nurses are capable of teaching student nurses the application of biophysics and biochemistry related to certain nursing activities/procedures in the surgical unit • student nurses' knowledge of biophysics and biochemistry related to nursing activities/procedures in the surgical unit. The two target groups consisted of student nurses of a Gauteng nursing college and the professional nurses working in the surgical units of the four hospital satellite campuses where these students do their practica. Accidental sampling was used. Two questionnaires were designed: one for each group. Findings revealed that student nurses felt that biophysics and biochemistry were often not applied by professional nurses during clinical teaching. Professional nurses felt they had problems in identifying and applying biophysics and biochemistry principles during clinical teaching. Recommendations were made for nursing practice, nursing education and further research. / Daar heers groot komer oor die toepassing van biofisika en biochemie in die kliniese opset. Voortspruitend uit hierdie probleemstelling is twee vrae gevra in hierdie studie, naamlik: • Is geregistreerde verpleegkundiges daartoe in staat om studentverpleegkundiges te help om die biofisika- en biochemie-konsepte wat hulle leer, toe te pas in die sjirurgiese eenheid? • Kan studentverpleegkundiges die biofisika- en biochemie-konsepte wat hulle leer, toepas in die sjirurgiese eenheid? Doelwitte van die studie was om • 'n oorsig te gee oor verbandhoudende literatuur • te bepaal oor watter biofisika- en biochemie-kennis studentverpleegkundiges beskik wat verband hou met verpleegaksies in sjirurgiese eenhede • te bepaal of geregistreerde verpleegkundiges studentverpleegkundiges kan onderrig in die toepassing van biofisika en biochemie wat verband hou met sekere verpleegaksies in sjirurgiese eenhede. Die navorsingsbenadering wat gebruik is, is die beskrywende opname. Teikengroepe vir die studie was fase II studentverpleegkundiges van 'n Gauteng Verpleegkollege en geregistreerde verpleegkundiges wat in die sjirurgiese eenhede werk van vier Gautengse hospitale wat dien as satelietkampusse vir hierdie verpleegkollege. Twee vraelyste, respektiewelik gerig aan die studentverpleegkundiges en die geregistreerde verpleegkundiges is gebruik as instrumente. Toevallige steekproeftrekking is gebruik. Analise van die data het getoon dat studentverpleegkundiges gevoel het hulle is nie betrek in die beplanning van kliniese onderrig nie en ook dat biofisika en biochernie dikwels nie toegepas is tydens kliniese onderrig deur geregistreerde verpleegkundiges nie. Geregistreerde verpleegkundiges het gevoel hulle het probleme in die identifisering en toepassing van biofisika- en biochemie-beginsels tydens kliniese onderrig. Bevindings kan nie veralgemeen word nie. Aanbevelings vir verpleegpraktyk, -ondenvys en verdere navorsing is gemaak. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)--University of South Africa, 1999

Orientador: Denise Vaz de Macedo / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-14T06:07:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lazarim_FernandaLorenzi_D.pdf: 1781611 bytes, checksum: 278e3fd2103780698a1b6dc5452c8b5d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: A resposta adaptativa decorrente de um programa de treinamento está relacionada a um intenso processo de síntese protéica, cujo efeito cumulativo de várias sessões de exercício leva a alterações fenotípicas do músculo e aumento de rendimento em capacidades biomotoras diversas. Para isso é necessário um tempo adequado de recuperação entre os estímulos. Um processo contínuo de treinamento intensificado sem o tempo de recuperação adequado é denominado overtraining. Este pode culminar em basicamente dois estados diferenciados em relação ao desempenho: overreaching funcional (FOR), com manutenção ou mesmo melhora de desempenho após o descanso, e overreaching não funcional (NFOR), caracterizado pela queda no desempenho por tempo prolongado. A visualização das alterações agudas e crônicas do perfil protéico tanto de células como de fluidos pode auxiliar na compreensão dos mecanismos envolvidos nos estados FOR e NFOR, e possibilitar a identificação de marcadores que auxiliem na detecção desses estados. Nesse contexto a análise proteômica pode ser uma ferramenta bastante útil, pois permite separar, quantificar e identificar o perfil protéico de tecidos e fluidos biológicos. A presente tese está dividida em duas partes: pesquisa (Parte I) e ensino (Parte II), que refletem as experiências vividas desde a iniciação científica, sendo igualmente relevantes para minha formação acadêmica. A Parte I é constituída por três capítulos cujo objetivo principal foi investigar as alterações agudas e crônicas decorrentes do exercício físico no perfil protéico do soro de ratos através da análise proteômica. O capítulo 1 apresenta uma revisão sobre os mecanismos moleculares envolvidos na resposta adaptativa ao treinamento, as proteínas do soro, as técnicas utilizadas na análise proteômica e sua aplicabilidade nas pesquisas com exercício. O capitulo 2 apresenta as alterações agudas no perfil proteico do soro de ratos submetidos a um exercício exaustivo de média duração em esteira, 3 e 24 horas após o estímulo. As proteínas diferencialmente expressas 24 horas após o exercício corresponderam a proteínas de fase aguda sintetizadas em resposta à instalação de um processo inflamatório, indicando que a geração de microtraumas e a inflamação são partes integrantes da resposta aguda ao exercício. O capítulo 3 apresenta as alterações no perfil proteico do soro de ratos submetidos a um protocolo de indução ao continuum treinamento-overtraining, desenvolvido recentemente no nosso laboratório, e que produz animais nos estados FOR e NFOR. As proteínas diferencialmente expressas indicam um quadro antiinflamatório nos animais do grupo FOR e alterações protéicas que favoreceram os processos adaptativos envolvidos na biogênese mitocondrial e regeneração do tecido danificado. Também apresentaram melhora no perfil lipídico. O grupo NFOR apresentou alterações de proteínas de fase aguda indicando um processo inflamatório instalado e alterações de algumas proteínas que podem ter prejudicado o desencadeamento da resposta adaptativa, resultando na queda da performance. A Parte II da tese apresenta uma proposta de atividade prática, aplicada num curso de especialização com enfoque em bioquímica para alunos de Educação Física e Nutrição. Essa atividade consiste na discussão dos conceitos de Índice Glicêmico e Carga Glicêmica a partir de dados obtidos pelos próprios alunos. Utilizamos essa aula para a introdução ao estudo das vias de síntese e integração metabólica no estado alimentado / Abstract: The adaptive response to a training program is related to an intensive process of protein synthesis, which cumulative effect of multiple sessions of exercise leads to muscle phenotypic alterations and increases different physical capacities. For such adaptation an appropriate time for recovery between stimuli is required. A continuous process of intensified training without adequate recovery time is called overtraining. It can result in basically two different states concerning performance: functional overreaching (FOR), with maintenance or even improvement of performance after the recovery period, and non-functional overreaching (NFOR), characterized by performance decrement for a prolonged period. The visualization of acute and chronic changes on the protein profile of both cells and fluids may help one to understand the mechanisms involved on FOR and NFOR states, and it can enable the identification of biomarkers helping to detect these states. Within this context the proteomic analysis can be an interesting tool as it enables to separate, identify and quantify the protein profile of tissues and biological fluids. This work is divided in two parts: research (Part I), and education (Part II), which represent the experiences that I have been living since my scientific initiation and therefore, both are relevant for my education. Part I consists of three chapters in which the main goal is to investigate the acute and chronic changes in response to exercise in serum proteins profile of rats by proteomic analysis. Chapter 1 presents a review of the molecular mechanisms involved in the adaptive response to training, serum proteins, the techniques used in proteomics analysis and its applicability on exercise research. Chapter 2 presents the acute changes in serum protein profile of rats submitted to an exhaustive exercise of average duration on a treadmill, 3 and 24 hours after the stimulus. The proteins differently expressed 24 hours after the exercise were the acute-phase protein synthesized in response to installation of the inflammatory process, indicating that the generation of micro trauma and inflammation are parts of the acute response to the exercise. Chapter 3 reveals the changes in the serum protein profile of rats, submitted to an exercise protocol developed recently in our laboratory, to induce the animals through the continuum training-overtraining, leading the animals to the FOR and NFOR states. The differently expressed proteins indicate an anti-inflammatory process in the animals that were in the FOR group and protein changes which favored the adaptive processes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and the complete recovery of tissue damage, as well as the improvement on the lipid profile. The NFOR group presented changes of acute phase proteins indicating the instalation of an inflamatory process and alterations in some proteins that may have impaired the development of the adaptive response, which results in performance decrement. Part II of this work shows a proposal for a practical activity implemented in a specialization course with focus on Biochemistry for Physical Education and Nutrition students. This activity consists in the discussion of the Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load concepts through data obtained by the students. This class is used to introduce the study of synthesis pathways and metabolic integration in the fed state / Doutorado / Bioquimica / Doutor em Biologia Funcional e Molecular

Orientador: Eduardo Galembeck / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T11:40:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Perez_Daniel_M.pdf: 3191473 bytes, checksum: 3c35aeccd3c1fe4fdfdfa6076eaf54d9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: A desenvolvimento, adaptação e avaliação de disciplinas especiais de Bioquímica para o Ensino a Distância (EaD) vêm sendo realizadas pelo Laboratório de Tecnologia Educacional (LTE) desde meados de 2000. Uma delas foi a Bioquímica da Nutrição, que teve versões oferecidas via WEB nos anos de 2000, 2001, 2003 e 2005. Na Bioquímica da Nutrição 2005, buscamos adaptar e avaliar a utilização da metodologia Problem Based Learning (PBL), conhecido em português como Aprendizado Baseado em Problemas (ABP). Para isso, desenvolvemos inicialmente um problema piloto que foi aplicado, com caráter modular, em duas disciplinas regulares e presenciais de graduação: BB 280 ¿ Bioquímica Básica e BB584 ¿ Bioquímica para Engenharia. Os dados coletados a partir da avaliação dessas aplicações foram utilizados para adaptação da metodologia e sua utilização no EaD. Na Bioquímica da Nutrição 2005 foram desenvolvidos, aplicados e avaliados três Problemas, em três diferentes módulos: Alimentação Equilibrada (Módulo Parâmetros Nutricionais e Biodisponibilidade), Oxigênio do Mal? (Módulo Radicais Livres) e O triste fim de Eduardo Quaresma (Módulo Deficiências Nutricionais e Correlações Clínicas). A metodologia desenvolvida para a aplicação desses módulos ABP no EaD foi avaliada através da análise de conteúdo das discussões (chats) onde foram desenvolvidas as discussões da disciplina e por meio de questionários investigativos. Os dados dessas avaliações foram triangulados a fim de validar a pesquisa. Nossos resultados mostraram que a utilização do APB no EaD de Bioquímica, com caráter modular, é viável tanto em disciplinas presenciais como em disciplinas a distância mediadas via WEB, considerando os aspectos fundamentais, descritos pela bibliografia, que norteiam o desenvolvimento dos problemas e as estratégias aqui empregadas / Abstract: Since 2000, the Biochemistry Education Group, gathering teachers and students from the Biochemistry Departments of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and University of São Paulo (USP) creates, adapts and evaluates new Distance Education (DE) disciples. One of them was the Nutritional Biochemistry, which has web versions in the years of 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005. In 2005, we aim to adapt and evaluate the use of the instructional system Problem Based Learning (PBL) in a Distance Education biochemistry disciple. To achieve that, we developed and field tested a problem, seeking the web based applications, in two regular graduation disciples of University of Campinas: BB 280 ¿ Basic Biochemistry and BB 584 ¿ Biochemistry to Engineering. The data collected from the evaluation of these applications was used to adapt the PBL methodology to be used in distance education. In the year of 2005, we develop and evaluate three problems, to be used in three different disciples modules. The strategies and the approach to adapt the PBL methodology to the DE was evaluated using the Content Analysis (CA) of the chats and by survey questionnaires. As a validation method, the data collected in these evaluations was triangulated, and use peer debriefing. Our results have shown that the use of PBL in the Biochemistry Distance Education, as modules inside disciples, can be implemented in DE disciples as well in regular presence disciples, but the tutors and the students must be prepared carefully to reach the learn objectives / Mestrado / Bioquimica / Mestre em Biologia Funcional e Molecular

Conceitos prévios, ou alternativos, são ideias introjetadas no universo cognitivo dos estudantes que diferem daqueles credenciados pela ciência estabelecida. São bastante estudadas as consequências da presença deste tipo de conceitos para o aprendizado. Entre outras dificuldades provocadas pelos conceitos alternativos está a impossibilidade de utilizá-los para embasar novos conhecimentos. Nestas condições, incapazes de decodificar apropriadamente as novas informações apresentadas pelas disciplinas, os alunos são inconscientemente encaminhados para a memorização. A origem dos conceitos prévios é variada. Uma das causas já detectadas é a precariedade da transposição didática, feita pelos autores dos livros textos ou por docentes. Uma das moléculas fundamentais para os estudos bioquímicos é a adenosina trifosfato (ATP), que desempenha múltiplas funções. Uma das principais é participar de processos que requerem energia. A compreensão do papel desta molécula é fundamental para o entendimento dos processos dos quais ela participa. Um dos objetivos do presente trabalho foi investigar equívocos sobre o papel termodinâmico do ATP nos processos celulares. Os testes foram realizados com alunos do ensino médio (EM), graduação (G) e pós-graduação (PG). A existência de concepções alternativas foi verificada, assim como sua estabilidade nos diferentes níveis de escolaridade: um resultado mostra que 68% EM, 92% G e 91% PG afirmaram que a energia da hidrólise de ATP é responsável por conduzir os processos celulares. Os resultados gerais mostram que os estudantes carregam equívocos em conceitos termodinâmicos básicos, tais como transferência de energia e espontaneidade de reações químicas. Duas possíveis fontes de conceitos alternativos da termodinâmica do ATP são o professor e o livro didático. Nesse trabalho foi verificado que os livros de ensino médio e graduação podem contribuir para a instalação de conceitos alternativos referentes ao ATP. Nos livros analisados, principalmente os de ensino médio, foram encontrados passagens, analogias e esquemas que podem contribuir para isso. E por fim, uma interferência didática foi feita com o intuito de corrigir o entendimento dos alunos no que diz respeito ao papel do ATP nas reações químicas. Alunos monitorados por meio de pré e pós-testes apresentaram resultados animadores em relação à atenuação de conceitos relacionados à termodinâmica do ATP. Dos alunos que participaram da intervenção, mais de 80% responderam e justificaram corretamente os testes feitos pós-intervenção / Misconceptions, or alternative concepts, are introjected ideas in the students` cognitive universe that differ from those established by science. The consequences of alternative concepts for the learning process are widely studied. Among other difficulties caused by alternative concepts is the impossibility to use them to support new knowledge. Under these conditions, unable to properly decode the new information submitted by the disciplines, students are unconsciously driven to memorization. The origin of the alternative concepts is varied and an already detected reason is the precariousness of didactic transposition by textbooks writers and teachers. One of the fundamental biochemical molecules is ATP which play multiple roles. A key role is its participation in energy requiring processes. Understand this molecule role is fundamental to understand the processes which it takes part. The present work aims at the investigation of misconceptions on the ATP\'s thermodynamic role on cellular processes. Tests were carried out with high school students (HS), undergraduate (U) and graduate students involved in PhD programs (G). Misconceptions were observed as well as its stability along different levels of education: 68% (HS), 92% (U) and 91% (G) students stated that the energy from ATP hydrolysis is responsible for driving cellular energy-demanding processes. The overall results show that students carry misconceptions on basic thermodynamic concepts such as energy transfer and chemical reactions spontaneity. Misconceptions on ATP thermodynamics have the teacher and the textbook as possible sources. In this study it was found that books from all levels may contribute to insert or preserve misconceptions on ATP. From the analyzed books, especially for the high school, there were quotes, analogies and diagrams that can contribute to it. Finally, in order to correct the students\' understanding regarding the role of ATP in chemical reactions a didactic intervention was made. Students were tested through pre- and post-tests dealing with the subject in study. Of the students who participated in the intervention, over 80% correctly answered and explained the post-intervention test

This study investigated the effects of chemical concept understanding level on students’ achievement in biochemical topics (photosynthesis, respiration, diffusion and osmosis, carbohydrates, protein, fats and enzymes) in some selected secondary schools in Delta State of Nigeria. The study made use of mixed method research approach. Quantitatively, the design of the study was quasi experimental non-randomized pre-test and post-test control group design. A case study Embedded Design was adopted to take care of the qualitative aspect of the mixed method study. Kuder-Richardson formula 20 (K-R20) was used to calculate the reliability coefficient of the test. The internal consistency of reliability co-efficient was calculated to be 0.76 that made the instrument to be accepted as reliable for the study. The population of this study consisted of all senior secondary (II) biology students in the twenty (25) local government areas of Delta State of Nigeria. Six secondary schools randomly selected from the three senatorial districts of the State were used for the study, with three (3) schools for experiments specially taught with emphasis on both ideas (concepts) and skills, problem-based interactive learning ensuring concept connections and the other three (3) for control groups. Intact classes were used for both groups. The intact sample was made up of five hundred and ninety two (592) students for the quantitative study; while two teachers and four students were purposively sampled for the qualitative aspect of the study. Four (4) research questions were raised and answered and four (4) null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The research instruments used were the Test of Students Understanding of Chemical Concepts (TOSUCC), Biology Achievement Test (BAT) which measured achievement in biochemical topics and Interview Schedules for both teachers and students. The quantitative data collected were analysed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) for the hypotheses and mean ratings for the research questions; and the qualitative data were analysed by coding and themes generation and interpretations. Findings show that the experimental group performed better than the control group in the biochemical topics. An effect size of Cohen`s d equal to 0.996 was determined from the mean scores and standard deviations of the experimental and control samples for the study. Therefore, the experimental group had better achievement because determined effect size seemed large enough in favour of the treatment group. No significant interaction effects of gender and location on students` level of achievement in both experimental and control groups were established by the study. The teachers in particular should use the outcome of this study to improve on their teaching, emphasizing on concept understanding in their teaching and prior learning/knowledge or pre – requisite concepts. This is because certain chemical concepts are required before the teaching of the main topics (Biochemical topics in this case). In other words, this study recommends that secondary school biology and chemistry teachers should teach for concept understanding, topics that are related to the new topics before teaching the topics. / Science Education / Ph. D. (Science Education)

Scientific external representations (ERs), such as diagrams, images, pictures, graphs and animations are considered to be powerful teaching and learning tools, because they assist learners in constructing mental models of phenomena, which allows for the comprehension and integration of scientific concepts. Sometimes, however, students experience difficulties with the interpretation of ERs, which· has a negative effect on their learning of science, . . including biochemistry. Unfortunately, many educators are not aware of such student difficulties and make the wrong assumption that what they, as experts, consider to be an educationally sound ER will necessarily promote sound. learning and understanding among novices. On the contrary, research has shown that learners who engage in the molecular biosciences can experience considerable problems interpreting, visualising, reasoning and learning with ERs of biochemical structures and processes, which are both abstract and often represented by confusing computer-generated symbols and man-made markings. The aim of this study was three-fold. Firstly, to identify and classify students' conceptual and reasoning difficulties with a selection of textbook ERs representing· IgG structure and function. Secondly, to use these difficulties to identify sources of the difficulties and, therefore, factors influencing students' ability to interpret the ERs. Thirdly, to develop a model of these factors and investigate the practical applications of the model, including guidelines fOf improving ER design and the teaching and learning with ERs. The study was conducted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and involved a total of 166 second and third-year biochemistry students. The research aims were addressed using a p,ostpositivistic approach consisting of inductive and qualitative research methods. Data was collected from students by means of written probes, audio- and video-taped clinical interviews, and student-generated diagrams. Analysis of the data revealed three general categories of student difficulties, with the interpretation of three textbook ERs depicting antibody structure and interaction with antigen, termed the process-type (P), the. structural-type (S) and DNA-related (D) difficulties. Included in the three general categories of difficulty were seventeen sub-categories that were each classified on the four-level research framework of Grayson et al. (2001) according to v how much information we had about the nature ofeach difficulty and, therefore, whether they required further research. The incidences of the classified difficulties ranged from 3 to 70%, across the student populations and across all three ERs. Based on the evidence of the difficulties, potential sources of the classified difficulties were isolated. Consideration of the nature of the sources of the exposed difficulties indicated that at least three factors play a major role in students' ability to interpret ERs in biochemistry. The three factors are: students' ability to reason with an ER and with their own conceptual knowledge (R), students' understanding (or lack thereof) of the concepts of relevance to the ER (C), and the mode in which the desired phenomenon is represented by the ER (M). A novel three-phase single interview technique (3P-SIT) was designed to explicitly investigate the nature of the above three factors. Application of3P-SIT to a range of abstract to realistic ERs of antibody structure and interaction with antigen revealed that the. instrument was extremely useful for generating data corresponding to the three factors.. In addition; analysis of the 3P-SIT data showed evidence for the influence ofone factor on another during students' ER interpretation, leading to the identification of a further four interactive factors, namely the reasoning-mode (R-M), reasoning conceptual (R-C), conceptual-mode (C-M) and conceptual-reasoning-mode (C-R-M) factors. The Justi and Gilbert (2002) modelling process was employed to develop a model of the seven identified factors. Empirical data generated using 3P-SIT allowed the formulation and validation of operational definitions for the seven factors and the expression of the model as a Venn diagram, Consideration ofthe implications of the model, yielded at least seven practical applications of the model, including its use for: establishing whether sound or unsound interpretation, learning and visualisation of an ER has occurred; identifying the nature and source of any difficulties; determining which of the factors of the model are positively or negatively influencing interpretation; establishing what approaches to ER design and teaching and learning with ERs will optimise the interpretation and learning process; and, generally framing and guiding researchers', educators' and authors' thinking about the nature of students' difficulties with the interpretation of both static and animated ERs in any scientific context. In addition, the study demonstrated how each factor of the expressed model can be used to inform the design of strategies for remediating or preventing students' difficulties with the interpretation of scientific ERs, a target for future research. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

The use of external representations (ERs) such as diagrams and animations in science education, particularly in the Molecular Life Sciences (MLS), has rapidly increased over the past decades. Research shows that ERs have a superior advantage over text alone for teaching and learning. Research has also indicated a number of concerns coupled with the use of ERs for education purposes. Such problems emanate from the mode of presentation and/or inability to use ERs. Regarding the later, a number of factors have been identified as major causes of student difficulties and they include visual literacy as one of the major factors. Given that little has been done to understand the nature of VL in the MLS the current study was conducted with the general aim of investigating this area and devising a way to measure the visual literacy levels of our students. More specifically, this study addressed the following research questions: i) What is the nature of visual literacy in MLS?; ii) Can specific levels of visual literacy be defined in the MLS?; and iii) Is a taxonomy a useful way of representing the levels of visual literacy for MLS? To respond to these questions, the current literature was used to define the nature of visual literacy and the visualization skills (VSs). These were then used to develop a Visual Literacy Test made up on probes in the context of Biochemistry. In these probes, the VSs were incorporated. The test was administered to 3rd year Biochemistry students who were also interviewed. Results were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. The later analysis utilized the Rasch model to generate an item difficulty map. The results of the current study show that visual literacy is multifaceted in nature and is context based in that it requires specific propositional knowledge. In line with this, it was found that visual literacy is expressed through a cognitive process of visualization which requires VSs. Based on the performance of these skills, learners’ optimal visual literacy in the context of the MLS can be defined. Such performance can be assessed through the development of probes in the Biochemistry context. Furthermore, the current research has shown that using probes, the difficulty degree of each VS can be determined. In this instance, the Rasch model is a preferred method of ranking VSs in the context of Biochemistry in order of difficulty. From this, it was shown that given the uniqueness of each skill’s degree of difficulty, each skill can thus be regarded as a level of visual literacy. Such levels were defined in terms of the norm difficulty obtained in the current study. Given the multifaceted nature of visual literacy, the current study adopted the view that there are infinite number of VSs and hence the number of levels of visual literacy. From the variation in the degree of difficulty, the study showed that there are nonvisualization and visualization type difficulties which contribute to the differences in visual literacy levels between Biochemistry students. In addition to this, the current study showed that visual literacy in the MLS can be presented through a taxonomy. Such a taxonomy can be used to determine the level of each VS, its name and definition, typical difficulties found in the MLS as well as the visualization stage at which each skill is performed. Furthermore, this taxonomy can be used to design models, assess students’ visual literacy, identify and inform the remediation of students’ visualization difficulties. While the study has successfully defined the nature of visual literacy for the MLS and presented visual literacy in a taxonomy, more work is required to further understand visual literacy for the MLS, a field where visual literacy is very prevalent. / Thesis (M.Sc.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.