Peer Review

The Inner Life of a Cell

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Mar 16, 2019 by Biology

Bookmark

Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

Produced by Harvard's Biovisions, this animation depicts the molecular processes occuring inside a cell in stunning detail. It can be viewed with or without music and narration, and at "super speed," "high speed" or "slow speed." Users can view clips of this and other animations for free, while a license is required for full use.

Type of Material:

Animation

Recommended Uses:

<ul>

<li> Clips can be shown in class to engage students before learning cellular A&P

<li> Clips shown after a lesson may help to reinforce terms or processes covered in class; the instructor might also pause the video at specific points to discuss the events being show or to informally quiz students on the names of the structures or processes being depicted

</ul>

Technical Requirements:

Requires the use of Flash and audio playback

Identify Major Learning Goals:

<ul>

<li> Demonstrate cellular physiology and

<li> Elicit a sense of wonder or awe at the complexity and elegance of cellular physiology

</ul>

Target Student Population:

High School, College General Ed, College Lower Division, College Upper Division, Graduate School

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Basic familiarity with the cellular organelles and structures (e.g. cell membrane, cytoskeleton) and their functions.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

• Animation is well done and show good detail

• The concepts are grounded in the discipline and informed by scholarship

• Images beautiful and very colorful

• The presentation is well organized and follows good pedagogy

Concerns:

As this material was created in 2007, it may not depict advances in our understanding of cellular physiology since that time.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

• This resource makes learning exciting and fun especially for learners who are electronic game enthusiasts

• The learning experience is interesting

• The images shown are colorful and engaging

• Information provided helps students understand the relatedness of the topics

• Visual material promotes conceptual understanding

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

• Site is fast and intuitive • Information is easy to understand

• The information is organized and follows a logical order

• Narrations and animations played simultaneously without problems

• No defects were detected in the way the animation is presented

Concerns:

The narrated versions do not have closed captioning or a transcript readily available.

The site comes up as "not secure" using Google Chrome

The site copyright date is 2014, suggesting it has not been maintained since then.

Other Issues and Comments:

Excellent presentation that can be used for all groups of learners.

The link provided through MERLOT (http://biovisions.mcb.harvard.edu/media.html) may not be the best one to use, as it doesn't have the table of contacts, copyright info or other key items. I'd suggest updating it to: http://biovisions.mcb.harvard.edu/

Creative Commons: