Thanks for the comments, I do appreciate them. I guess we went off in a
direction I wasn't thinking of - related to your personal like or
dislike of stereo. What I am really looking for is an answer to a
simple question in that is stereo a nice thing from a pedagogy
standpoint for showing students complex biomolecules.
I am in a chemistry department - undergraduate only. We focus on
3-dimensional shape and the importance of shape of chemical
function/reactivity/etc... With small molecules (PF5, etc...), it's
easy to see how shape works by simply rotating the molecule. The
molecules are small enough, the concept of 3D can be visualized easily
in these systems. Furthermore, they can make a simple model using your
standard organic or inorganic model kit, no worries.
Now, bring in a huge protein, or a protein-protein complex. The issue
of 3Dness becomes fuzzier. It's not so easy to see which hydrogen will
get plucked off during a chemical reaction, even with careful zooming
and mouse manipulation. So my question still is, how many of you feel
stereo is important from a pedagogy standpoint (not looking at maps,
just structures that are huge and complex). Is it something that we
need to try to bring to the classroom, or is it just a cool toy like the
3D TV that hopefully is going nowhere and will soon fade out like the
viewmaster of old. I know a large percentage of people cannot see
stereo (at least the way we present it), and so it isn't for everybody.
But, does it help, and if so, does it help when done in a huge classroom
or when put on an individual screen. Has anybody tried to assess this
(there's a horrible word for you).
That's what I was wondering about. Presenting the stereo is a different
issue (how is that done), but I think there are lots of avenues for that
depending on your particular situation.
Thanks again
Dave
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