How Do Instructors Explain The Mechanism by which ATP Drives Unfavorable Processes?

Concerns regarding students' difficulties with the concept of energy date back to the 1970s. They become particularly apparent for systems involving adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which plays a central role in maintaining the nonequilibrium state of biological systems and in driving energetically unfavorable processes. One of the most well-documented misconceptions related to ATP is the idea that breaking bonds releases energy, when the opposite is true. This misconception is often attributed to language used in biology referring to the "high-energy bonds" in ATP. We interviewed chemistry, biology, and biochemistry instructors to learn how they think about and teach the mechanism(s) by which ATP is used as an energy source in biological systems. Across 15 interviews, we found that instructors relied primarily on two mechanisms to explain the role of ATP: 1) energy release, focused on ATP hydrolysis and bond energies; and/or 2) energy transfer, focused on phosphorylation and common intermediates. Many instructors shared negative and uncomfortable experiences related to teaching ATP and energy release. Based on these findings, we suggest instructional strategies that: 1) aim to ease the concerns expressed by introductory biology instructors, and 2) emphasize the role of ATP so as to support students' understanding of molecular mechanisms.