Team:CCU Taiwan/Public Engagement








Overview

This year, we have gone out of the laboratory to promote equal opportunity in science in different ways. There are very few opportunities for non-scientific people to contact science. However, this will cause not only many misunderstandings about science but also lead to relative deprivation of understanding. We would like to bring some changes in our region, and we believe that interaction with the residents of the community can bring many good effects.

Taiwan is an aging country. Last year, statistics from the Ministry of the Interior pointed out that Taiwan’s elderly population is over 14%, the third-highest in Asia. According to a recent report by the World Population Review, Taiwan’s fertility rate is the lowest in the world, with only 1.218 children per woman. Therefore, Taiwan is striving to promote TOY (Together Old and Young). The purpose of the TOY Program is to promote intergenerational learning and create new possibilities for senior citizens and young children to learn together and benefit from each other’s company. With the continuous reduction of existing educational institutions, promoting learning between the elderly and children is an important issue that Taiwan needs to face.

Thus we believe that a set of educational tools for all ages may be more suitable for our team and our country, rather than tools targeting a specific group. Accordingly, we decided to design a set of educational tools that are suitable for all ages. To reach the goal, we studied much literature to understand how to teach the community efficiently rather than relying on our personal opinions.




Purpose

There are hundreds of ways to promote good education and public engagement. What we would like to do is to raise the curiosity of the public about synthetic biology and African Swine Fever (ASF). To reach the largest number, each class is usually only a few hours and we assume they may not understand what synthetic biology and ASF are. Therefore, we try to convey our concepts in interesting ways and arouse their interest at the same time. After the class, people may not totally understand what we convey, but if we have raised their interest, they might be willing to obtain more knowledge to gain a deeper understanding of it on their own.



Anticipated benefit

In each activity, we expect to achieve several different goals. To achieve the goals that we expected, we should design our plans and consider many solutions. So it is important to anticipate the expected benefit rather than think about what is right subjectively.
Activity design

We realized that a one-time activity or class could not cause a great effect on education and public engagement. It is not possible to teach them all the related knowledge in a short time. Our team members reached a consensus that our main goal is to arouse people’s interest. We want to draw the attention of the world to synthetic biology and ASF, so we strive to approach people from all walks of life and maximize awareness of the concepts we want to convey. We designed different activities with the same concepts and implement them in different ways.
Actual benefit

Quantifying the actual benefit from qualitative activities is not an easy task, but it is still a good way to check the success of the activity.




Events

Community
Anticipated benefit

Before conducting any public events, we want to know how many people in our area understand synthetic biology and African swine fever, so we started to investigate.
Activity design

Chiayi City Railway Station is the largest railway station in Chiayi. We planned to conduct a questionnaire survey, but we must admit that it is not a very accurate random sampling. For that we would need a representative sample of the entire population of the Chiayi, which is too hard for us. Therefore, we decided to start our investigation in a crowded public place frequented by people from many backgrounds.
Actual benefit

We successfully collected about 100 survey results, which is very helpful for us to start our subsequent educational content.

(The left and right sides are our team members, and the middle two are passers-by at the train station.)

Anticipated benefit

In addition to investigate the public's understanding of African swine fever by quantitative research, we would like to further understand the opinions of consumers at the downstream of the pork industry chain through qualitative interviews.
Activity design

We chose a semi-structured interview. We drafted an outline in advance and went to the JiangCuoDian Market to visit people who bought meat, to understand their consumption patterns, their views on African swine fever, and related coping styles, etc. We also shared the concept of ASFAST with them.
Actual benefit

Asking questions flexibly increases the space for free discussion and makes them more willing to share their views with us. Surprisingly, some people even told us the actual implementation situation of governmental policies, which we had not heard about before.


Anticipated benefit

SHOWTIME is the most popular department store in Chiayi, and it is also the first choice for leisure in Chiayi. The customers in this place cover all ages, and we choose to set up stalls in the middle of the square, near elevators and escalators, to reach the most people and attract their interest in synthetic biology and African swine fever.
Activity design

We prepared bingo games, some small flyers, and some souvenirs to attract people to our booth and promote synthetic biology and understanding of ASF.
Actual benefit

In three hours, dozens of people stopped at the booth to talk with us. We seized these opportunities to let people know more about synthetic biology and ASF. Some of them were very interested in what we are doing and had an in-depth dialogue with us, including asking us about product design details and how synthetic biology is effectively applied to our device. After the end of the exchange, they also strongly praised our efforts and encouraged us to keep going.


Anticipated benefit

International Rotary Club is a big public organization with many entrepreneurs from all walks of life, all of whom are advanced in their fields. We hope to achieve top-down information dissemination so that people in all fields can understand ASF and the application prospects of synthetic biology by introducing these leaders to the seriousness of ASF and promoting our products and policies.
Activity design

In the beginning, we conveyed our ideas to the Rotary president. The president was deeply moved and decided to hold a dinner meeting for us. During the dinner, we gave an hour-long briefing to the members on ASF, synthetic biology, ASFAST, and the idea of policy promotion.
Actual benefit

After the briefing, the entrepreneurs had a lot of conversations with our team members at the meeting. In addition to being aware of the seriousness of ASF, they also became interested in synthetic biology and promised to help us to promote it to their friends, relatives and company members.


Social Networking
Anticipated benefit

Instagram is the most popular social media for young people in Taiwan. Public promotion on this platform might be able to successfully reach the young people’s circle to make them understand our project and stimulate their interest in synthetic biology.
Activity design

In our team account, we shared our team progress and education promotion. In addition to focusing on content, we also spent a lot of effort on typography and photo layout, hoping to use interesting ways to attract the attention of young people.
Actual benefit

Each of our posts has an average of 500 post-reach and 200 engagement. The majority of the fans are young people.


Anticipated benefit

We specially invited J. HO to create a short comic on synthetic biology. J. HO is the screen name of an anonymous illustrator, whose fans are mainly literary enthusiasts. Thus we hope to get access to a group of people who usually have no chance to hear about synthetic biology and allow them to recognize synthetic organisms and explore the charm of scientific learning.
Activity design

We conceived the core concepts and comic content and invited J. HO to draw a short comic. Also, we post a cooperated lucky draw to increase our both post-reach.
Actual benefit

In the posts, we successfully approached about 7,000 people and also got more than 400 interactions.


Educational Opportunities
Anticipated benefit

The biochemistry camp was held for high school students. To stimulate high school students’ interest in synthetic biology and make them willing to explore synthetic biology on their own or even enter the relevant departments to continue to specialize, we designed a set of approachable, lively, and interesting classes. In order to know how much the students have absorbed from our classes, we designed pre-test and post-test activities to check the knowledge level of children before and after class.
Activity design

At the beginning of the class, we introduced synthetic biology and explain the difference between synthetic biology and genetic modification. Then, we explained some practical examples to let them know how synthetic biology can be applied. Finally, we introduced our project—ASFAST, to allow participants to recognize the seriousness of African swine fever and understand how synthetic biology has helped us develop the device.
Actual benefit

Comparing the pre-test and the post-test, the correct proportion raised from 37% to 69%, almost doubling their understanding.


Anticipated benefit

Rehabilitated people are generally under-educated, but they still have a heart that is eager to learn. Therefore, we want to stimulate their interest in science by teaching them some simple and interesting scientific concepts, so that they may be willing to study more deeply after class. To understand how much the rehabilitated people absorbed from our courses, we designed a pre-test and post-test to understand the level of knowledge before and after the class.
Activity design

At the beginning of the course, we started with genetics and introduced them to the concepts of nitrogenous bases, DNA, RNA, genes, etc. Then we carried out experiments on DNA extraction so that they can observe their own DNA. Not only can they attend classes, but they conduct experiments on their own. That might stimulate their willingness to learn science. Finally, we introduced the basic concepts of synthetic biology.
Actual benefit

In the course, they raised hands to ask questions and showed great enthusiasm for learning. They did not miss any opportunity to clarify their ideas. After we introduced synthetic biology, they also expressed their concerns as Christians. They believed that synthetic biology is playing like God, it is a powerful force. So they are conservative about the study of synthetic biology, fearing that this force will be abused in the community by people with bad intentions. In the performance of the pre-test and post-test, the correct answer rate increased from 44% to 57%.


Anticipated benefit

National Intercollegiate Athletic Games are held at a different campus every year and attract thousands of people to participate in the competition and watch the games. This year the games were at CCU , so we used the rare opportunity to promote synthetic biology and ASF to college students across Taiwan.
Activity design

We put booths along the walkways and placed eye-catching signs, and actively approached the crowd to distribute literature to promote synthetic biology.
Actual benefit

In the three-day, we promoted and educated many college students, families and people who came to watch the games.


Anticipated benefit

The Career Expo attracts talent seekers and company executives from different professional disciplines. Everyone has different backgrounds and different knowledge. Many of them do not know about synthetic biology. Therefore, we decided to promote synthetic biology to professionals in different fields to turn synthetic biology into a popular concept.
Activity design

We applied for a booth at the fair and presented the work and concepts of our previous two iGEM teams to the public who participated in the event.
Actual benefit

In addition to the people who came to the booth to talk, we also actively approached the people in the venue, especially in different fields, such as bank personnel, soldier, communication students and so on. We had a pleasant conversation with them and successfully promoted the concept of synthetic biology and its development prospects.


Anticipated benefit

The community college caters to the elderly who love to learn. They never stopped learning, so even though they are old they are open to new knowledge. They are a positive role model, showing us that it is never too late to start learning. We hope to satisfy their desire for learning, stimulate their interest in science, and bring a culture of scientific discussion and communication to the community.
Activity design

During the 2-hour course, we managed to provide them with the beginner science kit which is suitable to engage different age groups. At first, we started with biogenetics and a related game. Then we talked about genetic modification and synthetic biology. In the end, we conducted a crude DNA extraction experiment so that they could not only understand DNA but also see DNA.
Actual benefit

They were interested in the course, and they talked about the issues related to the class with us at the end, which shows that the course inspired their interest in synthetic biology. Synthetic biology is an area that they had never heard of, and we have opened the door for them to let them experience the fun and mystery of synthetic biology.


Anticipated benefit

World Vision focuses on the children of economically disadvantaged families. The primary caregivers of these children generally have a low level of education. They rarely have scientific knowledge. We would like to give them equal educational opportunities through our activities and arouse their willingness to learn.
Activity design

First, we taught them the concepts of genetics and heredity in an easy-to-understand way and further deepened their impression through practice. We used beads to represent nitrogenous bases and let them arrange their own English names with beads. Finally, we led them to do DNA extraction experiments so that they could see their DNA.
Actual benefit

The children loved the beading activities and the DNA extraction experiments, and they were very enthusiastic while participating. What impressed us most is that one little girl asked us a lot of questions, not only about biology in general but specific questions from evolution in the Mesozoic to the origin of humans. Driven by curiosity, we asked how she knew so much. She said that she likes to read books, so she learns a lot from the books. This confirms our philosophy: if we can stimulate children's interest in learning, they will have endless potential!


Anticipated benefit

Most of the children are primary school students, whose families have difficulties. Their parents are busy working and have no time to take care of their children. Therefore, we designed an interesting course to encourage them to learn after class on their own.
Activity design

The children are young, so we taught them some simple genetics concepts such as DNA, RNA, synthetic biology, transcription, translation, etc. We brought in games related to the course content after teaching. We used four colors of beads to represent different nitrogenous bases and used English letters to represent the amino acid. We let them string their English names using the beads. With this game, they can learn about the translation from nitrogen bases to proteins. Besides, we also have a DNA extraction experiment to give them a chance to see their DNA.
Actual benefit

The children might be unable to fully understand the lectures, but they were very active and asked questions to clarify their understanding. With our games, they clarified and deepen their concepts. After the course, they were not satisfied with the one-day course. They followed us and asked more questions. We believe that the course has inspired their interest and they may be willing to explore science in the future.



Introduction
In order to implement the spirit of TOY(together old and young), our education plans are taken from the shallower to the deeper and divided into two parts. At the same time, we designed activity and an experiment to make the whole lesson complete. We start with DNA introduction and let them understand the role of genetic material and the mechanism of forming proteins. Then we will carry out the beading activities (more on this below). In the second part, we introduce the application of genetic modification and synthetic biology. In this part, we mainly use examples, including GM corn and GM soybean to introduce the concepts. At the end of the class, we assigned the configured solution to everyone and started the experiment of crude DNA extraction.
Activity name: Guess who I am! (Gene password)
Purpose:
The concept of DNA, nitrogenous bases, and codons are abstracted. We presented the concept using beads, allowing participants to recognize DNA, nitrogenous bases, and codons in actual hands-on processes to learn more about the principle of protein formation.
Principle:
  1. We represent 4 nitrogenous bases from 4 different colored beads. The sequence consisting of 3 nitrogenous bases is a codon. And 1 codon form 1 amino acid.
  2. The 26 letters from A to Z represent different amino acids. (This is not a real situation but an easy way for people to understand.) Each letter is formed by two or three different codons.



Experiment name: Simple DNA extraction
Purpose: Learn the basic principles of DNA extraction from experiments.
Experiment step:
  1. Prepare saliva: rinse the mouth with 10 ml of water for five minutes and store it in a clear cup. (DNA source)
  2. Preparation buffer: Add 5 ml of water + 5 ml dishwashing essence + 5 ml of 5 M saline + 5 ml of fresh pineapple juice to the centrifuge tube, and gently stir for 2 minutes with disposable chopsticks.
  3. Purification of DNA: Put in 95% ice alcohol slowly along the inner wall of the centrifuge tube. The solution is layered and a white cloud appears at the junction of alcohol and water, which is agglomerated DNA.
Principle:
  1. Dishwashing essence - destroy cell membrane and nuclear membrane
  2. Saline---dissolved chromosome
  3. Pineapple juice - dissolve protein to achieve DNA
  4. Alcohol - purify DNA





Professional instruction

LIN, Wan-Xuan
Master of Education from National Chiao Tung University

LIANG, Shih-Yuan
B.A. in Psychology (2009) from National Taiwan University
M.S. in Clinical Linguistics from a European scholarship program co-organized by University of Groningen, University of Eastern Finland, and University of Potsdam Child Language and Literacy Lab