Difference between revisions of "Team:CSMU Taiwan/Public Engagement"

Form

We made a picture book about the structure and function of a cell and published it with Chinese and English two versions. We brought the book to Chongqing elementary school and held a story session for students on September 5th.

Purpose

The biology education in elementary school is so little that the students even don’t know what cell is. We would like to let the students have basic knowledge about what our bodies built up with. Besides, we would like to let the students think it interesting to learn biology by telling a story with picture books.

Process

The content of our picture book is about what organelles are in a cell and how they function. We compared a cell to a kingdom. As DNA is like a king, RNA is a secretary, ribosomes are factory workers and so on. The story is about how the kingdom works. We introduced how a cell produces proteins, demonstrate cell division, and deal with an infection. As we telling the story of a kingdom, we were also providing students knowledge of a cell.

After the picture book was published, we brought the book to Chongqing elementary school and told the story to the children. We showed vivid pictures to them and introduced the “kingdom”. We also introduced more knowledge about cells. After that, we asked them some questions and encouraged them to tell us what they were curious about. We designed a learning sheet for them to see how well they learn from this activity. The learning sheet includes questions about organelles and space for them to draw creative work.

Feedback

At first, we thought that elementary school students have no idea about cells and human bodies. However, we found them very smart. When we compared organelles to characters, they learned by analogy. They were interactive with us. When we mentioned infection, they could tell us many different kinds of pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. We found out that many of them were eager to ask questions about human bodies and cells. They also wanted to know why we grow tall and get fat. We told them that besides cell divisions, cells will become bigger and keep on dividing. With the learning sheats, we found that the students learned so fast and most of them could answer the questions correctly. Many of them could draw organelles. They used their imagination and drew colorful pictures. Although the pictures they drew weren’t really correct, seeing children have fun and be willing to learn more are our two most important purposes. Besides, we found that the knowledge of biology provided by elementary schools is not enough. Children know only little knowledge in this area until they get into junior high school. We thought it a suitable way to introduce biology to them with picture books. Children could find out the joy in learning biology and gain more knowledge.

Form

We collaborated with Taichung Science Museum and department of biomedical of Chung Shan Medical University, and together held a workshop on January 30th and 31st. There were 98 high school students involved in this workshop.

Purpose

Since synthetic biology plays an important role in this era, we think that it is important to introduce synthetic biology to high school students. We hoped to supplement basic biology with additional knowledge out of school and the feedback from the students could also help us think more about synthetic biology education in Taiwan.

Process

First, we invited professors of Chung Shan Medical University to help the students look through the profound mystery of molecular biology and genetics. There were lectures talking about the current status and the cure of the genetic disease in Taiwan, the dilemma of the gene editing, and the analysis of the genome. Students could not only gain knowledge from the professors passively, but they also asked questions and discuss it with the professors actively.

Second, we conducted experiments to help the students understand synthetic biology deeper. Students performed the experiment of extracting plasmid DNA by themselves. Through the actual operation, students could thoroughly learn the process and the principle of DNA extraction. Also, we used the resources from the internet to introduce genetic codes to students. We introduced the Human Genome Project to students and taught them the function and the effect of specific genes. Each of them has one computer to use as they follow our instruction getting to the website and using the resource to find out the function of the genes. After that, we also give a brief introduction to how scientists analyze the genome of influenza.

Third, we delivered a speech about what synthetic biology is. We compared the difference between synthetic biology and genetic engineering and told them that genetic engineering is just the editing of DNA, while synthetic biology is the modularization of the DNA component. We gave some examples for both of them and emphasized that many ideas, which may sometimes seem irrelevant, could be introduced to synthetic biology. Besides, we analyzed the sociological, environmental, and medical effects of synthetic biology to help the students know more about the technology and how it affects our lives. After that, we introduced rapid influenza diagnostic tests. Also, we introduced "SELEX" to students by drawing an analogy and displaying easy-to-understand pictures.

Finally, we play games with students to help them learn in a more active atmosphere. We separated them into groups and let them discuss with each other and compete with other groups. One of the games was "Fast Answer Race". We showed some questions about the topic we had talked about. The students had to discuss with each other and chose the best answer. The faster they answered the question, the more score they would get. Another game was "Guess What It Is". Each group would choose one of the students to come up to the stage. He or she would get a card with a word related to synthetic biology. They could not tell the words we earmarked. Every group guessed what word was on the card, and the more words they guessed the higher the score they would get.

Feedback

After the workshop, we asked some students about how much they had learned. They realized what actually synthetic biology is and that synthetic biology can have many possibilities of development. The students were full of curiosity. After each lecture, many students lined up and waited to ask questions. Although they couldn't understand all of the content of the lectures, they still tried their best to figure out the point of each lecture and came to us or the professors to discuss it with us. During the experiment, they were curious about all of the theories of the procedure. They searched for the information on the Internet and shared it with each other. They were very excited about the experiment of extracting plasmid DNA. It was the first time they saw the true colors of DNA.

The games we designed was one of the most important section which livened up the whole atmosphere. At first, the classroom was very quiet and everyone was just sitting in their seats and staring at the book or their smartphone. During the games, we gathered them together and helped them discussed what they had learned. They had to find out the answer to the question we gave out, and they had to cooperate with each other to accomplish the missions. We found out that the students could learn more through these games because they could express their opinions more comfortably and gained knowledge from each other. Most of the students haven't had any lectures like this. This synthetic biology workshop didn't give too much unnecessary knowledge but instill information through games and interaction with one another.

The biology lessons in high school seldom mention synthetic biology, and this workshop could help students learned what they haven't been taught at school. Moreover, they could learn in a more entertaining way and express their opinion in a more open atmosphere. Through this workshop, we found that synthetic biology education is not sufficient to satisfy the students' curiosity. We hope that this workshop can raise the awareness of the insufficient of this part. Last but not least, we hope that the two-day workshop will stimulate students' interest in synthetic biology, and will have a lasting effect.

Form

We held a lecture about synthetic biology on June 4th at Chung Shan Medical University. There were about 40 students attended.

Purpose

Encouraged by the professors we met when we set up a booth at Chung Shan Medical University, we thought that it was important to let the students in our school know more about synthetic biology.

Process

First, we talked about what synthetic biology is and introduced the applications of synthetic biology nowadays. We then went deep into the issue of the advantages and disadvantages of them. After that, we separated students into groups and conducted "PBL", which is Problem-Based Learning. We set up the theme "The pros and cons of genetic engineering" for them. Each of the students had to express their opinions first and discussed it with each other. After 40 minutes of discussions, they summarized their opinions and shared them with other groups.

Feedback

We thought that letting the students discuss through PBL could help them not just gain knowledge from us but also think by themselves. Through discussing with their groups, we found that different students had very different opinions. Some of them proposed ethic issues and doubted the adjustability of the application of genetic engineering. They took the gene-editing twins in China for reference. They thought that many uncertain risks still exist in gene editing. If we can edit a human being's genes, it might cause inequalities. They proposed many lines of reasoning to support their opinions. Others said there were still many advantages. They said by genetic-engineering, the grain could be produced more efficiently. Also, many diseases could be defeated by the technique in the future. Both sides listed out the pros and cons and had a fierce argument. They found it hard to balance both sides. Not only did the attendee learn a lot from this lecture, but we also got the chance to dig into these questions and gained information from them.

Form

Chung Shan Medical University is the school most of our team members study in. We set up a booth in our school from May 20th to 23rd

Purpose

As a medical school, few clubs or activities related to science or biology was held in our school. We thought that it was vital to let the students know more about genetic engineering and synthetic biology.

Process

We conducted some small activities and interact with the students. First, we prepared three different topics in the article-- influenza, SELEX and aptamer, and synthetic biology. We draw some four-panel comics to help the students understand those topics. We explained the article to the students and asked them some questions. Most of the students hadn't heard of the contents of the articles before. Despite the time-limited, students thought that they had learned much from it. Also, they would like to attend more activities like this and read this kind of article.

Second, to make the booth more entertaining we had a craft tutorial "crafting pipe cleaner phage". We taught students how to use pipe cleaners to make phages. While making phages, we taught them knowledge about phage. We gave a brief introduction to the structure of the phage by demonstrating the finished product. Then we introduced the function, how they reproduce, and the application of phages. Although the craft tutorial needed much time, it was surprising that many students stopped by our booth and joined us. They thought the crafting pipe cleaner phage is adorable and could help them truly understand how phages look like, which is quite different from the ones they saw in the textbook.

Third, we sold "Petri plate jelly". It was jelly on the Petri plate. If someone bought the jelly, we would teach them what  E-Coli is and how it works. We sold out one hundred Petri plate jelly, and more than one hundred people who were curious about our Petri plate jelly stopped by our booth.

Feedback

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of raising this activity, we created a google form for the students to fill out. Most of the students thought that our booth had increased their knowledge. Besides, they also thought that through the interactive way such us making phages, helped them understand what phages really look like and they were willing to dig into this knowledge. While we were introducing that aptamer is to the students, we found out that many of them were interested in it. They asked questions, such as how people conduct the experiment, what the applications are for aptamer. We explained to them and invited them to come to our laboratory to see what exactly we were doing. Moreover, during the time we set up the booth, not only many students but also professors and doctors stopped by our booth and discussed it with us. They were attracted by us because they hadn't seen any kind of booth in our school like this before. Some of them asked us what we were doing and what our goal was. They encouraged us to promote more scientific activities in school and out of school. They also discussed our research and the detail of our experiment with us. When a doctor heard that we wanted to applicate aptamer to rapid diagnostic tests or even more, he said that he always saw many patients waiting for the result of rapid diagnostic tests and he expected our research could really benefit the patients. One of the professors was interested in aptamers, he said that there are more and more papers studying SELEX and aptamer. He was surprised that young students like us were interested in doing this kind of research. He shared some papers about aptamer with us. He said that although he hadn't done any experiment about aptamer, he thought that our research is worth encouraging. Through this activity, we raised awareness about the issue that there are few scientific activities in our school. Moreover, we received many supports and encouragement from not only students but also doctors and professors. This experience was precious for us.