Design and Implementation of a Genomics Field Trip Program Aimed at Secondary School Students

Abstract

With the rapid pace of advancements in biological research brought about by the application of computer science and information technology, we believe the time is right for introducing genomics and bioinformatics tools and concepts to secondary school students. Our approach has been to offer a full-day field trip in our research facility where secondary school students carry out experiments at the laboratory bench and on a laptop computer. This experience offers benefits for students, teachers, and field trip instructors. In delivering a wide variety of science outreach and education programs, we have learned that a number of factors contribute to designing a successful experience for secondary school students. First, it is important to engage students with authentic and fun activities that are linked to real-world applications and/or research questions. Second, connecting with a local high school teacher to pilot programs and linking to curricula taught in secondary schools will enrich the field trip experience. Whether or not programs are linked directly to local teachers, it is important to be flexible and build in mechanisms for collecting feedback in field trip programs. Finally, graduate students can be very powerful mentors for students and should be encouraged to share their enthusiasm for science and to talk about career paths. Our experiences suggest a real need for effective science outreach programs at the secondary school level and that genomics and bioinformatics are ideal areas to explore.

Making authentic science accessible—the benefits and challenges of integrating bioinformatics into a high-school science curriculum

“…It was first identified by individual educators who developed bioinformatics teaching materials, which were integrated into their lessons [19, 20]. Today, diverse bioinformatics-based online resources, such as educational tools [21], educational games [22], outreach programs [23–25], collaborations with researchers [26, 27], lessons and teaching modules ([28–32, 33]; e.g.) are being offered to high-school students.…”

Physics Career Education Day: Design, Implementation, and Assessment

“…Several university-based outreach programs have existed in the United States and overseas to promote disciplines such as agriculture (Moore & Holmes, 2003), electrical engineering (Smaill, 2010), genomics (McQueen, Wright, & Fox, 2012), natural resources (Martinez, Lindline, Petronis, & Pilotti, 2012), and physics (Gallitto, 2010;Gallitto, Agnello, & Cannas, 2011;Zeng, Cunningham, Tidrow, Smith, & Contreras, 2016). These outreach programs, despite differences in disciplines, geographic locations, logistics, and duration, succeeded in increasing student interest in STEM fields due to the following four characteristics: (a) directly immersing participating students in a university learning environment where advanced equipment is readily available, (b) involving the participating students in stimulating hands-on activities with the equipment, (c) creating ample opportunities for students to interact with professors or senior students with enthusiasm in the field, and (d) exposing participating students to valuable field knowledge.…”

“…Fundamentally, all of these outreach programs have increased students' intrinsic value of studying a subject. However, very few programs, other than the Genomics Field Trip program at the University of British Columbia by McQueen et al (2012), included a solid component focusing on improving students' utility value by shedding light on career choices. Consequently, their survey results showed that students enjoyed learning about the various jobs related to that field.…”

University-level practical activities in bioinformatics benefit voluntary groups of pupils in the last 2 years of school

“…Gallagher et al 2011;Lewitter and Bourne 2011;McQueen et al 2012;Kovarik et al 2013;Machluf and Yarden 2013;Wood and Gebhardt 2013;Marques et al 2014;Toby and Pope 2014). Genomics and associated topics have started to appear in many official school curricula, for example in Scotland (see "Discussion", below), the Netherlands (College voor Examens 2014, p. 17) and the USA (Wefer and Sheppard 2008).…”