Dr. Earl N. Meyer, in the lab, with a scalpel: A murder mystery as a biochemistry recruitment tool

Abstract

Increasing student participation in science is an ongoing challenge for many universities. In this active learning workshop, centered on inquiry and teamwork, we introduce highschool students to biochemistry and molecular biology techniques using a murder mystery activity. During this intensive 3 hr workshop, we engage students in a murder scenario entitled "The Case of the Silenced Scientist." A commercially available DNA fingerprinting kit was used as a basis to create a customized scenario whereby students collaborate with one another to solve a murder mystery. Through analysis of DNA samples taken from the crime scene and suspects, students can identify the murderer while developing technical, teamwork, and critical thinking skills. Emphasis is placed on teamwork by immersing students in the collaborative process of research inquiry. Though short in duration, this workshop aims to build student relationships to science through creativity and exploration. In this article, we describe the key customized applications of this workshop as a blueprint for science recruitment. We focus on the workshop facilitators' perceived learning impact on students.

A protein purification card game develops subject knowledge and transferable skills

“…Steinman and Blastos, 2002;Ogershok and Cottrell, 2004;Bochennek et al, 2007;Akl et al, 2008;Valente et al, 2009;Rose, 2011;Struwig, Beylefeld and Joubert, 2013;Whittam and Chow, 2017), and is becoming fairly widespread throughout the biologies (e.g. Cohen et al, 1989;Lewis, Peat and Franklin, 2005;Spiegel et al, 2008;Jaipal and Figg, 2009;Miralles et al, 2013;Takemura and Kurabayashi, 2014;Dunitz, Shields and Hall, 2014;Gutierrez, 2014;Vulcu and Heirwegh, 2015;Coil, Ettinger and Eisen, 2017;Luttikhuizen, 2018;Cavalho, Beltramini and Bossolan, 2019). This paper describes the design, use, and evaluation of a card game simulation of protein purification for undergraduate students studying Molecular Biology and related subjects.…”