Simply InGEN(E)ious! How Creative DNA Modeling Can Enrich Classic Hands-On Experimentation

Abstract

DNA-modeling boxes (see Fig. 2) One-way drinking cups (foodsafe) Water bottle (foodsafe) with distilled water Small beakers with color solution (e.g., water with blue food coloring or ink) and empty white Eppendorf tube Plastic Pasteur pipettes (3 ml; sterile sealed) Pipette pumps (e.g., Karter Scientific Labware Manufacturing) Snap-cap vials (20 ml; clean and dry) (e.g., Resch Glas) Tweezers (clean and dry) Black placemats (e.g., laminated color paper) Centrifuge Linear pipettor stand with 6 micropipettes (two 1,000 ml, two 200 ml, two 20 ml) (e.g., Eppendorf) Racks with pipette tips in two sizes (sterilized; e.g., blue and yellow) Rack filled with Eppendorf tubes (all sterilized; filled with adequate reagents: 2 white, 2 green, 2 blue, 2 red; and 6 closed, empty Eppendorf tubes marked with "1, 2, 3" for each group) (see Table 3 for filling) Styrofoam box with ice cubes (ice bath) for storing the isopropyl alcohol snapcap vial (P) and 2 Eppendorf tubes with isopropyl alcohol (yellow)

Antiracist Opportunities in the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education : Considerations for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

“…As advocated by many JMBE scholars ( Table 1 , Language and communication), broader conversations about how we communicate science may increase DEI. Some papers talk about the history of oppression in science neutrally ( 79 ), which buries the struggles that certain groups, such as women, have faced in our field (a subjugating practice). On the other hand, Malotky et al ( 29 ) increased students’ awareness of oppression, privilege, and cultural differences through explicit instruction about systemic racism during collaborative course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) involving community stakeholders (a liberating practice).…”

Comparing the Use of Two Different Model Approaches on Students’ Understanding of DNA Models

“…It is encouraging that even a one-day module has the power to improve students' understanding towards a more scientific point of view. Therefore, we conclude that the context of DNA structure provides a fruitful example for combining hands-on experimentation with model-based learning in an out-of-school laboratory by offering access to an exciting path of discovery of molecular phenomena using student-centered hands-on tasks [22].…”

“…One of our aims was to innovate traditional outreach programs in learning genetics by arousing students' creativity and transferring enthusiasm from arts to science classes. We developed a STEAM teaching approach (STEAM = science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) for an out-of-school lab setting, combining creative model-based learning with classical hands-on experimentation [22]. Visual representations are regarded as essential to understand complex (molecular) contents and especially models that are highly relevant for exemplification in teaching genetics [23].…”

“…A one-day module (270 min) on DNA structure for ninth graders at a university out-of-school lab was implemented by the same teacher. The hands-on learning activity was embedded in an inquiry-based setting where students worked in pairs, and used a workbook as a guide to encourage problem-solving as well as collaborative skills (for a detailed description of the module's phases see [22,34]). The contents of the lab day were adapted to follow the guidelines set by the Bavarian grammar school syllabus [54].…”

Full STEAM Ahead with Creativity

“…With the creative teaching structure, the motivation to finish difficult (thought) processes, work on science and learning increased, as did long-term learning performance. More information about the intervention design of Gen-ious is described in [39,40].…”