Genetics Project: Successes

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

The genetics project turned out very well for many students. Here are some of my thoughts on the successes of the project:

1. Heightened awareness and empathy from developing their presentations
Many students were touched deeply by the stories that they read and moved to go beyond the requirements of the project. One student described reading post after post about one family's journey until he had read their entire blog, over 80 posts spanning 3 years. Another student, in her reflection wrote,

"I thought that this activity was one of the most touching assignments I’ve completed in my 4 yrs of high school. Most projects seem to drill information into a student’s head, but this one gave me a new outlook on life. I’ve known people with non-serious genetic differences, though these differences all had environmental factors as well; I’ve volunteered at Special Olympics, but neither of these things helped me understand how life was for these individuals and their families. This is seriously the only project that I researched more on the subject than I had to. Thank you for assigning this."

2. Heightened awareness and empathy from watching presentations
One of the things that moved me the most was that four students based presentation on their own experiences with friends or family members who had specific genetic differences including Down syndrome, SMA type I (spinal muscular atrophy), and Prader-Willi syndrome. One student also covered Asperger's syndrome which, although the genetic mechanism has not been elucidated and is likely to be complex and only partially responsible for developing the disease, was of such passionate importance to the student who asked to choose it that I felt everyone would be best served by allowing her to proceed. The students handled themsevles with great respect during these presentations, listening in silence and with great attentiveness, and providing sincere and thoughtful feedback. Even presentations which were not based on personal experience were respectful, and for the most part, quite moving.

3. A chance for creativity and freedom of format
My IB students have almost all of their assessment based on the types of questions that IB will give them - data-based analyses, topical essays, lab design and reports, etc. While they certainly need these skills and lots of practice, it is rather limited in allowing them to express their love of the subject. This project was a welcome difference to us all. This time the students used a variety of formats, including blog posts, movies, narrated slideshows, and narrated powerpoints. Many students who are not strong public speakers, especially EAL students, chose the recorded narration format, while some others spoke over powerpoint presentations and pasted their script into the notes. In addition to allowing students creativity, and although the products were not perfect, the students definitely practiced and improved their skills.

Genetics Project: Things to Improve

Overall, I was very happy with how the students' genetics projects turned out. Some of them completed it as just another assignment, and some, although their reflections are very positive, seem to be writing what they think I'm looking for.

However, I would say that a good number of students were truly moved by this project, truly stretched their minds and hearts, and learned a great deal about a variety of subjects from presentation formats to the human condition.

The things I would to differently required a "run-through" to see what sort of issues would arise. This post will look at some of the issues I ran into that I would improve for the next group of students:

1. Overuse of unmodified youtube or other online footage.
Of course the best way to show a person's story is to use his/her own words. However, the project was not to find three video clips and play them unmodified for the class within a ppt framework.
What I wanted, and what many students did, was to use this rich video resource to extract poignant or particularly expressive clips or images, use voice over, etc. to embed into a presentation format to create what was clearly the student's own product. However, a few students had insufficient modifications and basically created only the "background" of the presentation, and provided little of their own analysis about the challenges that people with genetic differences and their loved ones face as well as ways of overcoming these challenges. They left that to be covered by the clips they chose, and in most cases relied on implicit understanding of these issues.
Next time, I will include the requirment that the majority of the presentation must be the student's own discussion, and that all video used must include an explicit evaluation (why it is so meaningful, what precisely it shows about challenges and/or accomplishments, etc.) from the presenters.

2. Citations and Copyright Issues
Although students were directed to keep a log of all the sites they visited and to use proper citations, this aspect of the project was not explained clearly enough to them. Some students included only a "sites visited" page without properly documenting which images and videos came from where.
Further, although they are for educational use which is acceptable in Thailand, the students seem to think that youtube videos are public domain which they are not. This is something that I will discuss with my students this year, and improve for next time. Specifically, I will ask them to contact the user who posted the video they want to use and ask permission. This will, I think, also be a good way to make contact with individuals personally affected by genetic differences.

3. Length of presentation.
I wanted to leave the presentation format as open as possible so when students asked me how long the presentations needed to be I responded, "As long as it takes to meet the requirements in the rubric." The result was that some presentations were almost 30 minutes, which is quite a bit longer than what I had imagined - the examples I showed them were 5 and 8 minutes respectively.
I will put an upper limit on presentation length next time, between 10-15 minutes.

Although there is much to improve in these projects, the value of this project has been immense.

Genetics problems

Genetics is one of the topics in biology that some students love and some students hate. It's so easy once you get it and infuriating when you don't. Since much practice and many variations on genetics problem-solving will be required for some students while others would be "treading water", it is a good unit for differentiation.

Technology comes to the rescue here. There is so much to explore in the area of genetics once the simple Punnett grid type questions are mastered. For those students with early mastery of that skill, what will engage their interest?

Are they interested in a family trait? They can construct pedigrees that a few emails or facebook messages to relatives can expand dramatically.

Are they interested in the biochemical details of how a genetic trait leads to the specific phenotype? They can research numerous examples everywhere from wikipedia to Genome.gov with links to entire human genome online.

Are they interested in the ethical questions that surround genetic testing? The ELSI project has links to position papers, ownership issues, and legal standing of personal and public genetics information.

Are they interested in genetic counseling as a career? They can research degree offerings, explore professional websites, and even look at online course offerings.

And what about the students who need more practice?

There are many tutorials and practice problem sets explained in a variety of ways and with a wide range of complexity. Hopefully, there is something for everyone.

In a topic that has been expanding at an incredible pace, and where even current textbooks are quickly out-of-date, the online resources can make genetics a topic for everyone.

Week 5: Wrapping Up

This course has given me the much needed chance to revisit ideas that I have been learning and mulling over for some time.

One of the most important understandings I've developed is the fact that simply knowing that technologies quickly become obsolete is not enough. Although it's true, and important to understand, it is not the key knowledge. It's not just a question of shifting perspectives so that we teach skills that will remain relevant. Rather, it is embracing the fact that new technologies are providing new possibilities. Things can be done now that were impractical or impossible before - but new possibilities are continually emerging. A field study that was once limited to laboriously collected data points, can later be managed through a regional database, and now is updated in real-time by field researchers... who knows what will be next? The data students have at their disposal for analysis changes the kinds of questions they can ask. Thus, we as educators must commit to staying active in the field of educational technology, engaging with and thinking about new options, and giving class time to experiment and develop valuable experiences for our students.

Again, it is key to keep kids active and focused. One without the other will be of only limited benefit. A dutifully focused child may earn good grades, but the leaps of application, the passionate learning, the true goals of education are not likely to be met. Similarly, a child bouncing from experience to experience without the grounding of a focused and directed curriculum is equally likely to miss connections and applications. Our professional duty is to balance these two, and -beyond balance-to pair them such that each enhances the other.

Finally, on a more prosiac note, it becomes increasingly important for administrators to allow time for relevant professional development and lesson planning. In the past a tried-and-true lesson could be repeated year after year, and the succession of students would still be getting the maximum benefit from the technologies available. Now, the limiting factor in providing the best instruction that circumstances will allow is often time: time for educators to reflect, to experiment, to redesign, and rethink. And the committment can't just be made once, to "catch up" with Web 2.o. It must be a perrenial practice.

Week 4: Letting Go

As an educator responsible for helping IB students master a very large quantity of complex material, I find myself having difficulty letting go of control in the classroom. There are some valid reasons for this:

1) I will not teach them a misconception. When I let them take over, they sometimes think they understand and end up reinforcing the misconceptions they came in with.

2) It's fast. Not a great argument when I know they won't retain the information as well over the two years before they take the IB exam, but I have a responsibility to see that they're exposed to all the material.

3) I know a few tricks. Well, I certainly hope that my degrees and years of experience help me consider some ways of presenting, some examples to pull out, some attention grabbing demos, etc. that will help my students succeed.

But I have to be honest: I hold onto the reins too tightly and I know it. (This is much more the case for me in IB as opposed to a course without a high stakes exam.) I know that my IB students are not getting enough joy of exploration, fascinating tangents, or student-driven work. For every lesson I create two complementary parts. One is the powerpoint with all the information and visuals that explains as clearly as possible the syllabus material - these contain reflection questions every few minutes and practice problems, etc but are substantially direct teacher instruction. The other is a varied collection of open-ended lab demos, current research and headlines, neat but tangential topics, ethical questions, and jumping-off points for further learning.

In IB, the ppts always get first priority. The rest is squeezed in where possible and as often as not, completely dropped. In Bio 10, my lessons move more slowly and there is lots of variety in activities. In Bio 10, I actively experiment with new technologies and new directions for old material. Interestingly, I surveyed my students in both courses, and found that a solid majority of IB students (about 80%) want to spend the same amount of time or more on ppt lessons, but a smaller percent agree that the learning is consistently engaging. In Bio 10, the students find the class more engaging.

I recently allowed a biochemistry discussion in Bio 10 to take it's own course - the students looked up the chemical composition of foods of interest. That led into health, food labeling, marketing and advertising, diet programs, artificial sweeteners, and more. I led the students with ideas to explore based on their own findings and interests. It was a rich experience with many connections being made across disciplines and to their daily experience. They now know a good deal about organic macromolecules and their roles in diet and I believe they'll retain it quite well.

I would love for the IB students to have the same kinds of experiences but the only way I can see to do it is to cut ppts or increase the pace of the course. My responsibility to prepare them for the exam conflicts with my responsibility to help them learn biology! Still, I am trying little activities here and there - testing them out in Bio 10 - and hopefully, with time, the IB Bio students will get a balanced experience that prepares them for the exam and gives them opportunities to explore.

Week 3: Project Sketch

I have been working on the twin aspects of genetics teaching: one, it has some highly technical, theoretical aspects, but it also has a very human side as we see the challenges that some people are born with and how they can be faced and managed.

My project will address both of these aspects of genetics teaching and will incorporate a wide range of technologies.

Teaching genetics vocabulary:

Enhanced by interactive PPT with understanding checks embedded every few terms so that students can apply the terms and get immediate feedback

Karyotyping and common genetic disorders:

Students will benefit from selected visuals shared on the smartboard that are associated with chromosomal appearance and arrangement (drag-and-drop being especially relevant), Punnett grid set-up, and also with visuals and videos that make the symptoms and appearance of different mammalian and human genetic disorders more relatable.

Humanization of rare genetic disorders (the heart of the project):

By accessing support groups for rare genetic conditions students will be able to read first-hand accounts of what it is like for parents, families, and those diagnosed with different genetic conditions. They may encounter anguish, humor, anger, kindness and more as they read these stories. Hopefully it will build their empathy and help them see both the fundamental human commonalities as well as the unique challenges faced by families coping with Tay-Sachs, Huntington's, sickle-cell anemia, or any of the hundreds of other conditions they may explore.

It is even possible, though it will not be required, that they may contact one of these support groups if it seems appropriate and not intrusive.

Presentations:

Students will have free choice of format when making their presentation about the genetic disorder they've explored. This will allow them to show their creativity and use a type of organization and presentation method that is helpful to them.

Peer support:

Students will be using forums on panthernet to ask questions, respond to others' work, and help each other with the varied aspects the genetics unit.

By using these technologies in a variety of ways, I hope that the genetics unit will hold the attention of the students by showing them amazing facets of humanity, engaging them in active learning, empowering them as explorers, and drawing out their sense of empathy in a way that will make them more caring and sensitive global citizens. This may be too lofty a goal, but it is one worth striving for.

Week 2: The Dangers of Public Commiseration

When reading many of the articles that were shared with this course, I was also struck by and deeply interested in the comments sections. The effect of new technologies on community and empathy has been on my mind much of the time during the CoETaIL courses.

In the past I've focused on malicious and cruel comments in the general online community.

Now I've noticed something more subtle but potentially problematic in some posts and the comments sections of blogs about technology in education. (I'm sure the problem is everywhere, but those are the blogs that I've been reading.) The problem is taking the human need to "vent" and doing it in a public forum, especially one that is likely to be visited by the people you're venting about.

Venting may even be too strong a word; commiserate might be better. It is natural that experts in, for example, educational technology will sometimes be frustrated that not all teachers share their passion for the topic, or agree on its importance, or their competence in working with hardware / software. In the same way, teachers can be frustrated when their students don't admit to forgetting to do an assignment, or make learning a lower priority than the teachers would like, etc.

Still, whatever the challenges of getting some teachers to embrace technology, and whatever backwards examples of its application have been observed, it is counterproductive to post about it in public. Some of the comments speak negatively of teachers in a particular district or school, others lambast "teachers" in general for a variety of failings.

Many of us say things less diplomatically than we normally would when we know (or think) our audience agrees with us. However, when we skip qualifiers like "in my experience" or "some teachers" reinforces the tendency to be dismissive of the group as a whole, to pre-judge individuals we are interacting with for the first time, and to allow similar

Educators have a complex relationship as it is with those that would give them advice. I'm playing on stereotypes here, but we can be a notoriously difficult crowd when taking the student's role.

Yet teachers would be the first to say that learning is a lifelong process. We are passionate about learning, for our students and ourselves. Every teacher knows that she has lessons that could use improvement. We all have things to learn and most of us love learning. So why are we sometime such difficult students.

One reason is the importance of teams.

trust - advice

credentials / experts

shared vocabulary

common goals

tone of comments

generalizations

practicalities of classroom

presumption of good intent