The central dogma of biology is a foundational concept that is traditionally included in genetics curricula at all academic levels. Despite its ubiquitous presence throughout genetics education, students persistently struggle with both the fundamental and advanced topics of the central dogma. In particular, students conflate the role of genomic variations in DNA replication, transcription, and translation. As research and healthcare increasingly utilizes genomic medicine to link genetic variants to clinical phenotypes, it is critically important for biology and health science students to understand the role of genetic variation in molecular genetics. This lesson focuses on the role of missense mutations in the central dogma using a case study of cystic fibrosis. The case study is paired with a creative activity in which students draw the molecular parts of the central dogma. This helps students to connect the abstract concepts of the central dogma to a real-world clinical example. The effectiveness of this lesson was evaluated for two semesters of a Human Genetics course using end-of-unit exam questions. The active-learning lesson is an engaging activity that reinforces the role of genetic variation in the central dogma and the effects on clinical phenotypes. This lesson is highly customizable and adaptable to courses of various sizes, levels, course lengths, and teaching modalities.

Primary image: Molecular View of the Central Dogma. This drawing was produced by a student at Bloomsburg University’s Human Genetics course for Part 1 of this lesson.

Before undergraduate students take a genetics course they generally know cancer has a genetic basis and involves the proliferation of cells; however, many are uncertain about why only a subset of people have a predisposition to cancer and how that predisposition is inherited from one generation to the next.  To help students learn about these concepts, we designed a teaching unit that centers on a small-group, in-class activity.  During this activity students learn how to:

1. determine inheritance patterns for different types of cancer,
2. explain why a person with or without cancer can pass on a genetic predisposition to cancer, and
3. distinguish between proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. 

In addition to participating in the small-group activity, students watch short video clips from a documentary about breast cancer, answer clicker questions, and engage in a whole-class discussion.  A combination of pre/posttest results, clicker question answers, and performance on subsequent exam questions suggests that this unit helps students learn about the hereditary basis of cancer.

Because most people have been infected by and/or immunized against influenza, students should know how the immune system responds to the infection and how vaccines protect against disease. Vaccines have played an instrumental role in disease prevention and control since the late 1700s, but the mechanism by which they work is still a black box to many people. Therefore, we designed this lesson to provide an introduction of the immune response to a pathogen, vaccines, and the process involved in testing human-grade vaccines. The course in which this lesson was taught focused on homeostasis and using feedback loops to illustrate factors affecting homeostasis. This lesson incorporates feedback loops to demonstrate how the immune system maintains organismal homeostasis and how vaccines contribute to this. The learning goals of this lesson are to collaboratively generate hypotheses, design experiments, and describe how vaccines harness the power of the immune system to protect against disease. This activity uses various student-centered strategies, including think-pair-share, group discussions, and jigsaw. We have successfully implemented this activity in a biology class for a combination of majors and non-majors, after which students reported being more knowledgeable about how vaccines protect against disease. Further, students can have sophisticated discussions about the benefits and risks of vaccines, which is an especially meaningful outcome, given debates regarding their side effects. In the current climate of a pandemic and the need for an expedited vaccine for SARS-CoV2, a better understanding of how vaccines work and are developed is more important than ever before.

Primary image: Influenza gone viral. Image portrays the seminal concepts covered within this lesson: Influenza virus and the impact of human age and sex on influenza vaccine efficacy.  

Constructing a robust understanding of homologous chromosomes, sex chromosomes, and the particulate nature of genes is a notoriously difficult task for undergraduate biology students. In this lesson, students expand their knowledge of human chromosome pairs by closely examining autosomes, sex chromosomes, and the non-homologous elements of the human X and Y sex chromosomes. In this four- part guided activity, students will learn about the structure and function of human autosomal and sex chromosomes, view and interpret gene maps, and gain familiarity with basic bioinformatics resources and data through use of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website. (Student access to computers with Internet connectivity is required for the completion of all Investigations within this lesson.) By viewing chromosomes and gene maps, students will be able to contrast expectations for homologous autosomal chromosome pairs and sex chromosome pairs, as well as gain a deeper understanding of the genetic basis for human chromosomal sex determination. In the last part of this lesson, students can also begin to understand how genetic mutations can lead to sex-reversal. The lesson, as presented, is intended for an introductory biology course for majors, but could be modified for other audiences. In addition, each exercise (“Investigation”) within the lesson can be used independently of the others if an instructor wishes to focus on only a subset of the learning objectives and provide the necessary context.  Options to extend the lesson related to interpreting phylogenies, and contrasting definitions of sex and gender are also provided.

Ensuring students' science literacy is essential for preparation for study in science disciplines and is of critical importance given contemporary challenges in determining the legitimacy and accuracy of science in popular media. This lesson describes the effectiveness of an undergraduate biology course designed to improve students' scientific literacy through meaningful engagement with science news sources. Students were surveyed at the beginning and end of the course to determine their preferred science news sources. Though 45% of students reported not accessing any science news sources in their daily lives at the beginning of the term, 100% of students reported accessing science news at the end of the term. Backward design and Scientific Teaching ensured that assignments meaningfully related to course learning goals, and formative assessment allowed the instructor to track student metacognition regarding science news throughout the term. These findings highlight the value of incorporating science news into undergraduate science courses with meaningful effects for science engagement and literacy beyond the classroom.

As members of society, students must be able to evaluate scientific claims across a wide variety of media to make sound decisions about health and wellness. However, students - and most members of society - struggle to evaluate the quality of evidence supporting a scientific claim. The goal of this lesson is to empower students to recognize unethical and/or overstated scientific claims. Towards this end, the lesson plan contains a combination of pre-class work, analysis of a TED video, group discussion and a jigsaw activity. The in-class portion culminates with a critical evaluation of the putative memory enhancer Prevagen®. We find that students who successfully complete the lesson know criteria for evaluating the quality of material that is presented as scientific. They feel empowered to make informed decisions about health and wellness based on their newly acquired practice with identifying valid/invalid scientific reasoning and with recognizing pseudoscience.

Tying it all together – LOs

Vit C for colds

Sex and Gender

Cell biology cell size

Cell Biology Surface Area to Volume Ratio

Anatomoy and Physiology spreadsheet exercise

Cell biology exercise

Cell Biology exercise