Computing  Getting Your Students Interested in Biology Using “Biotech” and Computing  Getting Your Students Interested in Biology Virginia A. Gottschalk, Ph.D. Florida A and M University

What is Biotechnology? Historically, biotechnology referred to the production of commercial products with the aid of living things.

Modern Biotechnology Now we are now able to manipulate the DNA of organisms or create new organisms for our own use. Human insulin gene Bacterial DNA insulin bacterium

Why is Biotechnology important for your students? It is all around us

Biotech Class = Hands-on and Fun!

What is Teachers’ Domain? Free online media resources from public television and other trusted sources Professional development Science courses feature the resources in the collections

Teachers’ Domain Editions K-12 Massachusetts Teachers’ Domain VITAL NY College Edition (Science)

Teaching Tip: Help students see possible careers in biology using Teachers’ Domain videos Karmella Haynes a synthetic biologist who is using biotechnology to create living "devices" that help visualize how cancer develops.

How do I Sign Up?

How can you integrate the Media Collection into the classroom? Example 1: Applications INTERACTIVE: Gene Cloning This interactive activity details the steps involved in producing clones of genes that can then be used to transform the characteristics of an organism.

Example 2: Career Exploration INTERACTIVE: Careers in Biotechnology This interactive serves as an overview to a wide variety of biotechnology related careers.

Example 3:Concepts VIDEO: Engineering Biofuels This video profiles the work of a biologist experimenting with ways to produce a cleaner-burning fuel from biological matter, using genetically modified microorganisms.

Example 4: Tools and Techniques VIDEO: Agarose Gel Demos Watch a "how-to" video on the proper technique of preparing an agarose gel for use in gel electrophoresis

A Frequently Asked Question (Unfortunately!) A.One reason for poor student performance in technical, often highly complex subjects like biology is the idea that one doesn’t need a textbook. B.Many modern textbooks often have as part of the “package”, Internet/computer based resources and materials  AGAIN, these resources are often NOT taken advantage of by students to improve their understanding and skill level. C.One solution is to force the issue by assigning a selection of materials offered with the class text as part of the grade.

Based on the resources and materials offered with the text from a wide variety of activities: – tutorials –ranking questions –3-D animation –test bank questions –Virtual labs Make Learning Part of the Grade®

Instructors can compile teaching diagnostics that highlight” the hardest concept  adjust the content of lectures class grade distribution track the amount of time each student spends on homework A lot of work but, even though we wish it were so, Garfield, we can’t really can’t learn by osmosis

Sites With Free “Stuff”  HHMI

More Advanced Site for Biocomputing  NCBI

Virtual Labs! hill.com/sites/ /student_ view0/virtual_labs.html hill.com/sites/ /student_ view0/virtual_labs.html

More Resources DNA Interactive: Dolan DNA Learning Center: Bio-Link – Biotechnology Industry organization – Edvotek: Bio-Rad: Carolina Biological:

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