Brain Talking: Classroom Activity to Engage Students in Deep and Meaningful Learning

One of the best ways to take care of ourselves is to take care of our own brain. To do so, we need to individually learn both how our brain functions and how to know it is healthy and functional, at an optimal level, throughout our life span. After all, using Mariettle DiChristina’s (the chief editor of the Scientific American) words, our gelatin-like brain contains all that makes us who we are, including our hopes and dreams (2016, p. 6).  We do know that brain aging starts early (Sandres, 2016).  In the hopes of increasing brain health and learning about the human brain, we designed role play learning activities and sets of related assignments for students to learn about brain structure, function, and how such learning can enhance our understanding of how to protect our brain from various mental disorders/health problems and to optimize its function and in turn the quality of our own lives. If we want to stay fit, feel better, look younger, and live a healthy, longer life with sharp memory and high mental function, then the pathway to achieve all these is through meaningful understanding of our brain through purposefully well designed learning tasks.  We have designed a scenario through which students are actively engaged in a purposeful redesign of the human brain through a role-play pedagogical learning approach. Students adapt or change different parts of the brain and compete for permission to alter the structure and the function of a given part for a purposeful reason. Throughout the processes, students conduct research, work individually and in collaboration with others in groups. Students form and present informative and research-based supportive arguments in open forums. Through this role-play, teachers and instructors provide initial resources for the students, and then continue to provide effective feedback to support student learning and extend it to higher levels.  Role-play has been shown to increase interaction and engagement by placing students in an active role in the classroom as they act out behaviors, concerns, and actions associated with a character. Students who act out assumed roles have also been shown to gain new perspectives and grow a deeper understanding of what it would be like to be that character in real life (Cherif and Somervill, 1995). The hope is that by learning about the brain in early school years, not only do we stay mentally sharp but also we are able to continue to have new learning experiences and live life to the fullest throughout our entire life span. Keywords: Brain, Role play, Active learning, Student’s engagement, Effective instruction, Brain disorders, Healthy life-span

Not All the Organelles of Living Cells Are Equal! Or Are They? Engaging Students in Deep Learning and Conceptual Change

The cell is the fundamental basis for understanding biology much like the atom is the fundamental basis for understanding physics. Understanding biology requires the understanding of the fundamental functions performed by components within each cell. These components, or organelles, responsible for both maintenance and functioning of the cell comprise to form a dynamically stable ecosystem.  The secret of achieving this noble and desirable efficiency rely on the structural and functional variations of the organelles within the cell; they each carry out specific jobs within the cell resulting in a smooth, running process that would be the envy of any industrial manager. In this role-playing learning activity, we aim to engage students in deep learning that leads to cognitive and conceptual change by forcing them to be and to actively act as those organelles within the cell.  It is centered on the idea that a number of organelles within the eukaryotic cells are strongly “protesting” the “privilege” that mitochondria and chloroplasts have within the living cells (both in single and multi-cellular organisms).  They are protesting the structural and functional privileges that other organelles lack, but the mitochondria and chloroplasts have. Students will have to understand an explore the reasons for the differences among all the organelles and how they differ in importance and function, especially in regards to interactions between organelles within each cell and how it contributes to the life of the cell as a whole..  After all, as it has been stated by NGS (2007) “a human cell reveals our inner architecture” (p. 40). Keywords: Living cells, organelles, role-playing, analogy, instructional approach, intentional learners, student success

Has the Time Come to Start a Dialogue About the Role of Nutrition and Our Inner Microbiomes In Education? Teacher and Faculty Perspectives

The purpose of this study is to determine if educational professionals at the high school and college levels believe that their students should be required to complete a Health and Nutrition and/or a Microbiology course for graduation. The study used both a descriptive survey and a questionnaire as data collection instruments. The study population was comprised of 655 teachers and instructors from high schools, colleges and universities across the U.S.A.   Quantitative analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics. Qualitative analysis of open ended responses was organized into multiple themes. While all the participants strongly agreed that our nation (U.S.A.) is facing critical challenges in overcoming the new trends in obesity, diabetes, infectious diseases and other related epidemics, as well as on the role of education in solving the matters, they differ on what to do and how to prepare the current and future generations. At the college level, while over half of all the participants (61.22%) preferred to see Microbiology as a part of the graduation requirement from college, only 41.22% of the same participants felt comfortable in making Nutrition a part of the graduation requirement.  At the high school level, while 42.59% of all the participants saw no problem in including Nutrition as a part of the graduation requirement from high school, only 10.53% of the same participants felt comfortable including Microbiology as a graduation requirement from high school.  More detailed outcomes are presented in this paper. However, more participating college instructors compared to high school teachers did not think either of the topics should be mandated for graduation from high school or college; the only exception would be if these two fields of study were part of their selected academic program. Instead, this group of participants suggested making changes to existing course design and content (such as the required “health” or Biology classes), which would offer valuable additions to the existing curriculum and prepare students in health and nutrition. Finally, almost all of the participants provided various reasons and justifications for their perspectives on the matter.  The study also shows a significant role for administrators and academic leaders in this requirement process (decision making process for the curricula). Recommendations based on the findings are provided and discussed below. Keywords: General education, Nutrition, Microbiology, Human Microbiomes, Obesity, Diabetes, Illness prevention, Infectious diseases, Education, burden of disease, educational reform

A foraging approach to habitat selection in time and space in three sciurid rodents.

A foraging approach to habitat selection in time and space in three sciurid rodents