Premium
Development and assessment of web‐based resources for teaching cancer biology
Author(s) -
Hanson Pamela K,
Loyer Anne,
Roy Mike
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.6.lb38-b
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , class (philosophy) , theme (computing) , causation , resource (disambiguation) , cancer , disease , computer science , engineering ethics , biology , world wide web , medicine , genetics , pathology , epistemology , engineering , artificial intelligence , paleontology , computer network , philosophy
Education research has documented many factors that hinder learning in introductory science courses, including failure to relate to other disciplines, lack of a unifying concept, and irrelevance to life outside the classroom. To overcome such problems, many teachers use cancer as a theme in their courses. Here we present two resources to assist in teaching the basic concepts of cancer biology. The first, Cancer – Biology and Beyond , is a short hypertextbook that uses the theme of cancer to introduce students to basic scientific concepts. The “Breaking News” links encourage users to consider interdisciplinary issues such as the ethics of mandatory vaccinations. Descriptions of in‐class and lab activities are also provided. The second resource, Perspectives on Cancer , resulted from an interinstitutional collaboration. This site provides information on the molecular basis of cancer and the epidemiology of the disease. While exploring the molecular basis of cancer, users track changes in the DNA of fictional characters, observing gene mutations and how these changes may, or may not, lead to a cancer diagnosis. Perspectives on Cancer also introduces the concepts of correlation and causation in the context of cancer epidemiology. The associated Map Viewer allows students to quickly and easily search for correlations between lifestyle and cancer mortality. Preliminary assessment of both resources will be presented.