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Incorporating Public Outreach into Existing Curriculum as a Solution to Bridge the Perceived Gap between Classroom and Real World Biochemistry
Author(s) -
Cheng Catherine Yanan,
VardarUlu Didem
Publication year - 2013
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.27.1_supplement.29.6
Subject(s) - outreach , curriculum , bridge (graph theory) , set (abstract data type) , dissemination , class (philosophy) , graduate students , medical education , target audience , psychology , public relations , mathematics education , engineering ethics , computer science , chemistry , political science , pedagogy , engineering , medicine , business , law , telecommunications , artificial intelligence , advertising , programming language
There is a perceived gap in society between biochemistry as covered in the classroom and that pertinent to real societal concerns. Most traditional outreach efforts remain disconnected from the curriculum and exhibit a unidirectional information flow, from experts to society, widening the gap between “scientists” and “the public.” Here, we present a case study on how an explicit outreach component can be effectively incorporated into an existing upper‐level undergraduate biochemistry course. In the spring of 2012, 5 seniors and 6 juniors enrolled in Biochemistry II were given a choice of disseminating their understanding of a health related biochemical problem to a general audience via i) a layman's abstract or a letter to a senator, ii) an article for the Molecular Anatomy Project initiative at the Protein Data Bank, or iii) a lesson for a non‐science majors chemistry class, in addition to the existing formal research proposal write‐up. Student, audience, and expert feedback on this more student‐ and society‐centered course format were largely positive, pointing to student growth in a diverse set of transferable skills including independent content learning. This outreach‐focused implementation of an existing assessment tool in a terminal course ensures that majors graduate not only with a well‐founded understanding of the field, but also with the ability to effectively communicate it to a diverse audience.