skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Hands-on immunology: Engaging learners of all ages through tactile teaching tools
Ensuring the public has a fundamental understanding of human–microbe interactions, immune responses, and vaccines is a critical challenge in the midst of a pandemic. These topics are commonly taught in undergraduate- and graduate-level microbiology and immunology courses; however, creating engaging methods of teaching these complex concepts to students of all ages is necessary to keep younger students interested when science seems hard. Building on the Tactile Teaching Tools with Guided Inquiry Learning (TTT-GIL) method we used to create an interactive lac operon molecular puzzle, we report here two TTT-GIL activities designed to engage diverse learners from middle schoolers to masters students in exploring molecular interactions within the immune system. By pairing physical models with structured activities built on the constructivist framework of Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL), TTT-GIL activities guide learners through their interaction with the model, using the Learning Cycle to facilitate construction of new concepts. Moreover, TTT-GIL activities are designed utilizing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to include all learners through multiple means of engagement, representation, and action. The TTT-GIL activities reported here include a web-enhanced activity designed to teach concepts related to antibody–epitope binding and specificity to deaf and hard-of-hearing middle and high school students in a remote setting and a team-based activity that simulates the evolution of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) haplotype of a population exposed to pathogens. These activities incorporate TTT-GIL to engage learners in the exploration of fundamental immunology concepts and can be adapted for use with learners of different levels and educational backgrounds.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2018668
PAR ID:
10383188
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Frontiers in Microbiology
Volume:
13
ISSN:
1664-302X
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; (, Frontiers in Education)
    Justement, Louis (Ed.)
    In most undergraduate programs, immunology is relegated to a few weeks of microbiology or human anatomy courses, or rarely offered as a dedicated topics course. As such, we feel it is essential to consider new approaches to introduce undergraduate students to immunological concepts. Recent work by the ImmunoReach network uncovered gaps in connecting concepts of metabolism and evolution in undergraduate immunology education. With these ideas in mind, we developed a comparative immunology lesson within an upper-division Animal Physiology course, in which students explore how differences in body size change both the metabolic rates and immune cell concentrations. Students who completed this activity improved their scores on scaling questions included in a class exam by more than 29% over students who only received a lecture on the course material. Pre- and post-quizzes demonstrate that the activity increased scores on questions about scaling (>17%) and immune concepts (>100%). By requiring students to apply concepts of scaling, a fundamental concept in biology and physiology, to a system not typically considered in animal physiology courses, this activity enhanced students' understanding of that topic, as well as introducing them to immune cell types. It also introduced pointillist comparative methods, just now being integrated into immune studies, thereby introducing students to leading-edge research in immunology and a new way of thinking about the immune system. We believe this approach can not only fill gaps within undergraduate immunology courses but also incorporate immunology into curricula where immunology is not a viable stand-alone course. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; (, Frontiers in Microbiology)
    Davida Smyth (Ed.)
    The gut microbiome and its physiological impacts on human and animal health is an area of research emphasis. Microbes themselves are invisible and may therefore be abstract and challenging to understand. It is therefore important to infuse this topic into undergraduate curricula, including Anatomy and Physiology courses, ideally through an active learning approach. To accomplish this, we developed a novel tactile teaching tool with guided-inquiry (TTT-GI) activity where students explored how the gut microbiome ferments carbohydrates to produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). This activity was implemented in two sections of a large-enrollment Human Anatomy and Physiology course at a research intensive (R1) university in the Spring of 2022 that was taught using a hyflex format. Students who attended class in person used commonly available building toys to assemble representative carbohydrates of varying structural complexity, whereas students who attended class virtually made these carbohydrate structures using a digital learning tool. Students then predicted how microbes within the gut would ferment different carbohydrates into SCFAs, as well as the physiological implications of the SCFAs. We assessed this activity to address three research questions, with 182 students comprising our sample. First, we evaluated if the activity learning objectives were achieved through implementation of a pre-and post-assessment schema. Our results revealed that all three learning objectives of this activity were attained. Next, we evaluated if the format in which this TTT-GI activity was implemented impacted student learning. While we found minimal and nonsignificant differences in student learning between those who attended in-person and those who attended remotely, we did find significant differences between the two course sections, which differed in length and spacing of the activity. Finally, we evaluated if this TTT-GI approach was impactful for diverse students. We observed modest and nonsignificant positive learning gains for some populations of students traditionally underrepresented in STEM (first-generation students and students with one or more disabilities). That said, we found that the greatest learning gains associated with this TTT-GI activity were observed in students who had taken previous upper-level biology coursework. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; (, Frontiers in Education)
    Segura, Miriam (Ed.)
    The impact of immunology on our daily lives is growing every year. From vaccines to immunotherapies, it's essential for our healthcare professionals (present and future) and the general public as patients or caregivers to be literate in immunology. One way to foster immune literacy in this rapidly advancing field is through Primary Scientific Literature (PSL). There are unique challenges with integrating PSL into immunology courses. First, the laboratory techniques used are often new and not things students have tried before or may have access to, such as flow cytometry. Second, the tools used in this literature can be confusing. For example, antibodies are often used as both part of the research method and as the research subject. Third, immunology literature is especially heavy in acronyms, jargon and abbreviations. In this manuscript, four instructors gathered to discuss the strategies that they have used in their classrooms to utilize PSL in immunology (PSL-I) and scaffold various activities around it. These teaching methods vary from highlighting immunology-specific techniques, interpreting figures, alignment with the 5E instructional model to guide an inquiry, jigsaw format learning, to in-depth journal-club style analysis. Finally, this paper discusses reflections from our experiences teaching PSL-I. We know that there are misconceptions about immunology and health in general. If we teach PSL and how to interpret it, we hope to prepare our students not just for their chosen field, but also to think critically and discern facts from fiction in society. 
    more » « less
  4. (, International Journal of Science and Research Archive)
    The active learning student-centered teaching approach process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) is a stimulating peer-based pedagogical method gaining momentum based on reported students’ outcomes that align with STEM undergraduate goals and objectives and job market competencies. Specific advanced topics in biology are intractable to many undergraduate students and require innovative, collaborative methods to produce desired learning outcomes. Chemistry instructors originally designed POGIL, and while biology-based POGILs are present in the literature, there is a limited amount of POGILs available in molecular biology. Thus, the current article illustrates a POGIL exercise that explores the central dogma, a fundamental principle in molecular biology. The central dogma of molecular biology provides a framework for gene expression processes and describes the flow of genetic information in living organisms. The central dogma describes how DNA nucleotides are transcribed into RNA nucleotides and translated into proteins. This seminal concept of molecular biology is critical to student understanding in introductory and advanced biological sciences courses. The POGIL exercise is organized based on the learning cycle model associated with inquiry-focused teaching techniques. The learning cycle model promotes gradual concept comprehension and real-world utilization. An increase in molecular biology POGIL exercises is required to improve student understanding and course grades in molecular biology or related disciplines. Examining the efficacy of using the current molecular biology POGIL exercise is necessary from the perspectives of undergraduate students and biology faculty to fortify POGIL usage at colleges and universities. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; (, Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE))
    Seagroves, Scott; Barnes, Austin; Metevier, Anne; Porter, Jason; Hunter, Lisa (Ed.)
    Participants of the Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators’ (ISEE) Professional Development Program (PDP) work in Design Teams to create inquiry activities that foster student learning of relevant STEM content and practices. These teams implement the inquiry activities in one or more teaching venues (i.e., a context in which Design Team members act as instructors or facilitators with actual learners or students). One such venue is the Akamai Internship Program’s PREP Course. Concurrent with running the PDP, ISEE supported the development of frameworks to help Akamai interns understand the projects they undertake during their internship. Two frameworks were developed: one focused on scientific explanations and the other on engineering solutions. This paper describes how PDP inquiry activities and the ISEE Frameworks come together in a mutually supportive manner during the Akamai PREP Course. This synergy becomes apparent as we examine the sequential placement of PREP sessions whereby the frameworks both push interns to make sense of their experiences with such activities (e.g., revisiting the explanation framework after a science-oriented inquiry) and prepare interns for effective engagement in upcoming inquiry activities (e.g., using the solution framework before an engineering-oriented inquiry). Recommendations include using a similar pairing of inquiry activities and frameworks in other teaching venues. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email