Rethinking the Education of Genetics
Majors
Terry R. McGuire. Department of
Genetics,
Rutgers University, Piscataway NJ.
SENCER
SENCER courses and academic programs aim to
strengthen the learning in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) disciplines.
When discussing education wear the
appropriate protective Gear!
Genetic Analysis 1 And 2
The major in genetics at Rutgers is designed
to prepare a student for a career in
research.
GA I and GA II are taught from a research
perspective as we believe that students
ultimately will need to be able to apply
basic genetic knowledge to their own
research.
Genetic Analysis 1 And 2
Since this course is the “feeder” course for
advanced genetics courses, there was no
question that students needed to learn
genetics.
It was not my intent to “cover” more material
in GA I and GA II, but rather to work for
deeper understanding of genetics.
How?
Think about the reading material
The course has matured so no text book adequately
covers the material.
Required. Molecular Biology of the Gene, Fifth Edition
(Hardcover) by James D. Watson, Tania A. Baker,
Stephen P. Bell, Alexander Gann, Michael Levine,
Richard Losick
I highly recommend that you get any genetics book
published in the last 5 years. This will be a good ref.
and a source for some topics. I have placed at least
three such textbooks in the MSLC on the Busch
campus. My personal favorite is Genetics by Robert
Brooker.
Partial Syllabus
General Topic
Topic
Transmission Genetics
Introduction, Segregation
2
Transmission Genetics
Independent Assortment and Probability
3
Transmission Genetics
Probability and Statistics
4
Transmission Genetics
Cell cycle, Chromosome theory of Inheritance,
Sex Determination and Sex Linkage
5
Transmission Genetics
Gene interaction and Expression, dominance,
pleiotropy, expressivity, human pedigrees)
6
Transmission Genetics
Gene interaction and Expression; environmental
modification, conditional genes, lethality, epistasis
7
Transmission Genetics
Paper
Mendel (1865)
1
8
Transmission Genetics
Sutton 1902
Linkage, Recombination and Mapping, Detection Sturtevant , A.H, (1913)
of Linkage, F2 analyses, Test crosses.
Linkage, Recombination and Mapping: Statistical
mapping, LOD scores
Tatum and Lederberg
1947
The changes in a course are not in the
syllabus but in the presentation of material
Class room as Civic Space
On-Line Biographies
Weekly opportunity for Announcements
Listening to the Students.
Even anagrams
Milan Ringmanster = Martin Gliserman
Monica Devanas = Adonis Caveman
These activities have the cumulative effect of
altering the classroom teacher-student
relationship.
Terry R. McGuire
In addition to my responsibilities at Rutgers
(www.lifesci.rutgers.edu/~mcguire). I have numerous
hobbies and interests that I can talk about (or bore you
with) at length. These include woodworking, stained
glass manufacture, reading, singing, elderberry wine and
beer making, genealogy, yoga and toy making. I also
grow 12 different varieties of garlic, pawpaws, and some
incredibly beautiful Dahlias. Flowers, after all, make you
very happy (http://humannature.com/ep/articles/ep03104132.html).
I can proudly say that I am one of the very few people in
the world who has built a coracle, erected a yurt and
assembled a composting toilet. (I am probably one the
few people who would every want to!!). My most recent
hobbies are singing and truffle making. I had the worst
music teacher in the world in elementary school. Despite
her insistence that I could not sing and should never
open my mouth - I now take voice lessons and
occasionally sing in public. (You should hear me do “Not
Dead Yet!!!). I have a dedicated set of Truffle tasters who
insist that will taste each batch until I "get them perfect".
The dog's name is Comet. I am faculty advisor for the
Association of Undergraduate Geneticists (AUG) and
proudly serve on the Faculty Board for the Livingston
Theater Company (www.rultc.org).
Listen to Your Students
It is important to spend much more time
listening to your students than talking at them.
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Pre – lecture Quizzes
One-minute papers
In-class Group Work
In-class reviews
Reading Original Research papers
Jigsaws in recitation
Weekly Homework
Content Pre and Post Testing
One-minute paper.
Ask a single question at the end of class.
What was the best or worst part of today’s
lecture?
What was the muddiest point of today’s lecture?
What as the most interesting thing (surprising)
point in today’s lecture?
What was the most difficult concept from today’s
lecture?
1. Courses must be connected to other
courses and the “real world”
Current events start each class
“This course has altered my view of Genetics
as applied to my everyday life. It has
made focus on seeing a lot of things most
people miss. I love that you taught us
everyday examples that relate to what we
were studying, i.e., the triploid bananas
and the red hair quirks.”
Students want to see connections –
but we must model them
If the faculty present each course as a “stand
alone” course, students will also view
knowledge as disconnected.
We need to encourage students to see
connections.
“So you are saying that I have to suck it up and
actually learn organic chemistry”
2. Teach Students how to Find and
Evaluate Information – Future Learning
1. Information will be readily available.
2. Critical evaluation of the source of
information will be even more important
3. Need to model critical thought for our
students and teach them how to evaluate
information.
4. Much of our teaching effort might be to
develop support material for class
discussions.
3. Don’t just cover the material
1. Students can read.
2. “Dumping” the
contents of a
textbook is quick
and easy but it is not
teaching
It is not what students
are exposed to it is
what they learn and
retain that is
important.
Retention of Knowledge
4. Lasting Memory Comes from
Spaced Trials
Hermann
Ebbinghaus:
distributed
practice yields
better learning.
"This so called
spacing
effect...is one of
the most reliable
phenomenon in
human
experimental
psychology"
Lasting Memory Comes from Spaced
Trials
Traditional Tests (Multiple Choice, etc) place
premium on short-term memory.
“Just tell me what I need to know for the
test”
I value understanding more than short
term memory - Take- home open-book
tests
5. Your students do not come to class with
25 years of expertise in your field.
Students will have no information about the
most basic aspects of your field.
Rushing through the “boring, old hat” part of
your field to get to the exciting new stuff is a
big mistake.
Equally troubling is presenting important
historical research as “fact” rather than
stressing the experimental evidence. (original
papers)
6. Assess and grade your students
with the tools that reflect your goals
The students want a good grade.
To get to their goal, the students must pass
through my goals.
7. It is never too late to change your
teaching
When scientists become unwilling to experiment
and change they stop being scientists.
The participants of my two Rutgers teams (some
who have previously won teaching awards at
Rutgers) have discovered that student
achievement increases when they make even
minor changes in their courses
8. Start small
Only do one or two things that you are
comfortable with. You can make
additional changes in other years.
Talking Points
1. Your students are unique intelligent
individuals who are capable of learning.
2. The best way to teach civic engagement is to
make it an integral part of the course.
3. Information is readily available. Our roles as
professors must be “value added”. That is,
we must do more than transmit easily
available information.
4. The same tools that drive innovation in our
labs can be used to drive innovation in our
classrooms.
Why do this?
Yes it made me think, no ponder, a great deal.
This course has allowed me to hold some very
interesting conversations and express to
other people the mind-boggling concept of a
sequence of DNA containing the basis for all
life. The course has also called upon
knowledge from other courses I have taken . It
has been a challenge enthusiastically
accepted and has enhanced my experience at
Rutgers more than any other course I have
taken thus far.
NewBackgrounder Papers:
www.sencer.net
Reinventing Myself as a Professor:
The Catalytic Role of SENCER
Report on the Class of 2003-2004
17 Pioneer students
7 admitted to graduate schools
6 admitted to medical school
1 admitted to law school (worked one year in a
law firm as a clerk)
1 Studying for a program in Genetic nursing
Information not available on 2 students.
No – these were not highly selected students
Why do this?
Let’s listen to the voices of my students?
Current Student
“Dr. McGuire,
I just wanted to tell you that the GA classes really did
prepare me for the lab. I didn't take the research class
last semester but began working here in XXXXXX lab
this summer. Considering I had never worked in a lab
(other than lab courses like chem., bio, etc) I feel I was
very prepared to perform the procedures. Granted I'm
the type of person that can actively do things better if I
know how they work, I think you, Bill, and Dr.
Brenneman did a thorough and great job preparing us.
Reading the scientific paper in GAII helped a LOT. Just
wanted to say good job and thank you!
Graduate Student - Took Genetic
Analysis 2003-2004 (the first year)
“For some general input about the genetics
department, I really appreciated the year long
genetics course. It gave me a great
foundation of genetics and I still benefit from
the course today.”
Up a creek –This time with a SENCER
paddle!!!!!
My first “students”
19th century Lectures were not the
solution for the 20th century
20th century Lectures May not be the
solution for the 21st century
There are two Groups of Students for
Which Innovation is Allowed
Non Majors
Honors students
How we treat majors
Give a man a fish; you have fed him for
today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed
him for a lifetime”—Author unknown
However, before you will be allowed to fish,
please memorize the following information for
each fish you might wish to catch.
There will be a quiz on this!!!!!
Let’s treat our Valued science majors
as well as those two groups.
Some premises for discussion”
All students have the potential to excel.
Treat your students as if they were in your lab –
don’t let them make all your solutions if they
haven’t mastered pipeting.
Knowledge is not a race, there is no one starting
point nor is there a defined finishing line.
My View of Science
“You know, too many people equate science with its hightech trappings, - if it does not come in computers, God
knows what power microscopes, the latest DNA dyes , it
must be magic, superstition, old-wives tale nonsense.
But science is at core a method, a rational mode of
investigating the world, and the gadgetry is secondary.
Sure the equipment is great - it opens up more of the
world to our cognitive digestion, makes it amenable to
our analysis - but if aspects of the world are already
amenable to analysis and experimentation, with just our
naked eyes and hands, then the equipment isn’t all that
necessary , is it”. The Mendelian Lamp Case. Paul
Levinson (2002)
Bryson on Textbooks
And here’s the thing. It wasn’t exciting at all . It wasn’t
actually altogether comprehensible. Above all, it didn't
answer any of the questions that the illustration stirred
up in a normal inquiring mind: How did we end up with a
Sun in the middle of our planet? And if it is burning
away down there why isn’t the ground under our feet
hot to the touch? And why isn’t the rest of the interior
melting - or is it? And when the core at last burns itself
out, will some of the Earth slump into the void, leaving a
giant sinkhole on the surface? And how do you know
this? How did you figure it out?
But the author was strangely silent on such details
Biil Bryson – A Short History of Nearly Everything