biologist's+thoughts+11

It is my intention that I will keep a record of my thoughts after each lesson. Feel free to repsond to anything I have written. Hopefully my thoughts will inspire, motivate and allow you to improve your understanding of biology as well as get the most out of our classes. Link back to inside the mind of the biol guru Link to biologist's thoughts 10 biologist's thoughts 12 biologist's thoughts 13 biologist's thoughts 14 biologist's thoughts 15

**Lesson 56 (Tuesday 14th July 2009)** Hmmm... First lesson of the term, always find it difficult to get back into the swing of things. As such I resorted to mainly a lecturing style of teaching. Regulation of gene expression is not an easy area to cover, there are no clearly defined boundaries as to what they need to know therefore I try and emphasize that understanding the overall concept is the way to go. It was great to see a large number of them ask questions and contribute to discussion. I think unit 4 is even more prone to discussion and importantly it will have greater value in developing their understanding,

**Lesson 57 (Friday 17th July 2009)** There was a conscious effort on my behalf in planning for some more student engagement this lesson. To recap and probe their understanding of gene regulation, I resorted to a previously used method of group work. In small groups they were given a question to discuss and answer (10min time limit) and then present their answer to the class. Although not very creative or innovative (in terms of pedagogy) there is no doubt in my mind that it was very effective for almost every student. They like to discuss and they are very good at questioning each other about their ideas. Now, even though a number of them found last lesson confusing, each group was able to provide accurate answers to the questions. More importantly, I was able to give them another opportunity to communicate biology. At the start of the lesson they had their 1st quiz for this unit. Given that we covered the material some 3 weeks ago, the results were actually very good. Does this mean that they have actually put some hard work in over the break? I think I was much more happier about this lesson.

**Lesson 58 (Monday 20th July 2009)** Our first lesson of gene technology today, focusing on two very important techniques-PCR and gel electrophoresis. I started off with a quick recap of restriction enzymes by giving them a worksheet. I seem to be doing this a fair bit now, ie starting lessons off with an activity to go over the previous lesson's concept(s). I normally don't do this as I feel there just isn't enough time to do this and get through the course. I rely on trying to make the lesson as effective a learning experience the first time round but I know this is not realistic. And I know that I don't do this always maybe not even enough. Damn time, always my enemy. Anyway the activity was good, it allowed me to clarify misconceptions and it would have reinforced ideas for those that felt they knew things well. I also just love seeing them help each other and discuss concepts, it is really an important characteristic of an effective classroom in my eyes. The rest of the lesson was explanations, punctuated with animations and off course the PCR song. They really liked this song and it is a perfect example of how a song can capture the key points of a concept. With so much detail surrounding everything we cover they must not lose sight of what is really important. I really think songs make it manageable for them. I have tried to inspire them by posting my DNA replication song. Will it work? A few comments have been made to me but nothing else has eventuated. My aim is for them to atleast sing this song themselves in the classroom. But that will be up to them. I did notice that a few of them struggled to maintain concentration as the lesson drew to an end. I know it will be difficult for some of them to make sense of everything and perhaps this part of the course doesn't interest them. It's different, it involves theory but then there is all the technological side of things and the application.

loved the song voj! we should sing it in class! (i think its stuck in my head- hopefully it stays there until the exam!) -MISS NICE thx for the comment, If the song helps then that's great. VM

Again, I had decided that today's lesson would involve a bit of time where they would work through a worksheet. I just feel like i need them to discuss difficulties and I also need a rest. It is too easy for me to spend too much time explaining all the different techniques and technologies. I did limit the number of concepts covered to just microarrays and DNA sequencing. These are definitely not easy concepts to master but I empahsised to them that here is another opportunity for them to reinforce theory we have already covered, such as complimentary base pairing, gel electrophoresis. Not much else to say other than two thoughts entered my mind after the lesson. Am I going too quickly through this part of the course? If I am, why hasn't anyone mentioned anything? They need to let me know. And are they finding it difficult to connect with the concepts? Do I need to do something different? Maybe I need to think about setting something up for the next lesson where I don't speak at all and they try and learn about gene cloning and genetic engineering themselves. I want to. Do I have the time though? I must atleast try.
 * Lesson 59 (Tuesday 21st July 2009) **

I was all over the place today. Pretty sure they will have noticed it. For the first time this year period 0 was a struggle. It doesn't help having too many late nights watching Le Tour. The lesson was planned it was devoted to go over some homework which I rarely do. Today was a perfect example as to why. I question whether its an effective way to spend class time. Not everyone would have been engaged in the activity. Maybe its the way I run this task itself. Because I don''t do it often I guess I am not thinking about how best to go through the homework. Hmmm... I really don't think I have thought of it in this way before. What's an effective way of going over homeowrk? Anyway, I think the term RFLP is better understood. And it seems many of them made good sense of the homework task. There are some who didn't and I hope they come and see me for further explanation. Well there was no doing something different for this lesson but I am now definitely going to do that for the next lesson.
 * Lesson 60 (Friday 24th July 2009) **