This link has been bookmarked by 2 people . It was first bookmarked on 09 Sep 2008, by Theron DesRosier.
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12 Mar 09
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09 Sep 08
Theron DesRosierthis article touches on an opportunity that will probably occur more often in the future; a very new field of study that is so vast it becomes necessary to involve community, students, faculty researchers.
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Metagenomics is so young, and the microbial world it seeks to characterize is so vast, that there is a real possibility that scientists, teachers, and students in many areas of science can work together to advance this field
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By acting now to incorporate metagenomics into biology education and to utilize biology education to inform questions and future research paths for metagenomics, the life sciences community can begin to shift from the current situation, in which scientific advances take decades to reach the classroom, toward a system in which education and research are deliberately and strategically integrated with each other from the very beginning.
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When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it is tied to everything else in the universe.
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In fact, the processes of metagenomics demonstrate that it is important to study genes and organisms in context and to appreciate the entire diversity of life, even in a single setting. These messages have important relevance across biology and would be valuable additions to any biology class—perhaps especially those at the introductory level.
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me faculty feel that they must use introductory courses to provide students with virtually all the knowledge they will use to understand the basic concepts of a discipline. Some also view introductory courses as a way to help students learn how to interpret news and other information about science so that they can make more informed decisions in the home, at the doctor's office, and in the voting booth. Too often, however, such courses fail to convey the complex beauty of the living world and the innumerable ways that biology impacts “real life.” Learning about metagenomics at the introductory level—with an emphasis on its potential real-world applications—could serve to illuminate the basic principles of a wide variety of fields, the connections among them, and the broader relevance of scientific advances to real-world issues. If students can see that there really are interesting unsolved questions that they can play a role in answering, the recruitment of talented young people to science careers may be facilitated. In this way, students will encounter a science that is dynamic rather than static.
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The benefits of integrating metagenomics and other new sciences into biology education at an early stage would serve not only biology students but scientists and their research projects, as well. Experience shows that when researchers teach, their own understanding becomes deeper, leading to new and often unexpected questions and avenues for research that are posed by students, as well as contributing to the development of creative approaches to problems (Full, 2007
). If the biology community can integrate education about metagenomics with advances in research from the beginning, students could become active participants in developing the field. -
Teaching a new or emerging field is an ideal way to deeply engage students in exploring fundamental questions that are at the heart of scientific pursuit and to encourage them to ask their own questions. Indeed, in the case of the emerging field of metagenomics, the most basic questions may be the most profound. Addressing these questions in turn inspires young minds and active researchers alike, and science benefits.
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There is still so much to know in the field of metagenomics that research by students could advance the field significantly. For example, many metagenomics projects involve collecting and processing huge numbers of samples to compare microbial communities from similar environments in different locations. Imagine an enormous sampling effort involving students from all over the world: a global soil analysis, for example. With a relatively simple infrastructure of sampling kits and established procedures, the body of data available for metagenomic analysis could expand enormously as the result of student efforts. Technical advances, advances in basic microbiology, and the establishment of an efficient data management and bioinformatics framework in the coming years could well make student participation in metagenomic sampling a viable possibility both technically and economically.
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Page Comments
Thanks for sharing these. I'm trying to figure out whether we can apply some of these ideas with secondary school students.
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