GLOBAL ECOLOGY PROJECT

Link for Mr. Randy French's blendspace class.

https://www.tes.com/lessons/irx_7mIjYXlxHA/introduction-to-global-ecosystems-november-2015

DNA and the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology

Teaching about the Alphabet of our Identify

Source: http://www.unacknowledged.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/DNA.jpg

One of the most memorable professors that had a positive impact on me was Dr. June Faith Escara-Wilke. I can still vividly remember her American accent, although she is a Filipin, Tagalog was not her first language. Even before she taught in UPLB, she was already a professor of Molecular Biology in the US . One of the concerns of her students was that her American accent added difficulty in understanding the lesson; nevertheless, upon knowing our difficulty Dr. Wilke tried her best to speak in Filipino once in a while which was a great relief to us. In the 90’s, the field of molecular biology and biotechnology was still in its germinal stage in the Philippines. But despite the absence of sophisticated laboratory instruments, Dr. Wilke was able to inspire us to appreciate DNA. I must admit I’ve never heard about it in high school and so as the rest of my classmates, I suppose. We used to have a joke about taking Genetics as a major because it was really specializing in imagination. We imagine the DNA,RNA and protein. We view the chromosomes under the microscope but we imagine the processes that happens such as the transposons or the changing loci of the “jumping genes”. Dr. Wilke was a game changer - she actually one of the few professors who made use of popular magazines and even brought her own gadgets to our lecture class. When I was an undergrad, Molecular Biology was only a lecture class and there was no sophisticated biotechnology laboratory yet. Dr. Wilke brought samples of DNA, a hand-held UV light, protective glass, gloves, etc. The use of informative text such as the National Geographic and Time Magazine instead of textbook was not a common practice back then. But reading such material actually inspired me to read more classic papers. 

As an undergraduate Biology major, my very first encounter with the central dogma was during a lecture on replication (I think in my Biodiversity class). Imagine a lecturer who uses only chalk and occasional handwritten transparencies. It was really an effort to understand such an abstract concept. Back then, it would have been better if there was a brief historical background to help the students see the bigger picture. 

A brief history of DNA research leading to the PCR experiment can be downloaded from this link: https://classes.soe.ucsc.edu/bme215/Spring10/Reading%20Materials/Polymerase%20chain%20reaction.pdf

CONSTRUCTIVISM: Strengthening the bridge between the 21st century skills and the Science & Engineering practices

CONSTRUCTIVISM: Strengthening the bridge between the 21st century skills and the Science & Engineering practices 

 “Do not confine your children to your own learning for they were born in another time!”

The Hebrew proverb reminds us that our learners, or shall we say the millennials, have cognitive needs that are different from what their educators had when they were still learners themselves. Furthermore, the Flynn Effect provides the challenge for teachers to cope with the advancing level of intelligence of the new generation of learners. In the 21st century classroom, the teacher is no longer the lone authority on the subject matter but rather a co-learner and a facilitator of meaning making. Hence, there is no other more crucial educative moment for constructivism than the present time. 

Murphy (1997) defined constructivism as a paradigm where “knowledge is constructed by the individual through his interactions with his environment”. In this view, the learners do not passively receive information and practice rote learning but rather actively participate in the endeavor to “make sense of the world” through experiences that provide opportunities to develop meaning and understanding. In the most practical way of defining how a teacher would know if a learner understands, we can consider the six facets of understanding based on the Understanding by Design framework proposed by Wiggins and McTighe. A learner understands if he/she can explain, interpret, apply, perceive another perspective, do self-reflection, and express empathy. The BSCS (2004), through various NIH modules on science education, equates the constructivist approach into active learning which means that are involved “in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing”. The NIH modules are all designed for active, collaborative, and inquiry-based learning in biological science. In an active learning class, students are involved in more than listening. Teaching strategies place less emphasis on transmitting information and more on developing students’ skills. Students are involved in higher-order thinking such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Instructors encourage students to explore their own understandings, attitudes, and values through more opportunities for engaged activities such as reading, discussing, and writing. In addition, academic learning time is spent more on integrated and collaborative tasks.    

The 5E Instructional Model is one example of an instructional design or framework that  exemplifies constructivism as an approach the acknowledges the role of the student as an active agent who “constructs” meaning out of his or her interactions with events (Perkins, 1992). According to this view, rather than passively absorbing information, the student redefines, reorganizes, elaborates, and changes his or her initial understandings through interactions with phenomena, the environment, and other individuals. In other words, the student interprets objects and phenomena and then internalizes this interpretation in terms of previous experiences (NIH-BSCS, 2004). A constructivist view of learning recognizes that the development of ideas and the acquisition of lasting understandings take time and experiences (Saunders, 1992). The key components of the 5E model, so-called because it takes students through five phases of learning that are easily described using five words that begin with the letter “E”: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. The role of the teacher based on these 5Es are further explained in the table below. 

Source:  BSCS-NIH, 2004

SERVICE LEARNING in the CYBER-COMMUNITY

A first attempt for an integrated project which hopefully will raise standards for quality assessment especially designed to address the needs of the digital citizen learners. The GRASPS and elements of assessment for this project are described in the haynayan wiki which can be accessed thru this link: http://haynayan.wikispaces.com/BIOLOGY+10+Performance+Task+for+SY+2015-2016






NOTE TO GRADE 10: Please post your personal reflection about this project as a comment. Include in your reflection the html link to your project webpage. Thank you for such a wonderful and meaningful quarter.

Our research portal formally signing off

Our research portal formally signing off

It took a while for me to finally decide to make time to write this piece. For almost 13 years, the first quarter of every school year was spent on reviewing research title, helping students find their way in the library archive and then eventually we learn together how to get the best of googlescholar. I was a researcher before I became a teacher but I was never formally trained in the art of teaching how to do research. I wrote a number of research papers, mosty scientific paper since I was in college and then to graduate school, but I was never trained as a peer editor or as a proofreader. 

For me, teaching research is all about learning together with my students. My journey as a research teacher was indeed “serendipity”. I substituted for an English teacher who suddenly resigned 13 years ago, being a researcher and writer by experience, I was forced to embrace the teaching assignment. And the rest, they say, is history. 

Until now, I am still amazed at how my students were able to reflect so much when I asked them to analyze Kenny Loggin’s “The One that Got Away”. This activity not only revealed that the digital citizens are self-directed learners but also they have unspoken feelings and thoughts that we adults could not fathom. In the critical reading task using Yann Martel’s “We Ate the Children Last”, I can still remember (and it always make me smile) how a seemingly indifferent young boy has a gift for writing. 

As a science teacher whose favorite topics are genetics and evolution, I must admit that my students taught me to appreciate and explore global studies, historical epidemics and genomic analysis. Four young boys reconstructed the evolutionary history of a virus family that includes the SARS virus. Whenever they present, I cannot help but keep silent in awe because they are the experts and I am the humble novice. As a reader, I am biased for the European and Latin American writers that I like but it took a group of young girls to make me realize that we must first appreciate our very own. How could Carlos Bulosan be famous in America when ordinary Filipinos may never heard about him? 

In a span of almost 13 years, almost a hundred manuscripts later, and three editions of course module, I am here pondering on memories instead of pondering about what themes would I use in the periodical test. I am writing a blog instead of analyzing interdisciplinary articles that I shall use for the test. Sleepless nights of editing and proofreading were one of the best moments of my teaching experience. Through my students I learned about the economics of rice smuggling, about why women conform more than men, on why every teacher needs to understand the learning styles of students and the reality that HIV is  serious matter in the Philippines that many adult ignore but young people are bothered with. I will never forget that triumphant feeling when my students come to me in the simple excitement of receiving an email from a researcher abroad giving their permission for my students to use their instruments. 

There are many brilliant ideas that my students came up with through the years. They successfully presented their research and I hope some would not feel bad if I fail to mention their ideas in this post.

It has been a yearly tradition in our school, ever since we offered the research course for senior high schools, to hold a research forum where senior students present their research to the junior students. They dressed up for this occasion and become the experts in their research. For a teacher to see her students speak with confidence, it is already heaven here on earth. 

Last year, the final year of the research course for the last batch of high school under the BEC curriculum, there was no research forum. I know that my students had looked forward for this conference; but because of circumstances I have no control of, we were never given the opportunity to organize a research forum. I can feel the disappointment when my students learned that they will never get the chance to display their research abstract-poster nor will they ever dress up like professionals and speak in front of an audience. My heart still aches for that silent unspoken sadness. Even though the students shout for joy when their approval sheet is finally signed, their eyes still asks why there was no research forum for their batch. However, I learned to accept that for other people, our research work was not as important as it is for me and my class. What a sad way to close a chapter. 

We are two weeks away from the culmination of the first quarter. Gradually, it is already making sense that I may never meet a research class ever again. I would always be grateful to my dear research students because they encouraged me to study further, explore my waterloos, and take courage every time I stand before them as a discussion facilitator and whenever I settle at the back of the room as a panel member. Thank you because I learned many things about social psychology, global politics, local governance, and other things beyond the reach of Biology.  

Thank you very much dearest young people. I look forward for the day when you would return to your Alma Mater as accomplished professionals and servant leaders in your respective fields of expertise. I pray earnestly that even in the smallest way, your research class somehow helped you in the education for life and your journey of living. 

When I posted the newsfeed announcing the closing of the portal, two students responded. 

I dare not say goodbye but rather till we meet again. Now, our research portal has indeed officially signed off.

Service Learning is community engagement much more than volunteerism or outreach activity

www.pnc.edu

What service learning is and how it differs from community outreach

Service Learning allows students to learn by doing, connecting theory with practice and a method of learning through active participation in organized experiences that meet community needs (Perkins, 1994). Bringle and Hatcher (1996) defined SL as “credit bearing educational experience”. SL evolved, in part, from core assumptions John Dewey (1916, 1939), who advocate learning by doing. SL offered a powerful pedagogical alternative (Billig, 2000) that allowed in which students gain further understanding of the course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility (Bringle and Hatcher, 1996). The National Society for Experiential Education provides the most comprehensive definition of SL as pedagogy, which regard SL as “any carefully monitored service experience in which a student has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what he or she is learning throughout the experience.” The definition given by the Corporation for National Service is much narrower – “ a method under which students or participants learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service (Billig, 2000).  The use of SL within the context of developing college students’ moral development and social and academic involvement is supported by numerous higher education theories, including Astin’s Theory of Student Development [1984], Tinto’s Model of Student Integration [1975; 1993], and Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development [1984] (Taggart and Crisp, 2011).

Service Learning is a concept that incorporates two main aspects – helping a community and participation in a learning situation (Guisse, Tshuma, Victor, Papasin, Lopes, and Bakri , 2010). SL is a set of experiences (Univeristy of Toronto, 2014) that provides students with opportunities to “exercise knowledge and concepts gained in academic classroom in the more meaningful, relevant context in their communities”. It is also a pedagogical model that links academic content with direct practice through critical reflection (UT, 2014; Begley 1013) and aims to “enhance student classroom experiences and community engagement through targeted service that meets community-identified needs and reflection activities that integrate that service back into the academic framework of the course“ (Begley, 2013); as well as, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities (National Service Learning Clearing-house, 2009). We can therefore consider SL as a reciprocal approach to teaching and learning because while the students apply what they learn in real-life situations, they are able to help a community or an institution. In return, not only does the service recipient gain help but also provides additional learning to the students. 

It is very clear that SL is much more comprehensive than community outreach or the usual volunteer work. SL has two basic attributes that are not really a requirement for volunteer work – academic integration and reflection.  The University of Toronto (2014) clarifies that unlike extracurricular voluntary service, SL is primarily centered on academic knowledge development and thus guided by discipline-specific learning goals. Experiential learning students facilitate achievement of academic goals more effectively while critical reflection enables the students to identify how their academic content knowledge has enhanced the value of their service and how their understanding of the discipline has been strengthened by their practice. Volunteer work or community outreach endeavor, most of the time, focuses only on the act of serving or helping another without considering the benefits that the volunteer actually gain from such experience. The Afterschool Alliance (2011) summarizes the differences between SL and community service as presented in Table 1. 

Regardless whether SL is viewed as a required course in higher education, as a capstone project or a mere curricular activity, community engagement through voluntary service anchored on curricular goals, SL can be considered as an urgent call for all educators. The rationale behind this argument is very well defined by the Afterschool Alliance (2011), “Youth are the future torchbearers for these causes, and so engaging children of all ages in volunteering, and more importantly, allowing them to create their own service projects, is vital to the betterment of their communities, country and the world at large (Afterschool alliance, 2011). Without a doubt, both types of service are extremely valuable in all social contexts. Service learning therefore is an opportunity for students to learn and grow from their experiences and at the same time create positive change in the community. Unfortunately, in the Philippine setting, SL is not as established as it is in other countries because volunteer work in our country follows more the CO rather than the SL model. Even the majority of NSTP course in undergraduate and the community affairs department of many religious schools are also in accordance with CO approach. Hence, the need for this paper. 

Very clearly, the Corporation for National Service enumerated the basic qualities of a SL initiative (Billig, 2000): (1) conducted in and meets the needs of a community; (2) coordinated with an elementary school, secondary school, institution of higher education, or community-service program and with the community;  (3) helps foster civic responsibility; (4) integrated into and enhances the (core) academic curriculum of the students, or the educational components of the community-service program in which the participants are enrolled; and (5) provides structured time for the students or participants to reflect on the service experience.  Various authors, researchers and educational institutions or groups would have their own definition and attributes of SL but there are basic concepts that all of them agree, according to Billig (2000). SL involves "active participation, thoughtfully organized experiences, focus on community needs and school/community coordination, academic curriculum integration, structured time for reflection, opportunities for application of skills and knowledge, extended learning opportunities, and development of a sense of caring for others. Furthermore, disagreements on the definition of SL only arise when distinguishing it from other experiential education approaches, such as volunteer and community service, internships, field studies, and cross-age peer tutoring. 

Service Learning: A brief introduction

http://carrollucommsoc.weebly.com/news--events.html

“Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.”  - Dr. Jose Rizal.

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn" - Benjamin  Franklin

The two classical clichés above are the main inspiration for instigating service learning initiatives in my own little way. Globalization highlights global citizenship, which further challenges the education sector to strike the balance between character building for nation building and moral formation for social accountability. The nationwide implementation of the senior high school across the country further, on the other hand, poses the challenge to the basic education sector to develop among the learners the 21^st century skills to prepare them for a working environment and opportunities whose rules and expectations have not been defined yet. Within this perspective, we can consider that as society evolves so are the nature of the learners and therefore educators must adapt strategies that address their emerging needs, including being a more active participant in the global community. In today’s era when teaching and learning are designed based on standards rather than short-term objectives, it is imperative to also innovate practices to encourage commitment to social concerns – a difficult task in a society characterized by consumerism and competition. 

           Service learning provides the bridge between academic development and civic responsibilities. As what former US senator and astronaut John Glenn has said, “By its very definition, civic responsibility means taking a healthy role in the life of one’s community, state and nation. That means that classroom lessons should be complemented by work outside the classroom. Service learning does just that, tying community service to academic lessons.” Therefore the challenge how to address the ethical, social values and virtues, as Kenan (2009) has pointed out, not only for educators but for everyone who is interested in the education of next generations.  

In the traditional value infusion in the life sciences, environmental advocacy and health concerns are the predominant themes. However, biology is now considered an interdisciplinary area whose practical applications encompass almost all of human endeavors. My goal is not really to talk about SL as if I really understand it but to sell the idea that we can make a difference and something good out of SL. I do hopes to promote the centrality of biology’s role in today’s world through service learning. At the same time, through service learning, engaging in biological studies could provide a wider perspective that biology, as a career and field of expertise, is not limited to the medicine or health allied courses and research work. The objectives of my succeeding posts would be (1) to clarify the definition of service learning (SL), how it differs from community outreach, (2) to elucidate the benefits of applying SL as a teaching approach, as an interdisciplinary course or as a capstone project, (3) to suggest ways how to incorporate SL in biology subjects in high school, and (4) to justify how SL enable the teaching of biology to address the NGSS science and engineering practices and the 21^st century skills.