Framework for Education
After working extensively with educators at the University of Sydney, we found that their years of experience working in pedagogical outreach had translated to a wealth of knowledge in educating and exciting the public about science. We therefore wanted to bring together the innumerable ideas and concepts that we ourselves had learnt from over 4 months of closely collborating with these educators, hence collating it all into the following, single, all-compassing reference document. This resource is intended to aid future iGEM teams both from USyd and elsewhere in the brainstorming phase of their outreach activities, to help them create more engaging events to educate the public about synthetic biology – to ignite genuine interest in the field, just as we sought to do.
Pipetting Workshop
Our iGEM team hosted a successful outreach event for a group of Year 7-10 students from Taiwan, aged around 12-15 years old, aiming to introduce them to the world of synthetic biology. We began the workshop with a brief presentation on the University of Sydney, synthetic biology, and our project to provide them with a strong foundational overview, before moving onto the more practical component of the workship, with a hands-on activity where the students learned to use micropipettes, creating vibrant pipette artworks in 96-well plates. Not only did this experience familiarise them with essential lab skills, but crucially, it also made the abstract concepts of synthetic biology, with which they were likely not so familiar, much more tangible and exciting. The students were visibly enthusiastic, participating actively and asking questions throughout the entire course of the workshop, while we were similarly delighted, seeing the interest in the field that we had sparked for this young group.
Reflecting on the event, nevertheless did we still identify several areas for improvements. While the activity was well-suited to the students' age and experience level, we realised that we could have enhanced engagement by asking more questions and providing extra time to explore fundamental concepts, such as the central dogma of biology. Additionally, offering more individualised guidance during the practical part of the workshop could have helped to ensure that students could better grasp the importance of certain techniques in synthetic biology. Therefore, knowing that these changes could greatly improve the learning experience, while simultaneously deepening the student’s understanding of and interest in synthetic biology, we kept this in mind for the outreach events that we were to conduct later on.
St Luke's Grammar School Gel Electrophoresis Workshop
Our iGEM team brought synthetic biology into the classroom for Year 12 students, primarily aged 17-18 years old, at St Luke's Grammar School. A workshop was run for each of the two classes of students there. The workshops began with an introduction to iGEM and synthetic biology, followed by some background on gene cloning, before diving into our current research – again, seeking to provide them with a solid overview of the field and our project. We then gave the students the opportunity to learn micropipetting, as performed in our pipetting workshop above.
Additionally, we wanted to connect synthetic biology to their high school syllabus, and as such, we spoke on the current research into sickle cell anaemia gene therapy and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. As for some further practical participation, we ran a gel electrophoresis with the students to get them involved, as they themselves used their newfound micropipetting skills to load the gel. With the gel, we created a problem solving task for them to solve that unified both this practical immersion and those theoretical ideas on sickle cell anaemia gene therapy that we had presented We asked the students to determine if a child inherited sickle cell anemia from their parents (who were both carriers) based on the band pattern generated. Most unfortunately, however, our samples failed to show clear bands on the gel, perhaps because we used a lower agarose concentration with smaller sample bands, or because the samples had been stored improperly, and had degraded. Nevertheless, the 1kb DNA ladders ran well, and physically demonstrated electrophoresis separating DNA fragments, as they had been learning. Most importantly, the students were incredibly excited to perform and observe this experiment (even though the samples largely failed to show) and had a continuous stream of questions to ask during the workshops. Some students even came to both workshops! Upon reflecting on their experience with us, St Luke's Grammar had this to say:
The USYD iGEM team provided an invaluable enrichment opportunity for Biology students at St Luke’s Grammar School. They were incredibly lucky to have experienced a first-hand demonstration of gel electrophoresis. This consolidated their learning of concepts within the Biotechnology module and reinforced their understanding of the processes involved. They were introduced to practical laboratory techniques and developed their skills of micro-pipetting. Staff explained their specific research scenarios which the students could relate to, further facilitating their revision of genetic diseases and the various genetic technological applications. A thoroughly engaging and exciting session - highly applicable and beneficial to all of our students. Thank you for coming!
With this very encouraging feedback, we believe that we successfully developed their interest in the field of synthetic biology.
Upon reflecting on the event for further improvement, having improved our approach following the previous pipetting workshop we had led with another, younger group of students, we noted that the timing and duration of our workshops could have been better designed The first workshop, on the one hand, was only an hour long, which we found to be too short to cover everything in as much detail as we (and the students) wanted, limiting the students' ability to fully understand synthetic biology and our project. The second workshop, on the other hand, was much better, as we were able to run it for two hours. This longer duration afforded students the opportunity to ask even higher levels and depths of questions, and allowed us to spark their interest into further synthetic biology applications.
Remediate Playtest
Our team partnered with the Arc Centre of Excellence to introduce students to synthetic biology through their synthetic biology card game, with some newly updated rules: Remediate. The aim of this game is to modify and improve your microbe to eradicate plastic from various environments, and whoever remediates (as the name suggests) the most plastic wins!
People came together with their friends for a relaxed game night, and one which also enabled them to learn about synthetic biology and its potential real world applications. Everyone’s competitive nature came out as they strategised how to clone the best genes into their own microbe, while attacking each others' microbes.
Following the event, we recognised how we could have improved the evening, principally by marketing the event to a wider audience, while also having a little more forethought in checking if any other events might be on at the same time. Our event clashed with a Faculty of Science networking event, reducing the turnout, but nevertheless, those who came had an enjoyable and educational experience.
Social Media Posts
Our team sought to build on the University of Sydney iGEM social media page (on our Instagram) from previous years by creating an educational video series to introduce people to the basic concepts underpinning synthetic biology, including purification and conjugation, for instance. These videos were designed to be as accessible as possible, requiring minimal required background science knowledge but with a focus on introducing basic concepts before slowly adding more complexity, so that we could reach a wider audience – captivating people from science and non-science backgrounds alike.
We had originally planned to create an educational video every week; however, due to time constraints, we had to reduce this schedule to being every fortnight.
Reviews
The video is well done! It feels like a TED talk. You explain it very well so I actually understand what you’re saying – and I haven’t done any science since Year 10.— Charlotte, law student
Just stumbled across this video on my feed. I showed it to my younger cousin. He has been watching this video on repeat all day. Thank you team for inspiring the next generation of scientists #changetheworld #Rebolutionaries— Bodhi, science student
Ku-ring-gai High School Strawberry Extraction
Our iGEM team was invited to introduce synthetic biology to Year 12 and Year 10 students at Ku-ring-gai High School. We conducted a one-hour workshop for each year group, adapting our approach to suit the different learning levels of each. Each session began with an explanation of fundamental biology concepts including DNA, proteins, and the genetic code — all topics which directly aligned with their high school curriculum. This theoretical foundation was also vital in preparing the students for the practical activity that followed.
We then guided the students through a strawberry DNA extraction experiment using readily available materials. Every student successfully extracted some DNA, giving them a tangible and enjoyable experience with molecular biology.
The workshops were filled with enthusiasm, with students visibly excited as they took part in the activity. The Year 12 students asked thoughtful questions about real-world applications of synthetic biology, expressing a genuine interest in exploring the field further in their future studies. Even the younger Year 10 students exhibited a strong interest in the potential of our team's work.
We left Ku-ring-gai High School feeling optimistic about the students' newfound interest in the field of synthetic biology, and delighted, yet again, at how students younger than ourselves were intrigued by the very same field that we ourselves are passionate about.