Team:UT-Dallas/HP

From 2014.igem.org

(Difference between revisions)
Line 25: Line 25:
<div class="page_content">
<div class="page_content">
<br><h2>the Humanities</H2><br><p style="display:block">
<br><h2>the Humanities</H2><br><p style="display:block">
-
<h2>POLITICAL SCIENCE</h2><br>
+
 
-
<br><i>Dr. Douglas Dow is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at Dallas, as well as the codirector of the Honors College. He specializes in political theory, public law, legal theory and history, and American politics. </i></br><br>
+
<h3>Political Science</h3>
 +
<br><i>Dr. Douglas Dow is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at Dallas, as well as the codirector of the Honors College. He specializes in political theory, public law, legal theory and history, and American politics. </i>
<br><br>Policy does not always reflect the current body of scientific knowledge. Part of the problem arises from the fact that the information that the scientific community brings to the table does not always align with the goals of policy makers and economists. ‘The state of North Carolina, for example, had recently elected to simply disallow the use of current and projected sea level data in political cost benefit analysis [regarding development of the coast],’ says Dr. Douglas Dow, a professor of political science at the University of Texas at Dallas, ‘This would clearly create some conflicts.’  </br>
<br><br>Policy does not always reflect the current body of scientific knowledge. Part of the problem arises from the fact that the information that the scientific community brings to the table does not always align with the goals of policy makers and economists. ‘The state of North Carolina, for example, had recently elected to simply disallow the use of current and projected sea level data in political cost benefit analysis [regarding development of the coast],’ says Dr. Douglas Dow, a professor of political science at the University of Texas at Dallas, ‘This would clearly create some conflicts.’  </br>
-
<br><br>Nevertheless, scientists are far from mute in political sphere. ‘Scientists actually have a major place… in the public policy making process,’ says Dow. Policy makers frequently rely upon science to inform their policy decisions. Selective acceptance of scientific theory, however, seems to be a significant cause of the gap between policy and science—suggesting some sort of broader incompatibility between the two fields. Part of problem, Dow explained, is due to certain fundamental differences in the way that the humanities and the sciences are taught to communicate information. ‘Science is about probability,’ he says, ‘it’s not about an absolute yes or no. That makes for hypotheses that can sometimes be complicated to understand.’ These complicated topics, coupled with a lack of absolute certainty, can be easily manipulated and over simplified—often, just by accident. </br>
+
<br>Nevertheless, scientists are far from mute in political sphere. ‘Scientists actually have a major place… in the public policy making process,’ says Dow. Policy makers frequently rely upon science to inform their policy decisions. Selective acceptance of scientific theory, however, seems to be a significant cause of the gap between policy and science—suggesting some sort of broader incompatibility between the two fields. Part of problem, Dow explained, is due to certain fundamental differences in the way that the humanities and the sciences are taught to communicate information. ‘Science is about probability,’ he says, ‘it’s not about an absolute yes or no. That makes for hypotheses that can sometimes be complicated to understand.’ These complicated topics, coupled with a lack of absolute certainty, can be easily manipulated and over simplified—often, just by accident. </br>
-
<br><br>It is not enough to simply teach science with the goal of graduating more STEM specialists. The rift between policy and science at hand calls for a more complete integration of science and the humanities, combining the best facets of each academic tradition. To better understand how we might accomplish this, we turned next to Master Teacher and science educator Dr. James McConnell.  </br>
+
It is not enough to simply teach science with the goal of graduating more STEM specialists. The rift between policy and science at hand calls for a more complete integration of science and the humanities, combining the best facets of each academic tradition. To better understand how we might accomplish this, we turned next to Master Teacher and science educator Dr. James McConnell.  </br>
 +
 +
</p><br><br>
 +
</div>
 +
</div>
 +
<div id="trigger2" class="spacer s0"></div>
 +
<div id="parallax2" class="spacer s2" style="background-image: url(https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/c/cb/Lab2.jpg);"></div>
 +
<div class="spacer s1">
 +
<section class="demo">
 +
<div id="trigger1" class="spacer s0"></div>
 +
<div id="parallax1" class="spacer s2" style="background-image: url(https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/1/19/UTD_Lab.jpg);"></div>
 +
<div class="spacer s1">
 +
<div class="page_content">
 +
<br><h2>Education</H2><br><p style="display:block">
 +
<br><iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uT457EP6sv0?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
 +
<br><i>Jim McConnell is a Master Teacher with the UTeach Teacher Education Program at the University of Texas at Dallas. He has taught high school science in the North Texas area for many years prior to joining the UTeach program.</i> <br>
 +
<br>Few would argue the importance of a quality science education for all students, regardless of whether or not they ultimately choose to pursue science as a career.  It has become a concern of the highest level: since 2008, President Barack Obama has significantly increased funding for STEM education. Through the course of this project we have realized, however, that education needs to do more than bestow basic science and engineering skills upon students. The effective science curriculum does not paint a picture of science as a subject within a vacuum, but rather encourages students to make connections between science and the outside world. For the kindergarteners at the Dallas Community Lighthouse KidsU program, this may simply mean discovering a connection between the organelles of a cell and parts of the human body. But as these kids grow as students, we would like them to be able to make the connections between science and policy, science and business, science and philosophy. Our educators should aim to create a class of graduates who will go on to pursue myriad careers and goals, but who understand that the connections between science and other disciplines are very real—and subsequently, are well versed in the scientific process.  <br><br/>
 +
<br>Though much of the problem may lie in broader socioeconomic and policy trends, we knew that we could make an impact on a personal level. In fact, when we talked to some of the people who worked in our lab and some of the neighboring labs, we found that a passion for science often starts on the personal level. Though the stories are diverse, there is one common thread: someone simply took the extra time and effort to make science applicable and interesting. One such mentor is Diane Sweeney, a high school biology teacher and former researcher at Genentech. Scientist-teachers like Sweeney can bring a unique approach to education. When you teach something that you are passionate about, both teacher and student benefit.<br>
 +
<h3>The Shortfalls of STEM Education in Texas</h3> <br>
 +
<br>Since education is a nearly universal concern, we decided to seek solutions close to home. The Dallas Fort-Worth Metroplex is home to over 40 school districts. According to the Texas Education Agency, public school districts in the DFW area have the largest share of schools rated ‘academically unacceptable’ in the state of Texas. These schools also tend to have the lowest scores in state science and math benchmark tests. <br>
 +
<br>Of all the subjects, STEM arguably suffers the most from a lack of funding and resources. STEM education generally requires a higher level of education and expertise on part of teachers. Many science classes are lab based or may require specialized equipment and facilities. Despite these hurdles, a solid foundation in science is only becoming more vital in today’s society. All of our diverse interviewees agreed on this point. <br>
 +
 
-
Once complete, our system will be able to remain as a stable population in a person’s gut until the event of a V. cholerae infection. Detection of V. cholerae will then activate production of the phage delivery system, which will package the gRNA and Cas9 targeting system into a phage coat, exit the probiotic and transfer the system into V. cholerae present in the gut (transmission of a heterologous DNA message via phage was demonstrated by Ortiz and Endy in 2012 and featured in Waterloo’s 2013 iGEM project (2)). Once inside V. cholerae, the targeting system will bind and cleave sites complementary to the gRNA that correspond to selected pathogenicity genes. We proposed using Cas9/gRNA to target and kill pathogens as opposed to traditional phage therapy using a targeted lytic phage because it allowed us to differentiate and kill harmful pathogens of a strain that has both harmful and harmless serotypes. The gRNA in our system, while specific to V. cholerae, can easily be altered with PCR to target unique regions in other gastrointestinal pathogens.
+
</p><br><br>
</p><br><br>
</div>
</div>

Revision as of 01:24, 18 October 2014


Introduction

sci•ence

— from Latin scientia, “knowledge or truth”


Part of the reason why we are able to communicate and collaborate so freely with other iGEM teams and research groups all around the world is because science, as the pursuit of truth, is a universal language. The World Jamboree epitomizes this idea: no matter what part of the globe we call home, we all speak the language of synthetic biology.

If science is the ‘universal language,’ why don’t we see its effects applied more equitably? Why do some groups have greater access to the new technologies created in labs? So many iGEM projects have the goal of helping those who need it the most—victims of poverty, natural disasters, or those who suffer simply from a lack of infrastructure. What are some of the major hurdles we face in bringing our innovations to those whom they were created to help? What can we, as scientists, do to solve this problem? Where do we start?

To answer these questions, our team decided to collect as many outside perspectives as we could. We spoke with professors of sociology, science education, political science, and bioengineering; with one of the educators who inspired us to go into science; physicians; but most importantly, we spoke to students—ranging from graduate students to kindergarteners. In these many conversations, we came to realize that the answer came down to science literacy and education. Here we present the results of our findings, and the contributions we were able to make to a broader set of solutions.




the Humanities


Political Science


Dr. Douglas Dow is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at Dallas, as well as the codirector of the Honors College. He specializes in political theory, public law, legal theory and history, and American politics.

Policy does not always reflect the current body of scientific knowledge. Part of the problem arises from the fact that the information that the scientific community brings to the table does not always align with the goals of policy makers and economists. ‘The state of North Carolina, for example, had recently elected to simply disallow the use of current and projected sea level data in political cost benefit analysis [regarding development of the coast],’ says Dr. Douglas Dow, a professor of political science at the University of Texas at Dallas, ‘This would clearly create some conflicts.’

Nevertheless, scientists are far from mute in political sphere. ‘Scientists actually have a major place… in the public policy making process,’ says Dow. Policy makers frequently rely upon science to inform their policy decisions. Selective acceptance of scientific theory, however, seems to be a significant cause of the gap between policy and science—suggesting some sort of broader incompatibility between the two fields. Part of problem, Dow explained, is due to certain fundamental differences in the way that the humanities and the sciences are taught to communicate information. ‘Science is about probability,’ he says, ‘it’s not about an absolute yes or no. That makes for hypotheses that can sometimes be complicated to understand.’ These complicated topics, coupled with a lack of absolute certainty, can be easily manipulated and over simplified—often, just by accident.
It is not enough to simply teach science with the goal of graduating more STEM specialists. The rift between policy and science at hand calls for a more complete integration of science and the humanities, combining the best facets of each academic tradition. To better understand how we might accomplish this, we turned next to Master Teacher and science educator Dr. James McConnell.




Education





Jim McConnell is a Master Teacher with the UTeach Teacher Education Program at the University of Texas at Dallas. He has taught high school science in the North Texas area for many years prior to joining the UTeach program.

Few would argue the importance of a quality science education for all students, regardless of whether or not they ultimately choose to pursue science as a career. It has become a concern of the highest level: since 2008, President Barack Obama has significantly increased funding for STEM education. Through the course of this project we have realized, however, that education needs to do more than bestow basic science and engineering skills upon students. The effective science curriculum does not paint a picture of science as a subject within a vacuum, but rather encourages students to make connections between science and the outside world. For the kindergarteners at the Dallas Community Lighthouse KidsU program, this may simply mean discovering a connection between the organelles of a cell and parts of the human body. But as these kids grow as students, we would like them to be able to make the connections between science and policy, science and business, science and philosophy. Our educators should aim to create a class of graduates who will go on to pursue myriad careers and goals, but who understand that the connections between science and other disciplines are very real—and subsequently, are well versed in the scientific process.


Though much of the problem may lie in broader socioeconomic and policy trends, we knew that we could make an impact on a personal level. In fact, when we talked to some of the people who worked in our lab and some of the neighboring labs, we found that a passion for science often starts on the personal level. Though the stories are diverse, there is one common thread: someone simply took the extra time and effort to make science applicable and interesting. One such mentor is Diane Sweeney, a high school biology teacher and former researcher at Genentech. Scientist-teachers like Sweeney can bring a unique approach to education. When you teach something that you are passionate about, both teacher and student benefit.

The Shortfalls of STEM Education in Texas



Since education is a nearly universal concern, we decided to seek solutions close to home. The Dallas Fort-Worth Metroplex is home to over 40 school districts. According to the Texas Education Agency, public school districts in the DFW area have the largest share of schools rated ‘academically unacceptable’ in the state of Texas. These schools also tend to have the lowest scores in state science and math benchmark tests.

Of all the subjects, STEM arguably suffers the most from a lack of funding and resources. STEM education generally requires a higher level of education and expertise on part of teachers. Many science classes are lab based or may require specialized equipment and facilities. Despite these hurdles, a solid foundation in science is only becoming more vital in today’s society. All of our diverse interviewees agreed on this point.




References


1. Sinclair D., Abba K., Zaman K., Qadri F., Graves P.M., Oral vaccines for preventing cholera. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011 Mar 16;(3):CD008603.
2. Ortiz M.E., Endy D. Engineered cell-cell communication via DNA messaging. J Biol Eng. 2012 Sep 7;6(1):16.



Retrieved from "http://2014.igem.org/Team:UT-Dallas/HP"