Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-29-2024
Abstract
This paper presents two low-cost hands-on activities designed to enhance student understanding and address the pedagogical challenges faced by microbiology professors in teaching concepts related to cell structure and gene regulation. In the first activity, we used Shrinky Dinks and Jeopardy-style game questions to explore the differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Students have to collect pieces and physically build their cell models. The second activity uses origami organelles sets from Edvotek to illustrate the regulation of gene expression in the lac and trp operons, incorporating mutation scenarios for analysis. The intended audience comprises undergraduate students in microbiology, including biology, pre-medical studies, and health profession majors. The activities were deployed in three microbiology lectures, and students were surveyed. Students' feedback highlights the efficacy of the hands-on approach and increased class participation, as two of the recurring words in the students' survey were "helpful" and "fun."
Recommended Citation
Tripepi, Manuela and Schapiro, Hannah M., "Using Origami and Shrinky Dinks to Create Active Learning Activities to Tackle Two Microbiology Concepts: Cell Structure Differences and Operon Regulation" (2024). College of Life Sciences Faculty Papers. Paper 18.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/jclsfp/18
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Supplemental Material
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author's final published version in Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Volume 25, Issue 2, August 2024.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00036-24.
Copyright © 2024 Tripepi and Schapiro.