Making Heads or Tails: Planarian Stem Cells in the Classroom

Stem cells hold great promise in the treatment of diseases ranging from cancer to dementia. However, as rapidly as the field of stem cell biology has emerged, heated political debate has followed, scrutinizing the ethical implications of stem cell use. It is therefore imperative to promote scientifi...

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Autores principales:	Melissa C. Srougi, Jackie Thomas-Swanik, John D. Chan, Jonathan S. Marchant, Susan Carson
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2014
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/7f78424186b0450baf4f059e90c85d26
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:7f78424186b0450baf4f059e90c85d262021-11-15T15:03:37ZMaking Heads or Tails: Planarian Stem Cells in the Classroom10.1128/jmbe.v15i1.6921935-78851935-7877https://doaj.org/article/7f78424186b0450baf4f059e90c85d262014-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v15i1.692https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7877https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7885Stem cells hold great promise in the treatment of diseases ranging from cancer to dementia. However, as rapidly as the field of stem cell biology has emerged, heated political debate has followed, scrutinizing the ethical implications of stem cell use. It is therefore imperative to promote scientific literacy by educating students about stem cell biology. Yet, there is a definite lack of material to engage students in this subject at the basic science level. Therefore, we have developed and implemented a hands-on introductory laboratory module that introduces students to stem cell biology and can be easily incorporated into existing curricula. Students learn about stem cell biology using an in vivo planarian model system in which they down-regulate two genes important in stem cell differentiation using RNA interference and then observe the regenerative phenotype. The module was piloted at the high school, community college, and university levels. Here, we report that introductory biology students enrolled at a community college were able to demonstrate gains in learning after completion of a one-hour lecture and four 45-minute laboratory sessions over the course of three weeks. These gains in learning outcomes were objectively evaluated both before and after its execution using a student quiz and experimental results. Furthermore, students’ self-assessments revealed increases in perceived knowledge as well as a general interest in stem cells. Therefore, these data suggest that this module is a simple, useful way to engage and to teach students about stem cell biology.Melissa C. SrougiJackie Thomas-SwanikJohn D. ChanJonathan S. MarchantSusan CarsonAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691Biology (General)QH301-705.5ENJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 15, Iss 1, Pp 18-25 (2014)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Melissa C. Srougi Jackie Thomas-Swanik John D. Chan Jonathan S. Marchant Susan Carson Making Heads or Tails: Planarian Stem Cells in the Classroom
description	Stem cells hold great promise in the treatment of diseases ranging from cancer to dementia. However, as rapidly as the field of stem cell biology has emerged, heated political debate has followed, scrutinizing the ethical implications of stem cell use. It is therefore imperative to promote scientific literacy by educating students about stem cell biology. Yet, there is a definite lack of material to engage students in this subject at the basic science level. Therefore, we have developed and implemented a hands-on introductory laboratory module that introduces students to stem cell biology and can be easily incorporated into existing curricula. Students learn about stem cell biology using an in vivo planarian model system in which they down-regulate two genes important in stem cell differentiation using RNA interference and then observe the regenerative phenotype. The module was piloted at the high school, community college, and university levels. Here, we report that introductory biology students enrolled at a community college were able to demonstrate gains in learning after completion of a one-hour lecture and four 45-minute laboratory sessions over the course of three weeks. These gains in learning outcomes were objectively evaluated both before and after its execution using a student quiz and experimental results. Furthermore, students’ self-assessments revealed increases in perceived knowledge as well as a general interest in stem cells. Therefore, these data suggest that this module is a simple, useful way to engage and to teach students about stem cell biology.
format	article
author	Melissa C. Srougi Jackie Thomas-Swanik John D. Chan Jonathan S. Marchant Susan Carson
author_facet	Melissa C. Srougi Jackie Thomas-Swanik John D. Chan Jonathan S. Marchant Susan Carson
author_sort	Melissa C. Srougi
title	Making Heads or Tails: Planarian Stem Cells in the Classroom
title_short	Making Heads or Tails: Planarian Stem Cells in the Classroom
title_full	Making Heads or Tails: Planarian Stem Cells in the Classroom
title_fullStr	Making Heads or Tails: Planarian Stem Cells in the Classroom
title_full_unstemmed	Making Heads or Tails: Planarian Stem Cells in the Classroom
title_sort	making heads or tails: planarian stem cells in the classroom
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2014
url	https://doaj.org/article/7f78424186b0450baf4f059e90c85d26
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Making Heads or Tails: Planarian Stem Cells in the Classroom

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