Studying the "Best Practices in Teaching Biology"

November 29, 2012

Best Practices in Teaching Biology

Hypothesis:  Biology can be taught in a way that students and their teachers will feel better about their lives as a whole, feel more optimistic about the upcoming week, make progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based), feel higher levels of the positive states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy, be more likely to report having helped someone with a

personal problem or having offered emotional support to another, have a greater sense of feeling connected to others, sleep longer and arise feeling more rested, be more empathic and understand the perspective of others, believe in the interconnectedness of all life with a commitment to and

responsibility to others, and place less importance on material goods.  Biology can be taught in a way that students and their teachers are less likely to judge their own and others success in terms of possessions accumulated, be less envious of others; and are more likely to share their possessions.

How can the teaching of biology have these effects?  The most direct way would be to have biology students and teachers keep a gratitude journal and experience these changes according to the Robert Emmons research at the following website:

http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/mmccullough/Gratitude-Related%20Stuff/highlights_fall_2003.pdf

As well as keeping a gratitude journal, biology and science might be taught from a perspective of gratitude.  We can be personally grateful for all the forces and conditions that are present and must be present for life on this planet.  Biology facts can be taught showing how they personally effect every student, and how they make the life of the student possible. 

Instead of testing only for the information learned by students “Best Practices in Teaching Biology” would study other ways the teachings affect the students. 

What would be the simplest way to measure these other effects?  What effects would be monitored?  Would optimism be measured?  Would a sense of well being be measured?

Hopefully biology teachers will want to study their students as closely as biologists study their research subjects.

Why is there an urgent need to study the effects of learning biology?  I think of two readers of Richard Dawkin’s The Selfish Gene.  One reviewer on amazon.com said he was depressed for 20 years after reading The Selfish Gene. 

http://www.amazon.com/Selfish-Gene-Anniversary----Introduction/dp/0199291152/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354208672&sr=1-1&keywords=the+selfish+gene

Jeffrey Skilling read The Selfish Gene and thought his life and his work should make full use of The Selfish Gene as he interpreted it.  According to the following website

http://www.emory.edu/LIVING_LINKS/empathy/Reviewfiles/Seed.html

“Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling claimed he was inspired by Richard Dawkins’ book The Selfish Gene when he implemented a system known as “rank and yank” that sought to apply nature’s lessons to the energy industry. Skilling had all employees in the company ranked every six months. Then he offered lavish bonuses to the top 5 percent while the bottom 15 percent were relocated or fired.

This system of ruthless competition advanced just the type of personalities that one would expect: crazy people. As one Enron employee put it, “If I’m going to my boss’s office to talk about compensation, and if I step on some guy’s throat and that doubles it, then I’ll stomp on that guy’s throat.”

http://www.thersa.org/fellowship/journal/archive/winter-2009/features/how-bad-biology-killed-the-economy

Enron went on to bankruptcy. Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced to 24 years in prison and fined $45 million. The pensions of some 20,000 Enron employees were devastated in varying degrees as well; 62% of the company pension plan was in worthless Enron stock.

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Enron+Corporation

It appears how biology is taught effects the lives of students.  How might we find the best practices in teaching of biology?

What thoughts might help us come together?

I like Albert Einstein's idea:

“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest-a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of  prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty.”  

What is the nature of this prison?

Is it our sense of self, and our emotions and ideas, which have helped our ancestors and us survive?  Now that people are getting better and better at helping each other, would we be better off seeing ourselves as part of the whole of human society and part of nature?  Is our feeling of isolation, and our emotions such as anger and envy, unnecessary in a society where helping others is rewarded more than beating up on others?

Now that we have survived, might we examine closely what biologists mean by “survival of the fittest”.  Darwin originally meant those who survived "fit" in their environment, and those that "fit" in their environment survived.  Can we examine closely what it means to “fit” in our environment?  Are the "fittest" the strongest, meanest and best fighters able to force their will on others?  Or are the "fittest" those whose cells are successful caring for all their other cells?    Think of those who survive.  Their heart cells are successful pushing blood near all their other cells.  Think of their red blood cells.  Their red blood cells are successful delivering oxygen to all their other cells.  In those who survive and are healthy, all their cells are successful caring for all their other cells.  

Might people one day live in a society as successful as the society of their cells?  Might people one day care for each other as well as their cells care for each other?

Creative Genes Loving Cells

Creative Genes Loving Cells - how did you come up with that?

Richard Dawkin’s book "The Selfish Gene" tells how genes act as if in their own selfish interest.  Dawkins does not mean to say genes have consciousness and think in a selfish way.  Dawkins means that we can understand the actions of genes if we pretend we are genes and ask ourselves “if I were a gene, how would I act if I were interested in spreading my genes as far and wide as possible?”

Some have asked Dawkins how he can get up in the morning with a view of life so empty and purposeless. 

I would suggest that the same facts can be viewed from a much more life affirming and positive view.  I propose “Creative Genes and Loving Cells.”  I too am not saying that genes and cells have consciousness like we humans.  I suggest we pretend we were the first genes in the first cells – what might we have said to each other?  "Wow – this world is really desolate!   There are no other living things – there is no oxygen – we are going to have to struggle mightily to survive.  Let us go out and experiment, let us mix up our genes and come up with new combinations and see which best survives.  Let us make cells that take really good care of themselves.”  

And that is what our ancestors did.  For 600 million years our ancestors lived as individual cells – and then they tried something new.  They tried living in groups - and they found living in groups helped them survive.  Our ancestors learned to make cells that took better and better care of each other – until miraculously – here we are today. 

What is a miracle?  A miracle is an even of extremely low probability.  A miracle is an event of such low probability that many feel they are the work of God.  What is the probability of 100 trillion atoms organizing themselves into one of your cells?  That is an even of extremely low probability.  What is the probability of 10 trillion of these cells organizing themselves into you?  That is an event of extremely low probability.  Yet here you are – a miracle.

How did your genes make this miracle possible?  They must have been extremely creative, and experiment with lots and lots of possibilities.  How is it that your 10 trillion cells can survive?  They take extremely good care of one another. 

What words might we use to describe how cells care for each other?  Cells cannot speak, so men must come up with words to describe their behavior. 

When we think about a mother, how do we know she loves her baby?  She takes care of her baby.  She feeds her baby.  She protects her baby.  She keeps her baby warm. These actions allow us to know she loves her baby. 

Cells cannot talk, but we can watch what cells do.  The cells lining your intestines take in food, feeding all your cells.  Your skin cells and you white blood cells protect all your cells.  The activity of your cells keeps all your cells warm and just the right temperature for the chemical reactions that occur in your cells.  Can we say that your cells take care of each other like a mother takes care of her baby?  Can we say cells love each other?  Could we even say that cells "love thy neighbor as thyself".

Your cells take very good care of each other.  Are there any similarities between the actions of cells in your body, and the actions of people in our society?

Millions of years ago cells began to live in groups.  When the groups got large, the cells needed a way to get food and water around, and the groups of cells formed arteries and veins.  When people began to live in larger and larger groups, they needed to get food around, and they began making roads.

As the groups of cells got larger, they had trouble with their toxic wastes like urea. Genes experimented and some made kidneys that cleaned the blood of urea, and the animals with kidneys survived.  

As people lived in larger groups, they needed a way to dispose of their wastes, and they invented water treatment plants to clean up their wastes. 

As the groups of cells got larger, they needed a way to communicate.   Their genes experimented and came up with nerves.  With nerves, cells could communicate with each other, and they learned to swim and to walk. 

As groups of people got larger, they needed a way to communicate.   People started communicating with smoke signals, and eventually figured out telephones and telephone lines.

As groups of cells got larger, they needed a way to set priorities.  Should I stay and eat this grass?  Or should I run from that tiger? Some genes experimented and came up with brains, and the brains helped them decide to eat the grass or run from the tiger. 

As groups of people got larger, they needed a way to set priorities.     Should we pool our money and spend it on growing corn?  Or should we pool our money and spend it on guns to protect us from the robbers who want our corn?  People figured out Congress. 

Our cells are amazing.  They have grown so that within every healthy person each cell is safe and has enough to food and oxygen.  Will our societies grow and become healthier until one day every person in a healthy society will be safe and have enough clean food and water?

Could this view be taught in science class?  What thoughts might help students be happier and feel better about the week to come?

Robert Emmons in his Gratitude Highlights has found a gratitude journal helps students be happier.  

Might thoughts of their creative genes and loving cells help them be thankful for what they have - and help inspire them to care for themselves and others as well as their cells care for themselves and each other?