Students at Allen Community College are engaging in projects that turn mad scientists into well-rounded speakers.
Biology instructor Betty Herring encourages students to use artistic thought while engaging in scientific learning.
Students begin by drawing the name of a biome out of a beaker and then transforming themselves into travel agents in an effort to attract clients to their site.
“They have to figure out how to get us to want to come to their biome,” Herring said.
While the projects must include pertinent scientific information, the students are free to make full use of their imaginations.
Herring said the students have impressed her with their ideas, including those using videos, brochures and models. Some of the most unique projects sit on a shelf in her office waiting to inspire future biology students to think outside the box. The assignment, designed to cross multiple disciplines including communications and marketing, wraps up with the presentation of a sales pitch in front of the class.
Herring said a classroom is the least intimidating place to promote public speaking, which she regards as a valuable life skill.
“Arguably more valuable than knowing what a mitochondrion does,” she said. “If you are not going into science then you probably don’t need to know that.”
Herring has extended the project to include creatively constructed cell models and said that the hands-on projects are an interesting alternative to lectures and a good way to get scientific information to stick with the students long-term.
Mad scientists in training
