Activities for engaging students in Biology using animations (view)
Units included with this Open Author resource:
- Background
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- Learning goals:
- Scaffold student's viewing of animations to increase learning, Use multiple animations of the same process to give students a better understanding of the topic, Help students critically examine and evaluate animations as learning tools and media objects, Develop the ability to effectively find and use animations to aid learning scientific concepts
- Keywords:
- animations, action potential, DNA replication, transcription, translation, Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Example Assignment #1
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- Learning goals:
- Identify the components required for the PCR reaction and their role, Identify the steps of the PCR reaction and their purpose, Compare and contrast multiple PCR animations to develop a better understanding of the process
- Keywords:
- animations, Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Example Assignment #2
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- Learning goals:
- Describe the process of DNA replication, Distinguish between leading and lagging strand synthesis, Describe the process of transcription, Describe the process of translation, Use animations to define questions to drive further studying/learning, find animations and compare to ones given for a particular topic
- Keywords:
- animations, DNA Replication, Transcription, Translation
- Example Assignment #3
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- Learning goals:
- Describe the process of action potential formation, Identify the order and direction of ion movement that propagates an action potential, Find and evaluate animations as learning tools for a biological topic
- Keywords:
- animations, Action potential
Summary
This resource includes three classroom-tested activities that were created using the ideas outlined in the article “Getting more out of animations” by Pruneski and Donovan (in press). The driving idea is that animations can be a powerful tool for learning complex biological processes, but when students are passive viewers, it limits their usefulness and may become simply another source of content to be memorized. Engaging students with animations can greatly increase the amount of information that can be extracted and can help students develop important learning skills that can be useful in the future. These sample assignments help make the use of animations more effective and active by structuring student viewing using guiding questions. These questions focus on particular objects, features, or steps of the process to help students accomplish specific learning objectives for that topic. The assignments also help students think about animations as media objects that are created by scientists and animators using specific tools and conventions that affect how the process is depicted and the ways in which it should be viewed. Lastly, by comparing and contrasting multiple animations of the same process, students can extract more information, overcome the limitations of each individual animations, and generate a more complete view of the process.