Emily Ledgerwood (Le Moyne College) and Jonelle Mattiacio (St. John Fisher College) presented at ASMCUE 2022 a recorded session entitled: “A Multi-Lesson Approach to Enhancing Literacy in the Field of Virology.” The lesson focused on Mattiacio’s virology course. They introduced students in the first phase to scientific communication and exploration of primary research Groups were established after completing a student get to know you survey. The second phase explored how to make a good presentation. The third phase was an opportunity to present. Ledgerwood used a similar approach in their microbiology course. The first phase was an introduction to viral life sycle with independent article searches, data analysis, and mastering the viral life cycle. The second phase was an introduction to science communication with group sharing and developing communication goals. The third phase was group article selection and discussion in online forums. Ledgerwood shared that their microbiology students worked in groups to write accurate and approachable titles. Mattiacio did an in-class science communication activity with reflection questions about the goals and importance of science communication. The presenters mentioned that their lessons worked in both the virology and microbiology courses. The group formation was informed by a survey. Pre/post surveys suggested improvement. Interestingly, there seemed to be a linkage between the goals of what they wanted to talk about and their article selection.
Next, I watched Samantha Parks and Jessica Lee Joyner from Georgia State University and their recorded session entitled “Developing STEM Literacy Through Scaffolded Pedagogy in Microbiology Courses.” They began by explaining why they are interested in STEM literacy. They used the microbiology course inventory (MCI) to “structure the course and assignments that emphasize STEM literacy components.” They explained that literacy-based assignments can include written/oral communication focus, data interpretation and case studies can be used. They chose the COVID-19 pandemic and several ASM learning objectives to build this assignment. Their example was to start with a discussion and then do literature searches to select key figures for a concept. Their example was epidemiological curves of COVID cases in the United States. The NSTA Case Study database was mentioned as an example. This is the first time I see it called this way! Advanced applications of this approach were mentioned and included the use of R packages for SIR models. The presenters listed future development of brochures and listed a JMBE article about a course-based undergraduate research experience and series of bioinformatics assignments! I will have to check that one out!
