Dialogues as teaching tools in the biochemical sciences

Abstract

In their senior year, biochemistry majors take “Recent Advances in Biochemistry Related to Societal Issues” in which new advances in biochemical sciences are explored through the reading and presenting of recent articles from the literature. Emphasis is placed on the analysis and interpretation of experimental results and the ethical and societal implications of the work including the significance of the findings to the improvement of life. To fulfill the objectives of the course, a group project was implemented in which the goal was to write a dialogue that explores one area in which advances in biochemical research give rise to ethical and societal considerations. This assignment required the groups to research the topics and then creatively integrate the information into a dialogue format representing different views on the subject. The dialogue was presented to the rest of the class and invited guests in skit format and then a discussion followed. Based upon evaluations, the project was regarded highly by the students. The assignment, group and topic selection, examples of presentations and issues raised during discussions, and results from student and audience evaluations will be discussed. © 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. on behalf of IUBMB.