Overview

This year, NUS iGEM 2023 elevated the realm of education by involving diverse groups of students, aiming to acquaint them with this fascinating aspect of biology widely applied in various fields. We implemented innovative approaches such as a narrative-driven storybook and an interactive game, tailoring our engagement to cater to learners with diverse educational backgrounds. Within both of these sessions, hands-on activities took center stage, aligning with our belief that experiential learning greatly enhances knowledge acquisition and retention. Keep scrolling to learn about the groups we engaged with and the impactful activities we undertook!

Kindergarten

Why did we reach out to them?

We partnered with PCF kindergarten to introduce 5-6 year old learners to the captivating world of Synthetic Biology. Our goal was to educate them about its potential applications in a fun and engaging way, starting them on this educational journey early. We chose to focus on sustainability to emphasize the importance of caring for our planet and showcased Synthetic Biology's immense potential in this area.

What did we do?

Designed Our Storybook: “Olive the Otter and the Great Cleanup Adventure”

Colorful storybooks hold a captivating allure for children, serving as a gateway for them to acquire new knowledge while navigating their own moral and ethical compass. Moreover, given iGEM's role as a platform to introduce Synthetic Biology to a broader audience, an exciting idea emerged: crafting an engaging storybook featuring Olive the Otter (our beloved mascot!), along with his pals Danny the Duck and Baxter the Bacterium. The vibrant illustrations and compelling narrative were designed to educate young learners at the kindergarten level about the incredible potential of Synthetic Biology. In our contemporary world, sustainability is paramount, and this storybook revolves precisely around this theme. Have a look below to read our storybook about how Baxter the bacterium is reengineered to digest plastic and save his friend!

In addition to developing the storybook, we organized an interactive storytelling session where we had the pleasure of reading the book to the children. To make the experience even more engaging, we prepared props and embodied the characters ourselves, bringing the story to life. At the conclusion of the storytelling session, we encouraged the children to share their insights on the story's moral. It was heartening to see that a significant number of them understood the importance of environmental conservation based on the tale. This outcome strongly affirms that our storybook has effectively conveyed valuable lessons to the children about sustainability and the role of synthetic biology in addressing environmental challenges.

Conducted a Colouring Hands On Activity with the children

To enhance the impact of our storytelling session, we prepared special coloring sets for each child. We firmly believe that hands-on activities are an excellent method to engage children and impart new knowledge effectively. Each coloring set featured the beloved characters from the storybook: Olive, Danny, and Baxter. We encouraged the children to transform these characters into puppets using the provided ice cream sticks. This way, they could excitedly share the story they had learned with their families at home using these delightful puppets! Throughout the coloring session, we actively interacted with the children, discussing what they had absorbed and reinforcing the vital lessons of sustainability and synthetic biology. Take a moment to explore our thoughtfully designed coloring sets and witness the joyous children immersing themselves in the colorful world of creativity during the session!

Reflection from the kindergarten session

As the session concluded, we received heartfelt feedback from both the teachers and the Principal of PCF Kindergarten, who actively participated in the event. They expressed immense enjoyment and emphasized the high level of engagement throughout the session. The storybook resonated so well with them that we decided to gift them a copy. This gesture enables them to share the same impactful narrative with incoming batches of kindergarteners, educating them about synthetic biology and promoting the message of sustainability. Below are some positive remarks they shared with us:

"Dear (NUS iGEM) team. Thank you for the awesome story telling session. You and your team did a wonderful job. Children enjoyed the session. This session was effective as children get to learn the importance of caring for our planet. Do continue to collaborate with us for future opportunities. Thank you once again. All the best to you and your team. Thank you." - Principal Ms Jaya

“Dear NUS IGEM team, Thank you so much for the interactive and engaging storytelling session with my class children. Children loved the story and talked about it with enthusiasm with their friends afterwards. Incorporating the scavenger hunt into the storytelling was a wonderful idea! Coincidentally, one of our topic for this term is ‘Love the Earth’ and children were able to relate to the story and how Baxter the bacterium can help to save the world. Thank you to the team for creating this story and introducing a complex topic to young children in a fun and exciting way. And thank you for choosing our school! Good Luck to you all!” - Teacher Naz

“Thank you to (NUS iGEM) team for the wonderful learning experience, not only for the kids for us teachers too.” - Teacher Reeya

University

Why did we reach out to them?

We involved undergraduate students from NUS who were studying Synthetic Biology, with the goal of deepening their comprehension of the subject. Acknowledging their baseline knowledge, our emphasis was on gene circuits to underscore their pivotal role in Synthetic Biology. We highlighted how these circuits finely regulate diverse cell functions, including growth, signaling, and differentiation, illustrating their significance in the field. Furthermore, insights gathered from our Human Practices interview with Dr. Nicolaas revealed a notable lack of interest in prokaryotic gene circuits, further reinforcing the focal point of our educational initiatives on gene circuits.

What did we do?

Presentation on our iGEM project

To smoothly convey the significance of gene circuits, we organized a concise presentation showcasing our iGEM project, OTTER. During this presentation, we illustrated how we seamlessly integrated gene circuits into our project, utilizing diametric selection markers, as outlined in detail on our description page.

Kahoot! Game

To enhance engagement, we motivated the audience to actively follow the presentation, hinting at an exciting Kahoot! Game scheduled at the conclusion. This game was designed to assess their comprehension of our project and make the learning experience more interactive and enjoyable.

Gene.io Game

As previously highlighted, our focus on gene circuits led us to develop Gene.io, a user-friendly online game aimed at educating and captivating university undergraduates about this essential aspect of Synthetic Biology in an enjoyable and intriguing manner. We opted for an online gaming platform because games offer a hands-on learning experience that is inherently enjoyable and keeps learners focused and engaged with the educational content.

To ensure the game's effectiveness, we sought guidance from Prof. Bina Rai, an expert in game-based learning. Her valuable insights emphasized the importance of crafting a game that strikes a balance - being engaging without inducing stress. It was crucial that the game motivated players to stay goal-oriented and enjoy the learning process as they progressed toward successful completion.

Drawing from our own experiences of engaging with games like Snake.io during our formative years, which involved collecting elements and proved highly engaging, we chose to draw inspiration from its simplicity for our game. Our aim was to create a straightforward yet captivating game where the objective was to collect the correct gene circuit elements. This setup was designed to assess the comprehension levels of individuals familiar with Synthetic Biology, specifically testing their ability to recognize the distinct shapes of Synthetic Biology Open Language Symbols.

During the game's initial developmental phase, we sought the input of university undergraduates to test and provide feedback. We designed a survey to gather their insights on the game, aiming to understand how we could enhance and refine the gaming experience. More details about this survey are discussed below.

Try our Game!

How Gene.io works

The player plays as a blue circle controlled by their mouse and spawns in a game area full of various gene circuit parts such as a Promoter, Terminator etc. They will move their mouse to direct their blue circle to the gene circuit part to be "eaten" and added as its "tail", like the regular Snake game. The objective of our game is to collect as many gene circuit parts as possible in the correct order in order to make a plasmid.

For instance, in this game, the correct sequence for the first 3 gene circuit parts would be the "Origin of Replication" followed by the "Promoter" and "Ribosome Binding Site". If the player fails to collect them in the correct order, this will result in a "Game Over". In addition, there are "dummy" gene parts in the game that will result in a "Game Over" if the player collects it.

Here are the gene parts in our game:

Reflection from the University Students

Presentation Feedback

As our ultimate goal was to see if they understood our presentation and the importance of gene circuits, we conducted a post-workshop survey after the presentation to gather their feedback. These were some of the questions we asked and the responses that followed.

Kahoot! Game

1. Please rate your level of enjoyment of the presentation out of five, where 1 - really boring, 5 - very interesting.

Over 60% of the audience rated 4 and above, indicating that the presentation was engaging and interactive to them and the presentation flow was easy to follow. Some have feedbacked that the terminology used can be simplified which is something for us to take note in the future. Others have noted that the presentation has introduced them to deep-learning models and the Small Transcription Activating RNAs (STAR) and has allowed them to see application of gene circuits which was very heartening to learn about.

2. The presentation has introduced new concepts about Synthetic Biology to me

Over 40% of the audience agreed that they have learned new concepts from this presentation. Some have mentioned that they particularly enjoyed learning about the sense and antisense binding and its crucial role in regulating transcription of the downstream. Others had no knowledge of Siamese models and its benefits until the presentation which we are really glad to learn that they are now aware about it.

Game Feedback

Before the students tried out our game, we asked them to fill out a pre-game survey to find out their level of understanding about SBOL and gene circuits. After their experience with the game, we have also asked them to fill out a post-game survey to gather feedback about whether the game was useful to them and how we can improve on it. These were some of the questions we had asked and their responses.

Pre-game survey

1. How far do you agree with the following statement? “I know what the SBOL symbols mean and how to use them.”

Over 50% of them had rated a ‘4’ out of 5, indicating that they knew what SBOL symbols meant and how to use them to a fairly good extent.

Post-game survey

1. Please rate how interesting or boring you found the game.

50% of the respondents found the game relatively interesting with some of their feedback mentioning that they enjoyed learning how to connect the different SBOLs.

2. Please rate how easy or challenging you found the game.

50% of them mentioned that the game difficulty was good due to the presence of the time-limit and the decoy symbols to distract them from choosing the correct symbols.

3. What is the correct order of a gene circuit?

We also tested them on their understanding of the correct order of gene circuits where we are glad to know that all of them were able to recognise the correct symbols and respond with the correct order and that the game was useful in enhancing their knowledge on the game.

In addition, we have also received verbal feedback from them to incorporate a general instructions page at the start and also include a real-world context to make it more engaging for the players which we have taken note to do so in the future.

Conclusion

In summary, we found immense gratification in engaging diverse groups of learners through educational workshops and storytelling sessions to introduce them to the fascinating realm of Synthetic Biology. Given their varied educational backgrounds, we meticulously customized our activities, ensuring that the essence of our message was conveyed in a manner aligned with their comprehension levels. This entire experience has been enlightening for us, providing valuable feedback that will guide our improvements in future endeavors. We strongly advocate for future iGEM teams to embrace a similar approach, reaching out to various audiences and tailoring activities accordingly, thus fostering an engaging and interactive educational experience in Synthetic Biology.