Team:William and Mary/Human Practices/VADOE
VADOE
Throughout our summer outreach we noticed that while most high school students were in the process of learning about DNA and genome editing, they had never been exposed to the modern applications and techniques used in bioengineering. After discussing with teachers and researching the teaching standards, we learned that the Virginia Standards of Learning had not been updated since 2010 and held an outdated representation of synthetic biology.
The Current Biology Standard States
The student will investigate and understand common mechanisms of inheritance and protein synthesis. Key concepts include exploration of the impact of DNA technologies.
This standard and the 2010 curriculum framework do not include modern technologies like CRISPR-cas, DNA transformation or the advancements of DNA sequencing. Instead, the standard and framework focus primarily on the human genome project, ethics and eugenics and cloning. These examples no longer encompass all that is possible and relevant in synthetic biology.
As synthetic biology grows it becomes more important for students of every discipline to have an up to date understanding of the science. Additionally, because synthetic biology is inherently multidisciplinary, students who hope to work in any STEM field will ultimately benefit from a strong understanding of bioengineering. To broaden our reach and ensure we could impact as many people as we possibly could, our team decided to improve the Virginia Standards of Learning. Changing these standards will benefit the 1,293,049 students currently enrolled in the Virginia public school system, and have a lasting impact as more students enter and graduate from the Virginia school system.
We began by reaching out to Dr. Anne Petersen, the Virginia State Science Coordinator. Our email described the importance of updating the Virginia Science Standards to reflect the advancements made in synthetic biology. The email can be found here. The email also included a proposal for a new science standard which can be found here.
This email resulted in a lasting collaboration. Over the past months we have shared our activities booklet and corresponded extensively over email and over the phone to create a new biology standard representing synthetic biology under standard BIO. 5. The final draft of the standard was voted on by the Virginia Board of Education on October 18th. The standard reads:
BIO.5 The student will investigate and understand that there are common mechanisms for inheritance. Key ideas include...Synthetic Biology has biological and ethical implications.
The final email from Dr. Petersen with revisions of the standard can be found here.
Our team will now begin the collaboration on the curriculum framework for the synthetic biology standard. Our moving forward our proposal includes the following information:
- Plasmids are small circular pieces of DNA
- Synthetic biology techniques utilize existing cellular mechanisms
- Transformations allows for the uptake and incorporation of external genetic material
- CRISPR/Cas systems can be used to target and alter specific DNA sequences
- Advancements in DNA sequencing have made synthetic biology research more accessible and led to a rise in DIY biology or Biohacking
- Synthetic biology has applications in a variety of disciplines including: medicine, agriculture, research, energy and travel
- Synthetic biology advancements have ethical implications which affect both animals and the environment
We will be working with the curriculum framework team until March when our framework will be up for public review. The final review of the framework will be in May and will then be voted upon. Once passed, the Department of Education will develop Continued Professional Development to support professionals in transitioning to the new Science Standards of Learning. Full implementation of our standards be completed in 2021.
However, because Virginia’s standards are only updated every 7-8 years, and take over a year to update, many students are not being exposed to the most recent findings and research. To address this, our team is working with Dr. Petersen to create a resource for teachers which will provide the most up to date biotechnology advancements and applications. This living document will be managed by a team of vetted educators and education partners who will ensure the information presented is up to date and accurate, while providing guidance for teachers hoping to integrate the new material into their classes. This novel program is currently in the developmental stages and will be implemented alongside the new Curriculum Framework.
Together our new Standards of Learning, Curriculum Framework and Advancements Tool will help prepare Virginia students with up to date lessons in synthetic biology and bioengineering, inspire the next generation of iGEMers, and prepare them to be informed members of the community.
To assist teachers in implementing these new standards and framework we have also created an education course for Virginia teachers. The course details the inclusion of synthetic biology in classroom lessons using the theme of long term space travel to engage and excite students of all ages. This course was made possible through the support of a NASA Mini-Proposal and can be found here.
What are Standards of Learning (SOLs)?
The Standards of Learning outline the expected learning outcomes for all 1,293,049 students in the Virginia commonwealth. The standards are divided by subject once students reach secondary programs. All Virginia teaching professionals utilize the standards as the infrastructure for lesson planning, and subjects covered in the Standards of Learning are expected knowledge as evaluated on state examinations. The Standards of Learning applies both to specific knowledge and skill development. By integrating into the Standards of Learning, synthetic biology will be a required subject for all Virginia students.
What is a Curriculum Framework?
The Curriculum Framework provides additional guidance for educators. The framework correlates to the standards of learning but provides more specific learning objectives for each standard. The framework is intended to amplify, clarify and define the components of each Standard of Learning.