KU professors implement alternative teaching method in biology classrooms

LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas faculty members have published work about a new teaching method they're using in biological coursework. 

Dyan Morgan and Eileen Hotze, associate teaching professors with the Undergraduate Biology Program, have published “Teaching with TED: A Curated Set of TED Talks and Discussion Prompts for Microbiology and Cellular Biology Courses," in the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, breaking down their methods to improve student learning.

Using TED talks and discussion prompts alongside their standard curricula has led to students in Morgan and Hotze’s classes being more engaged and demonstrating a deeper understanding of the material, according to the authors.

“We heard from students that these new activities we developed got them thinking about science in ways they hadn't thought about before," Morgan said. “They were sharing it with their friends and family. I loved hearing that kind of feedback every week. Not only had they enjoyed using the TED Talk to dive deeper into the science, but it gave them an avenue for sharing it with others.”

Student feedback on this additional learning tool has been overwhelmingly positive.

“TED Talks really helped me connect my classroom knowledge with the real world," said Udita Shah, a student in Hotze’s BIOL 400 Microbiology course. "In college classes, you get a lot of information, but it’s not always clear how it applies outside of an academic setting. Watching TED Talks gave me a way to see those concepts in action — how they're used to solve real-world problems or inspire innovation. Because of this, I started understanding the topics instead of just memorizing them. It made learning much more engaging and fun for me.”

Both Morgan and Hotze said they have high hopes for how this additive teaching method can affect students beyond the classroom.

“We want students to continue to be curious learners about the content outside of the classroom," Hotze said. "TED Talks are really great digestible ways for students to learn more about a topic."

She gave the example of a classroom discussion of phage therapy — where bacteriophage can be used to help clear infections by bacteria — followed by a TED Talk personalizing the topic by sharing University of California-San Diego author and epidemiologist Steffanie Strathdee's experiences where her husband was in the hospital. 

"Students then could continue to follow her story and seek out deeper meaning to the material they're learning in the classroom,” Hotze said.

Student Diego Prieto took some specific insights away from the TED Talks that he felt he wouldn’t have otherwise. 

“It is easy to forget that the great advancements and innovations we hear on the news or read in papers were made by people with struggles, values and dreams just like anyone else," Prieto said. "I still remember listening in BIOL 400 about Dr. Steffanie Strathdee's story of how trying to save her husband's life led her to bring back phage therapy as an alternative to conventional antibiotics, or in BIOL 416 how the tenacity of Dr. David Liu's team allowed them to set the foundations of DNA editing to combat genetic diseases. As someone who wants to pursue a career in research, watching these TED Talks reminded me that people who were once in my shoes are the ones pushing the field onwards.”

Many of the students interviewed expressed an interest in seeing more of this kind of educational resource used in their classes. Annabeth Henson, a student in BIO 416 Cell Structure and Function, saw definite learning benefits to cross-media incorporation.

“I really would love to see this approach more especially in upper-level biology courses," Henson said. "As my courses get harder, I find that we really start to get into specific processes that are important to know in the medical field or research. Being able to see those processes application visually would be extremely helpful to my learning style. Even now I find myself having to go out and find these kinds of videos on my own time for my own studying.”

The researchers said they hope the Ted Talk series will help others try new and innovative approaches to classroom learning and improve science education broadly. They also want to highlight that while the article focused specifically on what they used in their classrooms, it’s applicable to all the STEM fields.

“TED talks are a great resource to try to extend information from what their textbook concepts are and show how it's being applied in the world," Hotze said. “I think students get more excited when they can see that impact. This isn't just a tutorial to reexplain the concept. This is translating what you learned in the class into a real-world application. I think if professors do a little more of that — saying, ‘This is why we're learning it,' then the learning becomes more impactful."

If a lecturer is considering using this method in their classroom, Hotze said, “Just do it. Discussion board prompts outside of the classroom are a really easy way to implement them, but it can also lead to in-class discussions which can be more impactful as well. Some of the really fun things came out of this.” 

Last year, Hotze’s BIOL 400 class was visited by guest lecturer Strathdee, whose TED Talk is featured in her lessons. 

“You never know where learning can lead, and using TED as a resource and digging into those resources can really lead to great experiences for the students," Hotze said. "So, to anyone considering using them, I would say do it.”