Review for:The Biology Project - Mendelian Genetics

posted: on December 22, 2007 at 12:52PM

Mendelian Genetics

Monohybrid Crosses

The goal of the activity was to allow students to develop a greater understanding of the mechanisms supporting monohybrid crossing of living material. The development and comprehension of basic genetic concepts occurs at different rates within a student cohort. Thus, allowing students to engage in a web-based activity at home (and at their own pace) offered an opportunity to enhance student learning.

Intro or Regular

Students were given a companion worksheet that asked them to work through a problem set online. The website provided a tutorial for each concept to assist students in answering the problem set questions. Additional questions were posed on the companion worksheet to encourage students to utilize the tutorial rather than just completing the problem set.

Provides visualization or animation, Increases mapping skills, Increases modeling skills, Provides a virtual lab, Provides practice or tutorial, Provides additional content, Provides assessment opportunity, Increases student engagement and motivation

The resource provides an excellent opportunity for students learn about basic genetic concepts. Structured tutorials provide support to students and problem sets offer an opportunity to test student understanding and comprehension of topic-based ideas. The resource is visually-stimulating and easy to navigate.

Although the resource is rich in content, the structure and navigability may be problematic for some students. The lack of companion worksheets may further affect the usefulness of the resource as an extra-scholastic (at home) activity in it's out-of-the-box form. However, creative teachers could easily surmount these obstacles and utilize the resource as a vehicle toward the development of improved understanding within a student cohort.