Team:City of London UK/Communication

RIBOTOX

Communication

Education & Communication

It has been previously shown that students who use practical work to augment their learning rather than relying on lectures achieve significantly higher results, hence suggesting that knowledge retention is greatly improved by doing practical work involving that knowledge[1]. This is the reason why an experiment involving DNA extraction, in tandem with a powerpoint presentation on the subject, was used by us to introduce younger students to the concepts of DNA, its structure and function. This was later followed by a lesson building on the students’ knowledge of DNA by teaching them the basics of what synthetic biology is and its many uses. This combination of lessons helped to secure both fundamental and more advanced knowledge, which may fuel the students’ interest in learning further about synthetic biology themselves.

Additional materials for optional further study have been provided as part of the lessons.

Teaching

Our target audience is children of ages 10-13, and it is likely that the materials provided by us, such as the powerpoint and lesson, will be used to generate an interest in DNA, genetics and synthetic biology, all of which may lead to them learning more about synthetic biology and its applications to further their own interest, which was generated by this lesson.

Teaching

The powerpoint and lesson include several question prompts,which can be used to facilitate discussion, as well as any potential questions at the end of each slide being discussed and answered as part of the interactive lesson.

Teaching

Through interviewing Mrs J. Brown, headmistress at City of London School for Girls and a previous patient of preeclampsia, we were able to hear a firsthand insight into her experiences with the disease.

We then moulded our project to be able to reflect her views on what it is like to suffer from it and how she would have liked to have known more about preeclampsia before her pregnancy. This inspired us to create informational leaflets on the pathophysiology of preeclampsia, placing them around areas in our community to educate the public. We also then made a podcast from our interview with Mrs J. Brown which allowed us to reach broader audiences to convey an extremely personal experience, hopefully helping other people who have the complication or who want to know more about preeclampsia. Publishing the podcast series on spotify allows a huge range of audiences to be able to listen and be educated on the many topics we cover, from the pathology of the disease to how charities are reaching out to sufferers in countries all over the world.

KCL iGEM Team
KCL iGEM Team

The podcast included an interview with Dr Andrew Shennan, Professor of Obstetrics at King’s College London who concluded with the importance of raising the public’s awareness of the disease.

We believed that one of the places to start tackling the problem of the disease was educating people about preeclampsia, the biology behind it, symptoms, what the current detection mechanism is and what the treatment is. Therefore, we made a leaflet with all the relevant information regarding the disease to spread awareness.

Pre-eclampsia infographics
Pre-eclampsia infographics

Through speaking to a number of medical professionals and a previous sufferer of pre-eclampsia, it became clear to us that the maternal condition and it’s life-threatening potential is often underreported and undisclosed. Hence, we decided to create our very own Pre-eclampsia app to tackle this problem head-on and raise the public’s awareness of the condition. In our app, we explain to users what exactly preeclampsia is, when it occurs as well as how our team is trying to improve maternal healthcare through our project. We have also incorporated a live feed of Preeclampsia news updates to educate users on current affairs and the latest medical advancements around managing the condition and eliminating its threat.

Pre-eclampsia infographics
Pre-eclampsia infographics
Pre-eclampsia infographics
Pre-eclampsia infographics
Pre-eclampsia infographics

Refrences

  1. Lindsay, E., Evans, T. The use of lecture capture in university mathematics education: a systematic review of the research literature. Math Ed Res J (2021). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-021-00369-8 [Accessed October 2021]
  2. World Health Organization. (2014). Maternal Mortality [Online]. Available at: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/112318/WHO_RHR_14.06_eng.pdf [Accessed October 2021]
  3. United Nations (2018). Millennium Goals [Online]. Available at: https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ [Accessed October 2021]
  4. Edgardo Abalos, Cristina Cuesta, Ana L Grosso, Doris Chou, Lale Say. (2013). Global and regional estimates of preeclampsia and eclampsia: a systematic review [Online]. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23746796/ [Accessed October 2021]
  5. Pre-eclampsia Foundation (2015). NEW RESEARCH: MAJORITY OF PREECLAMPSIA-RELATED MATERNAL DEATHS DEEMED PREVENTABLE [Online]. Available at: https://preeclampsia.org/the-news/Healthcare-practices/new-research-majority-of-preeclampsia-related-maternal-deaths-deemed-preventable [Accessed October 2021]
  6. Graham J Burton, Christopher W Redman, James M Roberts, Ashley Moffett. (2019). Pre-eclampsia: pathophysiology and clinical implications. BMJ 2019;366:l2381 [Online]. Available at: https://www.bmj.com/content/366/bmj.l2381 [Accessed October 2021]
  7. Mayo Clinic (2020). Preeclampsia [Online]. Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/preeclampsia/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20355751 [Accessed October 2021]
  8. St George's University Hospitals NHS (2020). Pre-eclampsia reduced by 25% at St George’s as rate increases elsewhere [Online]. Available at: https://www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/newsitem/pre-eclampsia-reduced-by-25-at-st-georges-as-rate-increases-elsewhere/ [Accessed October 2021]