Team:Thessaloniki/Education

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Education






Overview


Τριών δει παιδεία: φύσεως, ασκήσεως, μαθήσεως. ~ Αριστοτέλης 384-322 π.Χ. Αρχαίος Έλληνας Φιλόσοφος
(Three are needed for education: nature, practice, learning. ~ Aristotle 384-322 BC Ancient Greek Philosopher)


Education of individuals has been a large part of iGEM Thessaloniki’s activities throughout the year. In our attempt to make a difference and introduce people to the world of synthetic biology and iGEM, we adapted our educational material to our public’s age and educational background. The classification and grouping of several individuals based on these characteristics changed dramatically our approach; after all, in order for someone to be taught, the teacher has to learn how they should be taught. So, respecting our students' nature, we gave them educational activities to practice and eventually learn.






Ages 12-15 (Gymnasium)


Ages 12-15 in Greece correspond to the first part of the secondary educational level (Junior High School). Keeping in mind that these ages process information effectively through interactive activities and educational games, we decided to create a virtual electronic game alongside our partners - iGEM Patras. We used Scratch, a software widely taught in Greek Schools and a user-friendly environment. The game we created consists of levels of difficulty which correspond to multiple choice questions that the user has to answer, by moving a character towards the correct answer. The questions were selected based on the material provided by the school biology textbook and they combine the a-priori knowledge of the students with hidden questions referring to synthetic biology.

Note: for obvious reasons we developed the game in students’ native language, aka Greek. But, considering that most of the readers of this page will probably not be fluent in Greek we also developed an english version of the game, which is the one displayed below.





Caution!!! Our game is displayed on our wiki page with iframes; this form of display was licensed by the iGEM HQ Committee and specifically by Dr. Traci Haddock-Angelli and therefore does not violate any of the iGEM Wiki Rules!!!

For game rules and code explanation please read the manual:


Game Manual
Github









Ages 15-18 (High Schools)


Adolescents have increased learning ability. The energy and the groundbreaking ideas of adolescents cause them to learn a completely unknown concept to them via active participation, dialogue and self-driven exploration of the former. And there is no better way for these ages to actively shape the future of synthetic biology than participating in iGEM Competition and becoming a part of the community!
Unfortunately, in Greece, High Schools completely ignore the existence of iGEM Competition, being deprived of the opportunity to experience the former. This results in Greece having 7 different university student teams in iGEM Competition, but lacking in representation concerning High Schools. This is the point where we stepped in and decided to organize an asynchronous seminar via an informative video and a slide presentation (as displayed above) for the High School students.


|Troubleshooting



In Greece there are several protocols and laws that forbid any kind of interaction between outsiders and public school units without the permission of the Greek Ministry of Education. Therefore, we stumbled on the never ending process of applications; bureaucracy.


|Με έναν σμπάρο δυο τρυγόνια


(= Two turtle doves with one spar -- Greek saying meaning that one action can result in achieving two different goals)
But, we were determined to enlighten Greek High Schools and overcome any obstacle. We came up with an idea: instead of contacting the Greek Minister of Education just for the asynchronous seminar, we could also apply for the recognition of iGEM Competition as a yearly program in Greek High Schools. In this way, every single High School unit in Greece would not only be informed about iGEM Organization and Competition in every school year, but it would be given the opportunity of participating in it too. Therefore, our PI, Dr Ioannis S. Vizirianakis contacted the Greek Ministry of Education on behalf of iGEM Thessaloniki 2021 team.

~Photograph of our members and Minister of Education in Greece, Niki Kerameus on 12th of September 2021~






|Final Result


Finally, after a month of discussions with the Greek Ministry of Education we succeeded in our mission: iGEM Competition has been officially approved by the Greek Ministry of Education for High Schools and every single Greek High School will be not only informed about but also allowed to participate in iGEM Competition! Further discussions will take place in the following months which will determine the implementation of this decision and will shape the program itself.

The official document of the approval, as addressed to our PI Dr Ioannis S. Vizirianakis is displayed below:



Note: the document -as expected- is written in Greek Language. Considering that most of the readers of this page will probably not be fluent in Greek we quote an informal translation of the document below:


Translation of the approval








|Private Educational Institutes


Furthermore, we visited private educational institutes in Thessaloniki to present, this time, a synchronous seminar concerning synthetic biology and the professions related with the field. Our goal was simple. On the grounds that synthetic biology is a field that greatly incorporates a variety of other scientific sectors , we wanted to prepare a presentation that almost as a career guidance, could help the students realise that they can achieve their dreams, through interdisciplinary projects, even if they are not entirely related to their main field of expertise. We attach our presentation below:


Seminar








Adults


The last group we considered was adult individuals that have already the basic knowledge concerning synthetic biology and seek for targeted scientific knowledge. Therefore, we decided to organize or participate in workshops and conferences specifically developed for these reasons.




| 12th Electrical and Computer Engineering conference (SFHMMY)

Conference of Electrical and Computer Engineering Students (Greek name: SFHMMY) is the Panhellenic student conference held annually, since 2007, in various cities throughout Greece. It is addressed mainly to students of the departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering but also to anyone who wants to be informed about the latest developments in science and technology and to get in touch with the challenges of the labor market. SFHMMY is framed by world-renowned speakers who have excelled in their field and wish to contribute to the student community. In addition, students are given the opportunity to present their work, whether they are undergraduate or graduate. Finally, SFHMMY accommodates workshops and competitions in various fields of interest.




On the 24th and 25th of April, we participated in the 12th SFHMMY by presenting our team and introducing the audience to the iGEM Competition. We also organised a workshop themed “How to ‘read’ COVID-19” that was composed of the basic concepts of synthetic biology and the main sequencing and correlation tools being used.




After the completion of the theoretical part, datasets with sequences of viruses alongside Needleman-Wunsch Algorithm and specific guidelines were given to the attendees, in order for them to develop their own Python program and single out the COVID-19 sequences amongst the various virus sequences provided. Sars-Cov-2 virus has changed our lives in a radical way and new challenges are yet to come in the following years. Therefore, it is very important to easily adapt to new technologies. Interestingly, about 80% of the participants (~60 students) completed the task successfully. At the end of the conference, during a virtual fair held by the organizing committee of SFHMMY, we had the opportunity to discuss more about the iGEM Competition and our future goals with the attendees.

For more details visit 12th SFHMMY website: https://sfhmmy.gr/en/the-conference/6/workshop-description






| Scientific Congress of Hellenic Medical Students (ESFIE)

The Scientific Congress of Hellenic Medical Students (Greek name: ESFIE) is a conference organized on an annual basis since 1994 and each year is hosted by a different Chapter of ESFIE. It is the gemstone of the hellenic medical student society’s activities which provides the opportunity to thousands of students from Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences to expand their knowledge and develop their skills in various fields of Health Sciences. Students are provided with the opportunity to present their own scientific work through their participation in round tables and preparation of abstracts which are in line with their interests.




On the 16th of April, we participated in a 27th ESFIE’s round table joining our fellow iGEM teams, “Crete”, “Thessaly”, “Ioannina” and “Athens” to talk about Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to introduce the iGEM competition to the public. Our presentation focused on a definition of AMR, a broader spectrum of its influence on the world and why it must be considered a public and global threat. Since our audience were both world-renowned scientists and inspiring young students we wanted to raise awareness on the matter and also inform them on how iGEM teams have already battled AMR and continue to do so. In this round table session, we had the chance to answer questions concerning the iGEM competition to aspiring medicine students and exchange scientific ideas with the other speakers.

For more details visit ESFIE’s website: https://www.27esfie.gr/en







Summary


Group Our Approach What did they learn?
Gymnasiums An interactive electronic game via Scratch Information about synthetic biology
High Schools An asynchronous seminar about synthetic biology and iGEM and a request for High Schools to be allowed to participate in iGEM Competition, both approved by the Greek Ministry of Education Details about the field of synthetic biology and iGEM Organization and Competition


Approved? Yes
Implemented? Pending
Adults Workshop and Conference: targeted scientific knowledge Details about iGEM Competition

Handling heuristic algorithms for the processing of nucleotide sequences