A Road to Microbiology Literacy (and More): an Opportunity for a Paradigm Change in Teaching
ABSTRACT Microbial activities pervasively impact the wellbeing of all organisms, including humans, and the functioning of the planet itself. In order for society to form informed opinions and take effective actions related to its welfare, it must be able to understand the causes of issues of importa...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Society for Microbiology
2023-04-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.00019-23 |
| _version_ | 1797843539274498048 |
|---|---|
| author | Kenneth Timmis |
| author_facet | Kenneth Timmis |
| author_sort | Kenneth Timmis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Microbial activities pervasively impact the wellbeing of all organisms, including humans, and the functioning of the planet itself. In order for society to form informed opinions and take effective actions related to its welfare, it must be able to understand the causes of issues of importance and to appreciate the range of possible responses and their likely effectiveness. Society must become microbiology literate. The International Microbiology Literacy Initiative is creating a comprehensive range of teaching resources that will constitute a child-centric school curriculum of societally relevant microbiology. The core of the teaching resources, the lessons, are somewhat unusual in that each one is designed to be essentially stand-alone, so courses can be individually structured by teachers according to their perception of what is interesting and important for their charges. Moreover, the lessons deal not only with societally pertinent microbial activities, but also discuss and propose discussion of their relevance to sustainable development, of their impact on policies and decisions (personal, community, and national), and of issues of stewardship and stakeholder responsibilities. The class lessons are complemented by other child-centric teaching resources whose functions are to add value, to stimulate pupil imagination and excitement in discovery, to engage pupil interest and enthusiasm for topics like sustainability, climate change, international cooperation, citizen science, etc., and to empower pupils as stakeholders in their microbiology education and as educators and multiplicators. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:06:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-df0a3a833a7944228d3444f5e83e7a7b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1935-7877 1935-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:06:53Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-df0a3a833a7944228d3444f5e83e7a7b2023-04-20T13:01:01ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologyJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education1935-78771935-78852023-04-0124110.1128/jmbe.00019-23A Road to Microbiology Literacy (and More): an Opportunity for a Paradigm Change in TeachingKenneth Timmis0Institute of Microbiology, Technical University of Braunschweig, Braunschweig, GermanyABSTRACT Microbial activities pervasively impact the wellbeing of all organisms, including humans, and the functioning of the planet itself. In order for society to form informed opinions and take effective actions related to its welfare, it must be able to understand the causes of issues of importance and to appreciate the range of possible responses and their likely effectiveness. Society must become microbiology literate. The International Microbiology Literacy Initiative is creating a comprehensive range of teaching resources that will constitute a child-centric school curriculum of societally relevant microbiology. The core of the teaching resources, the lessons, are somewhat unusual in that each one is designed to be essentially stand-alone, so courses can be individually structured by teachers according to their perception of what is interesting and important for their charges. Moreover, the lessons deal not only with societally pertinent microbial activities, but also discuss and propose discussion of their relevance to sustainable development, of their impact on policies and decisions (personal, community, and national), and of issues of stewardship and stakeholder responsibilities. The class lessons are complemented by other child-centric teaching resources whose functions are to add value, to stimulate pupil imagination and excitement in discovery, to engage pupil interest and enthusiasm for topics like sustainability, climate change, international cooperation, citizen science, etc., and to empower pupils as stakeholders in their microbiology education and as educators and multiplicators.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.00019-23microbiology literacygenerational contractglobal warminginterconnectivitymicrobiology curriculumpolycrises |
| spellingShingle | Kenneth Timmis A Road to Microbiology Literacy (and More): an Opportunity for a Paradigm Change in Teaching Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education microbiology literacy generational contract global warming interconnectivity microbiology curriculum polycrises |
| title | A Road to Microbiology Literacy (and More): an Opportunity for a Paradigm Change in Teaching |
| title_full | A Road to Microbiology Literacy (and More): an Opportunity for a Paradigm Change in Teaching |
| title_fullStr | A Road to Microbiology Literacy (and More): an Opportunity for a Paradigm Change in Teaching |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Road to Microbiology Literacy (and More): an Opportunity for a Paradigm Change in Teaching |
| title_short | A Road to Microbiology Literacy (and More): an Opportunity for a Paradigm Change in Teaching |
| title_sort | road to microbiology literacy and more an opportunity for a paradigm change in teaching |
| topic | microbiology literacy generational contract global warming interconnectivity microbiology curriculum polycrises |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.00019-23 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kennethtimmis aroadtomicrobiologyliteracyandmoreanopportunityforaparadigmchangeinteaching AT kennethtimmis roadtomicrobiologyliteracyandmoreanopportunityforaparadigmchangeinteaching |