Games Prove To Be Great Teaching Aide

Teaching young minds about various subject matter can prove to be a challenging task. It gets exponentially more difficult when it involves STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) topics like molecular biology, which require a great degree of focus and hard work to master.

That is why researchers have come up with an ingenious method to help students grasp the fundamentals of this subject with greater efficiency. Researchers at the Institute for Systems Biology have come up with a web based game. Its an interactive one, where secondary students (grade 6-12) learn the key tenets of molecular biology, in an entertaining way.

It’s called the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology They say that teachers can use it as a supplemental aide to assit with complex lessons. In the game, students have to match the nucleotides to their respective partners, and in a way, understand the fundemantals behind these bonds.

Speaking of this, ISB Research Scientist Dr. Jacob Valenzuela, said, ” The game can be used to asynchronously introduce critical concepts related to the flow of information from DNA to RNA to proteins, which are fundamental to understanding biology, evolution and human health.”

Valenzuela says that this web based game will give millions of students worldwide, access to a more entertaining and fundamentally sound way of understanding molecular biology. Apparently, 90% of students who played the game, said that they enjoyed the experience, while 80% of them wanted to learn more, because of the experience.

Central Dogma of Molecular Biology is ISB’s first iteration of a gaming platform, which has the potential to extend far beyond this subject matter. Developers can create gaming frameworks for system medicine, gut microbiome health, environmental sustainability, and any other topic area.

Approaching difficult subject matter with more effective tools can help students focus better and absorb more from their lessons. The same is true of Electrical systems. YouTube channel ElectroBoom’s lighthearted approach to the fundamentals, is an entertaining approach to understanding electronic circuitry.