“I achieved a very tangible sense of scientific concepts through the workshop’s dance and discussion” –High School Student
“It was awesome to go in without any expectations and come out knowing more about DNA than I learned in an entire year of biology” –High School Student
“I heard students responding that I never heard from before.”
–Richard McCarthy, Middle School Teacher
“When you learn something from a textbook you’re not going to remember it as well as when you get up and do it, so this way of learning is more permanent.”
–High School Student
“As a teacher it is my obligation to reach every student in the classroom, and if this helps me do it I am willing to get out of my comfort zone.”
–Richard McCarthy, Middle School Teacher
“Well, it’s a very powerful experience, and it’s the second time I’ve had the privilege of being part of this–I don’t want to call it “performance” because that doesn’t really cover it, does it? It draws you in, it’s an experience. Science is seen by many people as impenetrable because it’s full of jargon and it’s hard to understand what people are talking about…THIS is so accessible, yet it’s so mysterious, in a way that science can be as well… a wonderful experience that you’ve given us, you and your dancers. Thank you.”
–Francis Collins, Director of the NIH.
“One question about the play is this: why there was a clip of Mendel playing chess in the background? That’s something I can answer from seeing the play! It shows how genetics relate to chess, because they both use probability to determine the final outcome. For example, winning the game and the traits of a new child both depend on probability!”
–Middle School Student
“Once again I wanted to thank you again for coming and presenting this information to my school it really helped me and a lot of others in my class I really liked it and I believe that others did to! It made me see the world in a different way well genes and heredity anyway. I used to think it was rather disgusting but now I find it to be very interesting instead. I would it confusing at first but then I understood it…”
–Middle School Student
“I thought the presentation was very interesting because of the way the music, the dancing and the video backdrop were put together as a play. The music interested me because of the way it was played, it had a calm and flowing feeling. Many of the dancers looked like they were acting like organisms, and maybe genes. The way Mendel was showing a chess board I thought was because I thought he was coming up with probabilities of winning. Or maybe different forms of genes in a pea plant.”
–Middle School Student
“When listening to the music I think that helped understand what was going on. The music also helped you tell when he was thinking and if he was stuck. With the music it was almost as if you could read his mind so without any words you would know what he was saying. I personally think that if you use music to show anything you can understand it better and remember it for longer.”
–Middle School Student
“I was inspired by the dance video. The choreography and the symbolism were creative. The video made me think of many questions to ask Mendel. I learned that science is art and art is science. They are similar in their relation to each other. I think that the choreography in the video was very interesting. I feel bad for Mendel, the dancer, because it was after he was dead that we realized that his work was very important. I wonder why we realize it now instead of then. Why did the scientists not pay attention to his discoveries? … The video was very creative. You changed my way of thinking. I will always think that art and science are similar. You are inspiring me to become a scientist. Thank you again for that awesome video. I hope to see the program live someday.”
–Middle School Student who had not previously shown interest in science
More on using reflection assignments in the classroom and examples can be found here
