Students learn how antibiotics affect bacterial cells, bacterial cell biology, propose their own antibiotic, and justify why the antibiotic would be effective.

Topic: Antibiotic resistance, molecular biology, and bacterial cell biology

Developer: Josh Mayer

Primary Learning Goals

Students will understand the bacterial cell biology:

• Differences between bacterial & human cells
• Differences among bacteria
• Cell shape
• Gram Positive / Negative

Students will understand the modes of action of various antibiotics.

• Cell wall synthesis inhibitors & membrane disruptors
• Replication inhibitors
• Transcription inhibitors
• Translation inhibitors

Secondary Learning Goals

• Organisms and the environment modify each other.
• Life processes are the result of regulated chemical reactions.
• Students will understand the similarities and differences between bacterial & human cells and among bacteria themselves.
• Students will gain an appreciation for the ability of antibiotics to affect cells via diverse mechanisms.
• Students will think critically to evaluate and assess information and its sources (for potential bias / oversimplification / etc.)
• Students will question presented information and utilize evidence to develop and defend testable hypotheses.

Diversity

This Teachable Unit addresses diversity through a variety of active learning and assessment tools. By utilizing such a variety, this Teachable Unit seeks to appeal to the widest of academic audiences. As such, a goal of this Teachable Unit is to minimize any deleterious effects a student’s academic background or personality may have on that student’s ability to learn.

Scientific Teaching Themes

Scientific teaching is the basis for this Teachable Unit. Herein, this TU was developed to incorporate diversity, active learning techniques, and assessment prior to, during, and after class. It promotes scientific and critical thinking skills while illustrating the importance of antibiotics and their modes of actin.

Active Learning

Active learning is a priority in this Teachable Unit. Examples of active learning in this Teachable Unit range from questions posed to the class, group discussions, a role-playing game, to a strip sequence activity. Varying the method of content delivery is a goal of this Teachable Unit, such that the effectiveness of the instruction and the overall learning environment is maximized. These active learning exercises are concomitant with the assessment techniques, in that each instance of active learning has built-in assessment tools, further emphasizing the time spent learning while deemphasizing time set aside solely for such standard assessments as exams.

Assessment

Students are assessed throughout the Teachable Unit. First, a question posed to the class is designed to elicit answers from the class and ascertain at what level the class has retained the necessary knowledge from the previous lesson. This previous knowledge is further assessed by having the students complete a strip sequence set focused on the Central Dogma. Through these two activities, the previous knowledge is both assessed and refreshed in the students’ minds, thus readying them for the present lesson. As a transition between the modes of antibiotic action and the modes of antibiotic resistance, another question will be posed to the class. This time, however, a group discussion will focus on the application of the knowledge just learned to the next topic at hand. Again, the knowledge here is assessed and refreshed, providing a foundation for the next lesson. Lastly, a debate focuses on a case study in order to highlight various issues surrounding antibiotics and antibiotic resistance as these concepts relate to various sections of society. Through all of these activities, students are assed in a variety of ways at regular intervals throughout the Teachable Unit.