Stem cell workshop


 * Grade Level: Museum Educators
 * Subject: Stem Cells
 * Sub-Subject: Developing and sharing opinions on a controversial topic
 * Length/Duration: 2 workshops, 3 hours each
 * Technologies Used: Internet references sites, Go!Animate, Blogger for video sharing

Workshop Overview
Stage 1: Students are introduced to a negative opinion on stem cell research. Students will review online resources to learn more about stem cell research.

Stage 2: Students will develop and perform a play based on the stem cell controversy. They will end the play with a controversial question.

Stage 3: Using an animation technology (Go!Animate), students will finish the play online.

Stage 4: Students will share their animations using (Blogger).

Stage 1
Introduce the workshop as an investigation into stem cell research.

Share an opinion of stem cell research by stating, "Stem cell research is bad because it's killing babies and using the stem cells from the dead fetus." By declaring this negative opinion of stem cells, the student's choice is eliminated. Therefore, they will be likely to choose a positive opinion towards stem cells (Brehm & Sensenig, 1966). The given argument against stem cells is weak and consequently will cause students to develop strong pro-stem cell opinion. Providing a weak argument will also cause students to think about why they believe in stem cell research (McGuire & Papageorgis, 1961).

Ask your students to review the following sites:
 * 1) Wikipedia
 * 2) How Stuff Works
 * 3) NIH Stem Cell Information
 * 4) Ethics on Stem Cell Research
 * 5) Stem Cells from Skin Cells
 * 6) Stem Cells
 * 7) NY Times article
 * 8) American Catholic
 * 9) AMA article
 * 10) University of Utah
 * 11) New England Journal of Medicine
 * 12) Newsweek
 * 13) NOVA ScienceNow

Share this link The Truth is Out There and ask your students to keep internet resource credibility in mind as they research.

Stage 2
During this portion of the workshop, students will develop a play around stem cell controversy. Break your students into groups of 4-5. The play they develop will not have an ending. It will "end" with a cliffhanger, and crucial question for the other students to use later in the lesson. Have student "end" with one of the following prompts:


 * 1) Would you use stem cells from human embryos?
 * 2) Would you use stem cells from aborted fetal tissue?
 * 3) Would you use stem cells taken from an umbilical cord?

In this stage, students are given choice. They are in charge of developing their own play and are able to share their perspective on stem cell research (Freire, 1970). Since students are given this freedom, the plays should be rich in content and creativity (Neuman et al, 1995).

However, make sure their play is in context. For instance, they should present realistic characters and scenarios. They should not simply restate the question you gave them, but develop characters that have to make those decisions.

Stage 3
Each student will choose a play to finish. Utilize Go!Animate to create an online animation to develop their own ending. Their animation needs to reflect their opinion on stem cell research and also incorporate sites from "Stage 1". Have them list the resources and sites they used to develop their opinions. The online anonymity will allow students to feel more comfortable sharing their opinion about this controversial topic (Merryfield, 2003). It also allow students to provide input and take part in directing the workshop (Freire, 1970).

Tips on using Go!Animate:

- Students can sign up for a free account - Watch video tutorials - View other videos

Scaffolding tips:

- Require a certain length for student videos - Suggest using the ready-made characters and backgrounds - Work with a partner - Allow enough time to develop animations (approx. 1 hour)

Check out the video I developed: My Video

Stage 4
Students will post their animations to the Workshop Blog. Ask students to share the resources and sites they used when making their animation. They can cite resources from Stage 1. Encourage students to comment on other videos.

Teacher Tip: Online Etiquette Workshop is a lesson utilizing Wikispaces to foster classroom norms in class and online.