"Pick-up Lines": A Fun Way to Facilitate Learning Microbiological Concepts.

INTRODUCTION

Learning microbiology need not be boring. In fact, as teachers, we often find ways to make learning fun and enjoyable for our students. In our classroom, we employ movies (2) or online games (1) to facilitate learning that will not bore our students. In the Philippines, a popular culture has just recently emerged among the young generation. It reflects the fun-loving nature of many Filipinos. Dubbed “pick-up lines,” it entails creating funny lines whereby the lover compares his or her loved one to anything. This is often done by asking if the person is the object being compared to, followed by a line that explains or justifies the comparison. For example, a man will ask his girlfriend if she is the sun. The girlfriend would ask why and the man would respond “because she brightens his day.” Such fun lines became popular in the Philippines and became a colloquial expression of feelings intermixed with humor. Recognizing the connection that the younger generation has with this pop culture, a tactic was devised to facilitate comprehension of basic concepts in microbiology by developing “pick-up” lines.

As an individual or a group take-home assignment, students were tasked to develop five “pick-up” lines related to microbiology. After every “pick-up” line they prepared, the students were also asked to explain the microbiology concept(s) behind their lines. Students shared these in front of a class and discussed the principles or concepts behind these fun lines. The class could vote on the best “pick-up” line(s) following set criteria. As a take-home task, points were given for every “pick-up” line prepared. After the activity, the students were surveyed for their perception of the activity. They were informed of the purpose of the survey and that participation in the survey would not in any way affect their grade. Participants were requested to sign an informed consent to participate in the survey. No safety issue was encountered in this study.

PROCEDURE

Thirty-seven sophomore students taking the B. Sc. Microbiology program were part of the study group. The students were enrolled in the General Microbiology course and were 16 to 17 years old. The activity was part of the graded take-home assignments the students needed to submit following a lecture or towards the end of the semester. A prior informed consent form was secured before a survey of the students’ perception of the activity was conducted. The survey questions were previously evaluated by the university’s ethics review board.

It is important in teaching technical courses to consider the age of the students in order to devise learning activities that they can appreciate or that are appropriate for their age level. It is also useful to understand their culture and utilize technologies or even popular culture known to them. For example, we have used social networking sites like Facebook to facilitate learning. In the Philippines, a colloquial, popular culture recently emerged involving creating humorous lines to express one’s admiration of others. Though not to be taken seriously, it created a funny atmosphere between couples or among friends. I used this recent popular culture as a strategy to assess undergraduate students’ understanding of basic concepts in microbiology. They were tasked to develop “pick-up” lines involving ideas, concepts, or organisms in microbiology and provide a short explanation for these lines. Examples of “pick-up” lines developed by the students related to parts or functions of the cell or compared someone to a cell or cell parts.

Are you a flagellum? Why do you ask? Because I can’t move without you.

Concept: A flagellum is a thread-like structure found in microorganisms that enables them to move or swim. Their movement towards or away from a stimulus is termed taxis.

If you will be a cell, I hope to be your cell wall and provide you with structural support.

Concept: Cell wall protects and provides shape to the cell.

In some fun lines, the target of affection or the feeling is compared to an organism.

My love for you is like that of Deinococcus radiodurans. It can withstand even the harshest of situations.

Concept: The unusual organism, Deinococcus radiodurans, can tolerate a high dose of radiation that is deadly for most organisms. This organism falls under the group of Deinococcus-Thermus which are highly adapted for extreme environments. The property of being radiotolerant can be accounted for by the overall structure of the cell. For instance, they have a highly stable cell wall and their DNA is protected by certain proteins that maintain its integrity.

The activity was well received by the students (see Table 1). All but one agreed that the activity helped them to learn and understand concepts in microbiology. The activity also allowed them to appreciate microbiology and develop their creative or artistic skills in writing humorous lines. The majority were also motivated to share microbiology with others. Out of 37 students, 36 enjoyed the activity and said that it was fun. Some of the comments received from the activity were as follows:

TABLE 1.

Student participants’ perception of the class activity using a Likert scale of 1 to 4 (n = 37).

	Strongly Disagree (1)	Disagree (2)	Agree (3)	Strongly Agree (4)
The class activity helped me to learn and understand the concepts in microbiology.	1	0	19	17
The class activity helped me appreciate microbiology.	1	0	18	18
The class activity helped me develop my creative skills.	1	0	8	28
The class activity motivated me to teach/share microbiology to others.	1	6	16	14
I enjoyed the class activity.	1	0	12	24

The activity was fun and, at the same time, challenging. You need a mastery of the subject to appreciate the “pick-up” lines.

This class activity requires creativity and knowledge of microbiology concepts.

The activity was very helpful in remembering microbial concepts in a fun manner.

This activity really helped me understand some concepts in microbiology. It is not that easy to create such creative “pick-up” lines so I was really forced to read and understand microbiological terms. This so far has been the most fun and useful activity that I have ever encountered in my college life.

The class activity was unusual but we had fun doing it for we enjoy things that we can relate with our lives as teenagers and incorporate microbiological concepts as well.

CONCLUSION

Generally, student participants enjoyed the class activity and were challenged to be more creative in their pick-up lines. But, what makes this learning activity a “hit” for students is the fact that they relate well to the task. As one student noted, it helped the lessons relate to their lives as teenagers. Thus, this study simply shows that incorporating popular culture in our lessons motivates our students to learn more about the concepts we are teaching.

Appendix 1: Additional examples of “pick-up” lines related to microbiology