Short videos, interactive animations, a brief reading beyond the textbook, slides for students to review before coming to class—all of these things can be useful when teaching. However, trying to find the right fit for your classroom can result in a long trip down a Google-infused rabbit hole, and before you know it you’ve spent 6 hours finding a good animation demonstrating shotgun sequencing.
There are many good online repositories out there: HHMI BioInteractive; Learn.Genetics; PBS LearningMedia; the DNA Learning Center…the list goes on. While many places (including GSA!) have lists of websites that could serve as good sources for educators, they don’t always pinpoint specific resources that can be used for undergraduate genetics courses.
To save our educators some time, we’ve started to cultivate a list of specific resources, not just their base websites, that may prove more useful. The newly launched Genetics Education Resource Room has examples of animations, videos, problem sets, digital presentations (PPTs), and readings—all listed by subject category and thus browsable within GSA’s genetics learning framework. We hope that you will find it a useful starting place when you want to supplement your curriculum.
The Resource Room is by no means an exhaustive list! There are many useful online materials that we’ve missed. We’re relying on you to help us stock the Resource Room, telling us your favorite online animation about meiosis, for example, or filling in some missing pieces of our collection.
Let us know what you think of this new addition to GSA education in the comments below, or email education@genetics-gsa.org!