Explainer Videos: Students Translating Cell Biology for Lay Audiences

Explainer videos are multi-week team projects where students create 5–10-minute videos that introduce a topic related to this course (but we did not get to this semester) to a non-science audience. Their final product should capture the attention of someone who does not know the concept, and either make them want to learn more, or help them see why a process or mechanism is important. In this presentation I’ll talk about the rationale behind these projects, show examples, describe what resources students will need, and provide links to supporting materials.

The Ubiquitin-Protease Pathway

Explainer Video by Group B7 (Cameron Michles)

Presenter Information

Dan Johnson

Dr. Dan Johnson, Teaching Professor of Biology

Dr. Dan Johnson is a Teaching Professor of Biology who has been at Wake since 1998. He has taught courses ranging from non-major’s surveys to graduate seminars and faculty workshops, both here and across the US and Canada. A cell biologist by training, his scholarly work now focuses on two areas: 1) teaching early-career faculty to use evidence-backed good instructional practices; and 2) using data science to understand how biology undergraduates learn scientific writing skills. In his spare time, he keeps a hobby nursery, growing Japanese maples and other trees to make into bonsai.

Brianna Healey

Assistant Director of Academic Technology

Brianna Healey is the Assistant Director of Academic Technology, a division of Information Systems. Her position aims to enhance teaching and learning in the curriculum using digital technologies. Brianna aims to stay at the forefront of teaching, learning, and technology to provide transformative learning experiences for students at Wake Forest University.

Cameron Michles

Cameron Michles is a junior at Wake Forest University majoring in psychology and theatre and minoring in neuroscience on the pre-medical track. She is from Pensacola Beach, Florida and is currently studying psychology abroad in Vienna, Austria. At Wake, Cameron is a Stamps Scholar and a Presidential Scholar in theatre. Cameron is also a URECA-X grant recipient for the research she does with the Wake Forest Theatre and Neuroscience departments on creating theatre for neurodiverse audiences. She plans to continue this research throughout her undergraduate education and beyond.