We came up with the Hairy Tree Rat because it had become apparent from the original practical that the assessment on fruit fly genetics was 'compromised' as all the answers were available online, which meant that students could 'Google' a mark of 100%.
As it now says in the practical:
"You have been tasked with learning about a newly discovered mammal: the hairy tree rat. Found on a single island, it seems to bear a resemblance to the naked mole rat but lives mostly in tree canopies and is hairy! The coat colouration is unusual; most of the rats are rusty-coloured (like the tree bark), but some are brown, and others are tan-coloured. You need to work out the genetic relationships for colour; assume all rats are from true-breeding lines (unless the litter is specified)."
With the introduction of the Hairy Tree Rat, we now have the ability to control the genetics and adapt the parameters of the assessment. This empowers us to assess students against the learning outcomes with a high degree of confidence, knowing that the students haven't simply 'googled' the answers.
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Additional Resources
- 📗 - The Biosciences Glossary - Google Play Book Store
- 📗 - Maths and Chemistry Refresher for Life and Biomedical Scientists - Google Play Book Store
- 📗 - Molecular Biology of the Cell (Alberts) - (affiliate link)
- 📗 - Molecular Cell Biology (Lodish) - (affiliate link)
- 📗 - Biochemistry (Stryer) - (affiliate link)
- 📗 - Principles of Biochemistry (Lehninger) - (affiliate link)
I always offer to demonstrate this practical, mainly because I find it so fun to teach. Being unable to google answers means the shear number of questions you are asked is higher than usual so it can be quite hectic, but it seems to force the students to engage the brain more so that both the level of the questions themselves and the level of discussion when you try to lead someone through the logic of the problem is a lot higher than I often see in undergraduate practicals. (I also experienced the practical from the student perspective not too long ago ;) )
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