The Thomasina Award for Bravery in Teaching - 2006 Award Recipient

Part of the apprehension of taking a Microbiology class is learning the plethora of seemingly daunting Latin names. Staphylococcus, Clostridium, Bacillus and Mycobacterium all eventually need to fluently trip off the tongue. In addition, students sometimes feel they are traveling in an alien, unfriendly world of disease with unsettling pathogens around every corner.

In order to draw students into this strange new world, I’ve tried to use questions and case studies using humorous characters whose names are puns on real microbiology terms or pathogens. This makes even the novice student of microbiology “in on the joke” early on and they now feel more a part of this unfamiliar territory.

Realizing that most students were more likely to have watched “American Idol” rather than the latest documentary on emerging viruses the previous evening on “NOVA”, case studies and extra credit questions may reflect current trends.  Questions from our own “Microbiology Idol” show feature remarks from famous microbe critic Ebola Abdul.  The current crime forensics show craze led to episodes of “CSI:  TJU”, featuring the knowledgeable and self-assured BIOL 315 student Britney Spores.

Here is an example of an extra credit question concerning biological macromolecules:

In this week’s episode of “Joe Microbiologist” the romantic BIOL 315 student, Evan Coli, must choose amongst five beautiful macromolecules.  While he likes Carbohydrate’s “sweetness”, Lipid’s “well-roundedness”, Protein’s “structure”, Nucleic Acid’s eagerness to replicate, and ATP’s energy, he needs to eliminate one.  Lately, he’s become an avid poker player and would eliminate the one who is likely to “fold” too early.  Determine which one is he likely to eliminate and justify your answer.

Additional questions are borrowed from other current popular shows including “My Name is Enzyme”, and use characters ranging from Billy Ray Virus, Mary J. Phage, and the ever-adventurous immunologist Anne T. Body.  These characters have pets, too—a collie named Lassa, a budgerigar named Spirokeet, a kitten named Rhizopuss.

The key is to try not to cross the line that would disparage or make fun of persons who are suffering from serious or fatal disease.  For example, while its funny to make up a case study about Gardnerella, (Cinderella’s somewhat less wholesome cousin) or even Lydia Chlamydia, one must be careful not to tread a line that would be dismissive of the suffering from infectious disease.

Finally, poetry composed by an anonymous microbiologist going by the nom de plume of Sue D. Monas helps students remember the various bacteria :

My surgeon went for pre-med at LaSalle,

Now I’ve got Bacteroides fragilis ‘cause he nicked my large bowel.
I’m a chicken, my name is Bella,

Eat my eggs, you’ve got Salmonella.

Such devices are funny and attention-getting, but do they help students remember?  In cases where students don’t know the answers initially, I believe they are more likely to conscientiously find the answers since it leads to a more satisfying outcome than without the humorous payoff.  Also, I believe it lessens the unease of the initially scary world of microbiology.

Anne F. Pacitti
Lecturer, Department of General Studies