We invite you to share your experiences using Introduction to the Science of Cancer (ISOC) in the classroom or other venues, and we may post them on this page.
Drew Braun, science instructor at Celina High School, Celina, Ohio, used the course for the first time in Oct. 2016. He offered it to a class of nine AP Biology students.
During October of the 2015-16 school year, I led my AP Biology students through the Introduction to the Science of Cancer course. It helped my students to bridge the gap between the content they were learning in the classroom and apply it to a real-life situation, the treatment of cancer. At first, I was worried about the materials being at a level that was too difficult for my students to understand. But, after completing the first module, I realized that the course was a perfect fit for my AP students. Since that time, Mr. Ward and his team have developed some supplemental materials that fit wonderfully with the videos. For these reasons, I give the ISOC course two thumbs up!!!!
Marisa Manocchio teaches Introduction to Engineering Design and Geometry at Bio-Med Science Academy in Rootstown, OH. In January 2016 Marisa offered ISOC for the first time. Nineteen students from grades 9 – 12 took the course as an elective for three weeks, two hours a day, five days a week; all had had some personal experience with cancer. Here, she describes her experience using the course. She suggests adding discussion questions to help students think about what they were learning.
The course went really well! I only had three weeks, so it is a lot of material. I did not make it to Module 5. The kids enjoyed the information a lot, but after a while I found that my students lost sight of what these diseases and treatments do to people that live with it. So, since I am a cancer survivor, I asked my survivor friends to create/send videos about their stories of treatment. I tried to match these videos with different sections of the modules that related to their type treatment, type of cancer, etc.
When I showed these in addition to the module videos, the kids could see not only the profession side, but also the patient side, which they really liked. I tried to make it a discussion-based class as well, and came up with some thought-provoking questions that they could have a conversation about with their peers. Discussion questions for the modules would be a good addition if you decide the lessons need more to them. Overall, it went well and I will for sure teach it again, but I know how to best fit it to my class now. Thank you so much for the opportunity to use your material for my course! I really enjoyed it!