Engaging students in population genetics online: Genetic wheel activity

With the switch to online learning in 2020–2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many tertiary educators saw a marked decline in student engagement.^1-3 The saving grace for Australian universities was the sector-wide investment in online learning management systems (LMS) prior to the pandemic, providing an available, if previously underutilized platform for online student engagement.⁴ However, as Harsha et al.⁵ state, there is an immense amount of e-learning technology available for teaching online, but it is important to select the one(s) that are fit for purpose, and consequently facilitate student engagement. Here we describe a method for introducing students to the concept of population genetics by using an online version of the Genetic Wheel activity.

Population genetics is the study of genetic variation within a given population. In a healthy population there is a wide variety of genes that combine in many ways to form the broad diversity of characteristics we see in individuals. The Genetic Wheel is an activity which is commonly used both in high schools and introductory level tertiary biology to investigate human variation in seven visible, single gene traits. These are relatively simple traits, generally controlled by one gene, which people either exhibit or not. The activity enables students to sequentially assess the presence or absence of each trait to ultimately derive a single number (1–128) based on their traits, which they can compare to their peers in real time.

In BIOM10002: Exploring Biomedicine, the Genetic Wheel easily converted to an online activity and so used as a tool to introduce students to population genetics. Following a Zoom presentation outlining the Genetic Wheel theory and how to identify each trait, students were then randomly assigned to one of 20 breakout rooms (≈ 6 students). Initially each student determined their individual “Genetic Wheel number”. They then had the option to share their number with the small group and discuss the questions relating to the Genetic Wheel and the importance of, and influences on, genetic diversity in the population. Subsequently, each student was asked to anonymously place a marker on their number on an interactive class visual of the wheel (Figure 1). This interactive wheel was developed in PollEv but could also be readily created in free platforms like Padlet or Miro. This provided a picture of the patterns of genetic diversity in a larger population (≈ 120 students).

The students found this activity highly engaging as they were easily able to relate the task to themselves (self-context), while also comparing themselves to the wider cohort in a safe, non-judgment-free way. Once the PollEV was populated, students were brought back to the main Zoom room for a group discussion and to unpack the challenge questions related to the activity. Students responded by either microphone or the Zoom chat option.

As each class completed the exercise, the Genetic Wheel results were merged. This allowed the students to appreciate the relationship between genetic diversity and population size (≈650 students). After all classes were complete, the activity the anonymous data was placed on the LMS for the students to view. The Genetic Wheel activity provided a readily accessible platform for students to investigate genetic variation in themselves and their cohort in an online environment.