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Using Rap Music to Help Students Learn Critical Science Topics!

December 3, 2023

I don’t know about you, but I have always had a hard time learning science topics. Many of them are extremely abstract, and theoretical, and I always felt that the professor went so fast in class that I barely had time to keep up and ask questions. I would go home, feeling nervous and tense after class, and frantically search for a YouTube or Khan Academy video. However, when I started the video, I quickly found myself feeling disengaged, bored, and tired. I would spend hours on a video, just to find myself as confused as when I started watching the video. Initially, I thought it was just an issue with my understanding of that particular video, and I would try different videos on YouTube. Nevertheless, a point came when it just felt like every video was not working out, and that I was confused no matter what I did. I felt as if there was nothing I could do, and that I was just stuck not understanding the information and hoping for the best. Plus, with all my other classes, and all the tests I had plus my commitments outside of class, I felt extremely crunched for time and did not feel like I had the time to keep looking for resources. But something pushed me to try something new. I had heard of these parodies of songs that people used to learn complex topics before. Seeing that I was a big fan of rap music, I looked for rap music parodies. I was so pleasantly surprised by what I found! Suddenly, I actually felt engaged in what I was watching that I actually absorbed the information really effectively. This inspired me to try writing rap songs, myself, to teach science to kids and I decided to post rap lyrics, inspired my Migos that I have come up with so far to teach the processes of the circulatory system and how the heart pumps blood to kids. It goes as follows:

Rhythm drop, heart stop

Right A (atrium) pump blood to the V (ventricle) top

Get that O2 from the lung, lung lung

Come back down to the Left A, yeah

We go from O nothing to something now

The heart is really functioning wow

Left V so strong, circulating

Aortic valve kick starting and…

Myocardium pumping and pushing,

Valves open and blood flowing

Valves close preventin the leaking

We got normal function of heart (ay)

Myocardium pumpin and pushin,

Valves open and blood flowin

Valves close preventin the leaking

We got normal function of heart (ay)

Looking back, I have two hypotheses about why students learn significantly better when listening to these raps than using conventional methods. For one, many people in the Gen Z generation are into rap music. They like the beat, melody, and the flow of the words. Therefore, when they listen to a rap song, even if it is about a science related topic, they are significantly more likely to be engaged and interested as they get hooked into the music and focus less on what the song is actually about. At least from experience, when you try to teach someone a topic in a way that they can relate to and something in their life, like a hobby or an interest that they can personally connect the topic to, they are much more likely to be motivated and interested in learning. My second hypothesis is that listening to rap music increases their interest in the topic, and many research papers have demonstrated that when people are more interested in something, they are likely to retain much more of the information that they learn about it. For instance, one study that looked into the quantity of information that students remembered and the durability of their memory, regarding that information when they learned it in a way that was interesting to them vs. using a conventional method produced some results that were extremely insightful and fascinating. For instance, “The researchers found that the students who were interested in what they learned gained way more because they were more likely to go to class, pay attention, and even wanted to take more courses in that given area”(Interest Matters: The Importance of Promoting Interest in Education). This makes sense, from my personal experience, as I looked forward to going to classes where I knew that I would be entertained and I would have fun, while I dreaded and would not look forward to going to classes where I knew that I would be bored and that I would not be engaged. Similarly, another study found that “Experiencing situational interest, like seeing a brush being used to paint in art class can greatly increase engagement”(Interest Matters: The Importance of Promoting Interest in Education). This is one of the principles that I use in the raps that I create, as I try to include applications of how these topics apply to real life in the lyrics to increase peoples’ attention. I have also experienced this personally, as I was more engaged in my Biomechanics class, when I saw how what I was learning could be applied to the motion of joints in real life. What I do not understand is that with so many studies pointing to this finding, why have we not implemented this learning model in high schools and colleges across the country? What are we waiting for? Why do we keep using old methods, when we know their success rates are limited? It is high time to stop going with the conventional, tried and true method, and have the courage to try something new. Not only will it make students and professors, alike, happier, but students will actually retain more knowledge that will help them in their future careers and, more importantly, their life! If you are a professor reading this, I sincerely hope you have the courage to give this a try in your class one day! I guarantee you that you will not regret it!

Source:

Harackiewicz, J. M., Smith, J. L., & Priniski, S. J. (2016). Interest Matters: The Importance of Promoting Interest in Education. Policy insights from the behavioral and brain sciences, 3(2), 220–227. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732216655542

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About Author

4th year Biomedical Engineering Student at Georgia Tech, looking to go into the Premed track.

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From Gene to Geometry : All You Need to Know about DNA Nanostructures

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  Timothy Durham was convicted of rape when a test showed his DNA genotype matched the DNA recovered from the crime scene. Eye witnesses testified that Durham was in a different state at the time of the incident, but he wasn’t exonerated from his 3000 year sentence until follow up DNA analysis showed that the preliminary forensic analysis used in the trial was misinterpreted (Thomas et al.). DNA testing serves an invaluable part in our criminal justice system, but it comes with complications and bias that can lead to wrongful convictions and misinformed juries.  

Background:

Forensic genetics aims to identify the origin of a biological sample. It can be traced back to Karl Landsteiner who discovered human ABO blood groups. With blood groups, suspects could be eliminated based on their blood type. For example, if a suspect had type A blood and there was type B blood left at the scene by the perpetrator, the investigators could rule out the suspect. Unfortunately, the reverse didn’t work. If the suspect and perpetrator both had the same blood type, it can’t be concluded that the suspect was guilty. Blood identifiers evolved into 8 distinct categories which improved the ability to eliminate suspects, but could only conclude that (if the system matched) it might be the perpetrator or this person might be related to the perpetrator (Jobling and Gill). The field evolved in the 1980s with the discovery of Minisatellites, lines of repetitive DNA that don’t encode proteins. Minisatellite patterns in DNA create what we know today as the DNA fingerprint, and it has a much higher accuracy rate than previous methods (Augustyn et al.). Around the same time, a breakthrough for victims of sexual assault was discovered. In the case of assault, bodily fluids of both the victim and the assaulter can get mixed. A process called differential lysis was created which could selectively increase the concentration of sperm in a fluid sample thereby allowing for accurate DNA testing (Jobling and Gill). Forensics evolved to use single-locus probe testing after several years because of its ease of interpretation. It looked at specific minisatellites that had high variability between subjects. This was the first DNA-based method to be used in a criminal investigation. Two murder homicides from several years apart were connected using DNA evidence. The evidence was then used to exonerate an innocent man, and the guilty party was found when he tried to evade mandatory DNA testing for all men in the small town. His guilt was then reinforced when the DNA profiles matched, and he gave a confession (Jobling and Gill). Finding DNA at a crime scene doesn’t guarantee that you’ll find a murderer. There are issues with non-pure samples and limited samples that make DNA work difficult, and accreditation of facilities and new techniques and take time (Jobling and Gill).  

Subjectivity of DNA Interpretation:

In a 2009 publication, the National Academy of Science discusses the possibility for subjective influence in lab based forensics. The interpretation bias happens in complex cases where, for example, there could be a mixture of DNA. A study published in 2011 looked specifically at this issue. A gang rape happened in Georgia, and the mixture in DNA from the case was used to prosecute one suspect after another suspect took a plea bargain to testify against him. With DNA mixtures, there are three possible conclusions: suspect excluded, suspect cannot be excluded, and inconclusive. If the suspect is excluded, it means that there’s little to no possibility that his DNA is part of the sample. If the suspect cannot be excluded, it means that there’s a possibility that his DNA is part of the sample. In the trial, the DNA examiners who knew the context of the case concluded that the suspect being prosecuted could not be excluded. The 2011 study gave the DNA evidence from this case and the DNA profiles of the suspects to 17 forensic examiners. These examiners had no context of the case, and they all worked independently. Of the 17, only 1 came to the same conclusion (suspect cannot be excluded) as the examiners who knew the context of the case. Twelve of the 17 concluded that the suspect who was prosecuted and convicted had no relation to the DNA found in the sample. Not only does this show that subjectivity occurs due to the context of the case, but the 17 examiners came up with different findings based on their past experiences meaning that not all DNA analysis is objective. Some organizations like the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods say that quantitative statistical evidence should be presented with every categorical conclusion, but the US doesn’t require this (Dror and Hampikian).

False Positives:

There are two categories that cause wrongful identification in a DNA report: coincidental matches and false positives. Coincidental matches are DNA matches between two unrelated people. The probability of these matches is about 1 to 500,000 for white individuals and about 1 to 350,000 for black individuals. This small probability of coincidental matches makes people feel confident in DNA evidence. False positives, on the other hand, are matches between DNA and test DNA that result from issues in the forensics lab. There have been multiple cases of forensics labs accidentally switching victim and suspected rapist DNA which lead to convictions that were later overturned when the lab realized the error. There are also cases of misreading or misunderstanding a sample. In a case from 1993, a man was convicted of rape because someone interpreted a mixed sample of victim and perpetrator DNA as an individual sample. The conviction was again overturned. To prevent false convictions, retesting DNA is allowed, but it’s not an efficient solution. Many people are pushing for statistical information on the probability of false positives, so that the jurors can make accurate judgements based on DNA evidence (Thomas et al.).  

Conclusion:

DNA analysis is a useful tool for the criminal justice system, but subjectivity can be an issue in forensic testing. To combat wrongful convictions, there are organizations like The Innocence Project who use DNA testing to free the innocent, but reformed forensic testing standards should be put in place to prevent subjectivity and to ensure juries are correctly informed during trials. https://www.innocenceproject.org/    

Citation:

Augustyn , Adam, et al. “DNA Finerprinting.” Encyclopedia Britannica , 26 Apr. 2018, www.britannica.com/science/DNA-fingerprinting#ref153186. Dror, Itiel E., and Greg Hampikian. “Subjectivity and Bias in Forensic DNA Mixture Interpretation.” Science & Justice, vol. 51, no. 4, 2011, pp. 204–208., doi:10.1016/j.scijus.2011.08.004. Jobling, Mark A., and Peter Gill. “Encoded Evidence: DNA in Forensic Analysis.” Nature Reviews: Genetics, vol. 5, no. 10, Oct. 2004, pp. 739–751., doi:10.1038/nrg1455. Thompson, William C, et al. “How the Probability of a False Positive Affects the Value of DNA Evidence.” Journal of Forensic Sciences, vol. 48, no. 1, Jan. 2003, pp. 1–8., doi:10.1520/jfs2001171.