Difference between revisions of "Team:Imperial College/Integrated Practices"

 
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                             This year the Imperial College London 2016 iGEM team created two original pieces of integrated human practices work. The first is a new approach to employing the sociological process known as “reflexivity” in an iGEM project. The second is a researched
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                             This year the Imperial College London 2016 iGEM team created two original pieces of integrated human practices work. The first is a new approach to employing the sociological process known as “reflexivity” in an iGEM project. The second is a visual strategy for communication about foundational technologies and basic research that, most importantly, impacted two visualisation pieces we presented at the <a href="https://live.newscientist.com/">New Scientist Live event.</a>
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                            and critiqued visual strategy for communication about foundational technologies and basic research that, most importantly, impacted two visualisation pieces we presented at the first <a href="https://live.newscientist.com/">New Scientist Live event </a>.
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                            First of all, integrated human practices are defined as the consideration of the ethical, legal, or environmental issues, among others, surrounding one’s project and having them influence the execution of it. Teams participating in the foundational
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                            track of the iGEM competition are often limited to talking to other scientists about their work because of the degree of technicality and lack of immediate application to the “real world.” That is not to say however
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First of all, pursuing integrated human practices means considering the ethical, social, legal, or environmental dimension of a project and then incorporating such dimensions into the work of the project. Teams participating in the foundational track of the iGEM competition are often limited to talking to other scientists about their work because of the degree of technicality and lack of immediate application to the “real world”. That is not to say that foundational teams do not need to consider wider implications of their work. Decisions made on a day-to-day basis in a project can have significant consequences inside as well as outside the lab and reflecting on those decisions can uncover broader societal concerns which would otherwise go unnoticed. This process has been termed by social scientists as “reflexivity.” Our team decided to build on our knowledge of reflexivity, formalise our approach and implement a customised version of the <a href="https://cns.asu.edu/research/stir">Socio-Technical Integration Research protocol (S.T.I.R.)</a>. We are the first iGEM team to employ the protocol. We are the first to do it without a sociologist present to employ the protocol.
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                            that foundational teams do not need to consider wider implications of their work. Decisions made on a day-to-day basis in a project can have significant consequences inside as well as outside the lab and reflecting on those
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                            decisions can uncover broader societal concerns which would otherwise go unnoticed. This process has been termed by social scientists as “reflexivity.” Therefore, our team decided to build on our knowledge of reflexivity, formalise
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                            our approach and implement a customised version of the Socio-Technical Integration Research protocol (S.T.I.R.)..
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               How are you doing reflexivity?</span></h2>
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               Making S.T.I.R. Work</span></h2>
 
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           Reflexivity is a difficult concept to grasp and even more difficult to employ without a formalised approach.  S.T.I.R. is designed to take the form of a structured, cyclic discussion which takes place with members of a lab about decisions made over the course of a research project. The discussions are organized as follows:</span>                            </p>
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           Reflexivity is a difficult concept to grasp and even more difficult to employ without a formalised approach.  S.T.I.R. is designed to take the form of a structured, cyclic discussion which takes place with members of a lab about decisions made over the course of a research project.   We made the protocol more useful for iGEM teams to employ themselves with our own, custom approach to the protocol.  The unaltered discussions that result from S.T.I.R. are organized as follows:</span>                            </p>
 
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We designated <span data-balloon-length="large" data-balloon="Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings.  A humanist is an agent for this philosophical concept." data-balloon-pos="up" style="color: #A8BBA2;">humanist</span> on our team to identify opportunities or decisions to employ the protocol. Furthermore, we recorded our discussions to show their impact on the course of our project. </span></p>
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We employed the protocol as an entire team.  This was logistically challenging, but resulted some of the most impactful uses of the protocol.  As the project progressed, we realised we could not all recognize opportunities to use it.  Therefore, we designated <span data-balloon-length="large" data-balloon="Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings.  A humanist is an agent for this philosophical concept." data-balloon-pos="up" style="color: #A8BBA2;">humanist</span> on our team to identify opportunities or decisions to employ it. We recorded our discussions to show their impact on the course of our project. </span></p>
 
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Here is a template for our initial S.T.I.R. protocol:
 
Here is a template for our initial S.T.I.R. protocol:
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                            After trying to employ the protocol, we discovered our group was having difficulty defining what constituted a decision or opportunity. Many “decisions” we made over the course of our project, like building a web database for co-culture experimental design,
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                          S.T.I.R. is intended to be employed in ‘real time’. But after trying to employ the protocol, we discovered our group was having difficulty defining what constituted a decision or opportunity. At first we had a lot of trouble implementing the S.T.I.R. protocol and we could not clearly see the benefits of conducting such a process. It required the team to meet regularly as a whole group, which was in itself a challenging task considering that ecolibrium is a team of twelve students. Upon encouragement, we decided to try applying the S.T.I.R. protocol to decisions we had already made. We eventually came to realised that we had unconsciously been considering many aspects of the S.T.I.R. process every time we made a pivot. Many of the important “decisions” that we made over the course of our project, like building a web database for co-culture experimental design, only became clear to us over time. S.T.I.R. needed to be modified to work for the team. We realised that many of the most significant decisions were made in response to problems we were facing in the lab. For example,  “There is no current database for co-culture data”, “We need a better growth regulation module”.
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                            only became clear to us after they had developed. We reconsidered the S.T.I.R. method and realized that we were thinking of the protocol in the wrong way. The “decisions” we were making were due to problems we were facing in
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                            the lab. Here are some problems that we have encountered: “There is no current database for co-culture data”, “We need a better growth regulation module”. As time progressed, we felt the protocol was useful but felt like a
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                            lot of extra work for sometimes little pay off.
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                             We adapted the S.T.I.R. protocol to include elements from the problem-based learning (PBL) framework. The problem-based learning framework is a student centered style of teaching.  Students learn by solving open-ended problems.  After some team discussions, we felt the modifications made reflexivity easier to employ because it became more integrated in the development of the project.
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                             We adapted the S.T.I.R. protocol to include elements from the <a href="http://guides.library.vu.edu.au/PBL/FrameWork">problem-based learning (PBL) </a> framework. The problem-based learning framework is a student centered style of teaching.  Students learn by solving open-ended problems.  After some team discussions, we felt the modifications made reflexivity easier to employ because it became more integrated in the development of the project.
 
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                             Here is a copy of our revised protocol:
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                             Here is a copy of our revised protocol:<br><br>
 
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                         </span>
 
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           <li>
 
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             How did you become aware of the application/technology/idea?</li>
 
             How did you become aware of the application/technology/idea?</li>
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      <td>Prior Knowledge/What do we know?</td>
 
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          <li>Why are you doing it?</li>
 
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          <li>Why does this decision need to be made?</li>
 
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          <li>Consider the following dimensions when considering the impact of the “opportunity”:</li>
 
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            <li>Societal</li>
 
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            <li>Economic</li>
 
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            <li>Environmental</li>
 
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            <li>Ethical</li>
 
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            <li>Emotional</li>
 
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            <li>Material</li>
 
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            <ul>
 
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              <li>All of the physical objects that people create and give meaning to</li>
 
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            </ul>
 
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          </ul>
 
 
         </ul>
 
         </ul>
 
       </td>
 
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<tr>
 
<tr>
 
<td>Prior Knowledge/What do we know?</td>
 
<td>Prior Knowledge/What do we know?</td>
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<li>What information do you have, currently, to solve the problem?</li>
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<td>Research & Learn</td>
 
<td>Research & Learn</td>
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<li>Consult different resources to acquire the information you think is necessary to solve the problem</li>
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       <td>
 
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         <ul>
 
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<li>Why are you solving the problem?</li>
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<li>Why does the problem need to be solved?</li>
 
           <li>Consider the following dimensions when considering the impact of the “opportunity”:</li>
 
           <li>Consider the following dimensions when considering the impact of the “opportunity”:</li>
 
           <ul>
 
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           <li>How could solve it/move forward differently?
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           <li>How could solve it move forward differently?
 
           </li>
 
           </li>
 
         </ul>
 
         </ul>
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       <td>
 
       <td>
 
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           <li>What is the solution</li>
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           <li>What is the solution?</li>
 
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         </ul>
 
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             Here is a record of our modified reflexive analysis:
 
             Here is a record of our modified reflexive analysis:
 
<div class="center-block largeicon imagelighthover ">
 
<div class="center-block largeicon imagelighthover ">
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<a href="www.google.com">
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<a href="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/9/9c/T--Imperial_College--STIRPBL.pdf">
 
<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/b/bd/T--Imperial_College--downloadpdf2.png">
 
<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/b/bd/T--Imperial_College--downloadpdf2.png">
 
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Here are the initial reflections that spurred the creation of some of the most significant parts of our project:
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At every stage during our project, we constantly asked ourselves what the impact of our work was on the world and who it might affect.  While the protocol has not existed in its current state since the beginning, working with it and trying to employ it has had a profound impact on the development of our project.  We cannot say that the creation of all of the many components of our project can be attributed to the S.T.I.R. protocol.  We can say that it helped to shape and clarify their development by organizing and structuring our thought process.  We hope that in the future, iGEM teams will be able to build on our new method and have it be the easiest method of employing the S.T.I.R. protocol without a “resident sociologist.”  Moreover, we hope that future iGEM teams take the time to use our method because of the many contributions reflexivity has brought to our project.  Here is a summary of the impact of our reflexive analysis:
 
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Colour demonstration:
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<b>Colour demonstration:</b>
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We realized that it was hard for people not familiar with our project to grasp the concept of co-culture.  Our project revolved around visual strategies. Moreover, we had developed technology that allows for the ratiometric control of different cell populations. Mixing different colours seemed like the best way to showcase our project and have it tie in with our overarching theme of visualisation.  After further reflecting on this, we found that this colour mixing technology could be further developed to create environmentally friendly clothing pigments or an easier method for mixing inks in industrial printing processes.
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        <h1table>Stage</h1table></th>
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      <td>Opportunity</td>
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      <td >
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        <ul>
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          <li>What are you doing?</li>
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            <li class="handwrite">Developing a standardized library of biologically derived colours.
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<li>How did you become aware of the application/technology/idea?</li>
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            <li class="handwrite">Colours are mixed in precise ratios. Our genetic circuitry can manage cell populations in precise ratios.</li>
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      <td>Considerations</td>
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          <li>Why are you doing it?</li>
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          <li class="handwrite">Our genetic circuitry can manage cell populations in precise ratios. We can make precise colours by splitting the generation of primary colour pigments between cell populations.</li>
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          <li>Consider the following dimensions when considering the impact of the “opportunity”:</li>
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          <ul>
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            <li>Societal</li>
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            <li class="handwrite">
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              Replace expensive, harsh chemicals used for pigments in clothing.
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            </li>
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            <br>
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            <li>Economic</li>
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            <li class="handwrite">
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              Create a new printer and ink cartridge system which is cheaper and easier to replace than ones currently on the market. Create new clothing dyes that are cheaper to manufacture.
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            </li>
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            <br>
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            <li>Environmental</li>
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            <li class="handwrite">
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            No more toxic chemicals released into the environment to create different pigments.
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            </li>
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            <br>
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            <li>Material</li>
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            <ul>
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              <li>All of the physical objects that people create and give meaning to</li>
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            </ul>
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            <li class="handwrite">
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              Create more printers.  Create more clothes.
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            </li>
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          </ul>
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        </ul>
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    </tr>
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    <tr>
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      <td>Alternatives</td>
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      <td>
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        <ul>
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          <li>How could you do it/move forward differently?
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            <li class="handwrite">
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              Started literature review of printer ink production, Pantone system, how to create pigments in cells, etc. Determine if it is feasible through discussion with researchers at the university.</li>
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          </li>
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        <br>
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          <li>What are the options to respond to the stimulus?
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        </li>
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        <li class="handwrite">
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          Choose one of the other 11 proposed applications.
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        </li>
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          </li>
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        </ul>
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    </tr>
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      <td>Outcomes</td>
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      <td>
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        <ul>
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          <li>Who might care what you do and how you do it?
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          </li>
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          <li class="handwrite">
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          Environmentalists and conscious consumers will enjoy our colour products, if we develop them.
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          </li>
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          <br>
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          <li>What happens now?
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          </li>
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          <li class="handwrite">
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            Determine if this is best application of the system and further develop it as an idea.
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          </li>
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        </ul>
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      </td>
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    </tr>
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Development of the game:</span>
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<b>Development of the game:</b>
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                                <br>
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<br><br>
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                                <div id="demo">
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We realized that many people associate bacteria with negative things, like disease.  We also realized the abundance of microbial consortia in nature that produce useful products like milk or cheese.  Furthermore, many people are completely unaware of the lab practices involved in synthetic biology.  We determined that there was a need for many people to be educated about the benefits of synthetic microbial consortia.  Our educational material needed to be far reaching and accessible.  Therefore, we decided to develop a mobile application called Go Culture.
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                                                    <h1table>Stage</h1table>
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                                                <th>
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                                                    <h1table>Questions</h1table>
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                                                <td>Opportunity</td>
+
−
                                                <td>
+
−
                                                    <ul>
+
−
                                                        <li>What are you doing?</li>
+
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">Design and produce a “co-culture” game as a form of outreach.</li>
+
−
                                                        <br>
+
−
                                                        <li>How did you become aware of the application/technology/idea?</li>
+
  
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">The idea was inspired by Pokemon Go and looking into microbial consortiums in nature and applications for our project.</li>
+
<b>Development of the web tool:</b>
−
                                                    </ul>
+
<br><br>
−
                                                </td>
+
After discussions with researchers at the Center for Synthetic Biology at Imperial College, we realized that there was no standardized method for doing co-culture. We learned that many researchers who would use co-culture do not because of the amount of preliminary experimental data and literature they would would need to review in order to conduct their experiments. Therefore, we decided to create an online tool for researchers and iGEM teams to access for their future co-culture experiments.
−
                                            </tr>
+
−
                                            <tr>
+
−
                                                <td>Considerations</td>
+
−
                                                <td>
+
−
                                                    <ul>
+
−
                                                        <li>Why are you doing it?</li>
+
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">We need an outreach part of Human Practices for iGEM.</li>
+
−
                                                        <br>
+
−
                                                        <li>Consider the following dimensions when considering the impact of the “opportunity”:</li>
+
−
                                                        <ul>
+
−
                                                            <li>Societal</li>
+
−
                                                            <li class="handwrite">
+
−
                                                                The public generally have negative view of microbes and bacteria. However, bacteria are used in everyday processes. There is very little known about general synthetic biology lab practices.
+
−
                                                            </li>
+
−
                                                            <br>
+
−
                                                            <li>Environmental</li>
+
−
                                                            <li class="handwrite">
+
−
                                                                Anti GMO organisations might be angry.
+
−
                                                            </li>
+
−
                                                            <br>
+
−
                                                            <li>Ethical</li>
+
−
 
+
−
                                                            <br>
+
−
                                                            <li class="handwrite">
+
−
                                                                We might undermine our message that there are many positive aspects about bacteria’s existence
+
−
 
+
−
                                                            </li>
+
−
                                                            <li>Emotional</li>
+
−
 
+
−
                                                            <br>
+
−
                                                            <li class="handwrite">
+
−
                                                                Games good medium to educate people about co-culture.
+
−
                                                            </li>
+
−
                                                        </ul>
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−
                                                    </ul>
+
−
                                                </td>
+
−
                                            </tr>
+
−
                                            <tr>
+
−
                                                <td>Alternatives</td>
+
−
                                                <td>
+
−
                                                    <ul>
+
−
                                                        <li>How could you do it/move forward differently?
+
−
                                                            <li class="handwrite">
+
−
                                                                Use a different outreach medium. For example, we could make a card game or book.
+
−
                                                            </li>
+
−
                                                        </li>
+
−
                                                        </li>
+
−
                                                    </ul>
+
−
                                                </td>
+
−
                                            </tr>
+
−
                                            <tr>
+
−
                                                <td>Outcomes</td>
+
−
                                                <td>
+
−
                                                    <ul>
+
−
 
+
−
                                                        <li>What happens now?
+
−
                                                        </li>
+
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">
+
−
                                                            Start developing the game.
+
−
                                                        </li>
+
−
                                                    </ul>
+
−
                                                </td>
+
−
                                            </tr>
+
−
                                        </tbody>
+
−
                                    </table>
+
−
                                </div>
+
−
                                <br>
+
−
                                <span class="cream" style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Roboto">
+
−
Development of the web tool:
+
 
</span>
 
</span>
−
                                <br>
 
−
                                <div id="demo">
 
−
                                    <table class="container">
 
−
                                        <thead>
 
−
                                            <tr>
 
−
                                                <th>
 
−
                                                    <h1table>Stage</h1table>
 
−
                                                </th>
 
−
                                                <th>
 
−
                                                    <h1table>Questions</h1table>
 
−
                                                </th>
 
−
                                            </tr>
 
−
                                        </thead>
 
−
                                        <tbody>
 
−
                                            <tr>
 
−
                                                <td>Opportunity</td>
 
−
                                                <td>
 
−
                                                    <ul>
 
−
                                                        <li>What are you doing?</li>
 
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">Creating a software tool for co-culture information.</li>
 
−
                                                        <br>
 
−
                                                        <li>How did you become aware of the application/technology/idea?</li>
 
−
 
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">Researchers at the Center for Synthetic Biology at Imperial College London said there was no standardized approach to co-culture. There is currently no resource to determine how to co-culture different
 
−
                                                            kinds of bacteria.</li>
 
−
                                                    </ul>
 
−
                                                </td>
 
−
                                            </tr>
 
−
                                            <tr>
 
−
                                                <td>Considerations</td>
 
−
                                                <td>
 
−
                                                    <ul>
 
−
                                                        <li>Why are you doing it?</li>
 
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">In order for people to be able to make their own co-cultures in the future, there needs to be a resource for them to learn how to do it.</li> <br>
 
−
                                                        <li>Why does this decision need to be made?</li>
 
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">
 
−
                                                            Without a source of information for co-culture information, scientists will be unlikely to use our software. </li>
 
−
                                                        <br>
 
−
                                                        <li>Consider the following dimensions when considering the impact of the “opportunity”:</li>
 
−
                                                        <ul>
 
−
                                                            <li>Societal</li>
 
−
                                                            <li class="handwrite">
 
−
                                                                If co-culture is not made easier, researchers will not be able to do it in the future. Therefore, single cell type populations will be the only way to solve problems in synthetic biology
 
−
                                                            </li>
 
  
−
                                                        </ul>
 
−
                                                    </ul>
 
−
                                                </td>
 
−
                                            </tr>
 
−
                                            <tr>
 
−
                                                <td>Alternatives</td>
 
−
                                                <td>
 
−
                                                    <ul>
 
−
                                                        <li>How could you do it/move forward differently?
 
−
                                                            <li class="handwrite">
 
−
                                                                Choose a different form factor for the tool. The tool could be a text document people could download.
 
−
                                                            </li>
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                        <br>
 
−
                                                        <li>What are the options to respond to the stimulus?
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">
 
−
                                                            Determine what content will make up the tool. Determine the best form factor from that.
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                    </ul>
 
−
                                                </td>
 
−
                                            </tr>
 
−
                                            <tr>
 
−
                                                <td>Outcomes</td>
 
−
                                                <td>
 
−
                                                    <ul>
 
−
                                                        <li>Who might care what you do and how you do it?
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">
 
−
                                                            Researchers would like something to make co-cultures easier
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                        <br>
 
−
                                                        <li>What happens now?
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">
 
−
                                                            Research content for the tool. Determine what it will look like/form factor
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                    </ul>
 
−
                                                </td>
 
−
                                            </tr>
 
−
                                        </tbody>
 
−
                                    </table>
 
−
                                </div>
 
 
                                 <br>
 
                                 <br>
−
                                 <p class="cream">
+
                                 <p class="cream"><br><br>
−
                                     Development of the visualisation strategy:
+
                                     <b>Development of the visualisation strategy:</b>
 +
                                    <br><br>
 +
                                    After discussions with students at the Royal College of Art about our project, we realized we were having difficulty communicating about our project with them to inspire future applications.  We developed graphics which made it easier to understand our project.  The artists we able to more easily grasp the concept of co-culture.  We realized the difficulties with science communication and creating graphics that explain foundational technologies.  We realized the importance of engaging with the public about basic scientific research to shape their future development.  Therefore, we developed a strategy to make effective visualisations to communicate about foundational technologies.
 
                                 </p>
 
                                 </p>
−
                                <div id="demo">
 
−
                                    <table class="container">
 
−
                                        <thead>
 
−
                                            <tr>
 
−
                                                <th>
 
−
                                                    <h1table>Stage</h1table>
 
−
                                                </th>
 
−
                                                <th>
 
−
                                                    <h1table>Questions</h1table>
 
−
                                                </th>
 
−
                                            </tr>
 
−
                                        </thead>
 
−
                                        <tbody>
 
−
                                            <tr>
 
−
                                                <td>Opportunity</td>
 
−
                                                <td>
 
−
                                                    <ul>
 
−
                                                        <li>What are you doing?</li>
 
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">Developing a data visualisation strategy.</li>
 
−
                                                        <br>
 
−
                                                        <li>How did you become aware of the application/technology/idea?</li>
 
  
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">We noticed that there was disconnect between ourselves and non-scientific audiences when we spoke about our project. We noticed that people better understood our presentations when we added lots
 
−
                                                            of animations and pictures.</li>
 
−
                                                    </ul>
 
−
                                                </td>
 
−
                                            </tr>
 
−
                                            <tr>
 
−
                                                <td>Considerations</td>
 
−
                                                <td>
 
−
                                                    <ul>
 
−
                                                        <li>Why are you doing it?</li>
 
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">Scientists have difficulty speaking to the public about their work. Visual media can act as a powerful language.</li> <br>
 
−
                                                        <li>Consider the following dimensions when considering the impact of the “opportunity”:</li>
 
−
                                                        <ul>
 
−
                                                            <li>Societal</li>
 
−
                                                            <li class="handwrite">
 
−
                                                                Foundational science could be better communicated to the public. The public’s opinion should be taken into consideration when conducting basic scientific research.
 
−
                                                            </li>
 
−
 
−
                                                        </ul>
 
−
                                                    </ul>
 
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                                                </td>
 
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                                            </tr>
 
−
                                            <tr>
 
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                                                <td>Alternatives</td>
 
−
                                                <td>
 
−
                                                    <ul>
 
−
                                                        <li>How could you do it/move forward differently?
 
−
                                                            <li class="handwrite">
 
−
                                                                We started literature review of science communication and data visualisation. We need to determine what form factor the guide will take.
 
−
                                                            </li>
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                        <br>
 
−
                                                        <li>What are the options to respond to the stimulus?
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">
 
−
                                                            Continue researching visualisation strategies and how to best present them.
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                    </ul>
 
−
                                                </td>
 
−
                                            </tr>
 
−
                                            <tr>
 
−
                                                <td>Outcomes</td>
 
−
                                                <td>
 
−
                                                    <ul>
 
−
                                                        <li>Who might care what you do and how you do it?
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">
 
−
                                                            The public wants to be informed about developments in science, especially when it involves genetically modified organisms.
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                        <br>
 
−
                                                        <li>What happens now?
 
−
                                                        </li>
 
−
                                                        <li class="handwrite">
 
−
                                                            Continue researching visualisation strategies. </li>
 
−
                                                    </ul>
 
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                                                </td>
 
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                             our project needed more input from non-specialists. Therefore, we compiled all of the information we had received from literature and from these artists and designers and created a visualisation guidebook. The visualisation
 
                             our project needed more input from non-specialists. Therefore, we compiled all of the information we had received from literature and from these artists and designers and created a visualisation guidebook. The visualisation
 
                             guidebook has had an impact on the presentation of our project, most notably on the infographic and computer game Go-Culture we presented at the New Scientist Live in London. We included our thought process and some of the
 
                             guidebook has had an impact on the presentation of our project, most notably on the infographic and computer game Go-Culture we presented at the New Scientist Live in London. We included our thought process and some of the
−
                             critiques we received from the artists and designers at the Royal College of Art in the book.
+
                             critiques we received from the artists and designers at the Royal College of Art in the book.<br><br><br><br><br>
 
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                         <p class="indent">
 
                         <p class="indent">
 
                             <br><br> Some of the highlights from the book and our research were:
 
                             <br><br> Some of the highlights from the book and our research were:
 
                         </p>
 
                         </p>
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                         <ul style="font-size:18px;">
+
                         <ul style="font-size:18px; font-family: Roboto;">
−
                             <li>Choosing a compelling story that can be supported with interestingly represented graphical data</li>
+
                             <li>Choosing a compelling story that can be supported with interestingly represented graphical data</li><br>
−
                             <li>Classification and examples of visualisations in synthetic biology</li>
+
                             <li>Classification and examples of visualisations in synthetic biology</li><br>
−
                             <li>Rules for compositions of graphics to create easy to follow visual hierarchies that guide viewers through a process or story without the use of extraneous arrows or other symbols</li>
+
                             <li>Rules for compositions of graphics to create easy to follow visual hierarchies that guide viewers through a process or story without the use of extraneous arrows or other symbols</li><br>
−
                             <li>Interactive content is best for increasing comprehension and satisfaction with audiences</li>
+
                             <li>Interactive content is best for increasing comprehension and satisfaction with audiences</li><br>
−
                             <li>A compendium of resources to make compelling visual media</li>
+
                             <li>A compendium of resources to make compelling visual media</li><br>
 
                             <li>A culminating example on our infographics and game we presented at the New Scientist Live event in London</li>
 
                             <li>A culminating example on our infographics and game we presented at the New Scientist Live event in London</li>
 
                         </ul>
 
                         </ul>
 +
</div>
 +
  
  
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We hope that our journey through S.T.I.R will be able to inspire more future foundational iGEM teams to consider new approaches for integrated human practices. By doing so we believe that they will uncover new ways to reflect on the different dimensions of their project, which will help them making more coherent decisions when facing challenging problems through the whole duration of their project.
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In conclusion, we are the first iGEM team to try to autonomously employ the S.T.I.R. protocol.  We made modifications to it through an iterative process.  We believe that the state of the current protocol and reflexive analysis should be employed by all future iGEM teams.  We hope that our journey through S.T.I.R will be able to inspire others to consider new approaches for integrated human practices. By doing so we believe that they will uncover new ways to reflect on the different dimensions of their project, which will help them making more coherent decisions when facing challenging problems through the whole duration of their project.
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              References</span></h2>
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Fisher, Erik, and Arie Rip. 2013. “Responsible Innovation: Managing the Responsible Emergence of Science and Innovation in Society.” In Responsible Innovation. doi:10.1002/9781118551424.ch9.
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<br><br>
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“Humanism.” 2016. Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed October 19. https://www.britannica.com/topic/humanism.
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<br><br>
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“New Scientist Live 22 to 26 September, London ExCeL.” 2016. New Scientist. Accessed October 19. https://live.newscientist.com/.
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<br><br>
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Nguyen, Thinh. 2015. “LibGuides. Problem-Based Learning. The PBL Framework,” June. Victoria University Library. http://guides.library.vu.edu.au/PBL/FrameWork.
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<br><br>
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Savery, J. R., and T. M. Duffy. 1995. “Problem Based Learning: An Instructional Model and Its Constructivist Framework.” Educational Technology Research and Development: ETR & D. books.google.com. https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=mpsHa5f712wC&oi=fnd&pg=PA135&dq=problem+based+learning&ots=sYghDg8SJo&sig=bV6vo5Hp5OlIreoEJhgUMh3AXDI.
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<br><br>
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“Socio-Technical Integration Research (STIR) | Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU).” 2016. Accessed October 19. https://cns.asu.edu/research/stir.
 
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Latest revision as of 02:06, 20 October 2016

What are you doing?

This year the Imperial College London 2016 iGEM team created two original pieces of integrated human practices work. The first is a new approach to employing the sociological process known as “reflexivity” in an iGEM project. The second is a visual strategy for communication about foundational technologies and basic research that, most importantly, impacted two visualisation pieces we presented at the New Scientist Live event.

First of all, pursuing integrated human practices means considering the ethical, social, legal, or environmental dimension of a project and then incorporating such dimensions into the work of the project. Teams participating in the foundational track of the iGEM competition are often limited to talking to other scientists about their work because of the degree of technicality and lack of immediate application to the “real world”. That is not to say that foundational teams do not need to consider wider implications of their work. Decisions made on a day-to-day basis in a project can have significant consequences inside as well as outside the lab and reflecting on those decisions can uncover broader societal concerns which would otherwise go unnoticed. This process has been termed by social scientists as “reflexivity.” Our team decided to build on our knowledge of reflexivity, formalise our approach and implement a customised version of the Socio-Technical Integration Research protocol (S.T.I.R.). We are the first iGEM team to employ the protocol. We are the first to do it without a sociologist present to employ the protocol.

Making S.T.I.R. Work

Reflexivity is a difficult concept to grasp and even more difficult to employ without a formalised approach. S.T.I.R. is designed to take the form of a structured, cyclic discussion which takes place with members of a lab about decisions made over the course of a research project. We made the protocol more useful for iGEM teams to employ themselves with our own, custom approach to the protocol. The unaltered discussions that result from S.T.I.R. are organized as follows:

  1. One is presented with an opportunity, or something that requires a decision to be made.
  2. Its scope is further considered through background research and the shared experiences of the group’s members.
  3. Alternatives to the opportunity are proposed.
  4. Next, a decision is made and acted upon.
  5. Finally, the group goes back and reconsiders that outcome.

We built upon this framework to determine our own specific questions to ask ourselves at each stage in the S.T.I.R. protocol. Here are some of the key questions we asked ourselves:

  1. What is the decision you are trying to make?
  2. What are the societal, economic, environmental, and ethical impacts of the solution?
  3. Alternatives to the opportunity are proposed.
  4. What other solutions are there?
  5. Who are the stakeholders that will care how you intend to solve the problem?

We employed the protocol as an entire team. This was logistically challenging, but resulted some of the most impactful uses of the protocol. As the project progressed, we realised we could not all recognize opportunities to use it. Therefore, we designated humanist on our team to identify opportunities or decisions to employ it. We recorded our discussions to show their impact on the course of our project.

Here is a template for our initial S.T.I.R. protocol:

STIR Protocol for reflexive analysis
Stage Questions
Opportunity
  • What are you doing?
  • How did you become aware of the application/technology/idea?
Considerations
  • Why are you doing it?
  • Why does this decision need to be made?
  • Consider the following dimensions when considering the impact of the “opportunity”:
    • Societal
    • Economic
    • Environmental
    • Ethical
    • Emotional
    • Material
      • All of the physical objects that people create and give meaning to
Alternatives
  • How could you do it/move forward differently?
Outcomes
  • Who might care what you do and how you do it?
  • What happens now?



Here is a record of our reflexive analysis:

How did you modify it?

S.T.I.R. is intended to be employed in ‘real time’. But after trying to employ the protocol, we discovered our group was having difficulty defining what constituted a decision or opportunity. At first we had a lot of trouble implementing the S.T.I.R. protocol and we could not clearly see the benefits of conducting such a process. It required the team to meet regularly as a whole group, which was in itself a challenging task considering that ecolibrium is a team of twelve students. Upon encouragement, we decided to try applying the S.T.I.R. protocol to decisions we had already made. We eventually came to realised that we had unconsciously been considering many aspects of the S.T.I.R. process every time we made a pivot. Many of the important “decisions” that we made over the course of our project, like building a web database for co-culture experimental design, only became clear to us over time. S.T.I.R. needed to be modified to work for the team. We realised that many of the most significant decisions were made in response to problems we were facing in the lab. For example, “There is no current database for co-culture data”, “We need a better growth regulation module”.

Therefore, we reimagined the protocol as a problem solving tool with the added benefit of including dimensions that are not normally related to the lab in the problem solving process. We defined problems as:

Any discussion where you are unsure of the outcome that will have an impact on your project

We adapted the S.T.I.R. protocol to include elements from the problem-based learning (PBL) framework. The problem-based learning framework is a student centered style of teaching. Students learn by solving open-ended problems. After some team discussions, we felt the modifications made reflexivity easier to employ because it became more integrated in the development of the project.

Here is a copy of our revised protocol:

STIR + PBL Protocol for reflexive analysis
Stage Questions
Opportunity/The Problem
  • What are you doing?
  • How did you become aware of the application/technology/idea?
Prior Knowledge/What do we know?
  • What information do you have, currently, to solve the problem?
Research & Learn
  • Consult different resources to acquire the information you think is necessary to solve the problem
Considerations
  • Why are you solving the problem?
  • Why does the problem need to be solved?
  • Consider the following dimensions when considering the impact of the “opportunity”:
    • Societal
    • Economic
    • Environmental
    • Ethical
    • Emotional
    • Material
      • All of the physical objects that people create and give meaning to
Alternatives
  • How could solve it move forward differently?
Solve The Problem
  • What is the solution?
Outcomes
  • Who might care what you do and why?



Here is a record of our modified reflexive analysis:

What were some of the key outcomes?

At every stage during our project, we constantly asked ourselves what the impact of our work was on the world and who it might affect. While the protocol has not existed in its current state since the beginning, working with it and trying to employ it has had a profound impact on the development of our project. We cannot say that the creation of all of the many components of our project can be attributed to the S.T.I.R. protocol. We can say that it helped to shape and clarify their development by organizing and structuring our thought process. We hope that in the future, iGEM teams will be able to build on our new method and have it be the easiest method of employing the S.T.I.R. protocol without a “resident sociologist.” Moreover, we hope that future iGEM teams take the time to use our method because of the many contributions reflexivity has brought to our project. Here is a summary of the impact of our reflexive analysis:



Colour demonstration:

We realized that it was hard for people not familiar with our project to grasp the concept of co-culture. Our project revolved around visual strategies. Moreover, we had developed technology that allows for the ratiometric control of different cell populations. Mixing different colours seemed like the best way to showcase our project and have it tie in with our overarching theme of visualisation. After further reflecting on this, we found that this colour mixing technology could be further developed to create environmentally friendly clothing pigments or an easier method for mixing inks in industrial printing processes.



Development of the game:

We realized that many people associate bacteria with negative things, like disease. We also realized the abundance of microbial consortia in nature that produce useful products like milk or cheese. Furthermore, many people are completely unaware of the lab practices involved in synthetic biology. We determined that there was a need for many people to be educated about the benefits of synthetic microbial consortia. Our educational material needed to be far reaching and accessible. Therefore, we decided to develop a mobile application called Go Culture.



Development of the web tool:

After discussions with researchers at the Center for Synthetic Biology at Imperial College, we realized that there was no standardized method for doing co-culture. We learned that many researchers who would use co-culture do not because of the amount of preliminary experimental data and literature they would would need to review in order to conduct their experiments. Therefore, we decided to create an online tool for researchers and iGEM teams to access for their future co-culture experiments.



Development of the visualisation strategy:

After discussions with students at the Royal College of Art about our project, we realized we were having difficulty communicating about our project with them to inspire future applications. We developed graphics which made it easier to understand our project. The artists we able to more easily grasp the concept of co-culture. We realized the difficulties with science communication and creating graphics that explain foundational technologies. We realized the importance of engaging with the public about basic scientific research to shape their future development. Therefore, we developed a strategy to make effective visualisations to communicate about foundational technologies.

Visual Strategies

One of the key outcomes of our reflexive analysis was the development of our “Visual Strategies Experiential Guidebook”. We realized that there were many opportunities for designers and artists and sociologists and other non-specialists to have an impact on the future applications of our enabling technology. However, it was extremely difficult to communicate the power of our technology to these audiences. After 6 hours of official meetings and several hours of discussion with students and faculty at the Royal College of Art, we realized that visual media was the key to quick understanding. We refined our presentations, developing interesting graphics. We took feedback from our small audience. We researched best practices for the composition of graphics. We finally created visualisations that were easy for them to process and synthesize meaningful feedback. Moreover, after finally creating a visualisation that was easy to understand, we were astonished by some of the things they suggested. One of those things was modular phenotype engineering. This was a concept we had not considered for our project. From this experience, we decided that our project needed more input from non-specialists. Therefore, we compiled all of the information we had received from literature and from these artists and designers and created a visualisation guidebook. The visualisation guidebook has had an impact on the presentation of our project, most notably on the infographic and computer game Go-Culture we presented at the New Scientist Live in London. We included our thought process and some of the critiques we received from the artists and designers at the Royal College of Art in the book.




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Some of the highlights from the book and our research were:

  • Choosing a compelling story that can be supported with interestingly represented graphical data

  • Classification and examples of visualisations in synthetic biology

  • Rules for compositions of graphics to create easy to follow visual hierarchies that guide viewers through a process or story without the use of extraneous arrows or other symbols

  • Interactive content is best for increasing comprehension and satisfaction with audiences

  • A compendium of resources to make compelling visual media

  • A culminating example on our infographics and game we presented at the New Scientist Live event in London

Conclusion

In conclusion, we are the first iGEM team to try to autonomously employ the S.T.I.R. protocol. We made modifications to it through an iterative process. We believe that the state of the current protocol and reflexive analysis should be employed by all future iGEM teams. We hope that our journey through S.T.I.R will be able to inspire others to consider new approaches for integrated human practices. By doing so we believe that they will uncover new ways to reflect on the different dimensions of their project, which will help them making more coherent decisions when facing challenging problems through the whole duration of their project.

References

Fisher, Erik, and Arie Rip. 2013. “Responsible Innovation: Managing the Responsible Emergence of Science and Innovation in Society.” In Responsible Innovation. doi:10.1002/9781118551424.ch9.

“Humanism.” 2016. Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed October 19. https://www.britannica.com/topic/humanism.

“New Scientist Live 22 to 26 September, London ExCeL.” 2016. New Scientist. Accessed October 19. https://live.newscientist.com/.

Nguyen, Thinh. 2015. “LibGuides. Problem-Based Learning. The PBL Framework,” June. Victoria University Library. http://guides.library.vu.edu.au/PBL/FrameWork.

Savery, J. R., and T. M. Duffy. 1995. “Problem Based Learning: An Instructional Model and Its Constructivist Framework.” Educational Technology Research and Development: ETR & D. books.google.com. https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=mpsHa5f712wC&oi=fnd&pg=PA135&dq=problem+based+learning&ots=sYghDg8SJo&sig=bV6vo5Hp5OlIreoEJhgUMh3AXDI.

“Socio-Technical Integration Research (STIR) | Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU).” 2016. Accessed October 19. https://cns.asu.edu/research/stir.