Team:Imperial College/HP/Gold
Reflexivity was at the core of our project from the very start. We kept a detailed research diary of our group discussions, logging any extra-scientific researched impacts and alternative courses of action . We formalised our discussions with the STIR protocol, reflecting on the group decisions we were making. Furthermore, we refined the STIR protocol to incorporate iGEM-specific questions, shifted its focus from decisions to problems, and incorporated elements of the Problem Based Learning framework to more fully integrate STIR into our project. Reflexivity has had many notable impacts on our project, including:
- The creation of our web tool for co-cultures - A.L.I.C.E
- The creation of our project demonstration - colour
- The development of our visual strategies to optimize our communication with non-synthetic biologists
- The creation of our guidebook - ‘Visualization: A Guide for Synthetic Biologists’
- The creation of our Go-Culture game
We noticed that it can be challenging for scientists and engineers to explain current, basic research to the non-synthetic biology public. In order to facilitate debate, the information behind highly technical projects must be presented in a way that is approachable and easy to grasp. Our reflexive analysis suggested that visual media was the simplest and most intuitive way to present our project to the non-specialist public. Our team developed a guide to visualisation with feedback from artists and designers at the Royal College of Art, which informed the presentation of our entire project. Most significantly, it informed the presentation of the infographics and the computer game we developed, Go Culture, at the New Scientist Live event.
This allowed us to assess the public’s understanding of synthetic microbial consortia and the future applications of these those consortia.
Moreover, our Go-Culture game has had a broad impact. Its aim was to educate the public about natural microbial consortia, creating synthetic microbial consortia, and using synthetic microbial consortia to create useful products. After assessing the knowledge acquired through gameplay, we believe it achieved those goals. With close to 200 downloads and over 20 hours of contact time with players at various events to provide feedback for the game, we believe it has had a broad impact on the way people think about synthetic microbial consortia for the development of synthetic biology.
If you want more details on the STIR protocol and reflexivity take a look at what we did to fulfill the Silver Human Practice Criteria.
