Principles of Biomedical Sciences is a course that was recently added to the elective options that students could choose from this school year.
Gail D’Arco, the teacher of this new course, is also a main reason why it has been so successful. Many students love the class for the content, but they also love the person teaching it.
“This course has taught me how to take great notes and I have learned so much about science, but most importantly, how science is applied in the medical field,” freshman Tommy Trautmann said.
In order for students to participate in the class labs, they need to take notes on each module. If notes are not taken, then the topic of that week or day will be very confusing.
Freshman Savannah Toro says that this class gives her the background knowledge she will need for college and her future career. The labs in the class help her determine what types of things she is good at and what things need work. For example, she has learned how to properly and efficiently insert an IV, but she isn’t great at streaking colonies.
This course is very content heavy, fast-paced and a lot of fun. With a mix of labs, formatives (open note tests), summatives (closed note tests), notes and videos, this class has a lot of material that needs to be learned.
“This course presents content in a ‘real world context.’ It also leaves the student often with the responsibility of drawing conclusions,” D’Arco said. “Courses often take the thinking away from the students when the structure is based on reading chapters and taking tests.”
Giving students the opportunity to make conclusions and use context clues to learn prepares them for more college and Advanced Placement classes. Since these students get their content purely from the PLTW website, no textbooks are needed.
“Principles of Biomedical Sciences goes like this notes, lab, stand and deliver, review, formative, summative, next topic,’ freshman Kate Spivey said. “I love how much we learn in such a short time. I am engaged with the topic, I get hands-on experience, and of course, the test needs to be given to see how much information you can retain.”
Principles of Biomedical Sciences is a three year course that students can take. The first year really focuses on the background of structures in the body, molecules, solving mysteries and learning more about how science and medicine are intertwined.
“I am 100% taking Biomedical Sciences two. I have learned more in this class than I have in many other classes and I have enjoyed learning here with Ms. D’Arco. I feel like enjoying what you learn is not that common for us.” Trautmann said.
Biomedical two focuses on the human body and its functions. Being in a fun and safe environment to learn is a good feeling as a student, and having a fantastic teacher is like the cherry on top.
“Students can make mistakes and I am right there to tell them that that is OK. The mistakes are where the learning happens.” D’Arco said.
