Learning Journal 5

1.       Finding a classmate that agree to let you see their wordpress blog/portfolio…

Find a classmate who is comfortable sharing their portfolio with you, and whom you are you are comfortable sharing yours with.

Name of the classmate whose portfolio you will be viewing: Ardalan Hendi

2.      Commenting on the portfolio …

Browse through all the viewable parts of your classmate’s portfolio.

• Imagine that you did not know this person at all, and you had to evaluate their skills, knowledge and learning using only the content of their portfolio. What would you say the biggest strengths of this person are, and why (what evidence did you use to come up with the answer)?

One of Ardalan’s biggest strengths is his ability to hook the audience in to what he is presenting and really catch their attention. Especially in the field of science, it can be extremely beneficial to be able to communicate ideas effectively to all audiences (including those with limited knowledge in the science field). Ardalan’s Lay Person Summary effectively demonstrates this ability from beginning to end. He uses the analogy of sick leave at work to help communicate the idea of neuron’s taking over the innervation area of another neighboring neuron that was destroyed.

• After answering these questions as part of your own LJ5, post them as a comment on the classmate’s portfolio.

See: https://blogs.ubc.ca/biol463463/author/ardalan-hendi/

3.      Your final project and your classmate’s final project

• What is the most valuable thing that you learned from doing your Final Project (mini-research proposal)?

The most valuable thing that I learned from my own final project would probably be the importance of thorough background research and planning before actually beginning an experiment. As I was researching my gene of interest, Pho88, I found that as I read more and more literature on it and the rest of the genes in the phosphate transport pathway, the better of an idea I was able to build about where Pho88 might fit in the pathway, and which experiments would actually give me novel information. In addition, as I researched more and more, I found that gene regulation was not the only mechanism that could effect my results, other cellular processes such as intracellular trafficking and post-translational modifications could affect them as well.

• Look at what your classmate has posted under their Final Project section. What do you think your classmate may have learned, that you have not (and/or what do you think you have learned, and they may not have)? After the end of term, feel free to check your classmate’s portfolio again to see if your answers match.

Ardalan seems to have taken a lot of what he learned from this class and applied it to the research field specifically. This is evident in posts such as his “research funding one”, as well as his final project which is in the area of neuroscience research in C. elegans (which we study in a lab together). I feel that I have taken what I’ve learned from this course in parallel with my other big courses this term, BIOL 441 and BIOL 340, and applied my knowledge to every day interactions and how to communicate science to those without an extensive background in the field.