For Educators

Overview

Biological engineering and biodesign are burgeoning fields of research that drive advancements in domains ranging from agriculture to space travel. The tangible CRISPEE kit and curriculum were designed to inspire the next generation of innovators by exposing young children (ages 5-8 years) to these emerging areas at the intersection of science, technology, engineering, and ethics.

Children today encounter genetically engineered foods, medicines, and household products in their homes and schools. In our own research, children as young as 4-9 years old have exhibited preconceptions about genetics. Despite this, there are very few resources that present bioengineering concepts to young children. Research shows that with support from developmentally-appropriate tangible technologies and teaching materials, children as young as age 4 can meaningfully engage with foundational concepts of novel STEM fields, especially related fields of life science, engineering, and computer science. Today’s educators need an evidence-based bioengineering curriculum beginning in early childhood to support children’s full engagement with 21st-century concepts. This project aimed to develop and pilot educational interventions using CRISPEE, a tangible user interface technology and accompanying curriculum. CRISPEE was designed to introduce young children in Kindergarten through 2nd grade (aged 5-7 years) to foundational concepts of bioengineering, leveraging the intuitive ideas and knowledge resources that children carry into science activities.

In this page, we provide educators and parents with additional resources regarding the content domain and learning goals of CRISPEE.

Resources for Teachers

See below a list of our favorite resources to use and recommend for introductory life science reading in K-2 education (in order from youngest to oldest reading level):

Reading List
Meet Bacteria by Rebecca Bielawski
Glow by W. H. Beck
Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty
Our Family Tree by Lisa Westburg Peters
The One and Only Me by 21andMe Inc
The Invisible ABCs by Rodney P. Anderson
Stronger Than Steel: Spider Silk DNA by Bridget Heos
Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas by Cheryl Bardoe

Educational Resouces (check curriculum)
When introducing CRISPEE, there are a few key concepts that children can explore to help them understand foundational ideas of Bioengineering. These are listed below, in no particular order: a. Video about Mixing with Solids (subtractive): Watch b. Video about Mixing with Light (Additive): Watch c. Classroom tools to explore Additive color mixing with Light:
Hardware and Software, What is a code? a. Resources from DevTech:
Genes as a "coding language"

Technical Resouces
Although the CRISPEE prototype is not available outside of Tufts and Wellesley, we have made the construction guide for the latest prototype available to review below. We hope that engineers, designers, and researchers may benefit from this public document, and perhaps even recreate parts of the prototype in their own makerspace or lab setting Construction Guide

Publications

Strawhacker, A., Verish, C., Shaer, O., & Bers, M. U. (2020). Designing with Genes in Early Childhood: An exploratory user study of the tangible CRISPEE technology. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction.

Strawhacker, A. (2020) Biodesign Education in Early Childhood: A Design-Research Study of the Tangible CRISPEE Technology and Learning Intervention. (Doctoral dissertation). Tufts University, Medford, MA.

Strawhacker, A., Verish, C., Shaer, O., & Bers, M. U. (2020, April). Debugging as Inquiry in Early Childhood: A case study using the CRISPEE prototype. In K. Mills (chair), Computational Thinking for Science Learning. Symposium conducted at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco, CA.

Strawhacker, A., Verish, C., Shaer, O., & Bers, M. U. (2020). Young Children’s Learning of Bioengineering with CRISPEE: A Developmentally Appropriate Tangible User Interface. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 1-21.

C. Verish, A. Strawhacker, M. Bers, O. Shaer, BacToMars: A Collaborative Video Game for Bio Design. Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CLCS), 2019.

Verish, C., Strawhacker, A. Bers, M. U., & Shaer, O. (2018, March 18-21). CRISPEE: A Tangible Gene Editing Platform for Early Childhood: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI), Stockholm, Sweden. New York, NY: ACM.

Flexor

For Educators
Bring CRISPEE to the Classroom

Overview

Teaching Materials

CRISPEE Curriculum

CRISPEE Picture Book

Bioethic Games

Resources for Teachers

See below a list of our favorite resources to use and recommend for introductory life science reading in K-2 education (in order from youngest to oldest reading level):

Reading List

Educational Resouces (check curriculum)

Technical Resouces

Publications

Strawhacker, A., Verish, C., Shaer, O., & Bers, M. U. (2020). Designing with Genes in Early Childhood: An exploratory user study of the tangible CRISPEE technology. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction.

Strawhacker, A. (2020) Biodesign Education in Early Childhood: A Design-Research Study of the Tangible CRISPEE Technology and Learning Intervention. (Doctoral dissertation). Tufts University, Medford, MA.

Strawhacker, A., Verish, C., Shaer, O., & Bers, M. U. (2020). Young Children’s Learning of Bioengineering with CRISPEE: A Developmentally Appropriate Tangible User Interface. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 1-21.

C. Verish, A. Strawhacker, M. Bers, O. Shaer, BacToMars: A Collaborative Video Game for Bio Design. Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CLCS), 2019.

Verish, C., Strawhacker, A. Bers, M. U., & Shaer, O. (2018, March 18-21). CRISPEE: A Tangible Gene Editing Platform for Early Childhood: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI), Stockholm, Sweden. New York, NY: ACM.

Flexor

For Educators Bring CRISPEE to the Classroom

Overview

Teaching Materials

CRISPEE Curriculum

CRISPEE Picture Book

Bioethic Games

Resources for Teachers

See below a list of our favorite resources to use and recommend for introductory life science reading in K-2 education (in order from youngest to oldest reading level):

Reading List

Educational Resouces (check curriculum)

Technical Resouces

Publications

Strawhacker, A., Verish, C., Shaer, O., & Bers, M. U. (2020). Designing with Genes in Early Childhood: An exploratory user study of the tangible CRISPEE technology. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction.

Strawhacker, A. (2020) Biodesign Education in Early Childhood: A Design-Research Study of the Tangible CRISPEE Technology and Learning Intervention. (Doctoral dissertation). Tufts University, Medford, MA.

Strawhacker, A., Verish, C., Shaer, O., & Bers, M. U. (2020). Young Children’s Learning of Bioengineering with CRISPEE: A Developmentally Appropriate Tangible User Interface. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 1-21.

C. Verish, A. Strawhacker, M. Bers, O. Shaer, BacToMars: A Collaborative Video Game for Bio Design. Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CLCS), 2019.

Verish, C., Strawhacker, A. Bers, M. U., & Shaer, O. (2018, March 18-21). CRISPEE: A Tangible Gene Editing Platform for Early Childhood: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI), Stockholm, Sweden. New York, NY: ACM.

For Educators
Bring CRISPEE to the Classroom