Tales from the front lines: The creative essay as a tool for teaching genetics

In contrast to the more typical mock grant proposals or literature reviews, we describe the use of the creative essay as a novel tool for teaching hum an genetics at the college level. This method has worked well for both nonm ajor and advanced courses for biology majors. Thr 10- to 15-page essay is w ritten in storylike form and represents a student's response to the choice of 6-8 scenarios describing human beings coping with carious genetic dilemm as. We have found this tool to be invaluable both in developing students' a bility to express genetic concepts in lay terms and in promoting student aw areness of genetic issues outside of the classroom. Examples from student e ssays are presented to illustrate these points, and guidelines are suggeste d regarding instructor expectations of student creativity and scientific ac curacy. Methods of grading this assignment are also discussed.