Often, terms such as photosynthesis, electron, photon and the Calvin cycle conjure thoughts of napping through Biology 101. Professor Susan Fisher plans to change all that with the help of the Ohio State football team.
Fisher has been teaching at OSU for 25 years and has a great passion for biology, but she understands that not everyone taking her Biology 101 class shares her feelings. To make biology enjoyable for her students, Fisher decided to take matters into her own hands by making a video about photosynthesis featuring football Coach Jim Tressel and several of his players acting out the photosynthetic process.
"There are several reasons why I made this video," Fisher said. "My goal is first to grab the students' attention."
Fisher said that while teaching classes with 700 students, such as Biology 101, it often can be difficult to grab each individual's attention. Fisher said she believes that a video starring popular athletes will help her students understand the concepts of biology easier than before.
"Since Biology 101 is non-major course, the students in my class are not extremely interested in biology," she said. "This video will at least keep them awake."
It may seem strange that Fisher decided to use football players for a video about biology, but she said she chose them to help show athletes in a positive light. Fisher said that student athletes are always getting bad exposure and that others within the community often do not get to see the good things that athletes do.
"A lot of professors are unhappy with big-time athletics," Fisher said. "They don't think that the athletes do any good. It's really silly to fight (big-time athletics) when you can take advantage of it."
Fisher said that many students will think that if popular athletes can grasp the biological concepts in the video, then they should be able to understand them too.
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