Activity Description :

 

Groups of 5 run a two-round hiring simulation: in Round 1, a facilitator playing an "oblivious PI" gives no accommodations even when candidates struggle; in Round 2, the facilitator checks in first, and one candidate gets a modified worksheet. A debrief focuses on how needs can be voiced or noticed. Part 2 is a card sort where pairs take traits (e.g., fidgeting, reading letters reversed) and reframe each from a "deficit lens" to an "asset lens," modeled on Phil Sharp's dyslexia. Runs standalone or slots into the Science Identity sequence.

 

ACTIVITY TYPE(S) : Worksheet, Discussion

DURATION : 90 minutes

SUBJECT AREAS : AP Biology and Biotechnology Pathways 

KEY CONCEPTS :

- Groupwork
- Science as a human endeavor
- Social emotional learning
- Reframing into assets
- Universal design & accommodations and research choices
- Self-advocacy and communicating needs
- Neurodiversity
- Asset-based reframing of traits typically read as deficits

LEARNING OBJECTIVES :

Day 1
1. Notice that people can experience the same task very differently, depending on needs that aren't always visible.
2. Practice asking for and offering support in specific, concrete language.
3. Reframe a trait usually treated as a weakness as a potential asset in a different context.
Day 2
1. Explain how the same trait can function as a barrier in one context and an asset in another.
2. Connect Phil Sharp's dyslexia to a specific scientific outcome (RNA splicing) as a model for reframing.
3. Identify a personal strength not recognized by school that could function as an asset in a research setting

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE NEEDED :
None required — pairs well with (but does not require) the Science Identity lab-coat/Iceberg sequence.

 

STANDARDS ALIGNMENT : 

NGSS SEP: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information.
NGSS Appendix D. SEPs. (Grades 3-5) "Combine information in written text with that contained in corresponding tables, diagrams,
and/or charts to support the engagement in other scientific and/or engineering practices." (Grades 9-12) "Communicate scientific and/or technical information or ideas in multiple formats."

NGSS Appendix H. Understanding the Scientific Enterprise - "Not all questions can be answered by science." "Science and technology may raise ethical issues for which science, by itself, does not provide answers and solutions." "Science knowledge indicates what can happen in natural systems—not what should happen. The latter involves ethics, values, and human decisions about the use of knowledge." "Many decisions are not made using science alone, but rely on social and cultural contexts to resolve issues."

NGSS Appendix H. Understanding the Scientific Enterprise - "Scientific knowledge is a result of human endeavor, imagination, and
creativity." "Individuals and teams from many nations and cultures have contributed to science and to advances in engineering." "Scientists’ backgrounds, theoretical commitments, and fields of endeavor influence the nature of their findings."

NGSS Appendix D. All Standards, All Students. “Science teachers need to acquire effective strategies to include all students regardless of racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, and gender backgrounds.”
AP Biology Essential Knowledge 6.6.B.2 — Certain small RNA molecules have roles in regulating gene expression (ties to the RNA splicing example in the Asset Reframe card sort).