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<\/p>\nJaz Randhawa adored her uncle, Gurjinder Kajla. When he died suddenly at the age of 44, Randhawa and her family were devastated.<\/p>\n
Kajla died of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, an illness that narrowed his arteries and eventually caused a fatal blood clot. His death left the family with an abundance of questions, wondering why there were no symptoms and how it could have been prevented.<\/p>\n
In search of answers, Randhawa delved into her studies at Brock University to better understand atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, with the goal of educating others in the South Asian community.<\/p>\n
She registered in HLSC 4P95, a fourth-year Health Sciences course taught by Assistant Professor of Health Sciences Rebecca MacPherson, while also taking a directed reading course with Health Sciences Professor Deborah O\u2019Leary at the Brock-Niagara Centre for Health and Well-Being, which had her developing a website and posters explaining atherosclerosis.<\/p>\n
MacPherson gave Randhawa and her fellow students a bold, new assignment, asking them to create an infographic \u2014 a collection of imagery, charts and text that gives an easy-to-understand overview of a topic \u2014 on the disease of their choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I learned about infographics in that course, it just clicked,\u201d says Randhawa. \u201cThis was an amazing tool that I could put on the website I was developing and also share with South Asian community organizations to get the word out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was exactly the intention of the assignment, explains MacPherson.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe purpose of the infographic is for students to be able to translate their knowledge to a general population using terminology and figures that are understandable to others, so if someone were to see this, they would know what\u2019s going on with the disease,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Wet-Laboratory Co-ordinator Parthajit Mukherjee, who works closely with MacPherson and her students, says that, in pre-pandemic times, HLSC 4P95 was a very \u201chands-on\u201d experience in which students prepared and viewed pathological specimens under microscopes.<\/p>\n
With pandemic restrictions, most in-person classes were cancelled, posing a dilemma for professors and instructors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t sure how students would adapt to online learning,\u201d Mukherjee says. \u201cThere\u2019s the constant challenge of giving students content and keeping them engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n
While brainstorming how to adapt the class to an online, pandemic world, and how to evaluate students\u2019 learning, MacPherson and Mukherjee came up with the idea of having students create infographics.<\/p>\n
The duo didn\u2019t know what to expect, but the results did not disappoint.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe infographics were awesome. They were really good and took information to the next level,\u201d says MacPherson.<\/p>\n
\u201cA book is useless sitting on a shelf, so are all research findings and breakthroughs, if not translated and shared widely,\u201d says Meriem Imam, one of the students who submitted an infographic.<\/p>\n
Teaching assistants recommended students\u2019 infographics they thought were particularly effective, with MacPherson and Mukherjee selecting several to showcase as good examples from the 147 infographics created in the course. (See photo gallery below).<\/p>\n