Memes help senior high school students learn biology better — Ateneo study

Learning science can be more fun after a study released by Ateneo de Manila University showed that using internet memes in teaching biology to senior high school showed better understanding and performance among students.

The study conducted by ADMU researchers points out that Gen Z learners, or those who were born between 1997 and 2010, have an average attention span of eight seconds, which is shorter than 12 seconds of those of Millennials, persons who were born between 1981 and 1996.

Hence, using internet memes can attract young learners to better understand a lesson.

“Typically, in memes, a popular culture reference mixed with scientific or technical content adds a layer of humor among the younger audience,” the study read.

“The use of memes in natural and social sciences classes has shown that it enhances students’ mastery of the topic and their classroom engagement.”

The researchers observed over 200 private school Grade 11 students taking Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strand, who were taught complex topics like cellular division and genetics.

The subjects were divided into two groups: those who were taught with lessons infused with memes and those who were taught with traditional teaching materials.

“The participants from the control and experimental groups were tasked to create their own memes related to Cellular Division and Genetics. When they were asked about the task, they affirmed that creating their own memes related to their lesson was an effective strategy to enjoy the class,” the study read.

“Additionally, some participants shared that their class had become more enticing and interesting since the teacher started incorporating memes in his slides,” it added. “Other participants also claimed that memes helped them with lesson recall and retention.”

After more than five weeks of monitoring, the study found that those who attended classes with memes incorporated in the lessons scored  21% higher in the post-test compared to those who only had traditional teaching methods.

Further, those who were taught with memes experienced less anxiety in learning biology topics.

“Utilizing memes in lectures and meme-making itself can be described as entertaining because they break the class monotony. Moreover, the novelty and unconventionality of memes in lectures might be deemed effective in piquing student interest, and thus improving their attitude toward biology,” the researchers noted.

“Thus, the introduction of memes, as shown in this study, was able to alleviate such anxious feelings towards biology and was able to help build the students’ perception regarding their ability toward the subject matter.”
—RF, GMA Integrated News