ANDREW KETCHUM

I grew up near Detroit Michigan and attended Princeton University for undergraduate studies. I majored in Biology with a Chemistry minor. I then attended Harvard University, studying Cellular Biology. My Ph.D. research focused on the gene for non-muscle myosin heavy chain in Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies). After receiving my doctorate, I moved to Johns Hopkins University and researched cytoskeleton proteins and their genes in fruit flies, focusing on alpha-actinin. While at Hopkins, I also received a M. Ed. Degree. For the past several years I have taught Advanced Placement Biology and Chemistry in the Baltimore County Public School system during the academic year. I created the Introduction to Biological Molecules course as part of the Hopkins Summer Program, and have taught this course for the past 15 years.

Introduction to Biological Molecules

I have taught Introduction to Biological Molecules for fifteen years and am always excited about a new year and new students. I enjoy the mix of students from all over the world. They each have remarkable abilities and experiences to bring to the course. A major part of each class is the students interacting and learning from each other. By having students from many different backgrounds greatly enhances learning for everyone.

This course includes class sessions with discussions, activities and students presentations. I encourage every one of the students to contribute and share information. The group presentations give the students a chance to research a current topic in biology, then plan and give a creative way to share their topic with the class. These have included videos, computer graphics, a puppet show, and sometimes even food models of molecules. Yes they were edible! One of the best parts of the course are the laboratory activities. These labs give students a chance to actually perform many of the techniques discussed in class.