Undergraduate research as curriculum

Insight from Biology Program Learning Outcomes: Implications for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

Learning goals and objectives are a key part of instruction, informing curricular design, assessment, and learning. These goals and objectives are also applied at the programmatic level, with program learning outcomes (PLOs) providing insight into the skills that undergraduate biology programs intend for their students to master. PLOs are mandated by all major higher education accreditation agencies and play integral roles in programmatic assessment. Despite their importance, however, there have not been any prior attempts to characterize PLOs across undergraduate biology programs in the United States. Our study reveals that many programs may not be using PLOs to communicate learning goals with students. We also identify key themes across these PLOs and differences in skills listed between institution types. For example, some Vision & Change core competencies (e.g., interdisciplinary nature of science; connecting science to society; quantitative reasoning) are highlighted by a low percentage of programs, while others are shared more frequently between programs. Similarly, we find that biology programs at 4-year institutions likely emphasize PLOs relating to computational skills and research more than at 2-year institutions. We conclude by discussing implications for how to best use PLOs to support student learning, assessment, and curricular improvements.

An Oral Fluorouracil Prodrug, Capecitabine, Mitigates a Gram-Positive Systemic Infection in Mice

New classes of antibiotics are needed to fight bacterial infections, and repurposing existing drugs as antibiotics may enable rapid deployment of new treatments. Screens for antibacterials have been traditionally performed in standard laboratory media, but bacterial pathogens experience very different environmental conditions during infection, including nutrient limitation. To introduce the next generation of researchers to modern drug discovery methods, we developed a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) in which undergraduate students screened a library of FDA-approved drugs for their ability, in a nutrient-poor medium, to prevent the growth of the human Gram-negative bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. The nine drugs identified all disrupt DNA metabolism in bacteria and eukaryotes. One of the hit compounds, capecitabine, is a well-tolerated oncology drug that is administered orally, a preferred treatment route. We demonstrated that capecitabine is more effective at inhibiting S. Typhimurium growth in nutrient-limited than in standard rich microbiological broth, an explanation for why the antibiotic activity of this compound has not been previously recognized. Capecitabine is enzymatically converted to the active pyrimidine analogue, fluorouracil (5-FU), and Gram-positive bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, are significantly more sensitive to 5-FU than Gram-negative bacteria. We therefore tested capecitabine for efficacy in a murine model of S. aureus peritonitis. Oral capecitabine administration reduced the colonization of tissues and increased animal survival in a dose-responsive manner. Since capecitabine is inexpensive, orally available, and relatively safe, it may have utility for treatment of intractable Gram-positive bacterial infections. IMPORTANCE As bacterial infections become increasingly insensitive to antibiotics, whether established, off-patent drugs could treat infections becomes an important question. At the same time, basic research has revealed that during infection, mammals starve pathogens for nutrients and, in response, bacteria dramatically alter their biology. Therefore, it may be fruitful to search for drugs that could be repurposed as antibiotics using bacteria grown with limited nutrients. This approach, executed with undergraduate student researchers, identified nine drugs known to interfere with the production and/or function of DNA. We further explored one of these drugs, capecitabine, a well-tolerated human oncology drug. Oral administration of capecitabine reduced infection with the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus and increased survival in mice. These data suggest that capecitabine has potential as a therapy for patients with otherwise untreatable bacterial infections.

Incorporation of classical scientific research stories into traditional lecture classes to promote the active learning of students

Biochemistry is an important curriculum for all medical students but has long been considered obscure and of very little or indirect relevance to medical or clinical practice, which markedly diminishes the enthusiasm and motivation of medical students in learning. Biochemistry teachers always face a tremendous challenge to deliver an attractive and high-quality lecture class. Inspired by convincing studies that show numerous benefits of undergraduate research, we tried to modify our teaching method in the past 5 years by incorporating classical scientific research stories into our traditional lecture class, such as the discovery of the semi-conservative DNA replication, telomeric DNA and telomerase, the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle), and so on. Through this story-based teaching, we not only helped them deeply understand the textbook content, but also introduced the process of real scientific research to the students in an interesting way. Our efforts aim to combine the delivery of knowledge with the inspiration of students' active learning. We found that most students involved in our classes responded positively. As described in the survey, they were strongly attracted by those research stories; rather than feeling bored about the Biochemistry textbook, they experienced curiosity which fostered their active learning. They also learned to appreciate the beauty of science. More importantly, their impression on how the authentic science research was done was instructive for their critical thinking.

Integrative STEM education for undergraduate neuroscience: Design and implementation

As an integrative discipline, neuroscience can serve as a vehicle for the development of integrative thinking skills and broad-based scientific proficiency in undergraduate students. Undergraduate neuroscience curricula incorporate fundamental concepts from multiple disciplines. Deepening the explicit exploration of these connections in a neuroscience core curriculum has the potential to support more meaningful and successful undergraduate STEM learning for neuroscience students. Curriculum and faculty development activities related to an integrative core curriculum can provide opportunities for faculty across disciplines and departments to advance common goals of inclusive excellence in STEM. These efforts facilitate analysis of the institutional STEM curriculum from the student perspective, and assist in creating an internal locus of accountability for diversity, equity, and inclusion within the institution. Faculty at the College of the Holy Cross have undertaken the collaborative design and implementation of an integrative core curriculum for neuroscience that embraces principles of inclusive pedagogy, emphasizes the connections between neuroscience and other disciplines, and guides students to develop broad proficiency in fundamental STEM concepts and skills.

Student perceptions of an inquiry-based molecular biology lecture and lab following a mid-semester transition to online teaching

The transition to online learning in spring 2020 was abrupt for both students and instructors. While many instructors moved to asynchronous classes, some institutions relied more heavily on synchronous online courses. Here, we evaluate student perceptions of an inquiry-based molecular biology lecture and lab course following this transition by comparing student survey responses from spring 2019, when the lecture and lab were fully in person, to spring 2020, when the lecture and lab started in person before transitioning to a synchronous online format. Students were asked to identify the main factors that supported their learning in lecture and lab, characterize the main barriers to learning in those courses, and discuss their preference of having an inquiry-based lab or a traditional "cookbook" lab with pre-determined answers. We coded these responses and provide one of the first studies to examine the impact of this online transition on student perceptions of learning in an inquiry-based molecular biology lecture and lab course.

Testing models of reciprocal relations between social influence and integration in STEM across the college years

The present study tests predictions from the Tripartite Integration Model of Social Influences (TIMSI) concerning processes linking social interactions to social integration into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) communities and careers. Students from historically overrepresented groups in STEM were followed from their senior year of high school through their senior year in college. Based on TIMSI, we hypothesized that interactions with social influence agents (operationalized as mentor network diversity, faculty mentor support, and research experiences) would promote both short- and long-term integration into STEM via social influence processes (operationalized as science self-efficacy, identity, and internalized community values). Moreover, we examined the previously untested hypothesis of reciprocal influences from early levels of social integration in STEM to future engagement with social influence agents. Results of a series of longitudinal structural equation model-based mediation analyses indicate that, in the short term, higher levels of faculty mentorship support and research engagement, and to a lesser degree more diverse mentor networks in college promote deeper integration into the STEM community through the development of science identity and science community values. Moreover, results indicate that, in the long term, earlier high levels of integration in STEM indirectly influences research engagement through the development of higher science identity. These results extend our understanding of the TIMSI framework and advance our understanding of the reciprocal nature of social influences that draw students into STEM careers.

Using anticipated learning outcomes for backward design of a molecular cell biology Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience

Anticipated learning outcomes (LOs) were defined and used for the backward design of a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE). These LOs reflect the inquiry-based nature of CUREs and capture key knowledge and skills inherent to scientific practice and essential in research. The LOs were used to plan a formative and summative assessment strategy to support and evaluate student achievement. A research question was identified that aligned with the learning goals of the course, provided an opportunity for discovery and iteration, and introduced a variety of molecular, cellular, and biochemical techniques. The course is offered to students in the final year of their degree and delivered over a 12-week period with two 3-hr labs each week. These LOs, and the rigorous assessment strategy used to support them, could be adapted to different projects. Likewise, the laboratory exercises are presented as a series of modules highlighting opportunities for adaptation to a variety of schedules.

Music notes to amino acid sequence: A STEAM approach to study protein structure

Recently, manuscripts that use bioinformatics tools to convert proteins and other biological materials into music have appeared in several journals. The authors claim that this type of studies adds joy to education of life sciences and attract public attention to biochemistry education along with other uses. We thought the reverse of the process might also be possible for the purpose. We converted notes into amino acids depending on the decreasing hydrophobicity and by using the famous nursery song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" notes, a hypothetical protein sequence was obtained. Three-dimensional structures were modeled by I-Tasser Protein Structure and Function Prediction server and the structure of the possible models were investigated. This Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) approach may bring fun to protein structure education. © 2019 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 47(6):669-671, 2019.

Data-intensive Undergraduate Research Project Informs to Advance Healthcare Analytics

The overarching framework for incorporating informatics into the Wesley College (Wesley) undergraduate curriculum was to teach emerging information technologies that prepared undergraduates for complex high-demand work environments. Federal and State support helped implement Wesley's undergraduate Informatics Certificate and Minor programs. Both programs require project-based coursework in Applied Statistics, SAS Programming, and Geo-spatial Analysis (ArcGIS). In 2015, the State of Obesity listed the obesity ranges for all 50 US States to be between 21-36%. Yet, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mortality records show significantly lower obesity-related death-rates for states with very high obesity-rates. This study highlights the disparities in the reported obesity-related death-rates (specified by an ICD-10 E66 diagnosis code) and the obesity-rate percentages recorded for all 50 US States. Using CDC mortality-rate data, the available obesity-rate information, and ArcGIS, we created choropleth maps for all US States. Visual and statistical analysis shows considerable disparities in the obesity-related death-rate record-keeping amongst the 50 US States. For example, in 2015, Vermont with the sixth lowest obesity-rate had the highest reported obesity-related death-rate. In contrast, Alabama had the fifth highest adult obesity-rate in the nation, yet, it had a very low age-adjusted mortality-rate. Such disparities make comparative analysis difficult.