Scaffolding STEM Literacy Assignments To Build Greater Competence in Microbiology Courses

Different approaches can be used to impart science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) literacy among undergraduates and thus can be modified to support various scientific concepts and course objectives. In comparable microbiology-related courses, scaffolded assignments to improve STEM literacy through data, information, and communication analysis skills were developed using the ASM Curriculum Guidelines and the Microbiology Course Inventory (MCI) to structure the course and assignments. Examples of such assignments included a meta-analysis using literature and bioinformatics, as well as a public data presentation and an epidemiological model based on current events. To evaluate the effectiveness of such approaches, assignment components were aligned to determine whether the activities reinforced the MCI concepts. Comparison of pre- and postcourse data indicated relative strengths (and weaknesses) addressed by scaffolded STEM literacy pedagogy. These efforts also contribute to a department-wide initiative to enhance career readiness and implementation of course assessments. Future goals are to broaden the integration of assignment components to other microbiology-related courses and have longitudinal assessment.

Making It Matter: Increasing Student-Perceived Value of Microbiology through Reflective and Critical News Story Analysis

Even before coverage and updates on COVID-19 became a daily event in mainstream news, mass media was already full of science-focused current events stories. While relevant to our everyday lives, many popular press science articles overstate conclusions, misstate details or, at worst, purposefully spread disinformation. This iterative news analysis and writing intervention was designed to increase the visibility of real-world applications of microbiology in current events (including and beyond the 2019 coronavirus disease [COVID-19] pandemic), thereby engaging students and cultivating motivation through a positive perception of course content in accordance with expectancy-value theory. This intervention can be scaled and has been successfully used in both large- and small-enrollment microbiology classes as an active learning strategy. Students engage in science literacy at multiple levels, starting with identifying credible sources, then summarizing news articles, relating them to course content, conveying the main ideas to lay audiences, identifying in turn misleading or omitted ideas, and finally writing potential exam questions on the topic. This multifaceted analysis allows students to interact with material at many different levels in a self-directed manner as students seek out and choose articles to share with their peers. To date, anecdotal evidence suggests positive gains in student interest and perceived value of studying science.

Development of a Remote, Course-Based Undergraduate Experience to Facilitate In Silico Study of Microbial Metabolic Pathways

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) often occur in a physical lab space, but they can also be offered remotely while maintaining course expectations and providing opportunity for authentic student engagement in research. Using a novel framework, remote Microbial Ecology CURE students used microbes isolated via antimicrobial-challenged Winogradsky columns to investigate phylogeny and metabolism through a hypothesis-driven meta-analysis (MA). Students used 16S rRNA and key metabolic enzymes to compare phylogeny; enzymes were modeled and evaluated for putative conserved domains, culminating in primer design and analysis. Using in silico tools facilitated student development of bioinformatics skills. The MA was subdivided into discrete sections in order to (i) provide a timeline for students to remain on schedule throughout a remote-learning lab experience, (ii) encourage feedback throughout the project, and (iii) facilitate student understanding of the experimental design. MA deliverables were designed to be specific figures with individual titles, legends, and analyses to enable their feedback for subsequent presentations. The six key formative deliverables included a word cloud (used to develop the works cited list and hypothesis), a 16S rRNA phylogenetic tree, an annotated metabolic pathway and three-dimensional model of the key metabolic enzyme, a phylogenetic tree based on the key metabolic enzyme, design and analysis of a primer set for the key metabolic enzyme, and a summative poster and graphical abstract. The MA project yielded poster presentations at virtual conferences, lab presentations, and written reports. Using the hypothesis-based MA model encouraged an authentic research experience, enabling students to develop, discuss, and progress in meaningful experiments.

Microbial life in a winogradsky column: from lab course to diverse research experience

Many traditional lab courses include both standard and inquiry-based experiments, yet lack cooperative and authentic lab experiences. Such experiences are important for microbiology students and burgeoning researchers. In a novel lab environment, students constructed Winogradsky columns using common soil and water sources. During initial column incubation, students learned methods for identification of microbial isolates including staining, microscopy, biochemistry and 16S-rRNA sequencing. Concurrently, students challenged their columns via varied substrates and contaminants including enrichment with nitro-compounds, hydrocarbons, acids and other environmental stressors. Students were encouraged to use both basic and more advanced identification methods to study the effect of such challenges within their columns. The students were required to maintain lab notebooks and attend weekly lab meetings, which were designed to share progress and facilitate experimentation among their lab-mates. At the end of the semester, students gathered to present their data and conclusions. By engaging in weekly meetings and a final conference, students were able to construct a snapshot of the microbial diversity, including phylogeny and metabolism, in the soil and water used to construct the Winogradsky columns. By using a common source, students were able to observe an array of diversity within individual columns and extrapolate towards the tremendous microbial diversity in the initial soil and water samples. Equally important to the data obtained, the students engaged in a collaborative effort through discussion, trouble-shooting, weekly meetings and the summative conference. Such efforts enabled students to participate in an authentic research experience within a traditional undergraduate laboratory course.

Editor's Note:

The ASM advocates that students must successfully demonstrate the ability to explain and practice safe laboratory techniques. For more information, read the laboratory safety section of the ASM Curriculum Recommendations: Introductory Course in Microbiology and the Guidelines for Biosafety in Teaching Laboratories, available at www.asm.org. The Editors of JMBE recommend that adopters of the protocols included in this article follow a minimum of Biosafety Level 2 practices.