PgmNr E8017: The Genomics Education Partnership: Assessment of Key Elements of a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE).

Authors:
Judith Leatherman 1 ; Anna Allen 2 ; Justin DiAngelo 3 ; M. Logan Johnson 4 ; Chris Jones 5 ; Lisa Kadlec 6 ; Hemlata Mistry 7 ; Alexis Nagengast 7 ; Don Paetkau 8 ; Susan Parrish 9 ; Laura Reed 10 ; Cleo Rolle 11 ; Jamie Sanford 12 ; Ken Saville 13 ; Chiyedza Small 14 ; Joyce Stamm 15 ; Matthew Wawersik 16 ; Leming Zhou 17 ; David Lopatto 18 ; Sarah Elgin 19 ; The Genomics Education Partnership


Institutes
1) University of Northern Colorado; 2) Howard University; 3) Penn State Berks; 4) Notre Dame College; 5) Moravian College; 6) Wilkes University; 7) Widener University; 8) St. Mary's College-IN; 9) McDaniel College; 10) University of Alabama Tuskegee; 11) Capital Community College; 12) Ohio Northern University; 13) Albion College; 14) Medgar Evers College-CUNY; 15) University of Evansville; 16) College of William & Mary; 17) University of Pittsburgh; 18) Grinnell College; 19) Washington University, St. Louis.


Abstract:

The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) is a consortium of faculty members from over 100 colleges and universities who are involving students in classroom-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) in bioinformatics. Our project uses comparative genomics to study the unusual properties of the Drosophila Muller F element (dot chromosome). Students participate in two research areas: sequence improvement and gene annotation, working from recently sequenced Drosophila species.  Student results are reconciled and pooled for final analysis; our recent paper in G3 had 940 undergraduate co-authors (Leung et al. 2015 G3 5(5): 719-40). Our previous educational research shows that students who participate in this project show attitude and knowledge assessment gains, irrespective of the type of institution or the implementation strategy used by the faculty member (ranging from short lab modules to stand-alone research courses and independent research projects).  However, the level of student gains is strongly correlated with the amount of time spent on the project.  GEP faculty members report that implementation of this research-based curriculum is strongly facilitated by core computational and pedagogical support from the Washington University team, and that a shared curriculum and organizational structure can mitigate issues caused by varying campus-level support. Our current educational research focuses on two questions: first, how active pedagogical strategies impact student learning gains, and second, how reminding students that they are performing original research impacts students’ attitudes toward science. We are also developing new curriculum to make the GEP project more accessible to beginning students, including those at community colleges.  Our consortium continues to recruit new faculty collaborators, particularly those interested in CUREs for first and second year undergraduate students. Supported by HHMI grant #52007051, NSF grant #1431407, and Washington University in St. Louis.