Effective Implementation of a Classroom Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE): Testing, Optimizing, and Extending a Bioinformatics Project

目前努力改善生命科学教育的一个主要目标是为学生提供从事原创性研究的机会，并加强思维的分析习惯，这种习惯伴随着提出科学问题和寻求证据来解决这些问题。基因组学教育伙伴关系（GEP）的成立是为了让本科生参与基因组学研究项目。虽然技术是新的，但基本概念是学生在实践中学习，当学习者对知识库做出新的贡献时，学生就会感到兴奋。在过去的8年里，100多名教师与华盛顿大学生物系、计算机科学系和基因组研究所的成员合作，将生物信息学研究经验带入他们学校的课程中。该项目利用GEP中合作伙伴和课程方法的多样性，并将确定基于生物信息学的课堂本科生研究经验（CUREs）的最佳实践。该项目还将编制、测试和传播旨在招收和留住初学学生的课程。GEP为本科生提供了参与大规模基因组学研究项目的机会，该项目目前研究果蝇点染色体的结构和功能。学生对来自不同物种的点染色体进行序列改进和注释，表征基因并破译染色体的进化。该项目的目标是：(1)确定和测试策略，以最大限度地提高基于生物信息学的CURE的有效性，在此过程中更好地理解研究经历如何影响学生的学习和作为科学家的自我认同；(2)开发一个修改版本的CURE课程和参与策略，使基于生物信息学的基因组研究更容易被初学的大学生所接受。评估结果将采用学生测验、调查、访谈、焦点小组和持久性措施，并结合对教师期刊、调查、访谈和重点讨论的分析。所学的课程应该有助于建立基础知识，帮助我们的学生养成智力习惯和自信，从而在科学领域取得成功。

A major goal of current efforts to improve life science education is to provide opportunities for students to engage in original research and to strengthen the analytical habits of mind that come with developing scientific questions and seeking evidence to resolve them. The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) was founded to engage undergraduates in a genomics research project. While the technology is new, the basic concept is students learn by doing, and student excitement is generated when learners make novel contributions to the knowledge base. During the past 8 years over 100 faculty have partnered with members of the Biology Department, Computer Science Department, and The Genome Institute at Washington University (WU) to bring a bioinformatics research experience into the curriculum at their schools. This project capitalizes on the diversity of partners and curricular approaches in the GEP and will identify best practices for bioinformatics-based Classroom Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). The project will also develop, test and disseminate a curriculum aimed toward the recruitment and retention of beginning students.The GEP provides undergraduates with an opportunity to participate in a large-scale genomics research project, currently on the structure and function of the dot chromosome of Drosophila. Students engage in sequence improvement and annotation of the dot chromosomes from different species, characterizing the genes and deciphering the evolution of the chromosome. The goals of this project are to (1) identify and test strategies to maximize the effectiveness of a bioinformatics-based CURE, in the process generating a better understanding of how research experiences impact student learning and self-identification as a scientist, and (2) develop a modified version of the CURE curriculum and engagement strategy to make bioinformatics-based genome research more accessible to beginning college/university students. Results will be assessed using a mix of student quizzes, surveys, interviews, focus groups, and measures of persistence coupled with analysis of faculty journals, surveys, interviews, and focused discussions. Lessons learned should contribute to foundational knowledge on how to help our students to acquire the intellectual habits and self-confidence that lead to success in the sciences.