Collaborative Research: Using protein function prediction to promote hypothesis-driven thinking in undergraduate biochemistry education

认识到国家需要在本科STEM教育的显着改善，来自六个机构（罗切斯特理工学院，圣玛丽大学，口腔罗伯茨大学，希望学院，乌尔西诺学院和加州理工大学）的合作者将探索一种新的方法，向学生介绍生物化学实验室课程的真实研究。 该项目将测试假设，从事真实的研究将提高学生掌握实验（实验设计，数据处理和解释，以及研究成果的交流）和可视化（使用表示来传达研究过程的各个方面）的关键方面的能力。 该项目很可能是可转移到其他机构，是一个成本效益的方式引入课程为基础的研究到本科课程的一个例子。生物化学实验室课程将重新设计，包括模块，其中学生将整合计算和湿实验室技术，因为他们表征蛋白质的三维结构是已知的，但其功能还没有以前归因于。 由于该项目的重点是发现，因此可以合理地期望一些学生将产生新的结果，这将有助于生物化学领域。 形成性和总结性评价将使用由开放式和封闭式问题组成的经验证的工具，从改善概念理解和可视化实验的角度评估学生的学习收获。 教师和助教将接受调查和采访，了解他们对该项目的满意度，其可用性，以及他们将该项目视为自己和学生发展的一部分的程度。 该项目小组将创建和传播模块（promol.org），形成本科生生物化学实验室课程的新课程的核心。 这项工作的结果将在专业会议上发表，如美国生物化学和分子生物学协会，并提交给学术期刊。

Recognizing the national need for significant improvement in undergraduate STEM education, collaborators from six institutions (Rochester Institute of Technology, St. Mary's University, Oral Roberts University, Hope College, Ursinus College, and California Polytechnic University) will explore a new approach to introduce students to authentic research in biochemistry laboratory courses. The project will test the hypotheses that engaging in authentic research will improve students' abilities to master key aspects of experimentation (experimental design, data processing and interpretation, and communication of research outcomes) and visualization (use of representations to communicate various aspects of the research process). The project is likely to be transferrable to other institutions, and is an example of a cost-effective way to introduce course-based research into the undergraduate curriculum.Biochemistry laboratory courses will be redesigned to include modules in which students will integrate computational and wet lab techniques as they characterize proteins whose three dimensional structures are known but to which functions have not been previously ascribed. Because the project is focused on discovery, it is reasonable to expect that some of the students will produce novel results that will contribute to the field of biochemistry. Formative and summative evaluation will address assessment of student learning gains in terms of improved conceptual understanding and visualization of experiments using a validated instrument composed of open-ended and closed-ended questions. Faculty members and teaching assistants will be surveyed and interviewed about their satisfaction with the project, its usability, and the extent to which they see the project as part of their own and their students' development. The project team will create and disseminate modules (promol.org) that form the core of a new curriculum for undergraduate biochemistry laboratory courses. The results of the work will be presented at professional meetings, such as the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and submitted to scholarly journals.