Phage Discovery Goes Viral: Engaging All Biology Students in Research

这个项目的目的是让冈萨加大学(n=350)的所有生物学入门学生在大一期间参加一门以研究为基础的变革性实验室课程。该项目的目标是1)提高所有三个发展水平(初学者、中级和高级)的学生的科学能力，2)通过让学生在早期参与研究来提高科学中未被充分代表的少数群体的保留率，以及3)激励其他机构在入门实验室课程中大规模实施真实的基于发现的研究。由于越来越多的人认识到第一年的研究经验对保持科学能力的关键影响，许多项目现在在两个学期的课程中提供基于发现新的分枝杆菌噬菌体和注释它们的基因组的替代入门实验序列，HHMI(霍华德·休斯医学研究所)SEA-PHAGES(科学教育联盟-噬菌体猎人推进基因组和进化科学)计划。基于这样一种假设，即在这一选定的学生群体中观察到的收获就是所有学生都可以体验到的那种收获，项目团队设计了几种策略，以有效地扩大SEA-PHAGES的规模，使其成为每年350名学生的入门生物实验室课程。这些策略包括：1)为生物学入门课程的所有学生介绍为期一学期的Gonzaga噬菌体发现实验室课程，2)实施嵌入200级遗传学实验室课程的噬菌体基因组学模块，3)为高年级学生提供第三门课程，高级噬菌体研究实验室，以及4)为非理科专业的学生教授噬菌体发现实验室课程。智力优势：由于每年都有如此多的学生参与，该项目正在获得强有力的措施，将一学期的噬菌体发现实验室作为一种研究体验，供各种初学科学和非科学专业的学生使用。更广泛的影响：该项目的成果可以增加科学教育界对如何最好地提高所有本科生的科学素养的理解。该项目还制作了可供其他机构改编的教学材料。该项目由生物科学局和本科教育司教育与人力资源局联合资助，作为他们支持本科生物学教育愿景与变革的努力的一部分。

The purpose of this project is to engage all of the introductory biology students at Gonzaga University (n=350) in a transformative research-based lab course during their freshman year. The project goals are to 1) increase the science competencies of students at all three developmental levels (beginners, intermediate, and advanced), 2) increase the retention rate of underrepresented minorities in the sciences by engaging students early on in research, and 3) inspire other institutions to implement authentic discovery-based research on a large scale in introductory laboratory courses.Because of the growing recognition that research experience in the first year is a critical influence on retention in science, many programs are now offering an alternative introductory lab sequence based on discovering new mycobacteriophages and annotating their genomes) in a two-semester course, the HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) SEA-PHAGES (Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science) program. Based on the assumption that the gains observed among this select group of students are the kinds of gains all students could experience, the project team has devised several strategies to effectively scale up SEA-PHAGES and make it the introductory biology lab course for 350 students per year. The strategies involve 1) introducing a one-semester Gonzaga Phage Discovery Lab course for all students in the introductory biology class, 2) implementing a Phage Genomics module embedded within the 200-level Genetics Lab course, 3) offering a third course, Advanced Phage Research Lab, for upper division students, and 4) teaching the Phage Discovery Lab course for non-science majors, as well.Intellectual Merit: With this number of students engaged each year, this project is obtaining strong measures of the effectiveness of the one-semester Phage Discovery lab as a research experience for a wide variety of beginning science and non-science majors. Broader Impacts: The outcomes of this project, can increase the science education community's understanding of how best to increase the scientific literacy of all undergraduates. The project is also producing teaching and learning materials adaptable by other institutions.This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts toward support of Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education.