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

目前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研究的机会，并加强思维的分析习惯，这些习惯伴随着发展科学问题和寻找证据来解决这些问题。基因组教育伙伴关系(GEP)是为了让本科生参与一个基因组研究项目而成立的。虽然这项技术是新的，但其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，学生的兴奋就会产生。在过去的8年里，100多名教师与生物系、计算机科学系和华盛顿大学基因组研究所(WU)的成员合作，将生物信息学研究经验纳入其学校的课程。该项目利用了全球教育计划的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(CURE)的最佳做法。该项目还将开发、测试和传播一个旨在招收和留住初学者的课程。GEP为本科生提供了参与一个大型基因组研究项目的机会，该项目目前的主题是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，确定基因的特征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治疗的有效性，在此过程中更好地理解研究经验如何影响学生作为科学家的学习和自我认同，以及(2)开发经修改的治疗课程和参与战略，使基于生物信息学的基因组研究更容易为初学者/大学生所接受。结果将通过学生测验、调查、访谈、焦点小组和持之以恒的衡量标准的组合进行评估，并结合对教师日记、调查、访谈和重点讨论的分析。所学的经验教训应该有助于我们的基础知识，即如何帮助我们的学生获得在科学领域取得成功的智力习惯和自信。

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.