RCN-UBE: Establishing a Genomics Education Alliance: Steps toward Sustainability

基因组学革命，DNA序列数据的广泛使用，以提高生物学的理解，带来了独特的挑战，生物教育工作者。来自计算机和数据科学的技能已经成为学生的核心竞争力，即使许多生命科学教师完成了正式培训，但没有有效参与这一领域所需的计算专业知识。基因组学教育联盟（GEA）将汇集现有基因组学教育网络的成员，利用他们的综合专业知识来识别和策划常见的基因组分析工具，相关的课程和评估材料，以及教师培训策略，以促进在任何学院或大学采用基因组学教学。通过使现有的资源，GEA将使目前的教师指导本科生命科学学生参与真正的基因组研究项目。这种工作将提高学生的能力-无论是两年制还是四年制院校的学生-成为技术工作队伍中的生产性成员，在生物学和有关学科的毕业后学习中取得成功，并成为更知情的公民和决策者。GEA将开发一套经过审查的共识资源和培训材料，通过一个单一的门户网站向教育界传播，供本科生课堂使用这些材料。策展工作将强调教师培训和学生学习资源，特别是战略的发展，以有效地领导基因组学课程为基础的本科生研究经验（CURES）。GEA将形成一个扩展的网络，从现有的本科生基因组学教育社区招募成员，并利用他们的综合经验，创建一个统一的和可持续的平台，可通过门户网站，教师可以用来让不同的学生参与基于探究的课程和CURE。我们的努力将集中在三个主要目标：1）策展和维护基因组学教学的计算资源; 2）教师培训和学生学习材料的开发;和3）在基因组学教育的教学和学习评估的评估，调整评估与教师培训和学生学习资源。GEA网络将分为四个委员会-生物信息学基础设施，学生学习，教师培训和评估/评估-他们将定期开会，收集和选择材料，以在三个面对面的研讨会上进一步完善。每个委员会的具体任务将在启动研讨会上确定，其初步工作将在第二次进展研讨会上报告。在最后一次综合研讨会上，与会者将对产品进行评估，并就广泛实施所需的任何继续发展提出建议。该项目由生物基础设施部生物科学理事会和本科教育部教育和人力资源理事会共同资助，作为他们努力解决本科生物学教育中的愿景和变革所带来的挑战的一部分：行动呼吁（http：//visionandchange/finalreport/）。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The genomics revolution, the wide-spread use of DNA sequence data to enhance biological understanding, brings unique challenges for biology educators. Skills from computer and data sciences have become core competencies for students even though many life science faculty completed formal training without the computational expertise needed to effectively engage in this field. The Genomics Education Alliance (GEA) will bring together members of existing genomics education networks, leveraging their combined expertise to identify and curate common genome analysis tools, associated curricular and assessment materials, and faculty training strategies to facilitate the adoption of genomics instruction at any college or university. By making existing resources accessible, the GEA will enable current faculty to guide undergraduate life science students participating in authentic genomic research projects. Such work will enhance the ability of students -- whether at 2- or 4-year institutions -- to become productive members of the technological work-force, to succeed in post-graduation studies in biology and related disciplines, and to be better informed citizens and decision makers. The GEA will develop a consensus set of vetted resources and training materials to be disseminated to the education community through a single web portal for use of these materials in undergraduate classrooms. Curation efforts will emphasize faculty training and student learning resources, in particular the development of strategies to effectively lead genomics Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs).The GEA will form an extended network, recruiting members from existing undergraduate genomics education communities, and exploit their combined experience to create a unified and sustainable platform, available through a web portal, that faculty can use to engage diverse students in inquiry-based curricula and CUREs. Our efforts will focus around three major aims: 1) curation and maintenance of computational resources for genomics instruction; 2) development of faculty training and student learning materials; and 3) evaluation of teaching and learning assessments in genomics education, aligning assessments with faculty training and student learning resources. The GEA network will be organized into four committees -- Bioinformatics Infrastructure, Student Learning, Faculty Training, and Evaluation/Assessment -- who will meet regularly to assemble and select materials to be further refined at the three face-to-face workshops. The specific tasks of each committee will be set at the kickoff workshop, and their initial work will be reported at a second progress workshop. At the final synthesis workshop, participants will evaluate the products and recommend any continued development needed for broad implementation. Curated materials will be maintained on established infrastructure to ensure the long-term accessibility of these products.This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.