Increasing Undergraduate Engagement in Bioinformatics

该项目旨在通过建立一个由规模较小的学院和大学的教师组成的区域网络来服务于国家利益，这些学院和大学为学生提供入门级的生物信息学和蛋白质建模体验。从历史上看，生物信息学课程和经验一直是研究密集型大学的普遍项目和经验，来自规模较小、资源较少的机构的学生无法获得。然而，分子生物学的技术进步--包括基因组学、转录组学和蛋白质组学--导致了公众可访问的包含海量信息的生物数据库的爆炸性增长。随着用户友好工具的出现来组织和分析这些信息，来自所有类型的高等教育机构的学生都可以参与真实的生物信息学研究。我们的DNA例外(代码)计划将结合技能发展、主动学习和研究驱动的课程工作，将学生直接带入研究世界。参与编码的学生将使用计算建模和数据库分析来探索在临床和农业研究中识别的DNA变体的意义。他们将成为知识的生产者，洞察这些DNA变体的生物学意义。在此过程中，他们将获得使用信息学工具的信心，以及对相关职业道路的认识--这是增加他们的科学认同感和坚持STEM专业的关键组成部分。这项提议将建立一个由来自美国东南部多达40所高等教育机构的50-60名大学教员组成的地区性网络。该项目的主要目标是增加获得研究性学习经验的机会，特别是对于本科研究机会较少的小型机构的学生。学生们单独或在小型协作团队中工作，将从临床或农业DNA变体列表中进行选择，这些变体被确定为HudsonAlpha研究项目的一部分，或从公开可用的基因组数据库中进行选择。他们将使用学生友好的分析软件来分析该序列在基因组中的位置，并将其与其他生物的类似片段进行比较，然后进行分子建模，以研究DNA变体可能如何改变蛋白质结构。学生的工作将被记录在书面报告中，上传到开放获取的资源库，并在一年一度的代码研讨会上展示。辅导员将接受培训，指导本科生使用这种变异分析和分子建模工作流程，这一工作流程可以很容易地整合到现有课程和新课程中。这一方法将以指导项目为基础的形式向广泛的学生介绍生物信息学，以激发兴趣，建立信心，并鼓励继续参与科学教育和STEM职业道路。将进行定量和定性评估，以确定参与CODE项目是否提高了人们对生物信息学、科学自我效能感、科学认同感以及进入或留在STEM专业的意愿。评估数据将衡量学生对生物信息学、自我效能感和科学认同感的认识和兴趣的变化-所有这些因素都对STEM的坚持性产生积极影响。该项目的成功将为各种规模的机构提供低成本、可信的本科生生物信息学研究项目的可持续模式。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by building a regional network of faculty from smaller colleges and universities that offer entry-level bioinformatics and protein modeling experiences to their students. Historically, bioinformatics programs and experiences have been at large, research-intensive universities and inaccessible to students from smaller and less-resourced institutions. However, technological advances in molecular biology - including genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics - have led to an explosion in publicly accessible biological databases containing oceans of information. With the emergence of user-friendly tools to organize and analyze this information, students from all types of post-secondary institutions can participate in authentic bioinformatics research. The Characterizing Our DNA Exceptions (CODE) program will incorporate skill development, active learning, and research-driven coursework, bringing students directly into the world of research. Students participating in CODE will use computational modeling and database analysis to explore the significance of DNA variants identified in clinical and agricultural studies. They will become producers of knowledge, gaining insight into the biological significance of these DNA variants. Along the way, they will gain confidence working with informatics tools, and an awareness of related career pathways - key components for increasing their scientific identity and persisting in a STEM major. This proposal will build a regional network of 50-60 college faculty facilitators from up to 40 post-secondary institutions across the Southeastern US. The project's primary goal is to increase access to research-based learning experiences, particularly for students at small institutions with fewer undergraduate research opportunities. Working individually or in small collaborative teams, students will select from a list of clinical or agricultural DNA variants identified as part of a HudsonAlpha research project or from a publicly available genome database. They will use student friendly analysis software to analyze the sequence in the context of its location within the genome and compare it with similar segments from other organisms, followed by molecular modeling to study how the DNA variant may alter the protein structure. Student work will be documented in a written report, uploaded to an open-access repository library, and presented at an annual CODE symposium. Facilitators will be trained to mentor undergraduate students using this variant analysis and molecular modeling workflow, which can easily be integrated into existing and new courses. This approach will introduce a broad range of students to bioinformatics in a mentored project-based format to capture interest, build confidence, and encourage continued participation in science education and a STEM career path. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations will be conducted to determine whether participating in a CODE project increases awareness and interest in bioinformatics, science self-efficacy, scientific identity, and intention to enter or remain in a STEM major. Evaluation data will measure shifts in student awareness and interest in bioinformatics, self-efficacy, and scientific identity - all factors that positively impact STEM persistence. This project’s success will provide a sustainable model for low-cost, authentic undergraduate bioinformatics research projects for institutions of all sizes. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.