Download - GEP implementation at NU
Genomics Education Partnership:
First implementation in a Molecular Biology CourseMay-June 2014
Ana Maria Barral
National University, CA.
National University• Private, non-profit university (1971)
• Comprehensive: Associate, Bachelors, & Masters Degrees
• 19 campuses in CA, administrative offices in San Diego
• Accelerated courses (4-8 weeks), one at a time.
• Mostly non-traditional students: • Working students, often with families• Returning students• Veterans & active military• Minorities
San Diego Spectrum campus
• Part of the BS Biology sequence, follows Genetics
• 8 week lecture + lab, GEP implemented for lab
• Total of 10 class meetings, 4.5 hours each (lab).
• Although 10-12 hours of annotation were planned, total hours spent in-class were 20-25 hours, plus student individual time.
• Lecture included a scaffolded written project on a Drosophila gene to support the GEP project.
GEP in a Molecular Biology lab course (BIO407A)
Course scheduleWeek Lecture GEP Traditional Molecular Bio
1 Nucleic acids.Genes
Dilutions, spectroph.DNA quantification
2 Gene structure Examples using Drosophila Colony PCRSequencing, Blast analysis
3 Genes & clusters Examples using Drosophila. DNA isolation & electrophoresis.
4 Gene evolution. Chromosomes & chromatin.
Intro to GEP.Blast tutorial and exercise.
5 Replication, recombination, & repair.
Annotation exercises. Simple annotation problem. Claiming of contigs.
Blue-white cloning
6 Transcription Annotation
7 Translation Annotation
8 Gene regulation Project submission.
GEP material was incorporated into final exam
The bad…• No TA for a class of 12
• Student complaints:• Instructions confusing • Tutorials difficult and wordy• Excessive workload• Too much emphasis on annotation within the course material
• Interestingly, end-of-course survey scores were better for lab (GEP) than for lecture!
• Student preparation and effort directly proportional to annotation success (systematic issue w/non-traditional students)
Ideas for improvement…• TA/peer instructor invaluable.
• Start GEP content from the very beginning (teach MolBio through GEP- great idea)
• Chunking of materials, short tutorials.
• Formatting of tutorials for easier overview (fonts, bolding, headings, etc.), maybe have instructions separate from in-deep analysis
• Have students work together on the same contig.
Additional observations
• “So are we working for free for Washington University?” Lack of clarity about research and project ownership.
• Desire for more visual aids and help videos (youtube generation)
• GEP project abstract- it may be useful to put faces to names (Welcome video by GEP group?)
The Good• Student engagement was palpable.
• Student surveys scored high (>4) for critical thinking, deeper knowledge of the material, apply the knowledge to real life.
• “It was refreshing to have a professor give me the opportunity to work on such a meaningful task like the WU project. Even though it was extremely challenging at times, it was nice to know that I was working for something more than just a grade.”
Thank you all, especially Sally and Wilson !