These 3-hour workshops are hands-on, laboratory sessions during which presenters share their innovative and successful undergraduate lab exercises with participants. Participants then review these with short form (pdf) or long form evaluations, part of the peer-review process leading to publication of these activities in our annual Proceedings publication.
Sessions are listed below, by day.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
An Introductory Biology Laboratory Designed to Introduce Mammalian Cell Culture and Cell Viability Techniques in the Undergraduate Laboratory
Veronica A. Segarra, High Point University
Undergraduates learn about mammalian cell culture applications in introductory biology courses, however they are rarely able to participate in laboratory modules designed to teach hands-on essential cell culture techniques. Students are more likely to use bacteria or yeast to learn about cell culture, as they are typically easier to grow, culture, and manipulate given the equipment, tools, and environment of most undergraduate biology laboratories. Despite the widespread use of mammalian cells in research and some upper-level laboratories, mammalian cell culture has yet to be readily accessible to large classes of undergraduate students since it requires a dedicated biological safety cabinet and rigorous antiseptic techniques. For this reason, we have devised a laboratory module and method herein that allows students to become familiar with common cell culture procedures, without the use of a sterile hood or large cell culture facility. Students design and perform a time-efficient inquiry-based cell viability experiment using HeLa cells and tools that are readily available in an undergraduate biology laboratory. Students will become familiar with common techniques such as passaging, cell counting with a disposable hemocytometer, performing serial dilutions, and determining cell viability using trypan blue dye. Additionally students will work with graphing software to analyze their data and think critically about the mechanism of death on cellular level. Two different adaptations of this inquiry-based lab are presented—one for non-biology majors, and one for biology majors.
Teaching Information Literacy Through a Case Study on the Presence of Cougars (Felis concolor) in Nova Scotia
Lara Gibson, Dalhousie University
Students are introduced to the five information literacy standards for higher education developed by the American Library Association. During a class discussion groups are asked to interpret the standard and provide an example. Students then practicing skills such as judging credibility, designing research questions, and determining information gaps, by considering reports of cougar sightings in Nova Scotia. Students complete the exercise by reflecting on how the skills associated with one information standard, judging credibility, was applied in the case study and how this skill could be applied in future assignments.
Designing project-based labs with citizen science and service-learning
Chrissy Spencer and Colin Harrison, Georgia Tech
Asking real questions in a relevant study system is what scientists do, and learning how to navigate that process and to troubleshoot ensuing problems is the best training students can have to pursue careers in scientific research, medicine & human health, or other fields that require problem solving and logic. This Major Workshop will work through the steps to generate a project-based, semester-long laboratory course where students will design and conduct a laboratory experiment aimed at exploring course learning goals that include content and wet bench skills, as well as practicing scientific methodology, teamwork, and communication. We’ll learn how to incorporate broader learning goals, such as partnership with campus researchers, campus-based projects, collaboration with citizen scientists, and service learning. We will discuss examples from a sophomore-level genetics curriculum that are easily transferrable to any science lab course from introductory through senior research experiences. We will present student feedback and learning gains as evidence that a project-based lab that provides an authentic research experience leads to student learning gains and greater student and instructor satisfaction.
What Can Vocalization Tell Us about Animal Behavior? A Workshop held at the Henry Vilas Zoo, Madison, Wisconsin
Kathleen Nolan, St. Francis College; Jill Callahan, St. Peter’s University
Animal vocalizations are intimately related to their behavior. Students will discuss a. what vocalizations can tell us about behavior, including territory guarding, recognition of cohorts, mating calls, warning calls and others and b. what kinds of vocalizations might we be able to record at a local zoo such as the Henry Villa in Madison, Wisconsin. We will take laptops and recorders to the Henry Villas Zoo in Madison Wisconsin zoo to record animal vocalizations. Birds and orangutans are very vocal at the Henry Vilas Zoo. Upon our return to the lab, we will analyze the vocalizations with Audacity, Raven Praat and Raven Lite and share the data. Students will learn how to organize their data in Excel and use this data to devise and test further hypotheses. Another discussion that usually ensues is the value of zoos, which sometimes sparks controversial viewpoints.
This workshop will be similar to one conducted at the Houston Zoo in ABLE 2016.
Light Bulb Efficiency and Environmental Impacts
Lawrence Blumer, Morehouse College
The important global environmental issue of our times is climate change and global warming. In the decades to come, no one will be untouched by the impacts of rising temperatures, droughts, violent storms, rising sea level and weather extremes that are being induced by human activity. Governments around the world have committed to slowing and eventually controlling global warming (Paris Accord 2015 and Kigali Accord 2016) but those efforts seem to focus on large scale targets such as energy production, major industries and transportation systems. Individuals seem to have little or no possible role in addressing this major problem. Yet, we all use energy and the choices we each make about the automobile we drive, home appliances we use, and even the light bulbs in our homes will have a collective impact on the emissions of greenhouse gases and the rate of global warming. In this study, students, working in groups, evaluate the three major forms of electric light bulbs incandescent (I), compact fluorescent (CF) and light emitting diode (LED) by designing and conducting experiments to compare their efficiencies, visible light outputs, and waste heat outputs. The purpose of this work is for each student group to make recommendations on which bulb type is the best buy and which would be best for the environment.
Engaging complexity: learning about biological systems via construction of and interaction with computational models
Lara R. Appleby and Tomas Helikar, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Strategies to teach and learn about complex biological processes are often reductionist, aiming primarily at memorization of a system’s components. This approach often falls short of developing in students an understanding of the integration of the components towards a coherent and dynamic system. We have developed a new software, Cell Collective (https://learn.cellcollective.org), and an approach that enables students to learn about biological processes and their dynamic nature by building and simulating computational models. One of the biological processes taught using our simulation-based approach is gene regulation in the context of the lac operon system. In the simulation-based learning module, students gain an understanding of regulation of the lac operon as determined by a system of interconnected molecules and molecular complexes and how negative feedback loops produce oscillations by (1) interacting with a built model of the lac operon and (2) editing a simpler, incomplete model to replicate known system behaviors.
In the first part of the module, students are prompted to predict, explain, observe, and explain the behavior of parts of the lac operon system under particular conditions (e.g. no glucose, high lactose, and a loss-of-function mutation in lacZ). Workshop attendees will learn how to setup the software to simulate various situations, interpret the graphical representation of the model’s dynamic behavior, and navigate the relationships that constitute the model via the graphical user interface. In the second part of the module, students build their own model, given a few starting components. Workshop attendees will learn how to build a dynamical model in Cell Collective using the graphical user interface. Attendees will also learn how to recognize and correct common modeling errors.
The skills (model navigation, simulation, and construction) obtained through the lac operon simulation module are applicable across all simulation-based modules available in Cell Collective, which engage a variety of traditional introductory (and more advanced) biology topics. At the end of the workshop, we will provide an overview of the available learning modules and, drawing from our experience deploying these modules to ~1,000 student introductory courses, we will provide tips on how to effectively implement these simulation-based modules in the attendees’ respective courses.
WildCam Lab: Inquiry and Data Analysis Using Trail Camera Data from Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique
Rosina Bolen, Mount Saint Mary’s University; Javier Robalino, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Gorongosa National Park is home to many iconic African species, but decades of civil war, deforestation, and poaching have taken a toll on populations of large mammals. Scientists are now using trail cameras deployed throughout the park to better understand how species are recovering, as efforts to protect and restore the park are under way. Using WildCam, an online interactive platform, citizen scientists (such as students) can identify species in trail camera photos to help researchers document their distribution in Gorongosa. This hands-on workshop will focus on activities that use WildCam data to help students propose and test their own hypotheses while developing data analysis and graphing skills using Excel. Participants will learn about Gorongosa National Park and share ideas on how to implement trail camera data to engage their students in scientific thinking.
Behavioral Diversity of Social Insects
Darcy Gordon and Angela Seliga, Boston University
Behavioral Diversity of Social Insects (BDSI) is a modular laboratory exercise designed to introduce students to methods of quantifying animal behavior by acquainting them with a diverse, ubiquitous, and interesting group of insects. Through interactive classroom instruction, field activities, and laboratory assays with termites and ants, students gain appreciation for insect diversity and apply the scientific method to behavioral observations. The BDSI exercise is composed of 3 main modules: Introduction to Social Insect Behavior, Field Biology, and Laboratory Assays. Each module consists of activities designed to meet specific learning goals for students. The introductory module is oriented towards getting students to understand how to measure insect behavior and the importance of its application. This is accomplished through a student demonstration of emergent behavior and an observational video activity. The field module takes students outside to explore the natural habitats of local ants, observe them, and collect specimens that they can identify by applying field biology skills. Finally, the assay module engages students in data collection and analysis by testing hypotheses regarding ant food preference, termite trail following, and ant and termite aggression and phototaxis. During this workshop we will expose instructors to components of each module. Although initially designed for a six-hour Upward Bound Math & Science program, which is for low-income and potential first-generation college bound students, the activities are easily modified to fit into a variety of undergraduate laboratory courses such as an introductory course on ecology and evolution, animal behavior, or entomology.
A Rich Introductory Inquiry-Based Cell Motility Lab Utilizing Dictyostelium discoideum Chemoattraction
Jonathan Moore, Pomona College; Melissa Petreaca, Depauw University; David Knecht, University of Connecticut
We have developed an introductory to intermediate inquiry-based cell motility lab with extensive microscopy, a relative minimum of financial overhead, and a minimum of specialized software. We use refurbished iPods to capture time-lapse video of Dictyostelium discoideum migration toward a chemoattractant. This five to seven session lab develops students’ lab techniques, numerical skills, and statistical methods, as well as providing opportunity for literature exploration, scientific inquiry, and presentation of findings. This lab has yielded a wealth of ways that students modify it for their own inquiry. This lab can also be scaled back into several shorter formats including a one to two session non-inquiry based lab.
Uncooking Yeast: Cells Signaling a Rise to Inquiry
Michelle Harris, Seth McGee, and Janet Batzli, University of Wisconsin – Madison
How do cells communicate? This question is intriguing for students—and considers the modes for cellular signaling that integrate all cellular processes, from metabolism and transport to molecular genetics and the central dogma. We took a three-hour confirmatory lab exercise focused on yeast mating response and identification of mutant strains, and ‘uncooked’ it to create a five-week inquiry unit on yeast signal transduction. Learning goals include 1) working in a research team to design and carry out a novel experiment that helps elucidate protein interactions and gene expression in the yeast mating pathway, 2) combining evidence from b-galactosidase spectrophotometric assay, Western blot assay, and microscopy to generate conclusions about hypotheses, 3.) practicing scientific reasoning and communicating research in both written and oral form. The curriculum is scaffolded beginning with a guided exercise the first week allowing students to gain familiarity with the assays and forms of data, and concepts of G-protein mediated signaling that explain the mating response pathway associated with Saccharomyces cerevisiae Type A cells treated with alpha factor pheromone. In week two, research teams of four present a novel research proposal of their own design focusing on one aspect of the signaling pathway they seek to perturb via an experimental treatment (e.g. abiotic factors, chemical inhibitors or activators, altered pheromones). Teams present their proposal to their peers and instructors to solicit feedback on their biological rationale, hypothesis, methods, expected and alternative results, implications for their experiment and questions they still have. Students carry out their experiment, collect and analyze data in weeks 3 and 4, while also writing a research proposal and engaging in peer review. The unit culminates in week 5 group formal presentations of research findings. Workshop participants will practice collecting the variety of yeast data collected in this unit, as well as discuss the challenges and rewards of creating inquiry-learning opportunities.
Thursday, June 15, 2017
The Write Stuff: A stations-based activity to teach scientific reading, writing, and revision
Suzanne Thuecks, Washington College
How do we induct our students into the culture of scientific reading and writing? In this lab activity, students move through stations to work on each component of a lab report, some through peer and self-review of their own writing and some through analyzing primary sources. Three stations incorporate a heuristic that students use to revise their writing, while three other stations ask students to review their knowledge of appropriate scientific titles, abstracts, and introductions. The activity also includes time for targeted instructor feedback on student writing. Workshop participants will experience part of this exercise as students and then participate in a discussion on various aspects of teaching writing in the science laboratory including grading, rubrics, peer review, and logistics. Participants are encouraged to bring laptop computers.
From Cookbook To Guidebook: Turning Demo Exercises Into Active Inquiries
Dan Johnson, Wake Forest University
Active, inquiry-oriented lab experiences produce deeper, longer lasting learning outcomes more consistently for a larger fraction of students. That said, lab designers and instructors face significant implementation challenges. One of their challenges can be lack of any personal experiences with them as a student. Older STEM faculty and even recent graduates are more likely to have participated mostly “cookbook” labs in their own training, and so have few direct experiences on which to call. The absence of any general design guidelines for inquiry activities is a second challenge. There are innumerable studies describe individual active learning exercises, semester-long project-oriented labs, and models of active instruction to replace the traditional lecture (PBL, TBL, POGIL, etc.). Yet there are comparatively few generic strategies for designing active, inquiry-oriented labs.
This workshop presents a 7-step general lab design model that participants can use to re-build existing cookbook labs so they are active, inquiry-oriented experiences. The same design model can be used to develop new lab units. The general lab design model is an extended version of the process that the workshop leader’s department has used for >10 years to create scalable active learning labs that serve 200+ students per semester.
In the first half of the workshop, participants will use the general lab design model to deconstruct a classic lab demonstration exercise, “Diffusion Through a Membrane,” and identify key points for revision. In the second half of the workshop, participants will see one possible alternate version of the diffusion exercise that was developed using the general lab design model. Participants can adopt (and adapt) the modified diffusion exercise immediately for their own course.
Making a Museum: Preservation of Vertebrate Specimens for use in biological laboratories
Laura Monahan, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Museum specimens are an integral part of many biology laboratories, and instructors who have close access to museums and natural history collections find them to be an invaluable resource. Vertebrate specimens may be brought to your laboratory or offered to you through various means. Knowing how to prepare salvageable specimens for long-term storage and to make them available for your laboratories will allow you and your students to see and learn about animals from the specimens themselves. This laboratory is adapted from an undergraduate/ graduate course we offer, called Introduction to Museum Studies in the Natural Sciences. It will provide attendees the opportunity to learn and practice proper preservation techniques of vertebrate specimens. Participants will be introduced to various preservation techniques: mounts, study skins, disarticulated and articulated skeletons, fluid preserved and clearedand- stained specimens. Attendees will watch a demonstration on fluid fixation and preservation and then practice these techniques on actual specimens. Next, they will learn how to make a more technically difficult museum study skin. Finally, each participant will practice making a museum study skin from a euthanized laboratory mouse.
After this session, attendees who do not have access to a Museum proper could build a small teaching collection for use in their own classroom/laboratories.
In this session attendees will:
- Receive a brief introduction to different preservation types
- Watch a demonstration showing fluid specimen fixation and preservation
- Practice fluid fixation techniques
- Watch a demonstration of study skin preparation
- Practice study skin preparation
Effect of Diet on Bean Beetle Microbial Communities
Christopher Beck and Megan Cole, Emory University
Interest in microbiomes has increased greatly over the last several years. Studies of microbiomes involve the integration of laboratory and analysis techniques from a range of sub-disciplines allow the infusion of ecology into introductory biology laboratories, while using molecular techniques. In this exercises, students plate our homogenates of bean beetles reared on different host bean types on different media. They then describe the colonies that are formed to estimate taxonomic diversity. The students also extract DNA from a subset of colonies, perform PCR for 16s RNA, and analyze the sequence data using BLAST to further identify bacterial species. Finally, students are given data from miSeq analysis in order to examine the effect of diet on both culturable and unculturable microbiome communities. This final step allows students to work with large datasets.
Fishing for parasites at your local seafood market
Jill Callahan, St. Peter’s University; Kathy Nolan, St. Francis University
In this workshop, we will search for parasites in whole, un-gutted fish obtained from a local seafood market. Nematodes are the most prevalent ones that we have found in fish such as whiting. Students dissect the fish, and soak various organs, such as the liver in a saline solution which will represent ocean water. The nematodes swim out of the organs. The students can attempt to key out the nematodes, do a count, and set up various experimental scenarios to assess parasite robustness. Our students have subjected the fish to many treatments including varying the temperature, and changing the pH by adding vinegar or bleach to the organs. Besides learning a bit about parasites and their life cycles, they learn the importance of cooking food, or at least flash freezing (as is done with sushi in NYC) in protecting oneself against ingesting parasites.
Conversion Immersion, version 3.0: Working Together to Create Investigative Labs
Mark Walvoord, University of Central Oklahoma; Mariëlle Hoefnagels, University of Oklahoma
In this workshop, participants will work together to generate ideas for modifying traditional (“cookbook”) labs to a more investigative format. Before the workshop, we will ask participants to send us labs they wish to convert. During the workshop, we will divide the participants into small groups and assign each group a lab or set of related labs to convert. Participants will spend about half of the workshop working in their groups, brainstorming and summarizing their ideas for making the labs more investigative. For the remainder of the workshop, each group will report its ideas to the rest of the workshop participants. We will compile the ideas generated in the workshop and publish summaries in the Proceedings.The outcomes of this workshop are twofold: (1) Improved labs that participants can use at their institutions, and (2) individuals who are practiced at converting labs, so that they are more comfortable modifying other cookbook labs they may be using.
First Year Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) using CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering technology in zebrafish
Michael J. Wolyniak, Anil K. Challa, and Lucian F. Bloodworth III, Hampden-Sydney College
CRISPR-Cas9 has rapidly emerged as the most important advance in molecular biology in the past 20 years. As this technology is currently and will continue to make significant impacts in research across the life sciences, it is imperative that undergraduates become conversant in the workings of CRISPR-Cas9. Unfortunately, the relative novelty of CRISPR-Cas9 means that teaching options involving this technology are limited. In this workshop, we present a semester-long course-based undergraduate research experience in which CRISPR-Cas9 is utilized in a zebrafish model system to develop gene knockouts that can be used for a variety of research questions. Using a workflow developed largely by undergraduate student researchers, we will demonstrate how CRISPR-Cas9 can be made accessible to first-year undergraduate students using bioinformatics and molecular biology techniques. Students select their own putative target gene for CRISPR-Cas9-mediated disruption based on personal interests in particular aspects of zebrafish development and genetics. Preliminary assessment of this laboratory project suggests that students develop not only an appreciation for CRISPR-Cas9 technology but also the process of life science research as a whole as a result of the authentic nature of the research project. While our project revolves around zebrafish, similar lab modules could be developed for other model systems using our course structure.
Gamifying critical reading through a genome annotation intercollegiate competition
Ivan Erill, Steven Caruso, and Jim Hu, University of Maryland Baltimore County
This workshop explores the use of a web-based inter-collegiate competition to perform Gene Ontology annotation of gene products in sequenced genomes as a tool to motivate and focus students’ reading and critical assessment of primary scientific literature while performing a useful task for the scientific community. The Gene Ontology is a world-wide collaborative project to systematize the way we talk about and describe different aspects of gene products, such as the enzymatic activity of a protein or its physical location within a cell. In the context of the Gene Ontology, annotation refers to the act of asserting that a specific gene product performs a specific function, based on the evidence available on peer-reviewed scientific articles. In this lab unit, students participate in an intercampus competition on Gene Ontology annotation named CACAO (Community Assessment of Community Annotation with Ontologies). Working in teams, students from different campuses compete against each other to make accurate annotations based on their reading and critical assessment of the experimental evidence available in primary research articles. Students receive specific instruction on the Gene Ontology project, the process of Gene Ontology annotation and, optionally, in the use of bioinformatics tools to reliably assess orthology as the means to transfer existing Gene Ontology annotations to genes of interest in a given genome. The intercollegiate competition backend is maintained by Jim Hu, at Texas A&M University, who provides the training and infrastructure resources for the implementation of CACAO as an in-college or multi-college competition. The CACAO competition is organized in alternating, bi-weekly innings dedicated to annotation and challenge. To perform annotations, students must read original articles and specifically describe the experiments in those articles supporting their conclusions. Their claims can be assessed and challenged by other teams who have read the article, and students must address those challenges by revisiting their literature sources and revising their annotations accordingly. Students and their teams are given credit for accurate annotations and challenges, prompting them to carefully read, discuss and assess the experiments reported in the articles they cite as sources for their annotations. The combination of team-based peer competition with a highly structured and publicly-accountable annotation process enhances student involvement and discussion, provides well-defined guidelines for critical reading of primary literature, and engages students in thinking about evidence and source identification in scientific statements.
Modeling Events During Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Sanger Sequencing of DNA Using 3-D-Printed Puzzle Pieces
Valerie Schawaroch and Mary G. Egan, Baruch College – CUNY; Elizabeth Torres, California State University – Los Angeles
Learning can be enhanced when more than one sensory modality is used. This exercise uses visual and kinesthetic senses to teach Polymerase Chain Reaction and Sanger DNA sequencing in high school biology or college introductory biology courses. By working with 3-D printed puzzle pieces that represent DNA nucleotides or dideoxynucleotides, groups of students will create double helix DNA strands generated in the first three cycles of a PCR reaction and the single strands of short Sanger sequencing reactions. Each nucleotide or dideoxynucletide is represented by a 3-D printed plastic puzzle piece that has a unique shape, color, and embossed symbol for the nucleotide. These features of the puzzle pieces make the exercise accessible to visually impaired students and students with other disabilities. The PCR activity is guided, with detailed instructions for students and instructors and includes embedded questions for assessment. The Sanger sequencing activity is more advanced, and requires that groups of students collaborate to pool their results with the rest of the class to complete the model. The class organizes the single stranded fragments by length, in the order that they would appear in an acrylamide gel. The supplied materials include student worksheets, answer keys, teaching instructions, and the Sketchup files that can be used with a 3-D printer. The activities will be pilot tested at two undergraduate institutions during the spring semester of 2017. This exercise can be expanded to improve understanding of shotgun sequencing, microsatellite genotyping, fragments generated by restriction enzymes, and integration of DNA fragments into a plasmid for cloning.
Is Raspberry Ketone a Magic Bullet to Lose Weight: Investigating Bias In Research Using A Dietary Supplement?
Debra Mauzy-Melitz, University of California – Irvine
Do you need to lose weight? Take this magic pill and see the fat burn away. Raspberry Ketone is being promoted as a weight loss and fat burning supplement that could solve all of your weight problems. This workshop will investigate this claim and how bias can influence results. Participants will view a portion of a TV show promoting raspberry ketone as the new weight loss wonder supplement. We will look for and discuss the biases in the show. We will then test the claim of reducing lipid content in fats cells by examining adipocytes differentiated from fibroblast cells exposed to raspberry ketone and compared to the control group. We will stain the cells for lipid content using Oil Red O and analyze the cell images using Image J. We will discuss how best to analyze our results and what potential issues we may not have thought about. A published article about raspberry ketone’s potential value in providing protection against fatty liver disease will be examined for bias and accuracy. Finally the group will decide how much those bottles of raspberry ketone pills are really worth.
Preparing Your Students for the Future – Undergraduate Research Experiences
Dan Lauffer, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Undergraduate research experiences are valuable for all students, both science majors and nonmajors. Engaging in undergraduate research experiences provides unique problem-solving and innovation opportunities that can help build proficiency for professional excellence in any career. Wisconsin Fast Plants and other rapid-cycling Brassicas–with their short life cycles, genetic variation and phenotypic plasticity—are an ideal organism for both short- and long-term undergraduate research projects and independent studies.
Participants will:
- Engage in hands-on examples of research projects in the subject areas of genetics, developmental biology, reproductive biology and plant breeding. Each of these projects has the potential for multiple generations in a single semester.
- Learn how to encourage their students to design and build their own growing and lighting systems to reinforce the connection between science and technology.
- Participate in discussion for best practices for supervising undergraduate research experiences.
The Wisconsin Fast Plants Program and its research seed stock collection, the Rapid-Cycling Brassica Collection, staff are dedicated to supporting undergraduate research and education initiatives by supplying seed varieties of rapid-cycling Brassicas, background information, protocols, relevant existing data sets and on-line mentoring and support.