Managing and evaluating the literature review process can be a time-consuming challenge when working one-on-one with students to teach scientific process skills, whether through an independent study, honors contract, or undergraduate research. In this article, I share my solution to address the pedagogical and organizational challenge posed by this type of teaching and mentoring: the citation management software Zotero used in conjunction with a template worksheet. Overall, this approach will save time, introduce students to a new multipurpose software tool, and lead to a set of reusable resources for future teaching.
{"title":"Zotero as a teaching tool for independent study courses, honors contracts, and undergraduate research mentoring.","authors":"Dyan E Morgan","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00132-24","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00132-24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Managing and evaluating the literature review process can be a time-consuming challenge when working one-on-one with students to teach scientific process skills, whether through an independent study, honors contract, or undergraduate research. In this article, I share my solution to address the pedagogical and organizational challenge posed by this type of teaching and mentoring: the citation management software Zotero used in conjunction with a template worksheet. Overall, this approach will save time, introduce students to a new multipurpose software tool, and lead to a set of reusable resources for future teaching.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0013224"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142000933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stephanie A Carr, Stephanie L Mathews, Justin A Pruneski, Nikolas M Stasulli
In this article, we describe curricular materials developed to engage undergraduate students in evolutionary thinking around antibiotic resistance using the MEGA-plate experiment (Microbial Evolution and Growth Arena). This elegant and visual experiment, developed by the Kishony Lab, shows the development of antibiotic resistance on the timescale of hours and days. It not only provides important biological insights but also captures students' attention, making it a very useful tool for education. While a short video describing the method and major results has already been widely used in the classroom setting, our case study connects details of the methods and results of the MEGA-plate experiment and antibiotic resistance to core biological concepts. The interrupted case study consists of four major parts: 1) an opening hook activity to capture students' attention and introduce the antibiotic crisis, 2) a jigsaw activity to research different classes of antibiotic targets and the resistance mechanisms that can arise, 3) a discussion of antibiotic resistance in real-time using the MEGA-plate experiment video, and 4) three different options for students to dive deeper into the experimental data from the MEGA-plate research article. These components are modular and can be used in many different combinations to reach different audiences or connect to other topics related to microbiology, evolution, or genetics.
在这篇文章中,我们介绍了利用 MEGA 板实验(微生物进化与生长竞技场)让本科生围绕抗生素耐药性进行进化思考而开发的课程材料。这个由基肖尼实验室开发的实验优雅而直观,以小时和天为时间尺度展示了抗生素耐药性的发展过程。它不仅能提供重要的生物学启示,还能吸引学生的注意力,是非常有用的教学工具。虽然介绍实验方法和主要结果的视频短片已在课堂教学中广泛使用,但我们的案例研究将 MEGA-plate 实验方法和结果的细节以及抗生素耐药性与核心生物学概念联系起来。被打断的案例研究由四个主要部分组成:1)开场钩子活动,吸引学生的注意力并介绍抗生素危机;2)拼图活动,研究不同类别的抗生素靶标和可能产生的抗药性机制;3)使用 MEGA-plate 实验视频实时讨论抗生素抗药性;4)三种不同的选项,供学生深入研究 MEGA-plate 研究文章中的实验数据。这些组件都是模块化的,可以进行多种不同的组合,以满足不同受众的需求,或与微生物学、进化论或遗传学相关的其他主题联系起来。
{"title":"A case study to engage students in evolutionary thinking around antibiotic resistance using the MEGA-plate experiment.","authors":"Stephanie A Carr, Stephanie L Mathews, Justin A Pruneski, Nikolas M Stasulli","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00039-24","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00039-24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this article, we describe curricular materials developed to engage undergraduate students in evolutionary thinking around antibiotic resistance using the MEGA-plate experiment (Microbial Evolution and Growth Arena). This elegant and visual experiment, developed by the Kishony Lab, shows the development of antibiotic resistance on the timescale of hours and days. It not only provides important biological insights but also captures students' attention, making it a very useful tool for education. While a short video describing the method and major results has already been widely used in the classroom setting, our case study connects details of the methods and results of the MEGA-plate experiment and antibiotic resistance to core biological concepts. The interrupted case study consists of four major parts: 1) an opening hook activity to capture students' attention and introduce the antibiotic crisis, 2) a jigsaw activity to research different classes of antibiotic targets and the resistance mechanisms that can arise, 3) a discussion of antibiotic resistance in real-time using the MEGA-plate experiment video, and 4) three different options for students to dive deeper into the experimental data from the MEGA-plate research article. These components are modular and can be used in many different combinations to reach different audiences or connect to other topics related to microbiology, evolution, or genetics.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0003924"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141989185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Students in STEM know well the stress, challenge, and effort that accompany college exams. As a widely recognizable feature of the STEM classroom experience, high-stakes assessments serve as crucial cultural gateways in shaping both preparation and motivation for careers. In this essay, we identify and discuss issues of power around STEM exams to further the understanding of exam practices that can unjustly hold students back. Through theory and practical examples, we consider the numerous ways in which power manifests both on and off the pages of the exams themselves, as well as ways in which power is consolidated away from students through logistical norms and tradeoffs. Centering the "rules of the culture of power" as delineated by Dr. Lisa Delpit, we reflect on exam practices that prioritize faculty voice and faculty convenience above student learning and student identity. We share some of what we have learned from our students as part of a call to improve STEM education by relinquishing some of our exam-related power over students, redistributing it to students so that they have more power to shape their own education.
科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)专业的学生深知伴随着大学考试而来的压力、挑战和努力。作为科技、工程和数学课堂教学中一个广为人知的特点,高风险评估是塑造职业准备和动力的重要文化途径。在这篇文章中,我们将围绕 STEM 考试确定并讨论权力问题,以进一步了解可能不公正地阻碍学生的考试做法。通过理论和实际案例,我们考虑了权力在考试本身内外的众多表现形式,以及通过后勤规范和权衡从学生手中夺走权力的方式。围绕丽莎-德尔皮特博士(Dr. Lisa Delpit)提出的 "权力文化规则",我们反思了将教师的话语权和教师的便利性置于学生学习和学生身份之上的考试做法。我们分享了从学生身上学到的一些东西,呼吁通过放弃我们对学生的一些与考试相关的权力,将其重新分配给学生,使他们有更多的权力来塑造自己的教育,从而改善 STEM 教育。
{"title":"Exam reform: an opportunity for the redistribution of academic power.","authors":"Gregory J Crowther, Benjamin L Wiggins","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00119-24","DOIUrl":"10.1128/jmbe.00119-24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Students in STEM know well the stress, challenge, and effort that accompany college exams. As a widely recognizable feature of the STEM classroom experience, high-stakes assessments serve as crucial cultural gateways in shaping both preparation and motivation for careers. In this essay, we identify and discuss issues of power around STEM exams to further the understanding of exam practices that can unjustly hold students back. Through theory and practical examples, we consider the numerous ways in which power manifests both on and off the pages of the exams themselves, as well as ways in which power is consolidated away from students through logistical norms and tradeoffs. Centering the \"rules of the culture of power\" as delineated by Dr. Lisa Delpit, we reflect on exam practices that prioritize faculty voice and faculty convenience above student learning and student identity. We share some of what we have learned from our students as part of a call to improve STEM education by relinquishing some of our exam-related power over students, redistributing it to students so that they have more power to shape their own education.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0011924"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141989186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Danielle R Williams, D'Anne Duncan, Mallory M Rice, Erica L Sanchez
Mental health interventions can help mitigate the unique challenges that individuals in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) face as they navigate these disciplines. We developed the "Mental Health and Wellness: Our Community and our Identity in STEM" workshop, which emphasizes leveraging our STEM community and promoting self-compassion, to foster a conversation among members of the STEM community on how to support mental health and wellness. This interactive workshop begins with a short lecture to define mental health and wellness and introduce evidence-based methods to increase self-compassion. Participants, who are often from diverse backgrounds and various career stages, then explore case studies that highlight experiences related to mental health across STEM career stages. Pre- and post-assessments of workshop participants suggest that participants had positive shifts in their ability to show compassion toward themselves as well as an increased comfort in discussing mental health within their STEM community. This workshop not only provided participants with practical tools and insights but also cultivated a supportive environment, underscoring the importance of mental health awareness and collective well-being within STEM fields. In this paper, we share tips on how this workshop was executed and lessons we have learned from our years of sharing similar workshops in the broader STEM community. We hope this paper serves as a valuable guide for potential facilitators to initiate conversations about mental health and wellness in their respective STEM spaces.
{"title":"Fostering community discussions and building a toolkit for mental health and wellness in STEM.","authors":"Danielle R Williams, D'Anne Duncan, Mallory M Rice, Erica L Sanchez","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00089-24","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00089-24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mental health interventions can help mitigate the unique challenges that individuals in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) face as they navigate these disciplines. We developed the \"Mental Health and Wellness: Our Community and our Identity in STEM\" workshop, which emphasizes leveraging our STEM community and promoting self-compassion, to foster a conversation among members of the STEM community on how to support mental health and wellness. This interactive workshop begins with a short lecture to define mental health and wellness and introduce evidence-based methods to increase self-compassion. Participants, who are often from diverse backgrounds and various career stages, then explore case studies that highlight experiences related to mental health across STEM career stages. Pre- and post-assessments of workshop participants suggest that participants had positive shifts in their ability to show compassion toward themselves as well as an increased comfort in discussing mental health within their STEM community. This workshop not only provided participants with practical tools and insights but also cultivated a supportive environment, underscoring the importance of mental health awareness and collective well-being within STEM fields. In this paper, we share tips on how this workshop was executed and lessons we have learned from our years of sharing similar workshops in the broader STEM community. We hope this paper serves as a valuable guide for potential facilitators to initiate conversations about mental health and wellness in their respective STEM spaces.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0008924"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141989187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-25Epub Date: 2024-03-28DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.00004-24
Courtney Murray, Jennifer Osterhage
Building rapport between instructors and students is a challenge, especially in large classes and in online environments. Previous work has shown that non-content Instructor Talk can foster positive student-teacher relationships, but less is known about non-content talk in electronic instructor messages. Here, we used the established Instructor Talk framework to craft positively phrased electronic messages that were sent through the course's learning management system to students enrolled in an introductory biology course at a large public institution. We examined both close- and open-ended survey responses (n = 226) to assess students' perceptions of the electronic messages, the course, and their instructor. Of the established Instructor Talk categories, the building student/instructor relationship category was most memorable to students. Encouragingly, 61% of students indicated they "liked the course more" and 88% indicated they "liked the instructor more" in response to the electronic messages. This demonstrates that implementing positively phrased Instructor Talk into electronic communication is an effective way to build rapport between instructors and students.
{"title":"\"They helped me through the semester\": electronic instructor messages can foster the instructor-student relationship.","authors":"Courtney Murray, Jennifer Osterhage","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00004-24","DOIUrl":"10.1128/jmbe.00004-24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Building rapport between instructors and students is a challenge, especially in large classes and in online environments. Previous work has shown that non-content Instructor Talk can foster positive student-teacher relationships, but less is known about non-content talk in electronic instructor messages. Here, we used the established Instructor Talk framework to craft positively phrased electronic messages that were sent through the course's learning management system to students enrolled in an introductory biology course at a large public institution. We examined both close- and open-ended survey responses (<i>n</i> = 226) to assess students' perceptions of the electronic messages, the course, and their instructor. Of the established Instructor Talk categories, the building student/instructor relationship category was most memorable to students. Encouragingly, 61% of students indicated they \"liked the course more\" and 88% indicated they \"liked the instructor more\" in response to the electronic messages. This demonstrates that implementing positively phrased Instructor Talk into electronic communication is an effective way to build rapport between instructors and students.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0000424"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11044634/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140319472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-25Epub Date: 2024-02-27DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.00163-23
Jennifer Teshera-Levye, Heather D Vance-Chalcraft
The experience of transferring to a 4-year college, especially in STEM programs, can be particularly challenging for students. While much of the onus for preparing students for transfer has been placed on community colleges, the 4-year institutions to which students transfer have critical roles to play. With this in mind, we established the Pre-transfer Interventions, Mentoring, and Experience in Research (PRIMER) program to support students transferring into the biology department at our university. The design of this program is based around the key elements of Schlossberg's Transition Theory, focusing on the support and strategies elements of the theory. Through a weekly academic skill course, peer mentoring, and informal academic and social supports, our goals were for students to increase their involvement in the campus community and to increase their use of academic support resources. We used qualitative and quantitative assessments to compare sense of community and use of campus resources between students who participated in our program and others. We found that students in our program strongly increased their sense of community during the semester compared to other students and used campus resources at a higher rate. Our insights from the PRIMER program can help others in developing programs to support transfer students in biology departments.
转学到四年制大学,尤其是 STEM 课程,对学生来说是一个特别具有挑战性的经历。虽然社区学院承担着为学生转学做好准备的重任,但学生转入的四年制院校也发挥着至关重要的作用。有鉴于此,我们制定了转学前干预、指导和研究经验(PRIMER)计划,为转入我校生物系的学生提供支持。该计划的设计以施洛斯伯格的转学理论的关键要素为基础,重点关注理论中的支持和策略要素。通过每周一次的学术技能课程、同伴指导以及非正式的学术和社会支持,我们的目标是让学生更多地参与到校园社区中来,并更多地利用学术支持资源。我们通过定性和定量评估,比较了参加我们项目的学生和其他学生的社区意识和对校园资源的使用情况。我们发现,与其他学生相比,参加我们项目的学生在本学期的社区意识得到了很大的提高,使用校园资源的比例也更高。我们从 PRIMER 项目中获得的启示可以帮助其他人制定支持生物系转学生的项目。
{"title":"Peer mentorship and academic supports build sense of community and improve outcomes for transfer students.","authors":"Jennifer Teshera-Levye, Heather D Vance-Chalcraft","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00163-23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00163-23","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The experience of transferring to a 4-year college, especially in STEM programs, can be particularly challenging for students. While much of the onus for preparing students for transfer has been placed on community colleges, the 4-year institutions to which students transfer have critical roles to play. With this in mind, we established the Pre-transfer Interventions, Mentoring, and Experience in Research (PRIMER) program to support students transferring into the biology department at our university. The design of this program is based around the key elements of Schlossberg's Transition Theory, focusing on the support and strategies elements of the theory. Through a weekly academic skill course, peer mentoring, and informal academic and social supports, our goals were for students to increase their involvement in the campus community and to increase their use of academic support resources. We used qualitative and quantitative assessments to compare sense of community and use of campus resources between students who participated in our program and others. We found that students in our program strongly increased their sense of community during the semester compared to other students and used campus resources at a higher rate. Our insights from the PRIMER program can help others in developing programs to support transfer students in biology departments.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":"25 1","pages":"e0016323"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11044626/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140869267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-25Epub Date: 2024-03-15DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.00197-23
Anqi Yang, Lisa McDonnell
Laboratory courses offer a unique opportunity, and sometimes challenge, to engage students in projects where they can experience ownership and authentic science practices. An important science practice is writing, which can lead to increased learning about concepts and science communication. Experiencing a sense of ownership in research can lead to various student outcomes, such as increased motivation, greater interest in research, and higher retention in STEM fields. Although previous work has extracted aspects of ownership from students' descriptions of research experiences, studies have not examined directly how students define and perceive ownership. In addition, we do not have a clear idea of whether a sense of ownership is related to student attitudes toward scientific writing in a lab course setting. To better understand the relationship between ownership and writing directly from students' perspectives, we used analysis of student responses to surveys and interviews in an upper-division laboratory course. Using a grounded theory approach for the analysis of 167 survey responses and 9 interviews, we found that students have varying perceptions of project ownership, with the most frequent being opportunities to contribute ideas and shape the project (autonomy), doing the work, and leadership. Students largely perceived that increased ownership had positive influences on their writing, such as increased understanding and thinking, freedom in writing, and increased motivation. Learning about how students perceive ownership in the context of a lab course is useful for considering how lab course structure may support the development of a sense of ownership and may influence how we can engage students in meaningful writing practices.
{"title":"Student definitions of ownership and perceived ways ownership influences writing in a biology laboratory class.","authors":"Anqi Yang, Lisa McDonnell","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00197-23","DOIUrl":"10.1128/jmbe.00197-23","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Laboratory courses offer a unique opportunity, and sometimes challenge, to engage students in projects where they can experience ownership and authentic science practices. An important science practice is writing, which can lead to increased learning about concepts and science communication. Experiencing a sense of ownership in research can lead to various student outcomes, such as increased motivation, greater interest in research, and higher retention in STEM fields. Although previous work has extracted aspects of ownership from students' descriptions of research experiences, studies have not examined directly how students define and perceive ownership. In addition, we do not have a clear idea of whether a sense of ownership is related to student attitudes toward scientific writing in a lab course setting. To better understand the relationship between ownership and writing directly from students' perspectives, we used analysis of student responses to surveys and interviews in an upper-division laboratory course. Using a grounded theory approach for the analysis of 167 survey responses and 9 interviews, we found that students have varying perceptions of project ownership, with the most frequent being opportunities to contribute ideas and shape the project (autonomy), doing the work, and leadership. Students largely perceived that increased ownership had positive influences on their writing, such as increased understanding and thinking, freedom in writing, and increased motivation. Learning about how students perceive ownership in the context of a lab course is useful for considering how lab course structure may support the development of a sense of ownership and may influence how we can engage students in meaningful writing practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0019723"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11044641/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140132793","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-25Epub Date: 2024-03-22DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.00168-23
Jessica Duke, Emily A Holt
Psychological distance (PD) can be a barrier to how students perceive climate change impacts and severity. Localizing climate change using place-based approaches is one way instructors can structure their curricula to help combat students' PD, especially from a spatial and social viewpoint. We created a novel classroom intervention that incorporated elements of place-based education and the Teaching for Transformative Experiences in Science model that was designed to lower undergraduate biology students' spatial and social distance of climate change. Our research questions sought to determine whether students' PD changed following our intervention and whether variables beyond our intervention might have contributed to changes we identified. To measure the efficacy of our intervention, we administered a survey that contained several instruments to measure students' recognition and psychological distance of climate change pre- and post-intervention. We found that students' psychological distance to climate change decreased after participating in our classroom intervention. Additionally, course level was the only outside variable we identified as a predictor of students' post-activity scores. Participation in our activity lowered our students' spatial and social psychological distance, which could have impacts beyond the classroom as these students become the next generation of scientists and voters.
{"title":"Place-based climate change: lowering students' psychological distance through a classroom activity.","authors":"Jessica Duke, Emily A Holt","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00168-23","DOIUrl":"10.1128/jmbe.00168-23","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Psychological distance (PD) can be a barrier to how students perceive climate change impacts and severity. Localizing climate change using place-based approaches is one way instructors can structure their curricula to help combat students' PD, especially from a spatial and social viewpoint. We created a novel classroom intervention that incorporated elements of place-based education and the Teaching for Transformative Experiences in Science model that was designed to lower undergraduate biology students' spatial and social distance of climate change. Our research questions sought to determine whether students' PD changed following our intervention and whether variables beyond our intervention might have contributed to changes we identified. To measure the efficacy of our intervention, we administered a survey that contained several instruments to measure students' recognition and psychological distance of climate change pre- and post-intervention. We found that students' psychological distance to climate change decreased after participating in our classroom intervention. Additionally, course level was the only outside variable we identified as a predictor of students' post-activity scores. Participation in our activity lowered our students' spatial and social psychological distance, which could have impacts beyond the classroom as these students become the next generation of scientists and voters.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0016823"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11044639/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140185962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-25Epub Date: 2024-04-09DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.00020-24
Julio Molina Pineda, Amanda N Scholes, Jeffrey A Lewis
As one of the most famous fermented drinks in the world, beer is an especially relatable topic for microbiology courses. Here, we describe a short and easily adaptable module based on the antibacterial properties of hops used in brewing. By the 15th century, beer recipes included hops (the flower of the Humulus lupulus plant) as a bittering agent and antimicrobial. By the 19th century, the highly hopped Indian Pale Ale (IPA) became popular, and a modern myth has emerged that IPAs were invented to survive long ocean voyages such as from Britain to India. With that myth in mind, we designed a hypothesis-driven microbiology lab module that tests the plausibility of this brewing myth-namely that highly hopped beers possess enough antibacterial activity to prevent spoilage, while lowly hopped beers do not. The overall design of the module is to test the antimicrobial properties of hops using petri plates containing varying concentrations of hop extract. The module includes hypothesis generation and testing related to bacterial physiology and cell envelope morphology (hops are not equally effective against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria) and to mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance (as beer spoilage bacteria have repeatedly evolved hop resistance). Pre- and post-assessment showed that students made significant gains in the learning objectives for the module, which encourages critical thinking and hypothesis testing by linking microbial physiology and antimicrobial resistance to an important and topical real-world application.
{"title":"A hypothesis-based hop microbiology laboratory module testing the plausibility of the mythical origin of the India Pale Ale.","authors":"Julio Molina Pineda, Amanda N Scholes, Jeffrey A Lewis","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00020-24","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00020-24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As one of the most famous fermented drinks in the world, beer is an especially relatable topic for microbiology courses. Here, we describe a short and easily adaptable module based on the antibacterial properties of hops used in brewing. By the 15th century, beer recipes included hops (the flower of the <i>Humulus lupulus</i> plant) as a bittering agent and antimicrobial. By the 19th century, the highly hopped Indian Pale Ale (IPA) became popular, and a modern myth has emerged that IPAs were invented to survive long ocean voyages such as from Britain to India. With that myth in mind, we designed a hypothesis-driven microbiology lab module that tests the plausibility of this brewing myth-namely that highly hopped beers possess enough antibacterial activity to prevent spoilage, while lowly hopped beers do not. The overall design of the module is to test the antimicrobial properties of hops using petri plates containing varying concentrations of hop extract. The module includes hypothesis generation and testing related to bacterial physiology and cell envelope morphology (hops are not equally effective against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria) and to mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance (as beer spoilage bacteria have repeatedly evolved hop resistance). Pre- and post-assessment showed that students made significant gains in the learning objectives for the module, which encourages critical thinking and hypothesis testing by linking microbial physiology and antimicrobial resistance to an important and topical real-world application.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":"25 1","pages":"e0002024"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11044635/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140858740","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meghan Dillon, Julia Gerstman, Alexandria Scarcella, Meghan Mantz, Courtney Kleeschulte, Caitlin J Light
Calls to increase undergraduate involvement in research have led to a significant increase in student participation via course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). These CUREs provide students an authentic research experience, which often involves dissemination of research by public speaking. For instance, the First-year Research Immersion (FRI) program at Binghamton University is a three-semester CURE sequence that prepares students for scientific research and effective communication of their findings. After one semester of research, students from the FRI program are tasked with presenting their research to hundreds of faculty members, staff, friends, and family at the annual FRI poster session. However, our students, and undergraduates in general, report high anxiety and fear around public speaking such as this. To better prepare our students for public speaking at a research poster session, we developed a workshop that includes a novel role-play activity to mimic a fast-paced poster session or conference in order to address students' fears and increase confidence levels. The role-play activity gives students iterative practice such that they are prepared for the realities of a poster session including variation of poster attendees. During the activity, students switch roles between presenter and audience member. In the role of an audience member, students are given Pokèmon-like role-playing cards that explain the traits and abilities of various types of poster-goers that students might come across (faculty in and out of discipline, staff, family, friends, etc.). Students improvise and enact their card-assigned role as they engage with their classmates who are practicing their poster presentations. To assess student outcomes, students were given three surveys: pre-activity, post-activity, and post-poster presentation. Immediately following the activity, 64% of students reported the highest level of confidence, and following the poster session, 93% of students reported extreme confidence in their poster presentation abilities. These data show that this role-play activity can help address student confidence and better prepare students to communicate their research.
{"title":"Let's talk posters: a novel role-playing activity to prepare undergraduate researchers for poster presentations.","authors":"Meghan Dillon, Julia Gerstman, Alexandria Scarcella, Meghan Mantz, Courtney Kleeschulte, Caitlin J Light","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00178-23","DOIUrl":"10.1128/jmbe.00178-23","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Calls to increase undergraduate involvement in research have led to a significant increase in student participation via course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). These CUREs provide students an authentic research experience, which often involves dissemination of research by public speaking. For instance, the First-year Research Immersion (FRI) program at Binghamton University is a three-semester CURE sequence that prepares students for scientific research and effective communication of their findings. After one semester of research, students from the FRI program are tasked with presenting their research to hundreds of faculty members, staff, friends, and family at the annual FRI poster session. However, our students, and undergraduates in general, report high anxiety and fear around public speaking such as this. To better prepare our students for public speaking at a research poster session, we developed a workshop that includes a novel role-play activity to mimic a fast-paced poster session or conference in order to address students' fears and increase confidence levels. The role-play activity gives students iterative practice such that they are prepared for the realities of a poster session including variation of poster attendees. During the activity, students switch roles between presenter and audience member. In the role of an audience member, students are given Pokèmon-like role-playing cards that explain the traits and abilities of various types of poster-goers that students might come across (faculty in and out of discipline, staff, family, friends, etc.). Students improvise and enact their card-assigned role as they engage with their classmates who are practicing their poster presentations. To assess student outcomes, students were given three surveys: pre-activity, post-activity, and post-poster presentation. Immediately following the activity, 64% of students reported the highest level of confidence, and following the poster session, 93% of students reported extreme confidence in their poster presentation abilities. These data show that this role-play activity can help address student confidence and better prepare students to communicate their research.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0017823"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11044625/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140319473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}