Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education最新文献

Virtual Labs (vLabs) have been gaining popularity in high school and undergraduate education, but there are few studies looking at their use in graduate-level courses. In this study, we investigated the use of six Labster vLabs assigned as homework in a graduate-level in-person Genomic Methodologies course at the University of Toronto. This course teaches the theory and practice of molecular biology relevant to genetic testing, focusing on computational techniques used to analyze genetic data. The course does not contain a wet-lab component; therefore, we evaluated whether vLabs could complement the dry-lab course components to provide a realistic experience of laboratory techniques and improve content understanding. We evaluated the addition of vLabs with one cohort of 14 students using assessment-informed data, student perception questionnaires, and think-aloud interviews. We found that engaging with vLabs resulted in a knowledge gain for most (89%) graduate students. Students (85%) found vLabs to be useful to understand the theory behind advanced laboratory concepts; however, many students (54%) were critical of vLabs ability to provide a realistic laboratory experience. We also investigated whether the student experience differs when performing Labster vLabs on a laptop versus a virtual reality headset and found that the headset provided no additional benefits to students. We show that vLabs can be effectively used in graduate-level courses to provide students with background relevant to laboratory techniques; however, the level of material could be enhanced to provide a more detailed and advanced understanding of the concepts for students with prior knowledge of the topic.

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are important for providing undergraduates with authentic research experiences. At Xavier University of Louisiana, a Genetics Laboratory CURE course was developed and implemented. The goals of developing this Genetics CURE laboratory course were: (1) to provide a large number of students the opportunity to participate in a hypothesis-driven research project, (2) to determine the effect of different Msh6 missense variants on DNA mismatch repair (MMR), and (3) to provide opportunities to develop scientific communication skills. In the first 3 years of implementation, 595 students completed the course and participated in a project of evaluating DNA MMR utilizing the model organism, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Students analyzed previously uncharacterized MSH6 alleles and summarized their findings by drafting a report in the style of a primary research article. Additionally, students communicated their findings in PowerPoint presentations, and some participated in poster presentations on campus. Examination of course evaluations indicated that students appreciated learning science theory and acquiring scientific skills in the context of a research project instead of as individual unconnected experiments.

ChatGPT has emerged as a popular choice in education that has transformed the experience for both teachers and students. This study investigates the performance of ChatGPT in aiding learning in the biochemistry classroom in two ways. We sought to determine how effective ChatGPT 3.5 was in generating study materials for an introductory biochemistry course. A lecture was delivered in class and transcribed. The resulting transcript was curated, then submitted to ChatGPT 3.5 to generate a summary, a set of notes, and an outline. Each artifact was verified and given to students to help prepare for a quiz. Students were asked about the use of AI-generated materials compared to other study materials. Results were bimodal for the AI-generated materials, with some students indicating that the materials were useful while others preferred traditional study materials such as the text or class notes. We also compared the performance of ChatGPT on open-note biochemistry exams that students had taken. The exams were completed by ChatGPT in two modes: with and without access to external tools. Performance metrics were used to evaluate ChatGPT performance and student responses. The results showed that ChatGPT was unable to pass the exams. This research provides valuable insights into the potential of ChatGPT in educational settings, highlighting strengths and limitations. The implications of these findings may inform the design of future AI-assisted tools and contribute to the ongoing discussions surrounding the integration of AI in education.

Today, due to the size of many genomes and the increasingly large sizes of sequencing files, independently analyzing sequencing data is largely impossible for a biologist with little to no programming expertise. As such, biologists are typically faced with the dilemma of either having to spend a significant amount of time and effort to learn how to program themselves or having to identify (and rely on) an available computer scientist to analyze large sequence data sets. That said, the advent of AI-powered programs like ChatGPT may offer a means of circumventing the disconnect between biologists and their analysis of genomic data critically important to their field. The work detailed herein demonstrates how implementing ChatGPT into an existing Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience curriculum can provide a means for equipping biology students with no programming expertise the power to generate their own programs and allow those students to carry out a publishable, comprehensive analysis of real-world Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) datasets. Relying solely on the students' biology background as a prompt for directing ChatGPT to generate Python codes, we found students could readily generate programs able to deal with and analyze NGS datasets greater than 10 gigabytes. In summary, we believe that integrating ChatGPT into education can help bridge a critical gap between biology and computer science and may prove similarly beneficial in other disciplines. Additionally, ChatGPT can provide biological researchers with powerful new tools capable of mediating NGS dataset analysis to help accelerate major new advances in the field.

Contemporary undergraduate medical education has been exploring ways to effectively link basic medical curricula with clinical practice. Despite the variety of approaches, there is still no effective model or assessment method. This study examines an improved case-based learning (CBL) model that attempts to bridge the transition between basic and clinical medicine curricula. This study implanted an improved case-based learning approach in a biochemistry and molecular biology course in a clinical specialty class and evaluated the pedagogical effectiveness of this integrated approach. This study utilized a “three-tiered” teaching evaluation to assess satisfaction with teaching at three different stages of undergraduate education and to collect constructive feedback from students. We found that the satisfaction of the students in the class was significantly higher than 70% in all three dimensions of “knowledge acquisition, clinical thinking training, and comprehensive literacy”, and the satisfaction gradually increased with the growth of students' performance, exceeding 80% and 90% in the second and third stages, respectively. This fully demonstrates that the iCBL model can construct students' clinical thinking system and provide an important attempt for “early clinical practice”. In addition, the constructive comments from the students made us realize the shortcomings of the method, and we will continue to improve it in the future teaching of biochemistry courses. In conclusion, the integration of interdisciplinary knowledge helps students to synthesize and apply multiple aspects of knowledge to analyze and deal with complex clinical problems.

A strong understanding of molecular structure is key for mastering structure–function concepts in life sciences and is based on the visualization of biomolecules. Therefore, various approaches to help students translate between the 2D space of a textbook figure to the 3D space of a molecule have been developed. Object-based learning is an approach that gives students a tangible way to view and manipulate physical structures in three dimensions, strengthening learning and challenging students to engage with and interrogate the object. In this work, atomically accurate physical models of macromolecules have been fabricated using consumer-grade 3D printers and integrated into two lectures. The impact of the models on students' ability to overcome common misunderstandings related to proteins and DNA structures was evaluated in a randomized controlled experiment using a compensatory research design. To our knowledge, this is the first time when such a design, where each of the two groups of students works alternatively as a control and as an intervention group, has been used to evaluate the impact of physical models on learning gains. Presenting the physical molecular models in the class and allowing students 3–5 min to handle them was enough to convert low-gain lectures into medium-gain lectures. The students found the models helpful because they offered a hands-on experience, enhancing their focus and engaging their visual memory. Despite some identified drawbacks, using physical models of molecules fabricated using 3D printing is a great way of improving bio-molecular education with low costs.