Small  World  Ini-a-ve  at  NU:  preliminary  results  of  

a  student  research  experience  

 

Dr.  Ana  Maria  Barral  and  Dr.  Huda  Makhluf  COLS  

ASSESSMENT  Centralized at University of Wisconsin, institutional data can be requested. Multiple assessment modalities •  CURE (Classroom Undergraduate Research Experience) survey–

pre/post •  Project ownership survey (POS) post •  CLASS-BIO (Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey) Comparison courses

1 traditional section vs.1 SWI section Retention in courses Shared assessments Longitudinal study NU IRB approval (Exempt) Project Title: [538267-1] Evaluating Small World Initiative Microbiology Research Course

Introduc=on:  What  is  SWI?  It is an undergraduate research course framework developed at the Center for Scientific Teaching of Yale1. Crowdsources the search for new antibiotics. Has a research and an educational component. •  Research: culturing soil microbes, screening for

antibiotic activity against pathogens, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and extracting metabolites.

•  The educational component: students take ownership of the project that includes experimental design, data analysis and presentations, while learning core biological concepts within a number of different introductory courses.

The Small World Initiative currently has > 50 partners. NU is one of 2 CA institutions. Map shows 2014 partners.  

INSTITUTION   PILOT  PARTNERS  Baylor  University   Diane  Hartman  Benedic-ne  University   Monica  Tischler  

Bethel  University   Paula  Soneral  

Brigham  Young  University-­‐Idaho   Todd  Kelson  

Chadron  State  College   Ann  Buchmann  

Clark  College   Ryan  Kustusch  

Colorado  State  University   Erica  Suchman  

Eastern  Connec-cut  State  University   Barb  Murdoch  

INSTITUTION   PILOT  PARTNERS  

Florida  Southern  College   BriOany  Gasper  

Gaston  College   Cliff  Grimsley  

Na-onal  University   Ana  Maria  Barral    

North  Carolina  State  University   Alice  Lee  

North  Dakota  State  University   Angela  Hodgson  

North  Hennepin  Community  College   Craig  Long-ne  

Seton  Hill  University   Kristen  Butela  

State  College  of  Florida   Eric  Warrick  

INSTITUTION   PILOT  PARTNERS  Tulsa  Community  College   Neil  Enis  University  of  Connec-cut   Karen  Pelletreau  University  of  Hawaii  at  Manoa   Sachie  Etherington  University  of  PiOsburgh   Jean  Schmidt  University  of  Texas  at  San  Antonio   Janakiram  Seshu    University  of  West  Alabama   Mustafa  Morsy  Washington  State  University   ConseOa  Helmick  Worcester  Polytechnic  Ins-tute   Michael  Buckholt  Yale  University   Carol  Bascom-­‐Slack  

INSTITUTION   PILOT  PARTNERS  

Baylor  University   Diane  Hartman  

Benedic-ne  University   Monica  Tischler  

Bethel  University   Paula  Soneral  

Brigham  Young  University-­‐Idaho   Todd  Kelson  

Chadron  State  College   Ann  Buchmann  

Clark  College   Ryan  Kustusch  

Colorado  State  University   Erica  Suchman  

Eastern  Connec-cut  State  University   Barb  Murdoch  

Implementa=on  of    SWI  at  NU  

NU has implemented the SWI curriculum to the BIO203A Introductory Microbiology course2,3. As this course is part of the pre-allied health curriculum, we have combined the SWI project with traditional medical microbiology techniques. As of March 2015, 7 SWI courses have been taught at the Spectrum and Costa Mesa campuses. We are currently expanding the assessment to include more control courses.

Student  popula=on  by  major  

Total=57

NursingRTTBiologyPublic healthPharmacyPhysician AssistantPre-dentalBiomedical engineeringNA

Student  self-­‐reported  traits  

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 200

2

4

6

Questions

Ag

reem

ent w

ith d

escr

iptio

n

Student characteristics

(Likert scale, 1 no agreement to 5 high agreement)

SWI student responses pre- and post SWI regarding their attitude towards science  

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 221

2

3

4

5

Question number

Agr

eem

ent

Questions related to students' view of sciencePre SWI (n=48)

Post SWI (n=18)

Student  aJtude  towards  science  (pilot)  

0  

20  

40  

60  

80  

100  

Pre   Post  

Percen

t  stude

nts  s

urveyed  

What is the likelihood that you will become a research scientist?

Undecided  

Yes-­‐Ph.D.  

Yes-­‐MD  

Yes-­‐MS  

No  

Overall  sa=sfac=on  with  course  (n=13)-­‐  post  survey  

1. This course was a good way of learning about the subject matter.

2. This course was a good way of learning about the process of scientific research.

3. This course had a positive effect on my interest in science.

4.  I was able to ask questions in this class and get helpful responses.

1 2 3 41

2

3

4

5A

gree

men

tOverall evaluation of the course by SWI students

Likert scale: 5= strong agreement, 1= strong disagreement

SWI  class  at  Costa  Mesa,  2014  

Student  presenters  

Bao Ly presenting at ASM 2014 Tammy Yeagley presenting at AAAS 2015.

Conclusions  

1.  SWI was adapted to the NU curriculum and successfully implemented in the BIO203A course.

2.  Preliminary data indicate high student satisfaction with the SWI approach.

3.  More control courses and effort to collect post-course survey data are required  

Acknowledgments  • The authors wish to thank Adjunct Instructors Nicole Johnson, Tracey Magrann, Denice Mittelstaedt, Nima Salimi, and Thomas Crowley, as well as Lab Managers Juliann Downing and Jeremy Marion and all the BIO203A SWI students. • The SWI initiative is generously supported by Yale University, the Helmsley Charitable Trust, and HHMI.

Literature  cited  1http://smallworldinitiative.org/. 2. A. M. Barral, H. Makhluf, P. Soneral, B. Gasper, FASEB J. 28, 618.41 (2014). 3. A. M. Barral, H. Makhluf, in ASMCUE Microbrew Abstracts (Danvers, MA, 2014). 4. Yeagley, McNeal, and Valverde, Isolation and Characterization of Antibiotic Producing Soil Bacilli from Southern CA. AAAS San Jose, CA.2015