
NSF Org: |
DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | August 15, 2018 |
Latest Amendment Date: | August 15, 2018 |
Award Number: | 1827130 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Amanda Simcox
asimcox@nsf.gov (703)292-8165 DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
Start Date: | September 1, 2018 |
End Date: | August 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $494,749.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $494,749.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 BROOKINGS DR SAINT LOUIS MO US 63130-4862 (314)747-4134 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
One Brookings Drive Saint Louis MO US 63130-4899 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): |
UBE - Undergraduate Biology Ed, IUSE |
Primary Program Source: |
04001819DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
Program Reference Code(s): |
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Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
The genomics revolution, the wide-spread use of DNA sequence data to enhance biological understanding, brings unique challenges for biology educators. Skills from computer and data sciences have become core competencies for students even though many life science faculty completed formal training without the computational expertise needed to effectively engage in this field. The Genomics Education Alliance (GEA) will bring together members of existing genomics education networks, leveraging their combined expertise to identify and curate common genome analysis tools, associated curricular and assessment materials, and faculty training strategies to facilitate the adoption of genomics instruction at any college or university. By making existing resources accessible, the GEA will enable current faculty to guide undergraduate life science students participating in authentic genomic research projects. Such work will enhance the ability of students -- whether at 2- or 4-year institutions -- to become productive members of the technological work-force, to succeed in post-graduation studies in biology and related disciplines, and to be better informed citizens and decision makers. The GEA will develop a consensus set of vetted resources and training materials to be disseminated to the education community through a single web portal for use of these materials in undergraduate classrooms. Curation efforts will emphasize faculty training and student learning resources, in particular the development of strategies to effectively lead genomics Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs).
The GEA will form an extended network, recruiting members from existing undergraduate genomics education communities, and exploit their combined experience to create a unified and sustainable platform, available through a web portal, that faculty can use to engage diverse students in inquiry-based curricula and CUREs. Our efforts will focus around three major aims: 1) curation and maintenance of computational resources for genomics instruction; 2) development of faculty training and student learning materials; and 3) evaluation of teaching and learning assessments in genomics education, aligning assessments with faculty training and student learning resources. The GEA network will be organized into four committees -- Bioinformatics Infrastructure, Student Learning, Faculty Training, and Evaluation/Assessment -- who will meet regularly to assemble and select materials to be further refined at the three face-to-face workshops. The specific tasks of each committee will be set at the kickoff workshop, and their initial work will be reported at a second progress workshop. At the final synthesis workshop, participants will evaluate the products and recommend any continued development needed for broad implementation. Curated materials will be maintained on established infrastructure to ensure the long-term accessibility of these products.
This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/).
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Educators need to train the next generation of biology students to be data-savvy scientists who can apply their skills to address emerging challenges in human health, agriculture, and climate-related science. The Genomics Education Alliance (GEA) is a collaboration among educators driven to sustain established efforts that incorporate genomics into undergraduate classrooms. Genome annotation and analysis (the study of DNA and its functions), as a stand-alone effort or in conjunction with wet-bench investigation, has proven to be an effective way to a) introduce large numbers of biology students to analysis of biological data, and b) provide students with a course-based research experiences (CUREs). By building a larger consortium, the GEA was established to make it easier for biology faculty to find and use teaching resources, computer resources, and helped create networks of educators better able to serve their students. .
Intellectual Merit: Creation of the GEA Network laid a foundation to sustain the efforts of individual genomic education programs at the undergraduate level. The PI, CoPIs, and members of the Steering Committee combined decades of experience in genomics education to find sustainable ways to aggregate, develop, refine, and disseminate computer infrastructure, teaching resources, faculty training, and assessment materials.
Broader Impacts: Creation of the GEA was a first step towards broadening participation in genomics, especially by creating more approachable teaching, computational, and assessment resources for those at community colleges and minority-serving institutions. By hosting workshops and mentoring networks, the GEA sought to lower time and training barriers by providing guidance, strategies, and vetted resources to support implementation of undergraduate genomics curricula.
Outcomes: The GEA supported genomics education by curating several lessons adapted from members of our alliance that engage students in bioinformatics and genomics. We also developed custom software solutions and integrated tools into existing platforms to make bioinformatics analysis tools easier to use. These are available on a centralized website (https://qubeshub.org/community/groups/gea). A peer-reviewed manuscript was published to allow educators to evaluate, develop, or refine assessments that promote learning (with CUREs or with the other parts of their courses). GEA members further disseminated these products through conference presentations and workshops that led faculty in the implementation of curated curricula. Semester long faculty mentoring networks that followed introdutory workshops proved effective in assisting educators to implement RNAseq-related curriculum into their classrooms. To guide the development of genomics curricula, the GEA generated a draft inventory of Genomics Concepts that define learning outcomes, that when finalized and published, can help educators select lessons to use in their classrooms. By deploying both community infrastructure and faculty training surveys the GEA identified key challenges that limit the implementation of genomics curricula including the need for more user friendly interfaces for software, especially those only available through command line, increased data storage to improve access to data sharing; and the need to training and regular technical support for the implementation of genomics tools for use in the classroom.
Last Modified: 01/07/2023
Modified by: Douglas L Chalker
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