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Personal microbiome analysis improves student engagement and interest in Immunology, Molecular Biology, and Genomics undergraduate courses.

ABSTRACT: A critical area of emphasis for science educators is the identification of effective means of teaching and engaging undergraduate students. Personal microbiome analysis is a means of identifying the microbial communities found on or in our body. We hypothesized the use of personal microbiome analysis in the classroom could improve science education by making courses more applied and engaging for undergraduate students. We determined to test this prediction in three Brigham Young University undergraduate courses: Immunology, Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory, and Genomics. These three courses have a two-week microbiome unit and students during the 2016 semester students could submit their own personal microbiome kit or use the demo data, whereas during the 2017 semester students were given access to microbiome data from an anonymous individual. The students were surveyed before, during, and after the human microbiome unit to determine whether analyzing their own personal microbiome data, compared to analyzing demo microbiome data, impacted student engagement and interest. We found that personal microbiome analysis significantly enhanced the engagement and interest of students while completing microbiome assignments, the self-reported time students spent researching the microbiome during the two week microbiome unit, and the attitudes of students regarding the course overall. Thus, we found that integrating personal microbiome analysis in the classroom was a powerful means of improving student engagement and interest in undergraduate science courses.

SUBMITTER: Weber KS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5894996 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Just-In-Time Teaching (JiTT) active learning pedagogy is utilized by various disciplines, but its value in a professional pharmacy curriculum has not yet been demonstrated. The purpose of our research study is to implement and evaluate JiTT in a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program. The impetus in implementing JiTT into a PharmD curriculum was to provide students with an out-of-classroom learning opportunity to enhance knowledge-based skills. The current study summarizes the implementation of JiTT in four distinct instances: two iterations of the required courses "Integrated Microbiology and Virology" (Fall 2016 and Fall 2017) and "Integrated Immunology" (Winter 2016-2017 and Winter 2017-2018). JiTT included knowledge-based questions in multiple-choice format, integrated case studies, and student responses prior to the actual lecture session. After the conclusion of each course, students were asked to provide feedback on the utilization of JiTT by way of an anonymous survey. Following the Fall 2016 iteration of the Microbiology & Virology course, students found the integrated case studies to be beneficial (mean = 3.27 out of a maximum of 4, SD = 0.62), and their overall endorsement of JiTT was high (mean = 3.61 out of 4, SD = 0.50). For the other three courses included in this study, the primary dependent variable was the student's average rating of JiTT, rated on a five-point scale. Aggregating the scores from the Fall 2017 iteration of the Integrated Microbiology & Virology course and both instances of the Immunology course, students rated JiTT very favorably (mean = 4.17 out of a maximum of 5, SD = 0.77). Students' performances in JiTT-based courses were compared against non-JiTT-based courses. Analysis of assessment data for student's performance on knowledge-based questions showed JiTT was helpful for student learning and JiTT-based courses had more consistent exam scores compared to non-JiTT-based courses. The current results are a promising initial step in validating the usefulness of JiTT in a pharmacy program and lays the foundation for future studies aimed at a direct comparison between a traditional lecture style and JiTT pedagogy implemented into PharmD curricula.

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Personal microbiome analysis improves student engagement and interest in Immunology, Molecular Biology, and Genomics undergraduate courses.

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