Introductory biology course reform: A tale of two courses

Over the past eight years we have undertaken iterative cycles of course reform in two introductory biology courses: Biology 111 and Biology 211. Our revisions of these formerly “traditional” lecture courses have included in-class case studies with and without peer facilitators and peer-facilitated small-group workshops. Based on analyses of overall pass rates, as well as pass rates by gender and by underrepresented minority (URM) status, we have found that there are differences in the effectiveness of alternative course models in the two courses. In Biol 111, required peer-facilitated workshops improved overall student performance, especially for URM and female students (Preszler, 2009). Here we report that similar workshops were not as successful in Biol 211, but that in-class case studies facilitated by peer instructors have improved student performance and reduced the performance gap. Clearly, what is the “best practice” for one course is not the best practice for the other

Implementing and Evaluating a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

We are examining the impact of a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) at a land-grant, Hispanic-serving institution in the southwestern United States. Students in our CURE completed one or two extended research projects over a single semester. Our CURE enrolled a high proportion of underrepresented minority students (70.3%), including 60.2% Hispanic students. One year after CURE completion, 31.5% of CURE students had graduated with a STEM degree, and 54.3% were enrolled in a STEM major. Pre- and postcourse surveys of indicators of persistence including scientific self-efficacy, scientific identity, valuing scientific community objectives, and intention to persist showed positive shifts. Impacts on STEM persistence have implications for the role of our CURE in diversifying the STEM pipeline, particularly for students historically underrepresented in STEM

Meta-analysis of gender performance gaps in undergraduate natural science courses

To investigate patterns of gender-based performance gaps, we conducted a meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished data collected across 169 undergraduate biology and chemistry courses. While we did not detect an overall gender gap in performance, heterogeneity analyses suggested further analysis was warranted, so we investigated whether attributes of the learning environment impacted performance disparities on the basis of gender. Several factors moderated performance differences, including class size, assessment type, and pedagogy. Specifically, we found evidence that larger classes, reliance on exams, and undisrupted, traditional lecture were associated with lower grades for women. We discuss our results in the context of natural science courses and conclude by making recommendations for instructional practices and future research to promote gender equity

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Introductory biology course reform: A tale of two courses

Over the past eight years we have undertaken iterative cycles of course reform in two introductory biology courses: Biology 111 and Biology 211. Our revisions of these formerly “traditional” lecture courses have included in-class case studies with and without peer facilitators and peer-facilitated small-group workshops. Based on analyses of overall pass rates, as well as pass rates by gender and by underrepresented minority (URM) status, we have found that there are differences in the effectiveness of alternative course models in the two courses. In Biol 111, required peer-facilitated workshops improved overall student performance, especially for URM and female students (Preszler, 2009). Here we report that similar workshops were not as successful in Biol 211, but that in-class case studies facilitated by peer instructors have improved student performance and reduced the performance gap. Clearly, what is the “best practice” for one course is not the best practice for the other

Conexiones: Fostering Socioscientific Inquiry in Graduate Teacher Preparation

Socioscientific Inquiry (SSI) represents one approach designed to target interest and knowledge in science. In this context, students consider scientific issues that have social implications and require a range of trade-offs, concepts, and considerations in order to arrive at informed conclusions (Sadler, 2004). However, inquiry tasks in general and SSI projects in particular are not widely adopted in K-12 settings, despite strong beliefs among teachers that these types of activities are valuable (Marshall, Horton, Igo, & Switzer, 2009). We suggest Collaborative Action Research may provide an important platform for enabling teachers to experience success through systematic investigations of their practice supported by peer interaction and collaboration (Capobianco & Feldman, 2006). In our investigation, we sought to understand the learning experiences of teachers within redesigned graduate-level courses aimed at preparing teachers to implement SSI approaches in the classroom. Data were collected from course participants to capture changes in scientific content knowledge, perceptions of SSI instruction, and strengths as well as recommendations of the experience. Results suggest that teachers can gain both content knowledge and pedagogical capacity in SSI methods

Long-term tracking demonstrates effectiveness of a partnership-led training program to advance the careers of biomedical researchers from underrepresented groups.

The demographic profile of the biomedical workforce in the U.S. does not reflect the population at large, raising concerns that there will be insufficient trained researchers in the future, and the scope of research interests will not be sufficiently broad. To diversify and expand the pool of researchers trained to conduct research on cancer and cancer health disparities, a series of training activities to recruit and train primarily Hispanic students at both the undergraduate and graduate level were developed. The strengths of both a Hispanic Serving Institution and an NIH-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center were leveraged to develop appropriate research training and professional development activities. The career progression of the participants and degree completion rates was tracked, along with persistent interest in biomedical research in general and cancer and cancer health disparities research in particular for these underrepresented individuals. Finally, this report demonstrates that these training activities increased general knowledge about cancer among participants