Integrating technology and social media into introductory chemistry courses to create inclusive, informed, and engaged citizenry

The introductory chemistry courses are often viewed as gatekeeping courses that explicitly or implicitly select the born to be scientists or engineers, instead of gateway courses for world citizens, who can appreciate chemistry as an essential aspect of their everyday lives, regardless of their future careers of choice. Students enter these courses with widely varying backgrounds that impact their level of prior content knowledge, skillsets, engagement in the material, as well as intellectual and emotional maturity. Often courses are taught in large classrooms, with an eclectic presentation of dense course content, broadening the already significant gap between what students perceive as classroom curriculum and the knowledge and skillset they need to tackle real societal issues. In our modern world, diverse members of the society are required to work collaboratively to generate and implement multidisciplinary solutions to address global problems. Hence, it is crucial that all educators involved in teaching these introductory courses go the extra mile to create opportunities for all students to feel, "This material is important to know, I can understand it, and I can apply it to concerns/topics in my daily life". At present, we are entrusted with the exciting task and great challenge of educating the Post-millennials also known as iGens, who were born into a world of internet and hence have been comfortable with technology and with interacting on social media since a young age. Since technology can be instrumental in customizing learning experiences to meet the needs of all learners, can we successfully integrate it into our introductory chemistry courses to create a more inclusive, engaged and informed citizenry? This talk will describe specific ed-tech strategies, including online collaborative tools, discussion platforms, social media, and student created media implemented in the introductory chemistry courses taught at two very different undergraduate settings: one at a small liberal arts college (Wellesley College, MA), and one at a big research institution (Boston University, MA). The unifying goal of these practices was to help students practice transferring their learning to new contexts through individual reflection followed by group communication using a blended course design. What worked well and what did not in each setting, will be discussed.Accepted manuscrip

The progestin receptor interactome in the female mouse hypothalamus: Interactions with synaptic proteins are isoform specific and ligand dependent

Progestins bind to the progestin receptor (PR) isoforms, PR-A and PR-B, in brain to influence development, female reproduction, anxiety, and stress. Hormone-activated PRs associate with multiple proteins to form functional complexes. In the present study, proteins from female mouse hypothalamus that associate with PR were isolated using affinity pull-down assays with glutathione S-transferase–tagged mouse PR-A and PR-B. Using complementary proteomics approaches, reverse phase protein array (RPPA) and mass spectrometry, we identified hypothalamic proteins that interact with PR in a ligand-dependent and isoform-specific manner and were confirmed by Western blot. Synaptic proteins, including synapsin-I and synapsin-II, interacted with agonist-bound PR isoforms, suggesting that both isoforms function in synaptic plasticity. In further support, synaptogyrin-III and synapsin-III associated with PR-A and PR-B, respectively. PR also interacted with kinases, including c-Src, mTOR, and MAPK1, confirming phosphorylation as an integral process in rapid effects of PR in the brain. Consistent with a role in transcriptional regulation, PR associated with transcription factors and coactivators in a ligand-specific and isoform-dependent manner. Interestingly, both PR isoforms associated with a key regulator of energy homeostasis, FoxO1, suggesting a novel role for PR in energy metabolism. Because many identified proteins in this PR interactome are synaptic proteins, we tested the hypothesis that progestins function in synaptic plasticity. Indeed, progesterone enhanced synaptic density, by increasing synapsin-I–positive synapses, in rat primary cortical neuronal cultures. This novel combination of RPPA and mass spectrometry allowed identification of PR action in synaptic remodeling and energy homeostasis and reveals unique roles for progestins in brain function and disease

Effects of S1 Cleavage on the Structure, Surface Export, and Signaling Activity of Human Notch1 and Notch2

Notch receptors are normally cleaved during maturation by a furin-like protease at an extracellular site termed S1, creating a heterodimer of non-covalently associated subunits. The S1 site lies within a key negative regulatory region (NRR) of the receptor, which contains three highly conserved Lin12/Notch repeats and a heterodimerization domain (HD) that interact to prevent premature signaling in the absence of ligands. Because the role of S1 cleavage in Notch signaling remains unresolved, we investigated the effect of S1 cleavage on the structure, surface trafficking and ligand-mediated activation of human Notch1 and Notch2, as well as on ligand-independent activation of Notch1 by mutations found in human leukemia.The X-ray structure of the Notch1 NRR after furin cleavage shows little change when compared with that of an engineered Notch1 NRR lacking the S1-cleavage loop. Likewise, NMR studies of the Notch2 HD domain show that the loop containing the S1 site can be removed or cleaved without causing a substantial change in its structure. However, Notch1 and Notch2 receptors engineered to resist S1 cleavage exhibit unexpected differences in surface delivery and signaling competence: S1-resistant Notch1 receptors exhibit decreased, but detectable, surface expression and ligand-mediated receptor activation, whereas S1-resistant Notch2 receptors are fully competent for cell surface delivery and for activation by ligands. Variable dependence on S1 cleavage also extends to T-ALL-associated NRR mutations, as common class 1 mutations display variable decrements in ligand-independent activation when introduced into furin-resistant receptors, whereas a class 2 mutation exhibits increased signaling activity.S1 cleavage has distinct effects on the surface expression of Notch1 and Notch2, but is not generally required for physiologic or pathophysiologic activation of Notch proteins. These findings are consistent with models for receptor activation in which ligand-binding or T-ALL-associated mutations lead to conformational changes of the NRR that permit metalloprotease cleavage

Can blended instruction provide a customized biochemistry teaching laboratory experience?

The interdisciplinary nature of the biochemistry courses, present a unique challenge for the educators, who need to work with students previously trained in different disciplines, and will use their biochemistry training in a diverse set of career paths. Most laboratory courses are designed around a three part cyclic structure: preparation, execution, and analysis. Since the execution stage is highly resource intensive, requiring allocated laboratory space, time, equipment, and expert supervision, there is usually very little flexibility in what opportunities could be offered to the students with varying backgrounds to achieve a customized experience. However, would it be possible to leverage the other two components of the laboratory structure to use a blended learning approach to achieve the needed customization? This talk will describe our preliminary work of introducing the blended approach to the introductory biochemistry laboratory curriculum resigned for the chemistry majors enrolled in the first semester of a two semester Biochemistry course at Boston University. For the first ten weeks of this course, the students were expected to carry out the same predesigned laboratory experiments as their peers taking the traditional laboratory sections to ensure a common core competency skill set. However, instead of following a traditional laboratory manual, they carried out their laboratory preparation using an interactive online manual, supplemented with dynamic links and self-assessment questions using the TopHat Learning platform. After the completion of their laboratory experiments, each student also answered three weekly reflection questions describing the redundant, new, and confusing aspects of their laboratory experience using the same platform. In the final two weeks of the course, students had an opportunity to design and implement an exploratory project in small groups based on an earlier finding. The differentiated experimental design and executional planning for these group projects were carried out using shared google documents and students were required to document their weekly experiences on an online scientific diary shared with the laboratory coordinator. These technology integrated blended strategies enabled the laboratory coordinator to customize the background and supplemental information for all students on a weekly basis and allowed for great flexibility to provide individual feedback as well as remedial or advanced work.Published versio

Ensuring a successful transition from being a chemistry student to a professional chemist: redesigning an ‘Introductory Biochemistry Laboratory’ curriculum for chemistry majors with a guided focus on transferable skills

Published versio