Experimental Methods in Biology Course Engages Students in Authentic Research on Phage SuperInfection Immunity Testing

One of the recommended action items from the 2011 Vision and Change report was for undergraduate biology courses to be active, outcome oriented, inquiry-driven and relevant. At four-year undergraduate teaching institutions similar to Georgia Gwinnett College, maximizing student outcomes while providing quality, substantive research experiences for each student can be challenging. The Experimental Methods in Biology (BIOL4570) course was designed to enable students to investigate a problem from literature to the bench, within the limits of a fifteen week semester. The objective of the course was to provide students with direct, hands-on experience that would be relevant in most biological career fields. As an example of this methodology, I will be presenting the module created for students to troubleshoot and adapt some of the protocols used by GGC non-science majors as part of the phage hunting model used in the HHMI supported SEA-PHAGES Program

Launching a Peer Supplemental Instruction Program for an Introductory Biology Course

For the first time at Georgia Gwinnett College, a supplemental instruction (PSI) program was designed to provide peer-led instruction on a) principles of biology, chemistry, mathematics and b) academic skills e.g. self-regulated learning, strategies in studying and test-taking. PSI for Principles of Biology (BIOL1107K) was carried out by PSI leaders who previously earned a grade of ‘A’ or ‘B’ in BIOL1107K, received training on tutoring practices and worked with faculty to develop active learning exercises/worksheets for PSI sessions. PSI was open only to students who earned a grade of ≤ 75% on the first exam across four BIOL1107K sections. Comparison of exam grades revealed that PSI student performance was not significantly different from control (students who earned a grade of ≤ 75% on the first exam but did not enroll in PSI). The challenges at an institution lacking a PSI culture and strategies to encourage student commitment will be discussed

Introducing Research Skills into the Introductory Biology Curriculum

As part of an initiative to implement a 4-year Undergraduate Research Experience for all SST students at Georgia Gwinnett College, modules of the introductory biology lab curriculum were modified to include opportunities for students to experience the processes of science and to develop basic research skills. Presenters will discuss the research-based aspects of the modules, implementation, and assessment

Applied Theatre Facilitates Dialogue about Career Challenges for Scientists

The design of programs in support of a strong, diverse, and inclusive scientific workforce and academe requires numerous difficult conversations about sensitive topics such as the challenges scientists can face in their professional development. Theatre can be an interactive and effective way to foster discussion around such subjects. This article examines the implementation and benefits of such interactive strategies in different contexts, including the benefits of getting early career academics and professionals talking about some of the situations that women and underrepresented minorities face in the workplace, while allowing more seasoned professionals and colleagues to join in the conversation

SHP-2 Mediates Target-Regulated Axonal Termination and NGF-Dependent Neurite Growth in Sympathetic Neurons

The tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2 has been implicated in a variety of signaling pathways, including those mediated by neurotrophins in neurons. To examine the role of SHP-2 in the development of sympathetic neurons, we inhibited the function of SHP-2 in transgenic mice by overexpressing a catalytically inactive SHP-2 mutant under the control of the human dopamine β-hydroxylase promoter. Expression of mutant SHP-2 did not influence the survival, axon initiation, or pathfinding abilities of the sympathetic neurons. However, mutant SHP-2 expression resulted in an overproduction of sympathetic fibers in sympathetic target organs. This was due to interference with SHP-2 function, as overexpression of wild type SHP-2 had no such effect. In vitro, NGF-dependent neurite growth was inhibited in neurons expressing mutant SHP-2 but not in those expressing wild type SHP-2. Mutant (but not wt) SHP-2 expression also inhibited NGF-stimulated ERK activation. The NGF-dependent survival pathway was less affected than the neurite growth pathway. Our results suggest that NGF-regulated axon growth signals, and to a lesser degree survival signals, are mediated through a SHP-2-dependent pathway in sympathetic neurons. The increased sympathetic innervation in target tissues of neurons expressing mutant SHP-2 may result from interference with normal “stop” signals dependent on signaling by gradients of NGF

Assessment of Reading Speed and Comprehension in STEM Students at Georgia Gwinnett College

Faculty colleagues frequently assert that students have difficulty reading; students fail to read exam questions or lab instructions correctly. Additionally, students frequently report to faculty that college level texts are too hard to read. To investigate the scope of this problem, reading comprehension across the biology program was assessed. Students were asked to read a passage and mark their position when the time limit was called; students were then asked to answer a few questions and summarize the reading passage. These student reading comprehension scores are analyzed with regard to academic (e.g. GPA, college hours completed) and social metrics (e.g. English as a second language, first generation college student) to determine if correlations exist with student success and persistence. Data indicating the progress of reading comprehension through the degree program and data documenting the insufficiencies of student reading comprehension and speed will be presented. Since successful science students must understand and interpret literature that uses technical language appropriate to the field, we hope to document correlations between reading speed and comprehension and student success to better understand difficulties GGC STEM students encounter. Future studies may address remediation however this study is limited to assessing the problem

Scientific Societies Advancing STEM Workforce Diversity: Lessons and Outcomes from the Minorities Affairs Committee of the American Society for Cell Biology

Promoting diversity and inclusiveness in the STEM academic workforce remains a key challenge and national priority. Scientific societies can play a significant role in this process through the creation and implementation of programs to foster STEM academic workforce diversification, and by providing mentoring and skills development training that empower scientists from under-represented minority (URM) backgrounds to succeed in their communities of practice. In this article, we provide examples of challenges met by scientific societies in these areas and present data from the American Society for Cell Biology, highlighting the benefits received by trainees through long-term engagement with its programs. The success of these initiatives illustrates the impact of discipline-specific programming by scientific societies in supporting the development of URM scientists and an increasingly diverse and inclusive academic STEM community

Scientific Societies Fostering Inclusive Scientific Environments through Travel Awards: Current Practices and Recommendations

Diversity-focused committees continue to play essential roles in the efforts of professional scientific societies to foster inclusion and facilitate the professional development of underrepresented minority (URM) young scientists in their respective scientific disciplines. Until recently, the efforts of these committees have remained independent and disconnected from one another. Funding from the National Science Foundation has allowed several of these committees to come together and form the Alliance to Catalyze Change for Equity in STEM Success, herein referred to as ACCESS. The overall goal of this meta-organization is to create a community in which diversity-focused committees can interact, synergize, share their collective experiences, and have a unified voice on behalf of URM trainees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. In this Essay, we compare and contrast the broad approaches that scientific societies in ACCESS use to implement and assess their travel award programs for URM trainees. We also report a set of recommendations, including both short- and long-term outcomes assessment in populations of interest and specialized programmatic activities coupled to travel award programs