Teaching Matters: Undergraduate Grant Writing Curriculum

Little literature on grant writing courses/assignments in undergraduate education exists. To gather data and best practices, a semester long undergraduate grant writing assignment was developed as an introduction to the grant writing process. This assignment was tested in both a seven‐week advanced biochemistry laboratory setting and semester long advanced biochemistry lecture course. The goal of the assignment was to progress student learning from passive to active engagement as the students developed their own solutions to self‐identified problems in biochemistry using primary literature. To achieve this goal, scaffolding of assignments, graded rubrics for all drafts, peer reviews and one‐on‐one meetings were utilized. Assessment of the assignment was completed using student evaluations, unsolicited emails, student writing samples, student peer reviews/reflections, and research faculty assessment of their students. Conclusions drawn from these various areas demonstrated that students were better prepared for research, had improved scientific communication skills, and had developed real world skills. Support or Funding Information Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Mount Union