A Model for a Scientific Literature and Data Analysis Driven Undergraduate Course

Bio 404: Nuclear Structure and Function is an advanced cell and molecular biology course taken by junior and senior undergraduates at Westminster College (New Wilmington, PA). The course averages 10 students, representing majors in Molecular Biology, Biology, Neuroscience and Biochemistry. While the content of the course focuses on the architectural aspects of nuclear cell biology and the molecular understanding of gene expression and genome structure, the major objective of the course is to use primary and secondary literature in order to broaden students' scientific skill set in content comprehension, data analysis, productive scientific discussion, oral presentation, and scientific writing. In order to achieve this objective the course schedule is divided into four units (Nuclear Periphery, Nuclear Pore, Chromatin and Nuclear Bodies) each of which is comprised of multiple, one‐week modules. Each module is designed to introduce students to a new concept then builds on this knowledge by developing models from data and concludes with presentation and discussion of current research in the field. The course is taught on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule, with one hour per “lecture” session. The Monday meeting is a lecture introducing the week's theme, the content of which is based on a recent review article on the topic, which students are provided in advance. In the Wednesday session students are provided with a packet of data derived from one or more primary research articles. The data is accompanied by probing questions about the methodology, results and interpretation of the work. Students spend the session in groups of 3–4 analyzing the data and then are led to develop a model that explains the data they have been provided, which links back to concepts learned in lecture. By using this method they are synthesizes the concepts they are learning on their own. These sessions nicknamed “Work it out Wednesdays” are held the “Hub” of the Westminster library, which includes a set of four person collaborative workstations where students can share their computer screens to a joint main monitor. Students are encouraged to look up concepts and methods that are new to them and share their findings with each other as they go. Each module concludes with a journal club session where one student is responsible for leading a discussion on an assigned primary article that correlates with the information learned in the previous two sessions. Presenters are also responsible for writing a quiz on the paper content that is taken by their classmates. Content from all three portions of each module is covered on unit exams. The cumulative final exam requires students to compile the entirety of the concepts learned into an illustrated poster of the nucleus. These posters are then individually presented to the instructor in an oral exam format. Course evaluations indicated that students thought the course was well organized, was a valuable learning experience and that the assignments had instructional value. This model could easily be adapted to other advanced topic courses in a range of disciplines. This presentation will provide details of an example course module, analysis of student gains since the transition of the course to this new format from a traditional lecture style and data regarding student's opinions on the course.