Anticipation of Personal Genomics Data Enhances Interest and Learning Environment in Genomics and Molecular Biology Undergraduate Courses.

K Scott Weber,Steven M Johnson,Jamie L Jensen,Kent E Vrana

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133486

Abstract

An important discussion at colleges is centered on determining more effective models for teaching undergraduates. As personalized genomics has become more common, we hypothesized it could be a valuable tool to make science education more hands on, personal, and engaging for college undergraduates. We hypothesized that providing students with personal genome testing kits would enhance the learning experience of students in two undergraduate courses at Brigham Young University: Advanced Molecular Biology and Genomics. These courses have an emphasis on personal genomics the last two weeks of the semester. Students taking these courses were given the option to receive personal genomics kits in 2014, whereas in 2015 they were not. Students sent their personal genomics samples in on their own and received the data after the course ended. We surveyed students in these courses before and after the two-week emphasis on personal genomics to collect data on whether anticipation of obtaining their own personal genomic data impacted undergraduate student learning. We also tested to see if specific personal genomic assignments improved the learning experience by analyzing the data from the undergraduate students who completed both the pre- and post-course surveys. Anticipation of personal genomic data significantly enhanced student interest and the learning environment based on the time students spent researching personal genomic material and their self-reported attitudes compared to those who did not anticipate getting their own data. Personal genomics homework assignments significantly enhanced the undergraduate student interest and learning based on the same criteria and a personal genomics quiz. We found that for the undergraduate students in both molecular biology and genomics courses, incorporation of personal genomic testing can be an effective educational tool in undergraduate science education.

Highlights

Finding promising teaching practices for improving undergraduate science education is an important issue and evidence suggests a beneficial way to do this is to increase hands on experiential and active learning by working on real world issues and technologies [1,2,3]
We report here the first study, to our knowledge, to evaluate the benefits of incorporating personal genomics kits into an undergraduate science course and testing the effect of anticipation of obtaining personal genomic data on student interest and learning environment
Our results suggest that integration of personal genomics into undergraduate classrooms can be a valuable means of improving student interest and the learning environment when teaching the concepts of molecular biology and genomics

Summary

Introduction

Finding promising teaching practices for improving undergraduate science education is an important issue and evidence suggests a beneficial way to do this is to increase hands on experiential and active learning by working on real world issues and technologies [1,2,3]. The ethics of how this type of information should be used and how the government regulates this type of data is uncertain and provides a current and relevant classroom discussion topic [14,15,16]. Having access to this personalized genome technology provides a practical learning opportunity for students to not just discuss genetics and genomes in abstract, but to learn in a more active and relevant way as they analyze their own personal genomics data

Methods

Results

Conclusion