Authentic research experience through mock grant application roleplay

Abstract

Many universities resort to online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a challenging endeavour, especially in Biology courses that require lab access. Mock grant application roleplay is one alternative to lab-based activities. Although using mock grant applications as an assessment tool is not new, there have been few studies on students’ opinions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that it has been used in place of lab-based exercises and in conjunction with virtual lab modules. Students are engaged in three aspects: (i) targeted literature review, (ii) research proposal writing and (iii) 5-min project pitching. The design of this module is flexible, and other lab-based courses can adopt it. This module encourages undergraduate students to explore the lab techniques and concisely present their research proposals. Compared to the previous semester before COVID-19, the number of students that achieved the “Distinction” grade or higher increased by 6.3%, whilst the failures decreased by 3.2%. A similar trend was observed in 2021, the second year this activity was carried out. A survey amongst students who took this unit reported that student satisfaction with this unit has improved by 11.1%. This improvement could be attributed to this mock grant activity because the format and difficulty level of the student assessments had remained constant. Furthermore, qualitative analysis conducted via focus group interviews indicated that students agreed that the mock grant proposal assessment was useful in preparing them for future careers and was relevant to the course learning outcomes. Several participants pointed to the assessment’s potential usefulness for careers in research. In conclusion, this roleplay module can fulfil the learning objectives of this course whilst providing an authentic research experience without lab-based activities.