Collaborative online concept mapping for complex gene expression studies in undergraduate research‐based courses

Abstract

Course-based undergraduate research experiences offer students the opportunity to engage in a research project in a course setting. This efficient model has gained attention as a means to improve the relevance of science training at the undergraduate level. However, while many curricular resources exist, few pedagogical tools are available to support students’ development of how their own research fits into that of the scientific community. Adding to these challenges, recent increases in remote instruction demand resources for online learning environments suitable for advanced research-based laboratory courses. Concept mapping is a method of graphically representing relationships, such as the complex molecular interactions that are studied in many CUREs offered in the biological sciences. Incorporating a concept mapping exercise using an online platform in an upper division molecular biology CURE improved students’ senses of collaboration and understanding of their research project and increased the availability of productive collaborative research efforts in a remote format. Quantitative assessment of student's manuscript-style research reports revealed improvements in students’ scientific writing with respect to recognition of the biological complexity of the overarching project to which students’ data contribute. Two different levels of implementation with different degrees of interaction with the concept map yielded similar outcomes, suggesting that basic interactions with a concept map make a valuable contribution to help students enrolled in CUREs view their data as part of a larger body of work.