Course‐based Undergraduate Research Linked Across Two Core Biology Courses

Abstract

Authentic mentored undergraduate research is known to improve student learning and engagement. Course‐based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) allow more students to participate in research early in their academic careers. We are expanding the CURE concept by linking research projects across two distinct yet interdependent courses required for the Biology major, Cell Biology and Intermediate Genetics. Each course enrolls 130‐150 students per year and may be taken in either order. To support successful projects, we first mentored upper level students in the development of protocols and generation of strains that could be employed to explore metabolic strategies in the aquatic ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila. In a pilot of a linked CURE, students investigated whether exogenous addition of oleate, an unsaturated fatty acid, alters the phenotype of T. thermophila.Students in Cell Biology examined changes in growth rate, metabolism, and lipid storage using light and fluorescent microscopy, thin layer chromatography, and spectrophotometry. Students in Intermediate Genetics examined changes in gene expression with both qualitative and quantitative RT‐PCR. Students in our linked CUREs responded to their lab experience with enthusiasm for participation in novel research, and curiosity about the research results gathered in the other of the linked courses. Future offerings of linked CUREs will expand the number of students that engage with a year‐long research project using multiple approaches to address a single question. Importantly, this approach is adaptable to different questions and model organisms, providing a template for sustainable research opportunities.