Undergraduate Research Projects Research Articles

Factors Affecting the Quality of Undergraduate Pharmacy Students’ Researches in Ambo University, Ethiopia: A Qualitative Study from Advisors’ Perspective

BackgroundOne of the problems facing higher education institutions in developing countries such as Ethiopia is the poor quality of undergraduate students’ academic work. However, there is a scarcity of empirical data on the specific causes of the poor quality of undergraduate study. Therefore, the aim of this research is to explore factors that influence the quality of undergraduate pharmacy students’ research projects at Ambo University in Ethiopia, from the perspective of research advisors.MethodsA qualitative study was held in Ambo University, Department of Pharmacy from March 2 to March 27, 2020. A total number of 15 research advisors were the participants of the study. A semi-structured interview questionaire was prepared to explore participants’ ideas about the current situation of research quality, underlying causes and perception towards outcomes of poor quality of undergraduate pharmacy students’ research projects. The necessary data were collected through in-depth interview and qualitative content analysis was employed to analyze the data.ResultsThe majority of the key informants thought that the quality of undergraduate pharmacy students research projects is decreasing from time to time in their university due to students’ research knowledge gap, poor commitment, and motivation, lack of communication between students and advisors, plagiarism, financial problems, shortage of experienced research advisors, advisors less motivation and dedication, insufficient research facilities, lack of research fund, poor management support, and limitation of the undergraduate curriculum. They also revealed weak students’ research capacity, absence of knowledge transfer through research publication and presentation, and inadequate baseline evidence for the policymakers are the potential outcomes of poor quality undergraduate pharmacy students’ research projects.ConclusionUndergraduate research quality is a persistent problem in the department of pharmacy of Ambo University. The problem is exacerbated due to multiple factors. As a result, the university should establish a framework for collaboration among students, advisors, and university research leaders; it should also boost students’ research capacity by hiring qualified researchers, equipping the research facility with appropriate technology, and instituting a system for monitoring and evaluating research project results.

Evaluating Reddit as a Crowdsourcing Platform for Psychology Research Projects

Background: Online crowdsourcing platforms, such as Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), have become popular alternatives to the ubiquitous student samples used in psychology research. r/SampleSize, an alternative pool on the website Reddit, allows for online participant recruitment without compulsory or immediate payment, making it potentially useful for students, research trainees, and course instructors. Objective: The current study sought to assess the viability of using r/SampleSize as a participant pool by comparing its data characteristics to MTurk and existing lab samples. Method: Two hundred and fifty-six MTurk workers and 277 r/SampleSize participants completed identical questionnaires on demographics, participation motivations, and standard psychology scales. Results: Participants recruited through r/SampleSize reported diverse ages, education levels, income, and employment, although White ethnic background and US residence were predominant. r/SampleSize participants were more internally motivated than MTurk to participate in research and had greater need for cognition but did not differ significantly in altruism or motivation to gain self-knowledge. r/SampleSize data reliability and quality were comparable to MTurk and lab samples across most analyses. Teaching Implications: r/SampleSize can be used to recruit relatively large and diverse samples for undergraduate research projects with minimal setup, labor, and cost. Conclusion: The findings suggest that r/SampleSize is a diverse and viable participant pool.

The Study of Stream Litter Accumulation as a Model for Cross-Disciplinary, Transformative, Affordable, and Scalable Undergraduate Research Experiences in STEM

Undergraduate learning in STEM is enhanced by participation in tractable and relevant research projects. Simultaneously, it is challenging to design meaningful research opportunities that remain affordable, engage students in most aspects of the scientific process, and offer opportunities for transformative learning experiences. We designed a collaborative 12-week undergraduate research project based on the quantification of litter along two urban streams in the Oklahoma City (United States) metropolitan area, addressing a regional issue with global implications. This study engaged six undergraduate students at a low cost with commonly available equipment. Three faculty involved brought expertise in physical stream characterization, ecology, statistics, and mathematical modeling, allowing students to approach data analysis from multidisciplinary and collaborative perspectives. Students participated in nearly all stages of scientific research, including a brief literature survey, data collection and analysis toward addressing research questions, interpretation of results, and presentation at a scientific meeting. Post-project surveys revealed that students held highly favorable perceptions in relation to overarching project goals, including improvements in data management and quantitative analysis, in comprehension of scientific abstracts, in grasping the scientific process, and in skill development toward future career goals. Student perceptions regarding the importance of participation in generating data, interest in future data analysis, and the importance of receiving financial compensation for participation were less favorable and varied. Despite increased interest in conducting future field work, interest in pursuing a career in research was slightly diminished after participation in the project. Evidence of transformative learning existed in the targeted areas of scholarly activity and health and wellness. We discuss the benefits of our study design, including suggestions for improvement and the adaptability of this study for other educational contexts.

Education and Research: A Symbiosis to Better Understand a Novel Coral Disease

Ongoing ecological events, such as new and emerging diseases, provide an important platform for education and research. Field courses and undergraduate research projects can be critical to assisting students with learning scientific skills and career discernment as these experiences provide more one-on-one instruction and an immersive learning environment. A novel coral disease called “Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease” (SCTLD) provided one such opportunity. SCTLD is characterized by rapid progression with entire coral heads dying within 2–3 weeks after initial observation of the onset of symptoms. At a wider geographic scale, the disease has migrated with extreme velocity and has now been documented across the Caribbean from as far North as the Southeast Florida Reef Tract, as far South as St. Lucia, and as far West as Honduras and Belize. Here, I summarize what is currently known about SCTLD and document an educational field course that involved eight undergraduate students with visits to multiple locations along the Florida Keys Reef Tract during the disease progression in March 2019. Students were able to observe sites where SCTLD had been present for over 2 years and sites where the disease was only just emerging for observational comparison. Student educational outcomes from field trips and activities will be discussed. Current research and educational activities can interact to enhance each other, creating a positive feedback loop. Future directions for research, educational opportunities, and their interaction to accelerate understanding of this novel disease are discussed.

Implementation of a Service-Learning Project Focused on Handwashing and Vaccinations Within an Undergraduate Microbiology Laboratory Course.

Two relevant topics in keeping populations healthy are handwashing and vaccinations. Thus, the service-learning project titled “We Are Healthy” campaign was introduced within a microbiology laboratory course with two objectives; our biologists would better understand the importance of these actions by designing activities that engage the student community and to obtain an understanding of the campus community’s behaviors and beliefs concerning these topics. Students designed the campaign to include handwashing stations, pictures of bacterial cultures from swabbing common surfaces, and trivia questions testing their peers’ knowledge of various vaccines, as well as handwashing and vaccination surveys. To assess the impact of the campaign on microbiology students (n = 34), they were provided 10 questions that were scored on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). Student gains (score > 3) were reported for depth in knowledge, development of better public speaking skills, and greater respect for volunteers suggesting that the campaign was beneficial. This study subsequently led to the receiving of grants that allowed the continuation of the campaign within the course, the securing of funding for handwashing and hand sanitizing stations and the initiation of new undergraduate research projects.

Biochemical Society 2022 Award winners

Biochemical Society 2022 Award winners

Using IRB Protocols to Teach Ethical Principles for Research and Everyday Life

Undergraduate research as a high-impact practice demonstrates many positive benefits for students, but little research has delved into the impact of ethical training for research, in particular submitting Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols to determine if the study meets ethical standards for the treatment of human subjects. This study explored if students in two experimental and one nonexperimental research methods class benefited from increased knowledge of research ethics and how to apply them in daily-life situations if they participated in various aspects of IRB protocol procedures either as part of a class-based research project or by completing an IRB protocol activity for developing a hypothetical program to help families. Some students in all three classes had previously engaged in a 4-hr online extended training [the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program] in research ethics focused on the Belmont Report principles of beneficence, respect, and justice, but not in IRB protocols. Students were given a pre- and posttest to assess knowledge in both research and daily-life settings for applying the Belmont Report research ethics principles. Results indicate students gained greater knowledge of research ethics when they completed IRB protocol training during a class-based undergraduate research or program-design project, even if they had already completed some extended case-based training in the CITI Program. Results are discussed in terms of the value of using modified IRB protocol approaches as a high-impact practice to teach ethics in research and daily life to students.

Stories of Impact: The Transformative Power of Undergraduate Research

We, along with being guest editors of this issue, are also active researchers in our respective disciplines and the scholarship of teaching and learning. We integrate undergraduate research (UGR) as High Impact Practice (HIP) in most of our research projects, and have personal experiences in which we see all the benefits come to life that have been outlined in the series of papers in this issue. As we read abstracts and considered the organization and content for this issue, we began to notice a pattern in some of the abstracts that aligned with our own work and discussions with colleagues, but is generally not present in a traditional scholarly article. That element is the personal narrative account of impact. We know from the extensive literature cited throughout this issue, as well as the work in this section, that providing high-quality undergraduate research projects has substantial impacts at many levels – for individual students, for cohorts, for departments, colleges, universities, and even systems. We, as scholars, see these impacts every day in our own work and the work of others. However, it is not often captured in peer-reviewed research outside of quotes to support evidence of assessment results (which of course, have their own important place in this work).

Undergraduate Research Embedded Across Course Levels and Types Through Scaffolded Projects

This article explores how to embed an undergraduate research project within a course and summarizes the student experience in courses including undergraduate research. The authors specifically focus on how to modify and alter materials to fit with different course foci and different course levels. We have been leading an interdisciplinary, multi-year research project for the past four years. During that time, we have scaffolded a research project from year to year. Each piece of the project has been embedded within a course. However, the specific course level and content focus has changed from year to year. By embedding a research project within a class, faculty members have a unique opportunity to give their students a high-impact experience and further their own research simultaneously. We have successfully mentored and supervised students in the following formats: a freshman interdisciplinary honors course, two different undergraduate criminal justice courses made up of 5-10 students that were focused around criminological theory testing, individual directed study projects with graduate students, a 30-40 person upper level criminology research methods course, and a freshman individual directed study research project. Throughout all of these modalities, we have kept a core type of course design and course requirements but modified the components and grading criteria as needed for the type and level of course. We will summarize and discuss student assessment data both on their experience in the course as well as their achievement of student learning outcomes.

Supporting Students and Faculty In The Implementation Of Capstone Projects Into Programmes In a Pandemic Education Environment

The current Covid environment, with no or limited access to research facilities, has made it impossible for undergraduate students to undertake laboratory-based final year research projects. Lewis (2020) currently offers his students a sector-leading portfolio of 15 different traditional research and capstone project opportunities to choose from. Our aim was therefore to share our knowledge and expertise of research and capstone project opportunities which can be undertaken remotely, and supporting resources, with colleagues globally to enable them to provide meaningful and educationally robust projects for their students. In March-August 2020, online interactive workshops were provided for colleagues. To provide scaffolding and support, Choosing Your Capstone and How to do it guides were created for students and Faculty respectively, and shared globally. Collections of simulations and large publically available datasets were also shared. Follow-up surveys of workshop participants were undertaken in December 2020. This research was approved by the University of Leeds Faculty of Biological Sciences Research Ethics Committee. The workshops attracted over 500 participants. The support resources have been viewed 11,000 times from over 50 Countries. All survey participants, representing 53 Universities within the UK and overseas, found the workshops extremely informative and inspirational. All are implementing multiple formats of non-traditional capstones as alternatives to laboratory-based research projects into their programmes in 2020-21. Eighty-six percent wish to be involved with this initiative going forward. This programme of work has shown the need for alternatives to laboratory-based research projects for students in the Biosciences, not only during the current pandemic, but going forward. By offering a portfolio of both traditional research and non-traditional capstone projects, students can select the project that best provides the experience and develops the skills required for their particular career intentions. We have also developed a global community of practice to take this initiative forward. Lewis DI (2020). Final year undergraduate research project or a “Capstone Experience”? Time for a re-think. Brit J. Clin. Pharmacol. 86 (6): 1227-1228

Growing and Sustaining a Nationwide Course‐based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE): Genomics Education Partnership Enhances Research Opportunities at Diverse Institutions

The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) is a community of practice focused on integrating genomics research experiences into undergraduate curriculum and supporting faculty in this endeavor. Founded in 2006, GEP has grown to over 100 participating two-year and four-year institutions and introduced thousands of students to eukaryotic gene structure, comparative genomics, and genome evolution. GEP members contribute their expertise and enthusiasm to the community through four committees: science and IT, curriculum development, assessment, and professional development and mentoring. Digital communication tools facilitate collaboration in this geographically distributed community while regional nodes enable the development of local initiatives. Our education research is focused on student experiences, attitudes, and learning gains in the CURE setting. An important dimension of CUREs that distinguishes them from the traditional laboratory classroom is iteration: students have opportunities to make mistakes and re-do (Auchincloss et al, 2014). The scaling of undergraduate research from an apprentice model to the classroom, however, poses a major challenge for faculty, creating the need to provide feedback to a large number of inexperienced student researchers. We find that custom bioinformatics tools provide rapid feedback to GEP students and allow for iterative revisions of student projects. Student surveys and focus groups reveal that bioinformatics CUREs foster “formative frustration,” whereby students can safely fail in their original analysis, adjust, recover, and succeed; students value this experience. During the COVID pandemic, GEP has provided an authentic research experience that can be delivered remotely. Bioinformatics resources are available online, as are GEP virtual tutors. Thus, GEP is a viable option for undergraduate research projects even for online learning. We are expanding our repertoire of scientific projects. GEP has partnered with Galaxy to develop G-OnRamp, an open-source platform for constructing UCSC Assembly Hubs and JBrowse/Apollo genome browsers to facilitate collaborative annotation of eukaryotic genomes. These tools allow us to include investigations of the evolution of venom in parasitoid wasps and an investigation of the evolution of genes in Drosophila biochemical pathways. We seek to grow our network of faculty and to increase the diversity of our community by making a variety of training opportunities available, including online mentoring via the QUBES platform and regional node workshops. We have created a supportive community of faculty and welcome new colleagues (no experience necessary!) eager for the challenge of bringing genomics research to undergraduate students at all levels. Faculty interested in joining the GEP can contact us at http://gep.wustl.edu/contact_us.

Purification, biotinylation, and testing of a monoclonal antibody to identify B cells in Trachemys scripta, the red-eared slider turtle

Abstract There is a shortage of research in reptile immunity which is further hampered by lack of reptile-specific reagents. Evidence suggests there are important differences between reptile and mammalian immune strategies and our laboratory is interested in reptile B cell development and function. Our undergraduate research project involved the preparation of a previously developed monoclonal antibody (HL673) that recognizes turtle light chain protein. To begin, culture supernatant from the HL673 mAb murine cell line was received and was applied to a protein A affinity column. Unbound proteins were then washed away, and the bound proteins were removed from the column using low pH glycine-HCl buffer. The purified antibody proteins were collected in fractions, OD at 280nm measured, then positive fractions were pooled and dialyzed. The concentration of the purified antibodies was determined, and reactivity tested using an ELISA plate coated with dilute turtle serum. Dilutions of the purified HL673 were detected by anti-mouse IgG-horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Furthermore, some of the antibody preparation was conjugated to biotin. After dialysis, the HL673-biotin was tested by ELISA with dilute turtle serum and detected by streptavidin-HRP. The newly biotinylated antibody was incubated with blood and spleen samples from both adult and hatchling red-eared slider turtles. Bound antibodies were detected using streptavidin-fluorochrome and B cell populations identified using flow cytometry. Our results showed successful detection of turtle B cells using the labeled mAb in both hatchling and adult turtle cell samples. Future studies will use this reagent to investigate the distribution and function of B cells in reptile gut immunity.

Remote Online Project: Traveling in a Virtual World, Researching Microbes.

The undergraduate general microbiology course-based research projects were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. Therefore, we developed a remote online research project that combines aspects of microbiology lectures and laboratory techniques. The project allows students to virtually travel to environmental sites to research different microorganisms. This virtual project successfully replaced the in-person laboratory experience for the duration of the semester. We revised the project with assistance from undergraduate students enrolled in the spring course. Our revised virtual project helps students develop their scientific writing and presentation skills while applying microbiology course and laboratory knowledge. The project is designed to create a more equal and equitable assessment process by including detailed guidelines and rubrics. Projects are easy to implement and can be completed within 5 to 6 weeks. The project will promote students’ understanding of the process of scientific research and enrich academic development.

Carl Ng.

Carl Ng.

Evaluation of the Undergraduate Pharmacy Student Research Projects in Ambo University, Ethiopia: Retrospective Review.

BackgroundAcademic research is an essential part of undergraduate Pharmacy education to produce qualified Pharmacists. However, there are no documented studies that examine the nature of undergraduate Pharmacy students’ research projects in Ethiopia. Therefore this study aimed to characterize the nature of students’ research project conducted for a bachelor of Pharmacy degree program at Ambo University, Ethiopia.MethodsA cross-sectional, retrospective review using data extraction form was conducted on 279 research reports of undergraduate Pharmacy students at Ambo University from 2013/14 to 2018/2019. The National Harmonized Modular Curriculum program for the Bachelor of Pharmacy degree in Ethiopia was used as a framework to group research projects by research topics and domains. Students’ profile (gender, program), supervisors profile, research types and topics, a domain of pharmacy curriculum, study setting, study design, target population, data collection strategy and techniques, and therapeutic classes of medicines for each project were extracted to see the characteristics of students’ research project. Data were entered and analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics were used to present the data.ResultsFrom 279 Pharmacy undergraduate students’ research projects, 83.9% were conducted by male students and 64.1% were by regular program students. Two hundred fifty (89.6%) of the projects were surveys. Slightly less than half (49.8%) of the research projects were clinical researches. One hundred twenty-six (45.2%) of the research projects were focused on the pharmaceutical care domain followed by dispensing (22.6%) and research and education domain (10%). Out of the 250 survey research projects, the majority 226 (90.4%) of them were used cross-sectional study design, 205 (82%) were conducted at hospitals and 187 (74.8%) were done on the clinical population.ConclusionThe study showed that the majority of the abstracted projects were surveyed type quantitative clinical researches focused on the Pharmaceutical care domain and takes place at hospitals affiliated with the University. On the contrary, a lower proportion of the research projects were laboratory-based researches, focused on Pharmaceuticals manufacturing, drug information service, regulation, and supply chain management domains, and takes place at community Pharmacy and educational institutions. Thus, it is highly recommended the University has to devise a system for expansion of the study settings other than its affiliated hospitals, and the research topics would encompass all areas and domains of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical sciences.

The Mentorship Maze: Navigating the Undergraduate-Researcher Quandary

ABSTRACT Mentoring undergraduate student research is both challenging and rewarding for faculty members. With so many other obligations in research, teaching, and service, inexperienced faculty members may become quickly overwhelmed by volunteering time to mentor undergraduate research projects. Mentoring undergraduate research is often categorized as service; this may lead tenure-track assistant professors who are working to build a research portfolio to opt out of the mentorship process. However, in the face of challenges, many faculty members still take on undergraduate research projects due to their own intrinsic motivation to help students. Previous research has shown great value for both the faculty mentor and undergraduate student researcher; for instance, faculty mentors gain personal satisfaction and feel more relatable to students while student researchers improve social, research, and academic skills. The three authors of this paper have experienced the highs and lows of mentoring undergraduate research and provide recommendations to help the process run smoothly. Identifying and understanding potential problematic areas such as faculty-student expectation miscommunication, student trainings, and project design for the undergraduate level will help develop a more bulletproof plan of action. The recommendations discussed in this paper include proper planning of a research timeline, consideration of outside faculty and student commitments, effective communication, building confidence and independence in the student researcher in the midst of unrelenting supervision, and lastly but most importantly, practicing patience. The student researcher-faculty mentor relationship is important to the higher education system and with fine-tuning of the process, more faculty may be inclined to contribute.

Motivating and Supporting Undergraduate Research through Green Chemistry: Experiences at a Small Liberal Arts University

Although most instructors and institutions agree on its value, undergraduate research remains an underutilized pedagogical tool because it requires ample time, funding, and equipment. Various institutions feel these pressures differently, but for many small institutions, lack of laboratory equipment and financial support can hinder undergraduate research projects. However, these institutions have much to gain from undergraduate research, especially as it offers benefits not only for students but also for faculty. For small institutions, although the principle applies to larger institutions as well, green chemistry offers a promising way forward: undergraduate research projects focusing on green chemistry have all the benefits of other undergraduate research projects but can be undertaken with minimal infrastructure and reduced cost. As an added benefit, they can help to reinforce the values of safety and sustainability for future chemists. This paper offers an example of a successful undergraduate research project in chemistry in a small liberal arts university and demonstrates how a project in green chemistry can make research-based learning feasible even in institutions with limited resources. Specifically, this project focuses on the development of a bioinspired, environmentally friendly wound-care product derived from chitosan and two naturally occurring aldehydes, citronellal and cinnamaldehyde. In this project, the student researcher prepared two chitosan Schiff bases using citronellal and cinnamaldehyde and then characterized and evaluated the antimicrobial properties of these products. Results suggest that both Schiff bases are highly bioactive and could indeed have value in wound-care. This project has scientific benefit, of course, but it also has pedagogical merits, showing how green chemistry can enable institutions to offer valuable undergraduate research opportunities with limited funding and infrastructure. This paper concludes with suggestions for related (and feasible) undergraduate research projects in green chemistry.

"Dry-Lab" training in final year undergraduate research projects during the COVID-19 pandemic: Practical applications and reflections

"Dry-Lab" training in final year undergraduate research projects during the COVID-19 pandemic: Practical applications and reflections

Practice and reflection of carrying out dry-lab training in final year undergraduate research project under the COVID-19 pandemic

Practice and reflection of carrying out dry-lab training in final year undergraduate research project under the COVID-19 pandemic

Fostering Research and Education in Mathematical Biology

As it is releasing the seventh volume, Spora has established itself to be a highly respected journal for student-driven research in mathematics, biology, and related fields. Spora's role in disseminating work that was conducted by at least one student author makes it a unique platform to expand the body of knowledge in mathematical biology. Spora welcomes submissions related to Ph.D. dissertations, master's theses, and undergraduate research projects.