Observa(on  

Hypothesis  development  

Experimental  design  

Data  collec(on  

Data  analysis  and  hypothesis  tes(ng  

Communicate  findings  

Course-­‐Based  Undergraduate  Research  Experiences  at  the  University  of  Washington  Tacoma:  Scaffolding  Research  Experiences  

Erica  Cline,  Bonnie  Becker,  JuJa  Heller,  Megan  Schwartz  University  of  Washington  Tacoma,  Division  of  Sciences  and  Mathema(cs,  School  of  Interdisciplinary  Arts  and  Sciences  

Biology  2:  Data  Collec0on  

CUREs  Scaffolded  Across  the  Curriculum,  Emphasizing  Steps  of  Scien0fic  Method  

Ins0tu0onal  Context  

Biology  3,  Ecology,  

Forest  Ecology  

All  CURE  courses  

All  CURE  courses  

All  CURE  courses  

Ecology,  Forest  Ecology,  Marine  

Ecology  

All  CURE  courses  

This required lower division lab course allows students to collect data on market substitution of Atlantic salmon, which is mostly farmed, for Pacific salmon, which is mostly wild-caught. They bring in their own samples, then use DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis to detect substitution. While the methods are prescribed, the students’ data have been published in the scientific literature (Cline 2012). The project provides a context for understanding the usefulness and application of techniques of molecular biology connected to real-world, use-inspired research.

University of Washington Tacoma has a “non-traditional” and place-bound student body, with an average age just under 27 years old, over 68% first generation students, 80% transfer students, 70% on financial aid, and 10% students who receive veteran’s benefits. Currently, the only natural science offered on campus is an interdisciplinary Environmental Science major, which is fundamentally committed to the High-Impact practices of writing-intensive courses, collaborative projects, community-based learning, internships, capstone courses and projects, and most notably, the incorporation of undergraduate research at all levels of our curriculum.

Research  Experience  Capstone  Courses:  Data  Analysis  and  Hypothesis  Tes0ng  

Ecology:  Communicate  Findings  

Biology  3:  Hypothesis  Development  This required lower division lab course emphasizes hypothesis development by asking students to perform library research on plants with antimicrobial potential, and then to use this research to select a plant to test extracts for activity against close relatives of plant pathogenic bacteria and fungi.

This senior level elective field course includes five mini-research projects that are planned and analyzed by pairs of students, but executed by all students during our field trips. This allows us to visit a range of sites across Washington state, while still having a rich research experience. The design also gives advanced students an opportunity to practice leadership skills. Students have researched the niche partitioning of a native and invasive seagrass species in Willapa Bay, the effects of ocean acidification on sand dollar larvae in Friday Harbor, and the effects of a plume of high pH groundwater on benthic communities in Commencement Bay.

Conserva0on  Biology  in  Prac0ce:  Data  Collec0on  

In this upper-division elective course, students fully develop their data collection skills by implementing a Department of Ecology (DOE)-inspired monitoring program of biodiversity in Commencement Bay. They study the existing DOE report, meet the scientists who work on the project, learn some basic invertebrate zoology ("just in time"), sample new sites from a boat, quantify animals in their samples (with different groups of students becoming "experts" in various taxa), do a range of biodiversity calculations, and work together to create a single large report for submission to DOE and a local non-profit whose mission is the conservation of Commencement Bay. A number of class alumni have become interns with Ecology as a result of taking this class, and one is currently employed there.

This required junior-level course focuses on the main skills needed to successfully design and write up a research project: hypothesis formation, experimental design, and data interpretation, with strong emphasis on developing writing skills. In order to focus on those three elements, all students are given the same study system (growing and counting pond duckweed to test a simple environmental factor) and the same basic analysis type (single-factor ANOVA). Student choose the factor of interest, relate that to something in real life using the scientific literature, carry out the project in groups, and write individual research papers using a scaffolded, authentic article-writing set of assignments based on the journal Ecology. At the end of this class, students are prepared for the upper-division CURE-based work that lies ahead.

Marine  Ecology:  Experimental  Design  

Forest  Ecology:  Observa0on  This senior level elective field course emphasizes the development of observation skills by allowing students to collect data from a forest site as a class project (with a prescribed experimental design), analyze the data, then formulate their own group project based on their initial class observations, and return to the site two weeks later to carry out their own experimental design. This format allows students to practice a step often skipped under the pressure to fit a research project into a single quarter.

Student  Reflec0ons  

•  “The project conducted in this class, or something similar, would be an ideal career for me. The mix of field, lab and data analysis/writing components is perfectly suited to my career objectives.” (Conservation Biology in Practice)

•  “From this project I learned not to trust what I eat in a restaurant, as well as how to isolate DNA, analyze sequenced DNA, PCR, and RFLP…I liked that we supplied our own samples, which made me more interested in the results.” (Biology 2)

•  This class was most definitely intellectually stimulating. It was my first experience at UWT where I felt like a true scientist. Learning how to use lab equipment and becoming so comfortable with them was a major beneficial skill for my future educational and work endeavors. Also, working for a true research proposal was an amazing opportunity and showed me what it takes to create one on my own.” (Research Experiences Capstone course)

These courses provide a condensed one-quarter alternative to the required senior capstone research or internship experience. The topic varies depending on the instructor’s research interest, but all require students to perform extensive data analysis and hypothesis testing for a final poster that is presented at a research symposium, and provide the foundation for research publications for the instructor’s research agenda. Recent offerings: •  Uptake of toxic metals by edible mushrooms. Each student

was responsible for assessing metals uptake by their own chosen species of wild edible mushroom. Field collection and laboratory analyses were performed as a class, but data analysis and hypothesis testing was performed individually.

•  Ectomycorrhizal fungus diversity on seedlings inoculated with mature forest soil from the Elwha restoration site. Students worked together to perform DNA sequencing-based analysis of fungi from root samples and performed an extensive comparison the effect of inoculation on mycorrhizal communities.

•  Nemertean phylogenetics. Seventeen species of Antarctic ribbon worms were identified through DNA barcodes and morphological study, and biogeographic patterns were documented relating to life history characteristics for the phylum around the Southern Ocean.

Literature  Cited  Cline, E.T. 2012. Marketplace substitution of Atlantic salmon for Pacific salmon in Washington State detected by DNA barcoding. Food Research International 45: 388–393.