The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged undergraduate instructors and students in an unprecedented manner. Each has needed to find creative ways to continue the engaged teaching and learning process in ...an environment defined by physical separation and emotional anxiety and uncertainty. As a potential tool to meet this challenge, we developed a set of curricular materials that combined our respective life science teaching interests with the real-time scientific problem of the COVID-19 pandemic in progress. Discrete modules were designed that are engaging to students, implement active learning-based coursework in a variety of institutional and learning settings, and can be used either in person or remotely. The resulting interdisciplinary curriculum, dubbed "COVID-360," enables instructors to select from a menu of curricular options that best fit their course content, desired activities, and mode of class delivery. Here we describe how we devised the COVID-360 curriculum and how it represents our efforts to creatively and effectively respond to the instructional needs of diverse students in the face of an ongoing instructional crisis.
The implementation of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) has made it possible to expose large undergraduate populations to research experiences. For these research experiences to ...be authentic, they should reflect the increasingly collaborative nature of research. While some CUREs have expanded, involving multiple schools across the nation, it is still unclear how a structured extramural collaboration between students and faculty from an outside institution affects student outcomes. In this study, we established three cohorts of students: 1) no-CURE, 2) single-institution CURE (CURE), and 3) external collaborative CURE (ec-CURE), and assessed academic and attitudinal outcomes. The ec-CURE differs from a regular CURE in that students work with faculty member from an external institution to refine their hypotheses and discuss their data. The sharing of ideas, data, and materials with an external faculty member allowed students to experience a level of collaboration not typically found in an undergraduate setting. Students in the ec-CURE had the greatest gains in experimental design; self-reported course benefits; scientific skills; and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) importance. Importantly this study occurred in a diverse community of STEM disciplinary faculty from 2- and 4-year institutions, illustrating that exposing students to structured external collaboration is both feasible and beneficial to student learning.
The science of cooking Provost, Joseph J; Colabroy, Keri L; Kelly, Brenda S ...
2016/01/01, 2016
eBook
Written as a textbook with an online laboratory manual for students and adopting faculties, this work is intended for non-science majors / liberal studies science courses and will cover a range of ...scientific principles of food, cooking and the science of taste and smell. Chapters include: The Science of Food and Nutrition of Macromolecules; Science of Taste and Smell; Milk, Cream, and Ice Cream, Metabolism and Fermentation; Cheese, Yogurt, and Sour Cream; Browning; Fruits and Vegetables; Meat, Fish, and Eggs; Dough, Cakes, and Pastry; Chilies, Herbs, and Spices; Beer and Wine; and Chocolate, Candy and Other Treats. Each chapters begins with biological, chemical, and /or physical principles underlying food topics, and a discussion of what is happening at the molecular level. This unique approach is unique should be attractive to chemistry, biology or biochemistry departments looking for a new way to bring students into their classroom. There are no pre-requisites for the course and the work is appropriate for all college levels and majors.
The sodium hydrogen exchanger isoform one (NHE1) plays a critical role coordinating asymmetric events at the leading edge of migrating cells and is regulated by a number of phosphorylation events ...influencing both the ion transport and cytoskeletal anchoring required for directed migration. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) activation of RhoA kinase (Rock) and the Ras-ERK growth factor pathway induces cytoskeletal reorganization, activates NHE1 and induces an increase in cell motility. We report that both Rock I and II stoichiometrically phosphorylate NHE1 at threonine 653 in vitro using mass spectrometry and reconstituted kinase assays. In fibroblasts expressing NHE1 alanine mutants for either Rock (T653A) or ribosomal S6 kinase (Rsk; S703A) we show that each site is partially responsible for the LPA-induced increase in transport activity while NHE1 phosphorylation by either Rock or Rsk at their respective site is sufficient for LPA stimulated stress fiber formation and migration. Furthermore, mutation of either T653 or S703 leads to a higher basal pH level and a significantly higher proliferation rate. Our results identify the direct phosphorylation of NHE1 by Rock and suggest that both RhoA and Ras pathways mediate NHE1-dependent ion transport and migration in fibroblasts.
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•Directed cell migration involves the sodium hydrogen exchanger 1 (NHE1).•NHE1 is phosphorylated by Rock at serine 653.•Both Rsk and Rock cooperatively influence NHE1 transport and are critical for cell motility events.•Rock directly regulates both functions of NHE1 impacting lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) mediated cell motility.•Both LPA signaling pathways equally contribute to NHE1 function.
Approaches to learning and teaching have been undergoing massive changes. Technology has enabled many innovations while other methods have embedded authentic research approaches or looked to other ...disciplines. The tools in education session of the conference looked at tools being used to teach biochemistry and molecular biology ranging from online platforms, authentic research experiences to the use of music.
A successful laboratory experience provides the foundation for student success, creating active participation in the learning process. Here, we describe a new approach that emphasizes research, ...inquiry and problem solving in a year-long biochemistry experience. The first semester centers on the purification, characterization, and analysis of a novel fusion protein within a guided research experience. Throughout the semester, students gradually acquire skills as they are allowed to work independently. A fusion protein, malate dehydrogenase-green fluorescent protein with a histidine affinity tag (MGH), is used throughout the semester. The fusion protein allows for a high throughput analysis and is stable for duration of the semester. Students start with the purification and analysis of the plasmid DNA and end with an enzymatic analysis of MGH. As students take ownership of their experiments and choose two different chromatographic resins, they make many choices throughout the semester. Skills, motivation, confidence levels, and attitudes were assessed before and after the semester. Students achieved high levels of critical biochemical laboratory skills and critical thinking while increasing their confidence and motivation for working in a biochemical research setting. (Contains 1 table.)
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