Barriers to Integration of Bioinformatics into Undergraduate Life Sciences Education

Williams, Jason; Drew, Jennifer C.; Galindo‐Gonzalez, Sebastian; Robic, Srebrenka; Dinsdale, Elizabeth A.; Morgan, William R.; Triplett, Eric W.; Burnette, James M.; Donovan, Sam S; Elgin, Sarah C. R.; Fowlks, Edison R.; Goodman, Anya; Grandgenett, Neal; Goller, Carlos C.; Hauser, Charles R.; Jungck, John R.; Newman, Jeffrey D.; Pearson, William R.; Ryder, Elizabeth F.; Wilson, Melissa A.; Sierk, Michael; Smith, T. M. F.; Tosado-Acevedo, Rafael; Tapprich, William; Tobin, Tammy C; Toro-Martínez, Arlín; Welch, Lonnie R.; Wright, Robin; Ebenbach, David; McWilliams, Mindy; Rosenwald, Anne G.; Pauley, Mark A.

doi:10.1101/204420

“…Outcomes of the analyses and conference are described below and include a proposed set of core bioinformatics competencies for undergraduate life sciences majors. A separate paper addresses the barriers to integrating bioinformatics into life sciences education and NIBLSE’s recommendations for overcoming them [ 32 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioinformatics core competencies for undergraduate life sciences education

Sayres

¹

,

Hauser

²

,

Sierk

³

et al. 2018

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Although bioinformatics is becoming increasingly central to research in the life sciences, bioinformatics skills and knowledge are not well integrated into undergraduate biology education. This curricular gap prevents biology students from harnessing the full potential of their education, limiting their career opportunities and slowing research innovation. To advance the integration of bioinformatics into life sciences education, a framework of core bioinformatics competencies is needed. To that end, we here report the results of a survey of biology faculty in the United States about teaching bioinformatics to undergraduate life scientists. Responses were received from 1,260 faculty representing institutions in all fifty states with a combined capacity to educate hundreds of thousands of students every year. Results indicate strong, widespread agreement that bioinformatics knowledge and skills are critical for undergraduate life scientists as well as considerable agreement about which skills are necessary. Perceptions of the importance of some skills varied with the respondent’s degree of training, time since degree earned, and/or the Carnegie Classification of the respondent’s institution. To assess which skills are currently being taught, we analyzed syllabi of courses with bioinformatics content submitted by survey respondents. Finally, we used the survey results, the analysis of the syllabi, and our collective research and teaching expertise to develop a set of bioinformatics core competencies for undergraduate biology students. These core competencies are intended to serve as a guide for institutions as they work to integrate bioinformatics into their life sciences curricula.

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“…Cummings & Temple (2010) describe the challenges in teaching bioinformatics as "infrastructure and logistics; instructor knowledge of bioinformatics and continuing education; and the breadth of bioinformatics, and the diversity of students and educational objectives." Williams et al (2017) similarly cites faculty training, infrastructure, and student interest and preparation. Here our goal is to address issues of infrastructure and logistics, and make recommendations for faculty practice.…”

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confidence: 99%

The why, when, and how of computing in biology classrooms

Wright

¹

,

Schwartz

²

,

Oaks

³

et al. 2019

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Many biologists are interested in teaching computing skills or using computing in the classroom, despite not being formally trained in these skills themselves. Thus biologists may find themselves researching how to teach these skills, and therefore many individuals are individually attempting to discover resources and methods to do so. Recent years have seen an expansion of new technologies to assist in delivering course content interactively. Educational research provides insights into how learners absorb and process information during interactive learning. In this review, we discuss the value of teaching foundational computing skills to biologists, and strategies and tools to do so. Additionally, we review the literature on teaching practices to support the development of these skills. We pay special attention to meeting the needs of diverse learners, and consider how different ways of delivering course content can be leveraged to provide a more inclusive classroom experience. Our goal is to enable biologists to teach computational skills and use computing in the classroom successfully.

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“…However, there are significant barriers to teaching hands-on computation in biology classrooms (Williams et al, 2017). While many biologists use computation in their research, relatively few have explicit training in this area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While many biologists use computation in their research, relatively few have explicit training in this area. Fewer still have training in how to teach computation (Williams et al, 2017). Importantly, few biologists are housed in a department with the existing expertise or infrastructure for teaching computation (Williams et al, 2017); thus, there is often less familiarity with options for teaching computing or recent best practices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fewer still have training in how to teach computation (Williams et al, 2017). Importantly, few biologists are housed in a department with the existing expertise or infrastructure for teaching computation (Williams et al, 2017); thus, there is often less familiarity with options for teaching computing or recent best practices. Cummings & Temple (2010) describe the challenges in teaching bioinformatics as "infrastructure and logistics; instructor knowledge of bioinformatics and continuing education; and the breadth of bioinformatics, and the diversity of students and educational objectives."…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The why, when, and how of computing in biology classrooms

Wright¹,

Schwartz²,

Oaks³

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many biologists are interested in teaching computing skills or using computing in the classroom, despite not being formally trained in these skills themselves. Thus biologists may find themselves researching how to teach these skills, and therefore many individuals are individually attempting to discover resources and methods to do so. Recent years have seen an expansion of new technologies to assist in delivering course content interactively. Educational research provides insights into how learners absorb and process information during interactive learning. In this review, we discuss the value of teaching foundational computing skills to biologists, and strategies and tools to do so. Additionally, we review the literature on teaching practices to support the development of these skills. We pay special attention to meeting the needs of diverse learners, and consider how different ways of delivering course content can be leveraged to provide a more inclusive classroom experience. Our goal is to enable biologists to teach computational skills and use computing in the classroom successfully.

show abstract

Barriers to Integration of Bioinformatics into Undergraduate Life Sciences Education

Cited by 8 publications

References 36 publications

Bioinformatics core competencies for undergraduate life sciences education

Bioinformatics core competencies for undergraduate life sciences education

The why, when, and how of computing in biology classrooms

The why, when, and how of computing in biology classrooms

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