Bioinformatics education dissemination with an evolutionary problem solving perspective

Abstract

Bioinformatics is central to biology education in the 21st century. With the generation of terabytes of data per day, the application of computer-based tools to stored and distributed data is fundamentally changing research and its application to problems in medicine, agriculture, conservation and forensics. In light of this 'information revolution,' undergraduate biology curricula must be redesigned to prepare the next generation of informed citizens as well as those who will pursue careers in the life sciences. The BEDROCK initiative (Bioinformatics Education Dissemination: Reaching Out, Connecting and Knitting together) has fostered an international community of bioinformatics educators. The initiative's goals are to: (i) Identify and support faculty who can take leadership roles in bioinformatics education; (ii) Highlight and distribute innovative approaches to incorporating evolutionary bioinformatics data and techniques throughout undergraduate education; (iii) Establish mechanisms for the broad dissemination of bioinformatics resource materials and teaching models; (iv) Emphasize phylogenetic thinking and problem solving; and (v) Develop and publish new software tools to help students develop and test evolutionary hypotheses. Since 2002, BEDROCK has offered more than 50 faculty workshops around the world, published many resources and supported an environment for developing and sharing bioinformatics education approaches. The BEDROCK initiative builds on the established pedagogical philosophy and academic community of the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium to assemble the diverse intellectual and human resources required to sustain an international reform effort in undergraduate bioinformatics education.

Mathematics and evolutionary biology make bioinformatics education comprehensible

“…Since 1996, we have collaborated with BioQUEST Consortium colleagues to facilitate >50 such workshops at venues across the United States and in Thailand. At these workshops, we demonstrate a pedagogical approach that combines evolutionary problem solving, collaborative inquiry learning and quantitative reasoning [11]. For example, rather than framing a discussion of phylogenetic methods as a lecture containing one or two short activities, we simply give participants a set of nucleotide or amino acid sequences and allow them to devise and test their own tree-building strategies.…”

Problem-Based Learning (PBL), an Important Paradigm for Bioinformatics Education

“…Hence, problem solving becomes a recurring theme over the last one and a half decade. Problem solving as a core skill in bioinformatics is also supported by Jungck et al 3 Therefore, it is imperative that bioinformatics education consists of substantial amount of hands-on and minds-on activities.…”

Design and Implementation of a Genomics Field Trip Program Aimed at Secondary School Students

“…In addition to educating students so that they can navigate public debate around these issues, education efforts can have long-term benefits by ensuring that science is an attractive career choice for young people [4]. Many teachers and researchers have also recognized that bioinformatics can be a valuable tool for engaging students with many core biological concepts covered in high school while at the same time touching on themes of mathematics, computer science, and technology [1], [4], [5]. Several broad strategies for strengthening secondary school education efforts in the sciences have been suggested including support for teacher training and/or efforts to attract students into pursuing further studies and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [6].…”

“…Several broad strategies for strengthening secondary school education efforts in the sciences have been suggested including support for teacher training and/or efforts to attract students into pursuing further studies and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [6]. While others have successfully focused on developing bioinformatics training for high school teachers [5], our approach has been to provide a full-day genomics and introductory bioinformatics field trip program for secondary school students. Using active learning strategies and hands-on activities to engage students, we aim to complement curricula covered in high school classrooms, generate an interest in the sciences, and provide mentorship for career choices in the sciences.…”