Personal microbiome analysis improves student engagement and interest in Immunology, Molecular Biology, and Genomics undergraduate courses

Abstract

A critical area of emphasis for science educators is the identification of effective means of teaching and engaging undergraduate students. Personal microbiome analysis is a means of identifying the microbial communities found on or in our body. We hypothesized the use of personal microbiome analysis in the classroom could improve science education by making courses more applied and engaging for undergraduate students. We determined to test this prediction in three Brigham Young University undergraduate courses: Immunology, Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory, and Genomics. These three courses have a two-week microbiome unit and students during the 2016 semester students could submit their own personal microbiome kit or use the demo data, whereas during the 2017 semester students were given access to microbiome data from an anonymous individual. The students were surveyed before, during, and after the human microbiome unit to determine whether analyzing their own personal microbiome data, compared to analyzing demo microbiome data, impacted student engagement and interest. We found that personal microbiome analysis significantly enhanced the engagement and interest of students while completing microbiome assignments, the self-reported time students spent researching the microbiome during the two week microbiome unit, and the attitudes of students regarding the course overall. Thus, we found that integrating personal microbiome analysis in the classroom was a powerful means of improving student engagement and interest in undergraduate science courses.

Genomics Education in the Era of Personal Genomics: Academic, Professional, and Public Considerations

“…Of the 99 personal genomics studies we identified in the past 19 years, nearly half of the studies were published in the last four years, indicating that genomic education is being implemented at an increased rate in the college setting. Interestingly, many studies performed earlier in the decade focused on teaching upper-level junior and senior life science majors [46,47], but more recently introductory biology courses have begun to incorporate genomics into their class curriculum [48,49]. College genomic education is also targeting a variety of student majors ( Figure 2).…”

“…Students who were going to receive personal genomic results spent more time studying for their lecture-based molecular biology, genomics, or immunology courses, which increased their confidence to interpret the results they would receive as well as better understand the risks and benefits of using direct-to-consumer genetic testing. The second study examined the effects of giving students microbiome kits and found that students who analyzed their personal microbiome were more engaged in learning and had a more positive attitude towards the class as a whole as compared with students analyzing microbiome data from an unidentified individual [47]. Students who analyzed their own microbiome data also reported they visited more websites and sources to learn about the microbiome, indicating that receiving personal microbiome kits increased their interest in learning.…”

“…Additionally, students who received microbiome kits felt the course was more applicable to them than those who analyzed microbiome data from an unidentified individual. While these studies did not directly involve students performing research like in CUREs, it is important to note that students analyzing personal genomics or microbiome data spent more time studying the topic and their interest increased in comparison to control groups who only received data from an unidentified individual [46,47]. These studies indicate that providing genomics data that is personal to you is a valuable tool for increasing student interest and engagement and educating undergraduate and graduate students in genomics topics.…”

“…Studies have also shown that genomics can be scaled to teach many students and still provide meaningful learning experiences [49]. It is also important to note that the personal aspect of genomics can improve interest and engagement of learning by increasing personal investment in the learning material [46,47]. However, some challenges and barriers remain that must be addressed (Table 2).…”

“…Many of these strategies and suggestions can easily be applied across multiple platforms; for example, many academic platforms can incorporate personal learning experiences by having students acquire and analyze their own genomic data [46,47]. Hands-on learning experiences that utilize genomic research are also a useful tool that can be utilized for many platforms [41,68,77].…”