Transcript My Course - Biology Scholars

“Molecular Basis of Human Disease”
Course Context: this is an upper-division, large (300+ students) lecture course
for biology majors
Course
goal addressed
here: developing
skill to analyze
primary research
papers
Learning
Taxonomy
Learning
Formative
Summative
Objective
Be able to
interpret data
from a research
paper
Be able to design
an experiment to
understand the
effects of a
mutation in a
specific gene on a
developmental
process
Level/Categ
ory
Analysis
Application,
synthesis
Activities
In-class group
problemsolving
Problem sets
Discussion of
papers in
sections
Assessment
Clicker
questions
Assessment
Quizzes
Final exam
Online
homeworks
Groups’
Group problem worksheets
solving in class
and in sections Online
homeworks
Quizzes
Final exam
Learning Activities
Learning objective: be able to interpret data from a research
paper
Lecture:
-
Familiarize the students with the methods used in the paper (4 papers per quarter)
Model figure analysis:
Identifying the question the experiment aims to answer
Identifying the controls and why are they used
Interpretation of the experimental results
Was the question answered?
Group activities in class:
Similar data are shown, groups answer the questions above
Discussion sections:
Groups are assigned to present one figure from the paper
Formative Assessments: group work in-class, online
homework
In the figure on the right, sections through the
bone of a wild-type mouse (A) and a homozygous
mutant in one of the components of FGFR3
signaling pathway (B) The sections were stained
with hematoxylin-eosin to better visualize the
cells and the nuclei. PZ stands for proliferating
A
zone, HZ stands for hypertrophic zone.
B
Question 1. Analysis What was the effect of the mutation?
A. Hyper-activation of the FGFR3 pathway
B. Inhibition of the FGFR3 pathway
C. No effect on the FGFR3 pathway
Question 2. Synthesis
You are asked to quantify the data from this experiment and summarize your results in the
form of a graph.
• What would you measure (more than one correct answer is possible)?
• Draw the expected results of these measurements from the experimental and control
animals as a bar graph, clearly labeling the axes and the columns.
• To ensure that you are capturing this variability, you will need to look at several
_______
Summative Assessments: Quizzes, Final exam
Be able to design an experiment to understand the effects of a
mutation in a specific gene on a developmental process
Synthesis.
You are studying a recessive disorder that causes dwarfism in humans. You have
discovered a gene coding for a growth factor that appears to be present in a severely
decrease amounts in the chondrocytes of the affected individuals relatively to normal
individuals. You hypothesize that the decreased dose of this gene’s product has an
important role in the decreased bone growth. Design an experiment that would test
this hypothesis.
A. Describe the genotypes
- of the experimental mice
- of the control mice
B.How would you measure the results of your experiment? Which cells will you be
looking at and how will you specifically identify those cells?
D. What result would refute your hypothesis?
Timeline
1.
2.
3.
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5.
6.
Re-evaluating the course curriculum and eliminating of diseases covered
to allow more time to practice scientific data analysis and experimental
design. July 2012
Writing learning objectives for all course units. Writing questions aligned
with the learning objectives, on all Bloom’s levels. August - September
2012
To assess whether students’ skills in data analysis and experimental
design change as a result of taking this course, a pre- and postassignment will be designed, based on a paper not discussed in class
August - September 2012
Teaching the course October – December 2012
Possibly: administering the same pre- and post assessment in the same
course taught by a different instructor (Spring 2012)
Analysis of the data from pre- and post assessments and SALG surveys.