Assessment of a bioinformatics across life science curricula initiative

Abstract

At the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, we have undertaken a program to integrate the study of bioinformatics across the undergraduate life science curricula. Our efforts have included incorporating bioinformatics exercises into courses in the biology, microbiology, and chemistry departments, as well as coordinating the efforts of faculty within those departments. Here, we assess student confidence in solving and ability to solve bioinformatics-related problems. Assessment data show increases in student performance on bioinformatics-related problems and more confidence in solving such problems with increased exposure to the field of bioinformatics. Additionally, the faculty perceive an increased awareness of the applications of bioinformatics among the students in their courses. The combination of three different assessment tools, a student self-assessment of learning, a content exam, and faculty survey, was an effective and efficient approach for evaluating this multi-departmental program.

A Critical Analysis of Assessment Quality in Genomics and Bioinformatics Education Research

“…(2006), Howard et al . (2007), Wefer and Anderson (2008), and McEwen et al (2009), all used multiple assessments to measure their presumptive constructs.…”

“…In particular, the articles by Chapman et al . (2006), Howard et al . (2007), and Wefer and Anderson (2008) used cross-validation to provide convergent external validity evidence.…”

Barriers to Integration of Bioinformatics into Undergraduate Life Sciences Education

“…What can NIBLSE and other such groups do to facilitate solutions? Although there are several institutions that have successfully integrated bioinformatics into their life science programs (20), including University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (21), Kalamazoo College (22), Muhlenberg College (23), and Drake University (24), the vast majority of institutions appear not to have done so. Clearly, given that we and others (16,25) have found that lack of faculty training is a major problem, providing faculty with opportunities for training is important, as is giving faculty time to take advantage of these opportunities.…”

Incorporating Genomics and Bioinformatics across the Life Sciences Curriculum

“…Educators have responded by incorporating bioinformatics into diverse life science curricula [42]–[44]. While these published exercises in, and guidelines for, bioinformatics curricula are helpful and inspirational, faculty new to the area of bioinformatics inevitably need training in the theoretical underpinnings of the algorithms [45].…”