Workshop Report: Summer 2020 Virtual CRISPR in the Classroom

Abstract

As innovations and developments in genome editing technologies using CRISPR-Cas systems progress, the need to disseminate relevant knowledge and build skills among the next generation of young scientists in undergraduate classrooms is vital. Our efforts to enable undergraduate educators to bring CRISPR into their classrooms through in-person workshop training began in 2017 and went virtual during summer of 2020 under COVID-19 lockdown. In this report, we describe the proceedings of the virtual workshop and the feedback we received from the participants. An overwhelming majority of attendees reported that the virtual workshop facilitated gains in learning about CRISPR biology and experimental design. The plans shared by attendees to incorporate both virtual and hands-on CRISPR resources into their courses highlights the impact of this virtual CRISPR in the Classroom Workshop on educator confidence, and the likelihood of attendees to add CRISPR biology to their curriculum after participating in such a workshop.