Finding the silver lining of a global pandemic: Opportunities for innovation in microbiology education – iPolitics
The global COVID-19 pandemic has changed the face of higher education in Canada. Canadian universities were among the first to announce that the fall semester will be delivered in an entirely (or partly) online format (University Affairs, 2020). This means many microbiology educators could not to teach courses, including labs “as usual” in the fall 2020 term and the winter 2021 term. The situation we find ourselves in brings with it an urgent challenge: to ensure that microbiology students remain engaged and able to acquire essential skills in an online format, or a condensed lab format that can be offered to students when physical-distancing restrictions change to allow face-to-face instruction (Noel et al. 2020). We believe that while we certainly face unprecedented challenges in course delivery, the current situation provides educators with an opportunity for innovation in our curricula and the incorporation of novel approaches in microbiology education in Canada.
Experiential learning has long been the hallmark of undergraduate laboratories. Historically, many undergrad labs have followed a highly structured format, leading students through illustrative examples, rather than testing critically developed hypotheses. In the current educational environment, where delivery of such labs may not be possible, innovations in experiential learning are required. Additionally, such learning need not be restricted to lab-based, hands-on courses. It can be delivered in many formats: in the lab, the classroom, and online. Reframing the current crisis as an opportunity for pedagogical innovation and the creation of new learning and assessment strategies will result in a “COVID-19 legacy” of instructional tools that will be beneficial for years to come. To get educators started on this path, here are five examples of curriculum innovation that can be incorporated into microbiology education:
For many undergraduate courses in microbiology, the process of analyzing data, interpreting, and drawing conclusions from those data to decide next steps is reserved for upper-year students. We encourage educators to replace cookbook/survey labs in first and second years with labs that require students to think critically or incorporate themed active-learning activities in the classroom. This could be as simple as having students interpret and describe the main points of a graph from peer-reviewed publications. This approach not only allows the students to understand the biological phenomena, but also to extract and interpret useful information from scientific articles. Such an assignment will also help develop written or oral communication skills early. To encourage students to interact and engage with primary literature, educators can also use the C.R.E.A.T.E method: Consider, Read, Elucidate the hypothesis, Analyze and interpret the data, and Think of the next Experiment ((Hoskins et al. 2011). Recent work by Krufka et al. (2020) can help educators with minimal C.R.E.A.T.E training to incorporate this method into their teaching.
Alternatively, educators can incorporate case studies as a way to teach critical thinking skills. For example, first-year microbiology students can learn about emerging infectious diseases and global pandemics. We can also provide students with practical experience in critical thinking by introducing discussions of the ethics of research into our virtual classrooms or laboratories. Smith (2014) explains why ethical discussions are essential in a science classroom and provides tips on introducing and structuring such discussions.
In most cases, due to time constraints during the semester, undergraduate labs fail to provide the necessary instruction of important aspects of experimental sciences, such as replication, sample size, reproducibility, and the additional critical thinking required when designing experiments to answer biological questions.
Micro-organisms affect almost every aspect of our lives, yet the public generally fears them. Timmis et al. (2019) discuss why the need for microbiology literacy in society is urgent. As educators, we can participate in this initiative by putting emphasis on training our students to communicate research in microbiology to a general audience. For example, students could create a podcast or blog reviewing a recent journal article. If peer review (review by fellow students) is incorporated in this process, it could lighten the grading burden. Another way to get students involved in science communication, and to improve microbiology literacy, is to create or bring existing citizen-science initiatives to the curriculum.
It’s now common for microbiology research to use “omic” technologies to answer scientific questions. This means undergraduate microbiology students need not only a thorough understanding of these technologies, but basic bioinformatics skills, before they can graduate. Learning Unix command line, R, and Python, is valuable to microbiology students, independent of their chosen career. Teaching such skills can be incorporated into microbiology courses at any level. To develop the associated competencies in undergraduate education, teachers may use the bioinformatics-mastery rubric developed by Tractenberg et al. (2019) to promote bioinformatics practice in lab settings and the classroom. Educators can also include bioinformatic skills in the learning environment using a software-carpentry format.
Another important topic that requires a permanent place in our curricula (regardless of the current situation we find ourselves in) is an honest and ongoing discussion of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) with our students. Systemic racism and sexism have contributed to various forms of bias in scientific research. Hunter et al. (2010) describe how we can incorporate and support EDI initiatives in our classrooms and labs. In addition, educators should consider dedicating at least one class or lab session to facilitate a discussion on systemic racism and sexism in STEM fields. For more information on inclusive science, please refer to Volume 21, Issue 1 of the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education.
As educators, we have a responsibility not only to provide our students with an inclusive environment, but to teach them the importance of diversity in microbiology research. For example, what are the consequences of including only white males in a microbiome study? Or how does including only male mice in a study bias the results? A recently published meta study by Woitowich et al. (2020) can be used to introduce historical biases and what is currently being done to prevent this in the research community.
The challenges we’re currently facing as educators have exposed opportunities for pedagogical innovation. Post-secondary enrolments in the life-science and health fields, in which microbiology plays an important role in the curriculum, are steadily increasing (Statistics Canada, Table: 37-10-0011-01). Equipping these students with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills they seek from a microbiology class will require us as educators to get creative and find new approaches to content delivery. Although the resource list we have provided is not exhaustive, we hope it lets you see there’s light at the end of the tunnel. The necessary shift to in silico delivery may facilitate the development of computational biology and big-data management skills. Along with classical lab competencies, this will be key to meeting future demands placed on Canadian graduates of the life-science and health-related fields.
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This editorial was written collectively by the Canadian Society of Microbiologists (CSM) Committee on Microbiology Undergraduate Education.
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