Wickham Robert J, Genné-Bacon Elizabeth A, Jacob Michele H
Psychology Department, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA 17022.
Center for Science Education, Department of Medical Education, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ. 2021 Dec 24;20(1):A28-A39. eCollection 2021 Fall.
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are increasingly common approaches to provide students with authentic laboratory experiences. Typically, CUREs are semester-long, in-person experiences that can be financially and time prohibitive for some institutions, faculty, and students. Here, we developed a short-duration, fully-online CURE, the Spine Lab, to provide an opportunity for students to conduct original research. In this CURE, we focused on synaptic spines in the mammalian brain; synapses are the unit structure that functions in rapid information processing. The students worked together in pairs and as a class to analyze cortical neuron spine density and structural morphology changes between a mouse line with learning impairments (forebrain-specific β-catenin knockouts [β-cat cKOs]) and control (Ctl) littermates. The students showed their results in an online poster presentation. Their findings show that spine density is significantly reduced, while spine structural maturation is unaltered in the β-cat cKO. Defining pathophysiological changes caused by CTNNB1/β-catenin loss-of-function provides important insights relevant to human disorders caused by disruptive mutations in this gene. To assess the benefits of this CURE, students completed a pre- and post-test assessment including a content quiz, STEM identity survey, and a standardized CURE survey. Participation in the Spine Lab correlated with improved content and STEM identity scores, and decreased negative attitudes about science. Moreover, direct comparison to the CURE database reveals that the Spine Lab produces comparable benefits to traditional CUREs. This work as a whole suggests that short-duration, fully-online CUREs can provide benefit to students and could be an inclusive tool to improve student outcomes.
基于课程的本科研究经历（CUREs）是为学生提供真实实验室体验的越来越常见的方法。通常，CUREs是为期一学期的面对面体验，对于一些机构、教师和学生来说，在经济和时间上可能是 prohibitive（此处原文有误，推测可能是“prohibitive”，意为“令人望而却步的”）。在这里，我们开发了一个短期的、完全在线的CURE，即脊柱实验室，为学生提供进行原创研究的机会。在这个CURE中，我们专注于哺乳动物大脑中的突触棘；突触是在快速信息处理中起作用的单位结构。学生们两人一组并作为一个班级共同分析患有学习障碍的小鼠品系（前脑特异性β-连环蛋白敲除小鼠[β-cat cKOs]）和对照（Ctl）同窝小鼠之间的皮质神经元棘密度和结构形态变化。学生们在在线海报展示中展示了他们的结果。他们的研究结果表明，在β-cat cKO小鼠中，棘密度显著降低，而棘结构成熟未改变。确定由CTNNB1/β-连环蛋白功能丧失引起的病理生理变化，为与该基因破坏性突变导致的人类疾病相关的重要见解提供了依据。为了评估这个CURE的益处，学生们完成了一项前后测试评估，包括内容测验、STEM身份调查和标准化的CURE调查。参与脊柱实验室与内容和STEM身份得分的提高以及对科学负面态度的降低相关。此外，与CURE数据库的直接比较表明，脊柱实验室产生的益处与传统CUREs相当。总体而言，这项工作表明短期的、完全在线的CUREs可以为学生带来益处，并且可能是改善学生成果的一种包容性工具。
