Biotechnology Education Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Practical James A. L. Brown* Inquiry-Based Learning Bioinformatics Module on Undergraduate Student Engagement and Applied Skillsws From the Department of Biochemistry, School of Natural Sciences, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland and Discipline of Surgery, School of Medicine, Lambe Institute for Translational Research, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland Abstract A pedagogic intervention, in the form of an inquiry-based evaluated by assessing the quality and originality of the peer-assisted learning project (as a practical student-led students’ targets through reports, reflecting students’ use bioinformatics module), was assessed for its ability to and understanding of concepts and tools required to increase students’ engagement, practical bioinformatic generate their data. Furthermore, evaluation of the bioin- skills and process-specific knowledge. Elements assessed formatic module was assessed semi-quantitatively using were process-specific knowledge following module com- pre- and post-module quizzes (a non-assessable activity, pletion, qualitative student-based module evaluation and not contributing to their grade), which incorporated pro- the novelty, scientific validity and quality of written student cess- and content-specific questions (indicative of their reports. Bioinformatics is often the starting point for use of the online tools). Qualitative assessment of the laboratory-based research projects, therefore high impor- teaching intervention was performed using post-module tance was placed on allowing students to individually surveys, exploring student satisfaction and other module develop and apply processes and methods of scientific specific elements. Overall, a positive experience was research. Students led a bioinformatic inquiry-based pro- found, as was a post module increase in correct process- ject (within a framework of inquiry), discovering, justifying specific answers. In conclusion, an inquiry-based peer- and exploring individually discovered research targets. assisted learning module increased students’ engage- Detailed assessable reports were produced, displaying data ment, practical bioinformatic skills and process-specific generated and the resources used. Mimicking research set- knowledge. VC 2016 by The International Union of Bio- tings, undergraduates were divided into small collaborative chemistry and Molecular Biology, 44:304–313 2016. groups, with distinctive central themes. The module was Keywords: bioinformatics; practical; inquiry-led; process; content; undergraduate; project; teaching Introduction The introduction, application, and evaluation of bioinfor- matic modules using web-based software packages for peda- Volume 44, Number 3, May/June 2016, Pages 304–313 gogic purposes in the biological sciences has been evolving ws Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online for the last 20 years, requiring constant revision and updat- version of this article. ing to keep pace with the ever changing scientific technolo- *Address for correspondence to: Discipline of Surgery, School of Medi- gies and pedagogic techniques [1–6]. This is due to constant cine, Lambe Institute for Translational Research, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland. advances and availability of tools, databases, and data sets E-mail: [email protected] that has allowed these online databases and tools to rapidly Received 25 May 2015; Revised 20 November 2015; Accepted 8 grow, evolve, and establish themselves as essential commu- December 2015 nity resources and tools in the last 15 years [7, 8]. This con- DOI 10.1002/bmb.20954 stant evolution has included: massively increased databases Published online in Wiley Online Library (of both size and content), the proliferation of highly specific (wileyonlinelibrary.com) search and modeling tools, algorithm advances, defining of 304 Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education new biological domains/motifs, and improved interactive Furthermore, pedagogical publications are appearing graphics [9–11]. In addition, the proliferation of accessible that incorporate lists of community specific online services privately maintained databases (i.e., sites offered and which are either available or were used in their research maintained by commercial companies) has significantly com- activities [19–[22, 25]]. Many of these publications employ plemented and enhanced current public research facilities. tools from the NCBI bioinformatic suite- as one of the origi- Supporting this, more advanced, comprehensive, state- nal sites it has become an essential first point of contact. of-the-art online databases and tool suites (many on the cut- Importantly, due to its age and continual evolution it is also ting edge of what is currently possible) often appear rapidly one of the most user-friendly. Additionally, it has the dis- following the introduction of new techniques, technologies tinct advantage of being linked to the world’s largest data- and recently large scale “omics” studies [12, 13]. base of peer-reviewed publications and curated genetic These constantly evolving and growing online data- information. bases have become instrumental in defining how scientists Significantly, many of the larger online repositories/ organise their thinking and experiments [14, 15]. Exploring databases host so many tools that they now have their own the current state of knowledge on a given topic using data- published manuals [14, [20, 23]], in addition to their own bases and repositories is the first step in any project [16]. It online frequently asked questions (FAQ) and help sections. is also important that multiple databases are queried. The These FAQ’s and database help sections allow novices and subsequent research steps are then shaped by the knowl- professionals alike to engage in self-directed learning with edge gleaned from these databases. Searches missing a the software they are exploring, often with helpful examples. key piece of data can be disastrous for a project, in terms Many of the large scientific community-specific (biology) of wasted time and resources. web-based databases provide tools such as; sequence align- Furthermore, scientists’ thinking can be influenced by ment, Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST), genomic the structure of the databases themselves for example, how maps, literature searches, structural/domain analysis and one subject is linked to another and what it is linked to gene expression information. However, in recent years there within the database. This will influence how a researcher has been a significant rise in the appearance of highly special- interprets this information, particularly if their knowledge ised databases and software tools. Some examples of com- of the subject is limited [9, 17]. monly used specialised databases or research tools available One of the earliest and probably the most famous and are: tissue or cell line specific gene expression databases widely used bioinformatic suite of tools is the National (Oncomine, TiGER), cell cycle specific gene expression data- Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) [10, 18], bases (Cyclebase, GeneCards), interaction networks (String, established in 1988. The NCBI is part of the United States BioGrid), specific protein posttranslational modification data- National Library of Medicine (NLM) administered by the bases (phosphorylation: PhosphoSitePlus, PHOSIDA, NetPhos; National Institute of Health (NIH). Following the global suc- Acetylation: ASEB, Scan-x; Ubiquitylation: UbiProt, hUbiqui- cess of NCBI a number of national institutes followed suit: tome), MicroRNA databases (PicTar, HMDD), genetically the Expert Protein Analysis System (ExPASy) [10, 14] suite modified animal strain databases (JMSR, RGD), cancer cell created by the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB) in line databases (CCLE, CGAP) and process-specific databases 1998 and then the European bioinformatics institute (EBI) (CMC, CilDB, MetaCore) [14, [26–34]]. created by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory This proliferation of specialist/niche databases or soft- (EMBL) in 1992, which has only been accessible online ware tools emphasises the need for up-to-date training in since 2004 [17, [19–22]]. general software and database use and evaluation-some data- Currently there are now hundreds of databases, tools and bases look good but the results are based on very a limited set software packages available online, with many curated lists of data (i.e., Cyclebase), which can significantly affect the available (OBRC: Online Bioinformatics Resources Collection; interpretation of any results obtained. Many software pack- http://www.hsls.pitt.edu/obrc/and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ ages return concise but technical results that often take prior List_of_open-source_bioinformatics_software). experience or specialised knowledge to interpret. To use most Recently, in response to this (almost exponential) prolifer- databases they require input in a specific format or search ation of tools the journal Nucleic Acids Research begun issu- terms to be taken from a specific database and many compet- ing an annual, open access, special issue dedicated to detail- ing databases label the same item differently. ing some of the more significant cutting-edge databases or Recently, many published undergraduate modules have software created [10, [14, 23]]. Issues like this are crucial for made significant efforts to mimic real world conditions by compiling and indexing software and