Final Report Principle Investigator: Dr. Jennifer Zettler (Professor of Biology) Co-Investigator: Drs. Melanie Link-Pérez (Assistant Professor of Biology) and Traci Ness (Associate Professor of Biology) Title: Six-Legged Science: Determining the Ability of Students to Accurately Identify Insects in Principles of Biology (BIOL 1107L) Laboratories

Project goals: Students in Principles of Biology I (BIOL 1107L) each collect insects and then identify their specimen as a critical initial step for a semester-long research project for the course. We used monies provided by Armstrong’s Teaching and Learning grant to purchase the materials needed to confirm the accuracy of BIOL 1107L students’ insect identifications. In fall

2013, students used an exhaustive on-line insect identification tool that students found to be difficult to navigate without entomological training. By spring 2014, we created a custom dichotomous key that was ready to be adopted for use in BIOL 1107L. Anecdotal evidence from instructors suggests that this custom tool was easier to implement in the classroom. To compare the accuracy of students’ identifications, an Armstrong undergraduate student, Cicely Curtis, ran nine PCR experiments from 117 insect samples. She then performed enzymatic purification of all amplified products and submitted 570 samples for DNA sequencing. By comparing the sequencing data to the students’ identifications, we can determine their accuracy rate. Cicely will continue with the analysis until spring 2016.

Outcomes: Data from this project were presented in two research conference presentations.

“Laboratories engaging in the application and process of science (LEAPS) promotes

student critical thinking skills” Mateer, S.C., Brofft Bailey, J., DeMars, G., Link-Perez,

M.A., Curtis, C. *, and Ness, T. was presented at the 2015 Gordon Research Conference

(Lewiston, ME) and was presented at the 2015 USG Teaching and Learning Conference

(Athens, GA). The manuscript, “Insect models and a key to their identification” Zettler, J.A., Ness, T.,

Mateer, S., Link-Perez, M.A., Brofft Bailey, J., and DeMars, G. will be submitted in

September 2015 to The American Biology Teacher. We expect at least one other

manuscript to be produced directly from the foundations of the data generated by this

project. We plan to publish a research article that summarizes of the accuracy of student

identifications with its CO1 barcoding gene.

*Armstrong undergraduate student