A participatory study of college students' mental health during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted college students' mental health and wellbeing. Even before the pandemic, young adults reported high mental health morbidity. During the pandemic, young adult college students faced unprecedented challenges, including campus closure and a pivot to fully online education. Methods: This study employed a novel participatory approach to a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in an introductory epidemiology course to examine factors students considered important regarding their experience during the pandemic. Two groups of undergraduate students enrolled in this course (one in Fall 2020 and another in Spring 2021) and participated in the CURE. A sub-group of these students continued after the class and are authors of this article. Through repeated cross-sectional surveys of college students' peer groups in northern California in October 2020 and March 2021, this student/faculty collaborative research team evaluated depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and several other topics related to mental health among the students' young adult community. Results: There was a high prevalence of anxiety (38.07% in October 2020 and 40.65% in March 2021), depression (29.85% in October 2020 and 27.57% in March 2021), and suicidal ideation (15.94% in October 2020 and 16.04% in March 2021). In addition, we identified the significant burden of loneliness for college students, with 58.06% of students reporting feeling lonely at least several days in the past two weeks. Strategies that students used to cope with the pandemic included watching shows, listening to music, or playing video games (69.01%), sleeping (56.70%), taking breaks (51.65%), and connecting with friends (52.31%) or family (51.21%). Many reported distressing household experiences: more than a third reporting loss of a job or income (34.27%) in the first year of the pandemic. We explain the participatory research approach and share empirical results of these studies. Discussion: We found this participatory CURE approach led to novel, experience-based research questions; increased student motivation; real-world benefits such as combatting imposter syndrome and supporting graduate school intentions; integration of teaching, research, and service; and development of stronger student-faculty relationships. We close with recommendations to support student wellbeing and promote student engagement in research.

A CURE for the COVID-19 Era: A Vaccine-Focused Online Immunology Laboratory.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities across the globe quickly shifted to online education. Laboratory courses faced unique challenges and were forced to reevaluate learning objectives and identify creative projects to engage students online. This study describes a newly developed online immunology laboratory curriculum focused on vaccine development. The course incorporated learning objectives to teach the scientific process, key experimental design components, and immunology techniques to evaluate vaccine efficacy. The curriculum, a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), asked students to engage in the research literature, propose a vaccine design and assessment, and interpret mock results. Instructor evaluation of student work as well as student self-evaluations demonstrated that students met the curriculum's learning objectives. Additionally, results from the laboratory course assessment survey (LCAS) indicate that this curriculum incorporated the CURE elements of collaboration, discovery and relevance, and iteration.

Converting a face-to-face neuroanatomy course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) to an online environment: Lessons learned from remote teaching.

Previously, we described a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) for first-year students that featured a unique approach to brain mapping in a model organism (rat). In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we adapted this course for an online learning environment, emphasizing image analysis (identifying immunoreactive signal in an immunohistochemical stain, making neuroanatomical distinctions in a cytoarchitectural stain) and translation of image data to the brain atlas. Using a quasi-experimental mixed methods approach, we evaluated aspects of student engagement, perceived gains in student confidence with respect to the nature and process of science, and student science identity development. Additionally, we examined the dynamics of mentorship and student connectedness experienced in the online-only context. We found that the majority of students reported positive affective outcomes for the course in domains such as project ownership and project engagement in addition to positive responses toward perceived mentorship received during the course. Unsurprisingly, students expressed frustration in not being able to freely communicate with members of the course in an organic face-to-face environment. Furthermore, we found that students encountered greater difficulty in mastering image software skills causing delay in producing consistent-quality data maps. From our analysis of the course, we have identified both useful approaches and areas for course improvement in any future iterations of the online research course.

Rapid Pivot of CURE Wet Lab to Online with the Help of Instructor Communities.

The pivot to remote and hybrid learning during the Covid-19 pandemic presented a challenge for many in academia. Most institutions were not prepared to support this rapid change, and instructors were left with the burden of converting a traditional face-to-face course into multiple modalities with very limited preparation time. When institutional support is lacking, we posit that instructor communities of practice can help provide the resources needed to meet the instructional demands. Tiny Earth, a course-based-undergraduate research experience (CURE) and international network of instructors and students, responded to the instructional challenges of the pandemic by leveraging its large community of instructors to create several smaller working groups to form focused communities of practice. Using the pedagogical principles of backward design and scientific teaching, one working group, the Tiny Earth Pivot Group (Pivot Group) generated a course map of remote learning activities and simulated learning resources to fulfill the Tiny Earth learning objectives and maintain the essential tenets of a CURE. Additional working groups were created to disseminate the resources collated and created by the Pivot Group to the greater community. In terms of Tiny Earth, the community structure provided the means for instructors to rapidly pivot their course materials to multiple modalities while upholding the student CURE experience. Harnessing the hallmarks of communities of practice-collective workpower toward common purpose, diversity of perspectives, and ongoing evolution-coupled with high-structured course design allows instructors flexibility and adaptability in meeting the changing modalities of higher education.

TikTok: An Emergent Opportunity for Teaching and Learning Science Communication Online.

Increasing use of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic practice of social distancing has emphasized the value and power of effective science communication through social media. As such, it has become equally important to teach and learn how to use social media accurately and effectively for science communication. In response, we developed an activity to use the social media platform TikTok to both model and build effective 21st century science communication skills. TikTok is a short-form video sharing platform whose popularity sharply increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. By using the short, focused video style of TikTok, we modeled effective social media science communication practices to teach basic science concepts and laboratory techniques. At the end of the semester, students were then challenged to create their own informative and engaging TikToks about their team's research projects to practice effective science communication. Here we share our approach and several TikTok best practices for effective and engaging science communication teaching and learning, along with example videos created during this process.

Keeping Students Connected and Engaged in a Wet-Lab Research Experience during a Time of Social Distancing via Mobile Devices and Video Conferencing Software.

Two major COVID-19 pandemic challenges presented for in-person instruction included adhering to social distancing guidelines and accommodating remote learners who were temporarily isolated or permanently participating from afar. At Binghamton University, our First-year Research Immersion (FRI) program was challenged with providing students with a wet lab course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), an intense hands-on experience that emphasized student teamwork, lab protocol development, iteration, troubleshooting, and other elements of the scientific process that could not be replicated in a fully remote environment. We developed an innovative technology approach to maximize all students' connection to the lab research experience, utilizing dedicated mobile devices (iPod Touch) and video conferencing software (Zoom) to synchronously connect remote learners to in-person learners, peer mentors, and instructors in our FRI research labs. In this way, despite limited lab capacities and fluctuating remote learning populations, we were able to connect remote learners to their peers and mentors in real-time and give them responsibilities that allowed them to be engaged and feel like meaningful participants in the research process. Although our students reported a preference for in-person labs, they noted that this hybrid model was better than other traditionally employed remote-learning lab options. We believe that the lessons learned here can be applied to improve access to research in all situations and allow us to be prepared for other catastrophic disruptions to the educational system.

Harnessing the Four‐Dimensional Ecology Education Framework to redesign an introductory ecology course in a changing higher education landscape

As higher education undergoes rapid and fundamental change, eco‐educators need to be prepared to promote the inclusion of the ecological sciences in the biological sciences curriculum of the future. Here, we present an instructional alignment for an introductory ecology course, which is informed by and integrated with the Four‐Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) Framework. Our instructional alignment was created collaboratively among faculty involved in teaching the course and emphasizes the relevance and utility of the ecological sciences. We believe that this approach positions the ecological sciences for continued success and inclusion in the biological sciences curriculum of tomorrow.

A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience in CRISPR-Cas9 Experimental Design to Support Reverse Genetic Studies in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Gene-editing tools such as CRISPR-Cas9 have created unprecedented opportunities for genetic studies in plants and animals. We designed a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) to train introductory biology students in the concepts and implementation of gene-editing technology as well as develop their soft skills in data management and scientific communication. We present two versions of the course that can be implemented with twice-weekly meetings over a 5-week period. In the remote-learning version, students performed homology searches, designed guide RNAs (gRNAs) and primers, and learned the principles of molecular cloning. This version is appropriate when access to laboratory equipment or in-person instruction is limited, such as during closures that have occurred in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In person, students designed gRNAs, cloned CRISPR-Cas9 constructs, and performed genetic transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana. Students learned how to design effective gRNA pairs targeting their assigned gene with an 86% success rate. Final exams tested students' ability to apply knowledge of an unfamiliar genome database to characterize gene structure and to properly design gRNAs. Average final exam scores of ∼73% and ∼84% for in-person and remote-learning CUREs, respectively, indicated that students met learning outcomes. The highly parallel nature of the CURE makes it possible to target dozens to hundreds of genes, depending on the number of sections. Applying this approach in a sensitized mutant background enables focused reverse genetic screens for genetic suppressors or enhancers. The course can be adapted readily to other organisms or projects that employ gene editing.