Synthetic biology as a tool to online teaching undergraduate level molecular biology.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, all on-campus activities were required to be adapted to a distance-learning format, which was especially challenging for practical courses. Molecular biology is a mandatory course for biology undergraduates at Universidade Federal Fluminense. To overcome the impossibility of practical activities, we proposed problem-solving synthetic biology assignments to review and consolidate the knowledge acquired in the molecular biology course. A survey indicated that the synthetic biology challenges were effective to promote students' active learning and worked as a proper substitute to the practical classes.

Problem solving in the time of coronavirus pandemic.

Problem solving, multiple-choice question-based educational tools have been used for decades in molecular cell biology courses at the University of Pécs Medical School, Pécs, Hungary. A set of these tests was published in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education between 2002 and 2015. Such tests using an experimental approach help students to understand how living cells function. Besides being tools of education, they can be used for examination purposes as well to assess higher levels of intellectual skills (interpretation and problem solving) acquired by the students. The test presented in this paper is based on parts of an original publication in which the authors described seminal observations on the function of a viral protein in the infection process of SARS-CoV-2. The test is aimed at helping the students to understand the methods used in the experiments, to analyze the data and to draw conclusions from them regarding certain aspects of the mechanism of coronavirus infection.

Integrating basic and applied researches of SARS-CoV-2 into the medical molecular biology teaching.

Molecular biology is an important course for medical postgraduates to understand the practice of modern molecular medicine. At present, molecular biology has been widely used in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of clinical medicine. The COVID-19 pandemic forced all universities suspending academic activities and online teaching all over the world, which is a kind of crisis and has become people's memory of the times. The efforts from all sectors of society, include government, research institutions, and enterprises, have gave medical students a profound impact. The integration of memory of the times into molecular biology teaching will enhance students' learning interest and understanding effect.

Innovations in education of the medical molecular biology curriculum during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a huge challenge to education systems. Most governments around the world have temporarily closed schools, universities, and colleges. At the same time, teachers and students are encouraged to use the online and distance learning programs and platforms as an alternative. In the present study, we proposed a series of innovative solutions in Medical Molecular Biology education during the COVID-19 pandemic in China, including a flipped classroom model, live streaming course, chat Apps, and scientific papers on COVID-19 as additional learning material. Our results demonstrated that these innovations not only help teachers to maintain the teaching process as usual but also be useful for protecting students from psychological trauma. Our study indicates that online education with a well-designed workflow for conducting provides an alternative approach for teachers to maintain quality education during the onset of the emerging crisis.

Student perceptions of an inquiry-based molecular biology lecture and lab following a mid-semester transition to online teaching.

The transition to online learning in spring 2020 was abrupt for both students and instructors. While many instructors moved to asynchronous classes, some institutions relied more heavily on synchronous online courses. Here, we evaluate student perceptions of an inquiry-based molecular biology lecture and lab course following this transition by comparing student survey responses from spring 2019, when the lecture and lab were fully in person, to spring 2020, when the lecture and lab started in person before transitioning to a synchronous online format. Students were asked to identify the main factors that supported their learning in lecture and lab, characterize the main barriers to learning in those courses, and discuss their preference of having an inquiry-based lab or a traditional "cookbook" lab with pre-determined answers. We coded these responses and provide one of the first studies to examine the impact of this online transition on student perceptions of learning in an inquiry-based molecular biology lecture and lab course.

Teaching molecular techniques at home: Molecular biology labs that can be performed anywhere and enable hands-on learning of restriction digestion/ligation and DNA amplification.

COVID 19 has changed about every aspect of life including how we teach in higher education. Laboratory experiments vital for learning hands-on techniques are limited due to social distancing requirements and increased numbers of distance-learning students. The solution to loss of hands-on activities has been to compensate with virtual laboratory modules. Although virtual labs are engaging and offer a simulated hands-on approach to teaching essential molecular techniques, these simulations do not replace hands-on experience. I designed two molecular biology laboratory exercises in response to the current teaching limitations that can be completed 'at-home' and enable low cost hands-on instruction of essential molecular techniques in any distance-learning environment including during the COVID 19 pandemic.

Mock grant application roleplay as an alternative to lab-based activities in molecular biology.

Many universities resort to online teaching due to COVID-19 pandemic. It is a challenging endeavor, especially in Molecular Biology courses that require lab access. Mock grant application roleplay is one alternative to lab-based activities. Students are engaged in three aspects: (i) targeted literature review, (ii) research proposal writing and (iii) 5-min project pitching. The design of this module is flexible and, other lab-based courses can adopt it. This module encourages undergraduate students to explore the lab techniques they learnt and concisely present their research proposal.

Does the absence of SARS-CoV-2 specific genes always exclude the infection? How to interpret RT-PCR results?-The scenario of interactive online workshop.

The aim of this online workshop is to familiarize biomedical faculties students with the principle of RT-PCR method. The following assumption is made, students participating in the workshop: are already familiar with the principle of PCR reaction, can distinguish PCR from RT-PCR, know the basic possibilities of using the above techniques. During the online workshop participants are supposed to learn the interpretation of PCR and RT-PCR results and to understand the crucial importance of controlling the reaction conditions. The workshop involves active students' learning, critical analysis of the data, group discussion, brainstorming method, involvement of e-tools such as pool everywhere or e-learning platforms, as well as interpreting the real-life example results that allows putting the topic in the proper future work-related tasks. The final part of the workshop focuses on the analysis of the RT-PCR results performed in order to confirm or exclude the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 genome in potentially infected individuals. The students are expected to see the practical/work-related part of the knowledge gained during the workshop.

Students engage in primary literature in molecular biology techniques using an online journal club format.

Campus closures in Spring 2020 required rapid transition to online course delivery. Fall 2020 has similar needs and expectations. The Advanced Topics in Molecular Biology Techniques course, designed for upper division undergraduate and graduate students, uses a "journal club" format. The journal club format includes practice-based learning and provides student choice. Examples from graduate students effectively model the expectations using near-peer instruction. Teaching in the time of COVID-19 requires openness to new ideas and modifications to previous approaches. We were able to move the course online with little interruption.

The impact and evaluation of COVID-19 pandemic on the teaching model of medical molecular biology course for undergraduates major in pharmacy.

Molecular biology is a very important basic course for undergraduates major in pharmacy. During the novel coronavirus epidemic, we first adopted an online teaching of molecular biology course with rain class and tencent meeting for undergraduates major in pharmacy, following a blended teaching mode. Finally, we evaluated the effect of this special-time teaching by analyzing the anonymous questionnaire and final examination scores. Student feedback showed that most of students were satisfied with this online teaching, classroom teaching, and experimental teaching, and considered that postlecture quizzes were very helpful for their study. The majority of students supported that classroom teaching should be integrated with online teaching. Analysis of final examination scores showed that the effect of 2020-year teaching was not worse than that of 2019-year teaching, but even better in the excellence rate and rate of poor and failure. Here, we share the experience and thinking of blended teaching of medical molecular biology course during the novel coronavirus epidemic, and hope it helpful for other teachers' teaching.

Transitioning undergraduate research from wet lab to the virtual in the wake of a pandemic.

The COVID-19 outbreak has shut down universities, and teaching faculty have moved to online classrooms to address students. This change has been supported by numerous online teaching tools and development of virtual classrooms. Undergraduate research programs in the sciences and biochemistry/molecular biology teaching labs, however, are affected by this change due to inaccessibility to laboratories. This communication outlines three concepts to engage undergraduate students who are involved in research: (a) remote data analysis, (b) literature review and science writing, and (c) science journal clubs.

Applying active learning in a virtual classroom such as a molecular biology escape room.

The transition to remote-teaching online for Molecular Biology has forced active learning exercises like Escape Rooms to also move online. In the past, Escape Rooms have been an effective tool for students to help reinforce concepts they learned in Molecular Biology. We propose that there is a way for Escape Rooms to be moved to an online setting and still be an effective avenue for students to learn the material in a fun and interactive way.

Virtual laboratories during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease is an emerging situation that brought challenges to all sectors, including academia and research. Undergraduate and postgraduate students in biochemistry and molecular biology have been affected significantly due to the recent laboratory closures. Experiments have been suspended for long causing extreme stress to the students. Virtual laboratory is a powerful educational tool that enables students to conduct experiments at the comfort of their home. An excellent opportunity to engage students with technology and in parallel to avoid unforeseen disruptions, as happened recently due to pandemic.

Commentary: Challenges for PhD students during COVID-19 pandemic: Turning crisis into an opportunity.

COVID-19 results in the suspension of life all over the world. Universities suspended their academic activities except for online courses for undergrad and grad students. However, PhD students in both biochemistry and molecular biology fields must hold their experiments at the laboratories. Even under these extreme circumstances, the academic journey of a master's or PhD student should not be stopped; on contrary, they need to use these times to improve their knowledge related to their fields. Therefore, they can turn this COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity for themselves.