What's in a Prerequisite? A Mixed-Methods Approach to Identifying the Impact of a Prerequisite Course.

Despite the ubiquity of prerequisites in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curricula, there has been minimal effort to assess their value in a data-driven manner. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, we examined the impact of prerequisites in the context of a microbiology lecture and lab course pairing. Through interviews and an online survey, students highlighted a number of positive attributes of prerequisites, including their role in knowledge acquisition, along with negative impacts, such as perhaps needlessly increasing time to degree and adding to the cost of education. We also identified a number of reasons why individuals do or do not enroll in prerequisite courses, many of which were not related to student learning. In our particular curriculum, students did not believe the microbiology lecture course impacted success in the lab, which agrees with our analysis of lab course performance using a previously established "familiarity" scale. These conclusions highlight the importance of soliciting and analyzing student feedback, and triangulating these data with quantitative performance metrics to assess the state of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curricula.

A Familiar(ity) Problem: Assessing the Impact of Prerequisites and Content Familiarity on Student Learning.

Prerequisites are embedded in most STEM curricula. However, the assumption that the content presented in these courses will improve learning in later courses has not been verified. Because a direct comparison of performance between students with and without required prerequisites is logistically difficult to arrange in a randomized fashion, we developed a novel familiarity scale, and used this to determine whether concepts introduced in a prerequisite course improved student learning in a later course (in two biology disciplines). Exam questions in the latter courses were classified into three categories, based on the degree to which the tested concept had been taught in the prerequisite course. If content familiarity mattered, it would be expected that exam scores on topics covered in the prerequisite would be higher than scores on novel topics. We found this to be partially true for "Very Familiar" questions (concepts covered in depth in the prerequisite). However, scores for concepts only briefly discussed in the prerequisite ("Familiar") were indistinguishable from performance on topics that were "Not Familiar" (concepts only taught in the later course). These results imply that merely "covering" topics in a prerequisite course does not result in improved future performance, and that some topics may be able to removed from a course thereby freeing up class time. Our results may therefore support the implementation of student-centered teaching methods such as active learning, as the time-intensive nature of active learning has been cited as a barrier to its adoption. In addition, we propose that our familiarity system could be broadly utilized to aid in the assessment of the effectiveness of prerequisites.

Brewing for Students: An Inquiry-Based Microbiology Lab.

In an effort to improve and assess student learning, there has been a push to increase the incorporation of discovery-driven modules and those that contain real-world relevance into laboratory curricula. To further this effort, we have developed, implemented, and assessed an undergraduate microbiology laboratory experiment that requires students to use the scientific method while brewing beer. The experiment allows students to brew their own beer and characterize it based on taste, alcohol content, calorie content, pH, and standard reference method. In addition, we assessed whether students were capable of achieving the module learning objectives through a pre-/posttest, student self-evaluation, exam-embedded questions, and an associated worksheet. These objectives included describing the role of the brewing ingredients and predicting how altering the ingredients would affect the characteristics of the beer, amongst others. By completing this experimental module, students accomplished the module objectives, had greater interest in brewing, and were more likely to view beer in scientific terms. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education.

Evolution of biomarker guided therapy for heart failure: current concepts and trial evidence.

Optimizing management of patients with heart failure remains quite challenging despite many significant advances in drug and device therapy for this syndrome. Although a large body of evidence from robust clinical trials supports multiple therapies, utilization of these well-established treatments remains inconsistent and outcomes suboptimal in "real-world" patients with heart failure. Disease management programs may be effective, but are difficult to implement due to cost and logistical issues. Another approach to optimizing therapy is to utilize biomarkers to guide therapeutic choices. Natriuretic peptides provide additional information of significant clinical value in the diagnosis and estimation of risk inpatients with heart failure. Ongoing research suggests a potential important added role for natriuretic peptides in heart failure. Guiding therapy based on serial changes in these biomarkers may be an effective strategy to optimize treatment and achieve better outcomes in this syndrome. Initial, innovative, proof-of-concept studies have provided encouraging results and important insights into key aspects of this strategy, but well designed, large-scale, multicenter, randomized, outcome trials are needed to definitively establish this novel approach to management. Given the immense and growing public health burden of heart failure, identification of cost-effective ways to decrease the morbidity and mortality due to this syndrome is critical.

Role of plasma membrane calcium ATPase isoform 2 in neuronal function in the cerebellum and spinal cord.

The distinct role of plasma membrane calcium ATPase 2 (PMCA2) in the function of different neuronal subpopulations in the central nervous system is not well understood. We found that lack of PMCA2 leads to a reduction in the number of motor neurons in the spinal cord of PMCA2-null mice and to abnormal changes in molecular pathways in Purkinje cells. Thus, PMCA2 may have unique, nonredundant functions in spinal cord and cerebellar neurons. Our results suggest that anomalous alterations in PMCA2 activity or expression may induce pathology in some neuronal populations, a possibility that will be the focus of future investigations.

Molecular alterations in the cerebellum of the plasma membrane calcium ATPase 2 (PMCA2)-null mouse indicate abnormalities in Purkinje neurons.

PMCA2, a major calcium pump, is expressed at particularly high levels in Purkinje neurons. Accordingly, PMCA2-null mice exhibit ataxia suggesting cerebellar pathology. It is not yet known how changes in PMCA2 expression or activity affect molecular pathways in Purkinje neurons. We now report that the levels of metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGluR1), which plays essential roles in motor coordination, synaptic plasticity, and associative learning, are reduced in the cerebellum of PMCA2-null mice as compared to wild type littermates. The levels of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor type 1 (IP3R1), an effector downstream to mGluR1, which mediates intracellular calcium signaling, and the expression of Homer 1b/c and Homer 3, scaffold proteins that couple mGluR1 to IP3R1, are also reduced in somata and dendrites of some Purkinje cell subpopulations. In contrast, no alterations occur in the levels of mGluR1 and its downstream effectors in the hippocampus, indicating that the changes are region specific. The reduction in cerebellar mGluR1, IP3R1 and Homer 3 levels are neither due to a generic decrease in Purkinje proteins nor extensive dendritic loss as immunoreactivity to total and non-phosphorylated neurofilament H (NFH) is increased in Purkinje dendrites and microtubule associated protein 2 (MAP2) staining reveals a dense dendritic network in the molecular layer of the PMCA2-null mouse cerebellum. PMCA2 coimmunoprecipitates with mGluR1, Homer 3 and IP3R1, suggesting that the calcium pump is a constituent of the mGluR1 signaling complex. Our results suggest that the decrease in the expression of mGluR1 and its downstream effectors and perturbations in the mGluR1 signaling complex in the absence of PMCA2 may cumulatively result in aberrant metabotropic glutamate receptor signaling in Purkinje neurons leading to cerebellar deficits in the PMCA2-null mouse.