Case study submitted by Dr Stephanie Pellegrin in Biochemistry.
The Practice
The mandatory Year 3 Research Project Unit in the School of Biochemistry (BIOC30003) is an opportunity for students to develop their skills as independent thinkers and researchers. This summative project is the culmination of their university training, often referred to as a ‘capstone’ project and for biochemists, this unit is worth 20% of the final year mark (20 credit points, Level of study H/6). It is generally taken by ~ 100 students and ~ 55% of these (data from 2022-2023) choose to carry out an experimental or ‘wet’, lab-based project to experience lab work in a research environment. Typically, each student spends ~20 days ‘at the bench’ investigating a novel research question then writes up their work in the form of a scientific article (containing ~ 5 detailed result figures and a maximum of 5,500 words).
In September 2021, the School of Biochemistry already offered 3 different experimental group research projects (GRP) in their teaching laboratories: ‘Drugs from the Deep’ led by Dr Giles Cory and ‘Fishing for Clues’ led by Dr Lucy MacCarthy-Morrogh, both offered to Year 3 Biochemistry or Biomedical Sciences (BMS) BSc students; and the ‘Research Training Unit’ led by Dr Alice Robson which is offered to MSci students in their third year. These have all been very successful both in terms of meeting the intended learning outcomes and student satisfaction. The Biochemistry teaching labs are well equipped, allowing students to use state of the art equipment independently. Group research projects give students the opportunity to plan their own experiments and develop their own ideas, whilst also acquiring important time management and team working skills.
My aim was to design a new experimental GRP for the 2022-23 academic year, which would complement the ones already offered to Year 3 Biochemistry BSc students. This new project had to:
- complement the projects already in place (the School of Biochemistry wants to offer a range of varied group research project choices to Year 3 BSc students);
- be associated with a research-active Biochemistry laboratory and offer authentic research experience;
- include a range of different methods and experiments to give students a wide range of stimulating experiences over the 5 weeks and the opportunity to present, analyse and discuss different types of data;
- use the equipment already available in the teaching laboratories;
- meet the health and safety requirements (biological safety containment level 1);
- ensure there was enough scope for a large number of students over many years (each student should be carrying out novel research);
- be within budget.
The Findings
For five weeks, I spent every hour of my working days in the teaching labs – this was timetabled. I also organised an introductory workshop and the students attended writing up workshops – both of which were very well received and extremely useful. During the 5 weeks, I regularly initiated group discussions to encourage students to (1) reflect on and discuss what they were doing and why, as well as (2) think of and/or research other possible approaches. Each student was responsible for studying their own protein of interest but some experiments were carried out as a group – class data were used to optimise certain procedures and inform the next steps to take.
Generally speaking, there are two types of experimental research projects: one made of sequential experiments and another made of parallel experiments (Figure 1). The project I run is made of sequential experiments: it is linear so students might potentially not be able to carry out all the steps if one is unsuccessful. Fortunately, this did not happen (all trouble-shooting led to results, positive or negative) and every student had enough data for 5 detailed figures. Just in case however, I had prepared reagents (positive controls) ready to give to students to enable them to attempt all experiments if needed.
Figure 1: Experimental projects made of sequential or parallel experiments.
The principle investigator associated with this project (Professor Pete Cullen) came to visit the teaching labs for an informal question & answer session which was excellent – very interactive and stimulating. The students asked very relevant and probing questions. Post-doctoral researchers and phD students also came to visit, giving Year 3 students the opportunity to ask them a range of questions.
For each student, I provided formative written feedback on 600 words of text and 2 figures of their choice, and met every student individually to discuss the feedback in person and answer any questions.
The Impact
I personally loved running my Year 3 experimental GRP. From my point of view, the students were engaged (very good attendance and excellent questions & group discussions). The students learnt from each other, organised themselves independently and enjoyed being part of a team, working towards a common goal. Little by little, the students learnt to ‘own’ the teaching lab space and I felt there was a very supportive, thoughtful and respectful working ambience (it was fun!). The project write-ups were of a good, even excellent, standard. The feedback I received from the students was also very positive, which is so encouraging! I was also happily surprised to find out that the large majority of my students selected a GRP as their project choice or did not mind doing one.
Next Steps
In its first year (academic year 2022-23), my project was only offered to 6 students; I shared the teaching lab space with my colleague Emily Baker, who also had 6 students working on her Year 3 GRP. In its second year (2023-24), the plan is for me to have 24 students. I have to think of a few more experiments and reagents to offer to ensure the project is stimulating for all. I will have to divide the students into groups (groups of 2, 3 or 4 – I’m not yet sure) and need to think about which aspects of the project will be carried out as a group or individual task. I need to allow more time for the introductory workshop (2x2h instead of only 1x2h). I also want to create time where we, as a whole cohort, can discuss the scientific literature in more detail (for example a journal club on a key paper).
Contact
Please see the slides below of the talk I gave on the 17th May 2023 as part of the BILT Show, Tell & Talk session on ‘How to design and deliver successful group projects and dissertations’.
Acknowledgments: I would like to thank Giles Cory, Lucy MacCarthy-Morrogh, Catherine Nobes, Alice Robson, Pete Cullen, Kirsty McMillan, Kevin Wilkinson and Chris Danson for all their help and guidance as well as the School of Biochemistry for providing the teaching lab space and equipment used by the students.
Please contact Stephanie Pellegrin, lecturer in the School of Biochemistry for more information.