8584 Views (as of 05/2023)
  1. Shannon Carlin-Menter
  2. Research Assistant Professor
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. University at Buffalo, New York State Area Health Education Center System
  1. Stephen Koury
  2. http://medicine.buffalo.edu/faculty/profile.html?ubit=stvkoury
  3. Research Associate Professor
  4. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  5. University at Buffalo

The Western New York Genetics in Research Partnership: Expanding Exposure, C...

NSF Awards: 1311902

2016 (see original presentation & discussion)

Grades 9-12, Adult learners

The Western New York Genetics in Research Partnership is developing better ways to teach bioinformatics through use of hands-on, state-of-the-art bioinformatics tools and enhances awareness of careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This NSF ITEST research project has developed partnerships with disadvantaged high schools across a 14-county region in Western New York and serves as a pipeline for teacher and student recruitment, with a particular focus on basic genome analysis and bioinformatics. This project trains 9-12 grade biology teachers in Genomics Education National Initiative Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT), an innovative technology experience for high school students and teachers to increase their knowledge of bioinformatics and allows them to gain experience with bioinformatics software for classroom use. The project expands both teacher and student understanding of basic bioinformatics and the scientific process through the use of GENI-ACT, and provides ongoing support to the high school students as they pursue STEM career plans.

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Discussion from the NSF 2016 STEM For All Video Showcase (26 posts)
  • Icon for: Brian Drayton

    Brian Drayton

    Co-Principal Investigator
    May 17, 2016 | 09:11 a.m.

    I like this a lot! I can think of two very different and exciting areas of educational research arising from this program — and maybe you are doing them both already!
    One of course is about the student learning (conceptual, practical, and affective), but the other is the experience of the teachers. Joni Falk and I were on a project years ago which involved high school teachers in ecological field work, and one of the most interesting effects we saw was changes in teachers’ self-identity — an increase in authenticity as members of the scientific community, which in turn (they felt) had an impact on their students’ respect for them.
    Do the teachers work on a gene project, too?

  • Icon for: Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Lead Presenter
    Research Assistant Professor
    May 17, 2016 | 10:48 a.m.

    One of our participating teachers mentioned that she plans to use BLAST with her students. As she became more comfortable with the GENI-ACT modules, the more she realized how she could integrate some of the modules into her AP Biology lab!

    Overall, a majority of the teachers we worked with said that they planned to include Genomics and Bioinformatics material in their teaching load the following year.

  • Icon for: Stephen Koury

    Stephen Koury

    Co-Presenter
    Research Associate Professor
    May 17, 2016 | 09:36 a.m.

    Thanks for your comment Brian. We use a “train the trainer” approach in the project, so teachers are simultaneously annotating genes and using the same tools the students are using in the project.

  • Rob Wingate

    Guest
    May 17, 2016 | 10:16 a.m.

    Go students! They’re the future.

  • Icon for: Stephen Koury

    Stephen Koury

    Co-Presenter
    Research Associate Professor
    May 17, 2016 | 10:25 a.m.

    We totally agree!

  • Carolyn Steele

    Guest
    May 17, 2016 | 10:48 a.m.

    What a wonderful program for students of undeserved areas of Western New York and surrounding counties. Hats off to the teachers for giving their time during the summer months to learn the program’s process and give students a head start on a possible, future career path!

  • Icon for: Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Lead Presenter
    Research Assistant Professor
    May 17, 2016 | 12:25 p.m.

    Through this project, we are creating a Western New York Genetics in Research Partnership to serve as a pipeline for recruiting students to STEM careers within, with emphasis on those from underrepresented groups. To connect with the local communities we have partnered with the New York State Area Health Education Center System (NYS AHEC): http://www.ahec.buffalo.edu
    The local AHEC’s have been essential in the recruitment and retention plan as they target school districts with high proportions of students who are disadvantaged and/or from groups underrepresented in STEM.

  • Icon for: Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Lead Presenter
    Research Assistant Professor
    May 17, 2016 | 12:30 p.m.

    For more information about GENI-ACT please visit:
    http://geni-act.blogspot.com

    To access the GENI-ACT Training Manual created by Dr. Stephen Koury & utilized in this project:
    http://ubwp.buffalo.edu/wnygirp/educational-res...

  • Bridget Brace-MacDonald

    Guest
    May 17, 2016 | 02:05 p.m.

    The dedication of teachers involved in this program is nothing short of incredible, and it is so awesome to see students engaging with this experiential learning opportunity!

  • Icon for: Stephen Koury

    Stephen Koury

    Co-Presenter
    Research Associate Professor
    May 17, 2016 | 02:31 p.m.

    We have been very lucky to have a dedicated group of teachers. It is new to them and some have struggled with it and we applaud all who have seen it though to the end. We will have our annual capstone symposium here in Buffalo on Friday…and have 43 posters presented by our ITEST teachers and students.

  • Jeff HS

    Guest
    May 17, 2016 | 03:34 p.m.

    The video is a great summary of the project my students and I have been involved in for the past 2 semesters. It has been a wild ride but the kids are really beginning to see how their work can fit into the big picture and how to pool their findings for the greater good. Exactly what is done in actual science labs every day! Thanks for the opportunity to help!!

  • Icon for: Sarah Gerard

    Sarah Gerard

    Facilitator
    Education Researcher
    May 17, 2016 | 04:03 p.m.

    Sounds like a really interesting opportunity for both teachers and students! What kinds of data on teacher or student outcomes have you collected thus far?

  • Icon for: Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Lead Presenter
    Research Assistant Professor
    May 18, 2016 | 11:30 a.m.

    Our results have been positive regarding gains in teachers’ knowledge and motivation to incorporate components of the genome annotation activities with their students. In addition, students have demonstrated statistically significant gains in knowledge for one set of knowledge items (set developed by Dr. Koury) when compared to the comparison group.

  • Betsy Vinton

    Guest
    May 17, 2016 | 04:41 p.m.

    This has been a wonderful program for the students in my school. Learning about genetics and bioinformatics has opened their eyes to new fields of study and career opportunities. They are currently putting together their data and preparing their posters for the capstone project. It is amazing to hear them talk about the results from their investigations like old pros. Thanks so much to Dr. Koury and all the folks involved with the project! We will be continuing our investigations into the next school year and beyond!

  • Icon for: Kelly Pudelek

    Kelly Pudelek

    Facilitator
    Survey Specialist
    May 17, 2016 | 11:52 p.m.

    This sounds like as great program! How do you plan to evaluate the program and do you see this program expanding into other schools in New York and elsewhere?

  • Icon for: Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Lead Presenter
    Research Assistant Professor
    May 18, 2016 | 12:24 p.m.

    We contracted with ORAU to externally evaluate the project. Impact of the program is being measured through teacher and student pre/post surveys, program leader/stakeholder interviews and the documentation of program operations. The surveys were developed to assess teachers’ and students’ attitudes, experiences, interests, and knowledge in genome annotations, bioinformatics, and STEM.

    ORAU used proportional stratified random assignment to assign students to either the GENI-ACT intervention group (participates in the GENI-ACT intervention) or the comparison group (does not participate in GENI-ACT intervention).

    As for expanding into other schools in New York, our focus right now is on Western New York’s underserved population of students. With the University at Buffalo’s recent NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), one of UB’s primary goals is the development of an ethnically/racially/culturally diverse clinical and translational workforce with skills to meet the health care needs of our community and region. As such, this program helps to contribute to Buffalo CTSA’s mission.

  • Icon for: Kelly Pudelek

    Kelly Pudelek

    Facilitator
    Survey Specialist
    May 21, 2016 | 06:22 p.m.

    That’s great to hear. How many schools are you in now?

  • Icon for: Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Lead Presenter
    Research Assistant Professor
    May 23, 2016 | 11:35 a.m.

    Hello Kelly,
    Over the past 3 years, we have worked with 56 teachers in a total of 45 schools throughout the Western New York Area!

    We’ve also had 597 students sign consent forms to participate in this project and 343 of them were randomly assigned to the GENI-ACT intervention groups!

  • Icon for: Marian Pasquale

    Marian Pasquale

    Facilitator
    Senior Research Scientist
    May 18, 2016 | 04:58 p.m.

    What a fabulous way to expose high school students to cutting edge science! How do teachers manage to integrate this program with their required science curriculum?

  • Icon for: Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Shannon Carlin-Menter

    Lead Presenter
    Research Assistant Professor
    May 19, 2016 | 10:53 a.m.

    Hi Marian,
    For this project, teachers are working with their students after school or during their free periods. We have found that some teachers who have participated would like to integrate genome annotation into their curriculum the following year. Our next steps with this partnership is to work with teachers, who have gone through our program, and offer them PD on how to integrate genome annotation into their science curriculum.

    An example of successful integration is with a teacher who was involved in one of the pilot studies for this research. Since 2010, he been performing genome annotation with his high school students in a rural and underserved area. He now teaches a course called Biotechnology and has found that many of his students have gone onto college to major in STEM fields as a direct result of taking this class in genomics!

  • Peter Bub

    Guest
    May 19, 2016 | 09:16 a.m.

    This looks fantastic and gives a brief introduction to the great program you have created at UB.

  • Betsy Vinton

    Guest
    May 19, 2016 | 10:03 a.m.

    At our school we formed a multi-grade Bioinformatics Club which meets once a week(more now that we are putting together our research posters). I have found that the freshman who are currently taking Biology Honors have enough background to understand the basics of gene annotation. The upper class men have taken on leadership roles and are in charge of managing the Capstone Project. Dr. Koury has visited us on site and several students have emailed him with questions. It’s great that they are able to collaborate directly with a university researcher. In addition, these students will help me train new students next year.

  • Icon for: Kelly Pudelek

    Kelly Pudelek

    Facilitator
    Survey Specialist
    May 21, 2016 | 06:03 p.m.

    It’s really great that the students can interact directly with Dr. Koury!! How many students participate in the club? What impact have you seen on student interest in pursuing this field in college?

  • Dagobert Soergel

    Guest
    May 19, 2016 | 04:05 p.m.

    It is great to see the students at work and to hear the students talk. Definitely a contribution to increasing diversity in STEM fields. Now this needs to move from a special project into the mainstream, the general school curriculum.

  • Betsy Vinton

    Guest
    May 23, 2016 | 08:51 a.m.

    I have seven students in the club with plans to expand next year. It’s hard to say at this point whether it has impacted their college plans, but I’m pretty sure they are all considering taking AP Biology before they graduate. The exposure to basic biochemical nomenclature has been beneficial and boosted their confidence, especially of the two international students we have in the group.

  • Icon for: Marian Pasquale

    Marian Pasquale

    Facilitator
    Senior Research Scientist
    May 23, 2016 | 09:45 a.m.

    That’s fantastic, Shannon! What a great opportunity for those students. I hope that you are able to take the next step and help teachers integrate this into their curriculum. More students need to experience cutting edge science.

  • Further posting is closed as the event has ended.