Krys Strand, Department of Biology, Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, USA
Summary: Research Seminar (BIO 497) is a 4-credit directed research course with rotating topics that is modeled after graduate school
seminars. Undergraduate students conduct original research under the direction of one or more faculty over the course of a
single semester. Details of the course, goals, outcomes, challenges and rewards are discussed below.
Background:
Course Goals:
In 2006 the Concordia College Biology Department implemented
a new 4-semester introductory sequence for majors that
includes Cell Biology, Evolution and Diversity, Ecology, and
Genetics and Molecular Biology. An upper-level molecular biology
course was then replaced with BIO 497 Research Seminar in
order to provide students with content knowledge in advanced
molecular biology topics, including systems biology, genomics
and proteomics, as well as an intensive hands-on research
experience. Original research projects in this course explore 1)
cell-cell communication between the meningitis-causing
bacterium Neisseria meningitidis and biofilms of Neisseria
commensal strains, 2) gene expression changes in brain in
response to Neisseria meingitidis bacteremia using mouse
models and 3) changes in behaviour and gene expression due to
passive environmental enrichment in a neurotoxicant mouse
model of demyelination and remyelination.
Course Logistics:
• Once yearly 4-credit course with 8 hours of dedicated class
time over 2 afternoons per week.
• Actual time students were in the lab ranged from 15-20+
hours/week.
• Taught twice by neurobiologist in collaboration with
statistician.
3rd
or
• Course enrollment ranged from 6-10 students (capped at 10).
• Students have been biology, chemistry, neuroscience,
psychology and mathematics majors or minors.
Alignment
with
Alignment with
Departmental
and
Departmental and
Institutional
Goals:
Institutional Goals:
• Achieves Biology Department goals:
 Understand the core concepts of the biological
sciences
 Gain proficiency in current technologies and
research methods employed in biological
sciences
 Develop professional communication skills,
including reading, writing and speaking in the
discipline
 Understand the limitations, boundaries, and
ethical implications of scientific knowledge and
practice
Contains significant experiential component
Is writing intensive
Addresses issue of global significance
Allows students to reflect on the process of
being responsibly engaged in the world
 Taken in students’ senior year




• Supports institutional Goals for Liberal
Learning:
Facilities:
Molecular biology research labs.
Tissue culture lab with BSL2 cabinet.
Department stock room for media prep and autoclaving.
Animal housing and behavioural testing facilities.
Biology Core facility at neighbouring
NDSU in Fargo, ND.
• Functional Genomics Core facility
Chapel Hill, NC.
• Model integrated, multidisciplinary, collaborative research.
• Allow students to “try out” research before applying to graduate schools or
health professions programs, or seeking employment.
• Provide opportunity for students to conduct research while earning credit during the
academic year.
• Model graduate school seminars through reading and discussing primary literature in the
field, holding lab meetings, writing a grant proposal, preparing a research poster and
giving a public oral presentation of their work.
• Fulfills research and dissemination
requirements for departmental honours.
• Satisfies institutional senior capstone course
requirements:
• Team taught twice by microbiologist and neurobiologist.
• Students enrolled with permission of instructor in their
4th undergraduate year.
Assessment Measures:
•
•
•
•
•
in
 Instill a love for learning
 Develop foundational skills and transferable
intellectual capacities
 Develop an understanding of disciplinary,
interdisciplinary, and intercultural perspectives,
and their connections
 Cultivate an examined cultural, ethical,
physical and spiritual self-understanding
 Encourage responsible participation in the
world
Student Learning Goals:
• Develop intellectual and technical skills
associated with conducting original research.
• Be able to conduct research in small working
teams as well as perform individual work.
• Improve scientific reading proficiency.
• Develop scientific writing skills.
• Develop oral presentation skills.
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Demonstrate information literacy by
conducting scientific literature research
relevant to the research topic.
• Demonstrate synthesis of background
information pertinent to the research topic
through discussion of experimental theory,
techniques and project design.
• Summarize and present journal articles in
lab meetings.
• Plan and implement experiments.
• Practice effective lab management and
safety procedures.
• Demonstrate scientific ethical conduct
through experimentation, record keeping and
dissemination of research.
• Examine research ethics through discussion
of readings and case studies.
• Demonstrate scientific writing skills by
preparing the research plan portion of a grant
proposal following NINDS/NIH guidelines and
a research poster.
• Demonstrate oral communication skills by
dissemination of research in a public
presentation.
• Presentation of journal articles and lab research (10%)
• Quizzes on assigned readings and techniques (10%)
• Participation in discussions and lab work - evaluated by
instructors, and by self- and peer evaluations (20%)
• Clear and accurate lab notebook (15%)
• Grant proposal research plan (15%)
• Scientific poster (15%)
• Public oral presentation (15%)
Challenges:
• Student Time: Students reported spending much more time
on this course than their other courses. Time-sensitive lab
activities sometimes required long hours in the lab and it was
difficult to plan experiments around other courses and
responsibilities. Some students commented that one
semester was not long enough to firmly grasp the relevant
background literature and conduct original research.
• Faculty Time: Team teaching requires an unpaid overload of
both instructors. Time spent supervising students is much
longer compared to other courses with lab a component.
• Cost: Consumable costs for this course have been quite large
compared to most other offerings in the department. Funding
sources include both institutional budgets and departmental
research endowments.
Rewards:
• Students are able to conduct research for course credit.
• Faculty are able to mentor students and pursue scholarship
endeavours as part of their teaching load.
• All students made gains in the student learning outcomes.
• Some students emerged as leaders and discovered a passion
and talent for research. Several students are now in graduate
school or working in research labs.
• Students have presented their research from class at scientific
conferences and three are preparing a manuscript.
• Students took ownership of their work, learnt to troubleshoot,
gained independence in planning and following through with
experiments.
• Students reported value in working together across disciplines
as well as independently in a “real” research lab situation.
• Students generally agreed that the grant writing assignment
was both daunting and a beneficial
opportunity to critically evaluate their
current research plan and to propose
next steps whilst earning the NIH
application format.