NGSS beyond K-12: Freshman College
Biology “Gets Real” at Gonzaga
University
Julie Beckstead
Amanda Braley
Helen Smith
Transition From Breadth to Depth
Are you concerned whether your students will be
prepared for college-level science?
•Gonzaga’s new integrative curriculum
•Authentic research laboratory experience
•Student responses to the experience
Gonzaga’s curriculum transformation
Old Curriculum
•Designed 1990
•Courses – content &
discipline focused
•Labs – scientific method,
techniques, & exposure to
diversity
New Curriculum
•Designed 2012
•Admitted “content” limits
•Courses – Key concepts &
Integrative
•Labs – scientific method,
techniques PLUS authentic
research experience
Shift from discipline-content focus to an integrative
approach immersing students in doing science
Gonzaga’s curriculum transformation
Year 1 Fall
Year 1 Spring
Year 2 Fall
Year 2 Spring
Year 3
Old Biology Core
New Biology Core
Biol 101 Diversity of Life
Biol 105 Information Flow in Biol Systems
Biol 101L Diversity of Life Lab
Biol 105L Phage Discovery Lab
Chem 101 General Chemistry
Chem 101 General Chemistry
Biol 102 Ecology
Biol 106 Energy Flow in Biol Systems (No lab)
Biol 102L Ecology Lab
No lab
Chem 230 Organic Chemistry I
Chem 230 Organic Chemistry I
Biol 201 Cell Biology
Biol 205 Physiology and Biodiversity
Biol 201L Cell Biology Lab
Biol 205L Physiology Lab
Chem 331 Organic Chemistry II
Chem 331 Organic Chemistry II
Biol 202 Genetics & Evolution
Biol 206 Ecology
Biol 202L Genetics Lab
Biol 206L Ecology Lab
Chem 240 Bioanalytical Chemistry
Chem 240 Bioanalytical Chemistry
Upper division Biol electives
Biol 207 Genetics & Lab
Additional Chem
Upper division Biol electives
Additional Physics
Additional Chem
Additional Physics
Gonzaga’s new integrative curriculum
Energy Flow in Biological Systems
1.How do you get energy?
2.What is energy?
3.How does energy transfer between organisms?
4.How do humans impact energy transfer in biological
systems?
NGSS – and the University scene
College Vision and Change
Gonzaga's new curriculum
NGSS High School
Core concept: evolution
Biol 105, 106, 205, 206, 207
Disciplinary core: evolution and natural
selection
Core concept: structure and function
Biol 105, 106, 205, 207
Disciplinary core: structure and function AND
cross cutting concept
Core concept: information flow
Biol 105, 106, 207
Disciplinary core: information processing
Core concept: tranformations of energy and matter
Biol 106, 206
Disciplinary core: cycles of matter and energy
transfer AND cross cutting concept
Core concept: systems
Biol 106, 206
Cross cutting concept: system models
Core competencies: apply process of science
Biol 105L, and all courses
Practices of science and engineering
Core competencies: use quantitative reasoning
Biol 105L, and all courses
Practices of science and engineering
Core competencies: use modeling and simulation
Area still under development
Understanding the nature of science
Core competencies: interdisciplinary nature of science
Biol 105L, 105, 106
Understanding the nature of science
Core competencies: communicate science
Biol 105L, and all courses
Understanding the nature of science
Core competencies: relationship between science and society
Biol 106, 205, 206, 207
Understanding the nature of science
Next Generation Science Standards (2013) focus on
deeper understanding of overarching themes and
crosscutting concepts similar to Gonzaga’s new
curriculum and College level Vision and Change
Transition From Breadth to Depth
Are you concerned whether your students will be
prepared for college-level science?
•Gonzaga’s new integrative curriculum
•Authentic research laboratory experience
•Student responses to this experience
Gonzaga’s Authentic Research Experience
Transforming the Undergraduate Biology
Laboratory Experience:
•What is an Authentic Research Experience?
•What do we study at Gonzaga?
•What do students need to know to succeed?
Gonzaga’s Authentic Research Experience
What is an Authentic Research Experience?
•Engaged in real science problems1, 2
•The problems have no known solution1,2
•Students interact with peers and other scientists1,2
•Experienced mentors model problem solving1,2
•The tools, skills, and practices are current and real1,2
•High potential for presentation and/or publication2
1.Laursen, S; A Hunter; E Seymour; H Thiry; G Melton. 2010. Undergraduate Research in the
Sciences: Engaging Students in Real Science. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons.
1.Brownell, Sara E., Matthew J. Kloser, Tadishi Fukami, and Rich Shavelson. 2012.
Undergraduate Biology Lab Courses: Comparing the Impact of Traditionally Based “Cookbook”
and Authentic Research-Based Courses on Student Lab Experiences. Journal of College
Science Teaching 41(4): 36-45
Gonzaga’s Authentic Research Experience
All Introductory Biology
Students (freshmen) are
immersed in a real research
program that continues for
those in the major.
Gonzaga students study bateriophages.
Bacteriophages (aka “phages”) are
viruses that infect bacteria.
Phage Arthur, 2014
Gonzaga’s Authentic Research Experience
Phage Discovery Lab
•Collect
•Purify
•Characterize
oPlaque formation
oVirus morphology
oGenome
Gonzaga’s Authentic Research Experience
Sophomore Genomics: Two Phage Modules
Phage Genomics
•Select phage genomes from the Phage Discovery Lab are sent
for sequencing
•Bacteriophage genome annotation, with students submitting
final annotation to GenBank
•Structural and evolutionary genome analysis
Genetic Analysis of Phage Diversity
•Each student clones a fragment of his or her phage
•Cloned fragments are sent for sequencing
•Relationships with known phages determined from public
databases (BLASTn, PhagesDB.org)
Gonzaga’s Authentic Research Experience
Junior or Senior Advanced Phage Research
Phages of different subclusters are isolated
at 37C and 25C
Subclusters of phages isolated at 37C
Subclusters of phages isolated at 25C
Figure 1. Subcluster distribution of phages. Phages were isolated from soil around the Gonzaga campus in
Spokane, WA in September 2011/2012 and in January 2013. Of 18 phages isolated at 37 ºC, 6 were of subcluster A3; 1
of A10; 1 of C1; 2 of E; 6 of F1; 1 of G; 1 of K4. Of 23 phages isolated at room temperature, 3 were of subcluster A1; 1
of A2, 1 of A6; 1 of A8; 2 of A9; 1 of G; 14 of K1.
Gonzaga’s Authentic Research Experience
What skills do we think help students succeed in
college research?
•Motivation
•Quantitative skills
•Communication (written and verbal)
•Group work
Gonzaga’s Authentic Research Experience
What skills do we think help students succeed in
college research?
Quantitative Skills
How big is my phage?
If Arthur’s tail measures 4.8 cm on my screen
and the100 nm scale bar measures 1.3 cm,
how long is Arthur’s tail in nanometers?
And see also:
•High School math classes are the only crossdiscipline predictor of success in college science
classes (Sadler and Tai, 2007).
Phage Arthur, 2014
Transition From Breadth to Depth
Are you concerned whether your students will be
prepared for college-level science?
•Gonzaga’s new integrative curriculum
•Authentic research laboratory experience
•Student responses to this experience
Student Responses
What did students gain from the authentic
research experience?
What are the important components that allow for
these student gains?
What did our students gain?
Similar to previous observations (Seymour et al
2005)
Thinking and working like a scientist
Increased interest and/or decisions about
career/major
Skills, basic knowledge (skip; not unique)
Increased confidence
What did our students gain?
Thinking and working like a scientist:
Making connections
Question: What was your favorite ‘ah-ha’ moment?*
I didn't have just one ah-ha moment, but rather felt that I was
understanding the process and why I was doing what I was
doing as the weeks progressed. I started out not entirely
understanding the reasoning behind the steps we were
taking. After a couple weeks everything started coming
together. From that point on, I was sometimes confused, but my
overall understanding continued to grow, which made me much
more interested in the material.
-Spring2014 Quote #39
What did our students gain?
Thinking and working like a scientist:
Repeating/dealing with failure
Question: What was your favorite ‘ah-ha’ moment?*
I found that after having to do the DNA extraction a
second time, I became more familiar with the process
that we were doing in the experiment and it made
more sense as to why we were doing each step.
-Spring 2014 Quote #100
What did our students gain?
Thinking and working like a scientist:
Ownership
Question: What was your favorite ‘ah-ha’ moment?*
For me, receiving the TEM images was extremely
reassuring. That was the moment that I realized that I
was actually producing tangible, real results.
-Fall 2013 Quote #57
What did our students gain?
Thinking and working like a scientist:
Science as a process: How is knowledge
created in science?
Question: Give an example of how has this lab
impacted your understanding of science?
… by giving me an insight into the amount of time
it takes to get the information that we read in our
science books. It helped me to really see that
science is a process and that results do not occur
over night.
-Fall 2013 Quote#347
What did our students gain?
Increased interest in major or informing their
decisions about career
Question: Give an example of how has this lab
influenced your specific educational or career goals?
…because it has me excited to go out and do more
research before i go into medical school. This class
was a blast and now i know how much i enjoy
research.
-Fall2013 Quote#506
it made me realize how much i don't find research
interesting
-Spring2014 Quote#578
What did our students gain?
Increased confidence
…The culture of applying to med-school is highly
competitive, and there is a lot of emphasis on not
messing up. I think this is very unhealthy, and only
promotes a false sense of self-confidence; but it's okay
to make mistakes -- it's how we learn (or at least how
I learn best). Because of this, I no longer have any
fears of messing up, and I'm okay with that.
-Spring2014 Quote#614
I definitely feel much more confident going into other
labs now and I am not so afraid of learning how to use
unfimiliar techonology in a lab setting.
-Spring2014 Quote#617
What did students gain from our
authentic research experience?
 Thinking/working like a scientist
Experience science as a process
Ownership
 Informs career/major, increase interest
 Increased confidence
What are the important components for
an authentic research experience?
Important Components
Multi-week project that allows time for:
Student learning
Repeating procedures
Summative assignments (poster, presentation,
exam/midterm)
Authentic research skills that transfer to career:
Micropipetting
Aseptic technique
Lab notebook
Group work
Conclusions
•Colleges - more integrative approach with less
subject-specific material
•Successful students – strong quantitative,
communication, and interpersonal skills
•Early authentic research experiences for
undergraduates
•Students gain – understanding the nature of
science, confidence, interest, ownership
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to:
Dr. Marianne Poxleitner
Dr. Kirk Anders
Phage lab funding:
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing
Genomics and Evolutionary Sciences (SEA-PHAGES)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Funding for conference: Gonzaga University College of
Arts and Sciences, School of Education, School of
Engineering, and the Office of Admissions