I am pleased to share that a new article I co-authored is out today in the journal Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education (BAMBEd). This article is about how we implemented a course-based undergraduate research experience in ABE 226 at Purdue University: a laboratory course with ~64 students, sophomores to seniors, predominantly biology and biological engineering students although a few other majors were included as well.
In this course, student’s participated in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) SEA-PHAGES program, where they worked in partners to collect, isolate, purify, amplify, extract, and characterize a novel bacteriophage. This began with them collecting soil samples and bringing them to class to isolate phage, all the way to looking at their phages using scanning electron microscopy.
By being intentional in the course design and implementation, we were able to align this course – which focuses heavily on microbiology laboratory skills – with ABET outcomes and requirements. You can read our paper online here!
Brace Lab 