J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 39036720
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Teaching contemplative neuroscience is emerging as a way to increase the reach and relevance of our field to a wider undergraduate population while also encouraging the beneficial practice of contemplation. In-person cla...Teaching contemplative neuroscience is emerging as a way to increase the reach and relevance of our field to a wider undergraduate population while also encouraging the beneficial practice of contemplation. In-person classes on the topic have been shown to improve both academic learning and attitudes towards science and meditation. Here we show that a short-term, asynchronous online course in contemplative neuroscience had comparable benefits. Students completed the Determinants of Meditation Practice Inventory (DMPI; Williams et al., 2011) and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown and Ryan, 2003) at the start and end of the course. Their scores showed reduced barriers to meditation and improved mindfulness after the course, changes predictive of a range of positive behavioral and well-being outcomes. Students also rated the course as highly effective in advancing neuroscience understanding and competency. A comparison group (from an online general psychology class) showed no increase in mindfulness and a significantly weaker reduction in meditation barriers. This success of an online class in both academic and social-emotional learning is promising given the rapid growth of online instruction and the improved access it can provide to non-traditional students. The class format together with its health-relevant topic could thus be a valuable tool for reaching a more diverse student body while at the same time promoting practices linked to both personal and societal benefits.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 39036719
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The development of genome editing technologies, including the novel CRISPR/Cas9 technique, has advanced scientific research concerning the contribution of genetics to disease through the creation of new model organisms....The development of genome editing technologies, including the novel CRISPR/Cas9 technique, has advanced scientific research concerning the contribution of genetics to disease through the creation of new model organisms. The subject of this review is a 2015 study done by Harel et al. from the journal . This study is a prime example of using CRISPR/Cas9 to create a new model organism to accurately model the effects of aging and age-related diseases on a short-lived vertebrate. This study found that the African turquoise killifish is a reliable model to study the physiological process of aging due to its compressed lifespan. In addition, it provides a genotype-to-phenotype platform to study genes related to the hallmarks of aging and age-related diseases. This paper demonstrates this by showing that killifish deficient in the protein subunit of telomerase display telomerase-related pathologies faster than other established vertebrate models. From a teaching perspective, this paper could be used as a resource for educators to teach students about new technologies emerging in the field of neuroscience and the importance of model organisms. Specifically, for upper-level undergraduate students, this paper could serve as a real-world example of how scientific techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 could be used to answer scientific questions. Further, it shows how these techniques could bring forward new model organisms better suited to answer the scientific questions being asked. Learning these techniques and being open minded to new approaches will be advantageous to students' future careers in science.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 39036718
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The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on teaching approaches across higher education institutions. In this article, we reflect on the lessons learned designing and developing two virtual neuroscience labs a...The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on teaching approaches across higher education institutions. In this article, we reflect on the lessons learned designing and developing two virtual neuroscience labs and how they can positively contribute to Neuroscience teaching beyond this pandemic.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 39036717
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The Mobile Neuroscience Lab is a project that facilitates combined pedagogical strategies of active learning and neuroscience outreach as a service learning component of a physiological psychology course. The overall pro...The Mobile Neuroscience Lab is a project that facilitates combined pedagogical strategies of active learning and neuroscience outreach as a service learning component of a physiological psychology course. The overall project goals were to improve science knowledge, foster oral communication, and encourage positive science attitudes and beliefs. Of these goals, positive science attitudes and beliefs were assessed. During active learning, university students completed hands-on activities corresponding to the physiological psychology course. Following, during the neuroscience outreach activity ("learning through teaching"), university students and middle school students engaged in small group activities (one university student to five middle school students) using the same hands-on activities. Assessment of the perceived benefit of the active learning showed that university and middle school students responded favorably to the hands-on activities. Students' science attitudes were also assessed (Hillman et al., 2016) using a pre-test, post-test design. Data showed that the neuroscience activity did not change middle school science attitudes and beliefs ( > .05), possibly as the science attitudes and beliefs were already positive (moderate to high) prior to the outreach activity. However, qualitative data showed that the aspect of the neuroscience outreach activity that most assisted the middle school students in their learning was seeing the brain, touching the brain, and social interaction with the university students. Overall, the pedagogical strategies of active learning, and "learning through teaching", were received with enthusiasm by university and secondary education students. Future studies will include classroom teachers' assessment of these hands-on activities.
Leung CH, Goraya I, Kasa L
… +2 more, Schottler N, Grisham W
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 39036716
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Neuroscience students often seem more responsive to laboratory exercises that involve human brains. Here we describe a lab that utilizes human brain MRIs to evaluate a long-standing debate over the presence of sex differ...Neuroscience students often seem more responsive to laboratory exercises that involve human brains. Here we describe a lab that utilizes human brain MRIs to evaluate a long-standing debate over the presence of sex differences in the human brain, specifically the corpus callosum. Students at both Widener and UCLA measured corpus callosum subregions that were already marked-off as described by Witelson (1989) or by Hofer and Frahm (2006). Statistical analyses revealed sex differences using both schemes after correcting for the size of the midsagittal cortex. Widener students, however, uncovered more sex differences than the UCLA students. Lab instruction for UCLA students occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, lab sessions were completely online. In contrast, Widener students had the benefit of in-person lab instruction. Nonetheless, both the data obtained from the images of the corpus callosi as well as measures of pedagogical efficacy were similar between the two institutions, suggesting that distance learning may be a valuable and viable option. Further, when in person learning is not an option, such as during a pandemic, digital databases serve as invaluable resources for online learning. When these databases are utilized in a hypothesis driven research setting, they can serve as the basis for course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), which are known to benefit students-improving retention in science fields.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 39036715
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Feeding in pond snails has long been a model system for central pattern generation and its modulation. The pattern is generated by a small set of neurons in the buccal ganglia, which innervate the buccal mass, esophagus,...Feeding in pond snails has long been a model system for central pattern generation and its modulation. The pattern is generated by a small set of neurons in the buccal ganglia, which innervate the buccal mass, esophagus, and salivary glands. In this exercise, students observe feeding behavior and then record and quantify rhythmic motor activity and its response to feeding stimulants and neuromodulators. In a standard three-hour class period, students do a dissection, record from several nerves, and perform experimental manipulations such as adding feeding stimulants, serotonin, or dopamine to the preparation. Depending on the course goals, data can be presented qualitatively or cyclic measurements and spike-rate analysis can be done. This exercise leads to discussion of neural circuitry and intrinsic properties that support pattern generation for rhythmic activities such as feeding, locomotion, and respiration.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 39036714
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Online education programs are becoming increasingly prevalent, with the COVID-19 pandemic greatly accelerating their prominence. Even as colleges and universities have returned to in-person learning, the need for effecti...Online education programs are becoming increasingly prevalent, with the COVID-19 pandemic greatly accelerating their prominence. Even as colleges and universities have returned to in-person learning, the need for effective remote learning options remains relevant. Importantly, online programs can increase access for non-traditional students, international students, and under-represented minorities. While information has been published about methods to successfully transition traditional lecture and laboratory courses online, one area that has received less attention has been that of summer programs. Because these programs are typically full-day programs, they present a unique challenge for online engagement. In this study, I describe the development of an online full-day summer neuroscience program that was taught over a three-week period. The main goal of the program was to promote students' future interest in the field of neuroscience. Three additional goals were to introduce them to neuroscience content, give them exposure to reading scientific journal articles, and give them practice with oral presentations. In order to promote these goals, four complementary components were incorporated into each day's programming: 1. Synchronous full-group lectures, 2. Synchronous small-group Journal Clubs, 3. Synchronous small-group Neuroethics Clubs, and 4. Asynchronous lab activities. Student evaluation feedback showed that the program was successful in stimulating the students' future interest in neuroscience. These levels of interest were similar to past in-person versions of the program. Students also gained increased experience with neuroscience content, journal articles, and presentations. Therefore, this program can serve as a template for the design of an effective online neuroscience summer program.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 39036713
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Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education was facing pressure both to modify traditional instruction practices to more learner-centered instruction and to meet the increased demand for flexible instruction (i...Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education was facing pressure both to modify traditional instruction practices to more learner-centered instruction and to meet the increased demand for flexible instruction (including hybrid and online). These pressures have increased the need for high quality, engaging content for instruction across all modalities (including in-person, hybrid, and online). To address this need of neuroscience educators, we developed the FUN Exchange, an online repository that is accessible to educators without a paid membership and that is endorsed by the Faculty of Undergraduate Neuroscience organization. Furthermore, the resource is community-driven, allowing educators to contribute and vet submissions to the Exchange. Hosted on AirTable, there are currently more than 475 resources available that are organized by resource type ranging from Class Activities to Simulation Exercises and that can be searched by subject area as well as key words. We believe the FUN Exchange can be a one-stop shop for educators interested in high-quality neuroscience teaching resources useful for all teaching modalities-in-person, hybrid, and online.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 38323068
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Depression is a common symptom among college students and is often accompanied by negative thoughts about oneself. Self-compassion is a technique students can use to combat those negative thoughts. Self-compassion is an...Depression is a common symptom among college students and is often accompanied by negative thoughts about oneself. Self-compassion is a technique students can use to combat those negative thoughts. Self-compassion is an emotion-regulation strategy in which the individual engages in self-kindness, particularly after a mistake, failure, and/or rejection. This paper reviews the concept of self-compassion, assessment of self-compassion, and interventions that have been shown to increase self-compassion. Self-compassion is associated with lower levels of psychopathology and higher levels of well-being. It is theorized to work by buffering against a self-critical ruminative process after a mistake, failure, and/or rejection. Self-compassion is most commonly assessed through a validated scale that measures overall self-compassion and its six subscales: self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness, self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification. Multiple self-compassion interventions have been shown to increase self-compassion and improve psychological health. These interventions are varied and contain strategies such as mindfulness meditation, loving kindness meditation, and changing self-talk. Details of those interventions and practical strategies that individuals, students, and professors can use to increase self-compassion are described. Overall, self-compassion is a valuable tool that can help individuals cope with mistakes, failure, and/or rejection.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 38323067
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Processing of words can be meaning-based (deep processing) or appearance/sound-based (shallow processing). A simple experiment that can be conducted online, asynchronously or synchronously, demonstrates that the number o...Processing of words can be meaning-based (deep processing) or appearance/sound-based (shallow processing). A simple experiment that can be conducted online, asynchronously or synchronously, demonstrates that the number of words recalled from a list of 24 words read aloud depends on the instructions given to students beforehand. Students in the deep processing group were asked to write 'yes' or 'no' - , while students in the shallow processing group were asked to write 'yes' or 'no' - . After a one-minute delay in which students performed a backward calculation task, they had two minutes to recall as many words as possible from the list. Regardless of how the online experiment was conducted, asynchronously or synchronously, the deep processing group recalled an average of 11-14 words compared to the shallow processing group, which recalled an average of 8-10 words. The deep processing group consistently recalled 3-6 more words on average than the shallow processing group. After debriefing the students about the experiment, the instructor can focus class discussion on topics that include experimental design, methodology, reproducibility, data analysis, as well as using these data as an evidence-based starting point for best learning practices.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 38323066
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Information literacy skills are necessary to parse today's complex information landscape full of general audience, scholarly, and deceptive sources. For a student new to college and unfamiliar with publishing norms in th...Information literacy skills are necessary to parse today's complex information landscape full of general audience, scholarly, and deceptive sources. For a student new to college and unfamiliar with publishing norms in the discipline, it can be difficult to identify and select from among the range of sources that electronic searches return - especially on Google or Google Scholar, which most students use regularly at the pre-college level. Centering information literacy as a course objective invites students into the scholarly conversation at a deeper level than typical one-off database searching sessions. Further, framing this objective through the lens of engages students in considering how structures of power and privilege direct the production, dissemination, and consumption of scientific research products, including deceptive sources. We, an information literacy librarian and a neuroscience faculty member at a small liberal arts college, have collaborated in developing critical information literacy curricula embedded within an introductory neuroscience course. Here we will briefly describe our motivation, process, and outcomes, and lessons learned from this effort.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 38323065
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Simulations have long played an important role in neurobiology education. This paper describes the design-research process that led to development of two popular simulation-based neurobiology modules used in undergraduat...Simulations have long played an important role in neurobiology education. This paper describes the design-research process that led to development of two popular simulation-based neurobiology modules used in undergraduate biology classes. Action Potentials Explored, and the more in-depth and quantitative Action Potentials Extended, are the third generation of neurobiology teaching simulations the author has helped develop. The paper focuses on how we used the idea of constraining simulations as a way of tuning the modules to different student populations. Other designers of interactive educational materials may also find constraint a useful lens through which to view designs.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 38323063
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Effective science communication has been identified as one of the core competencies of neuroscience education as articulated at the 2017 FUN Workshop. Yet most undergraduate students do not receive explicit instruction o...Effective science communication has been identified as one of the core competencies of neuroscience education as articulated at the 2017 FUN Workshop. Yet most undergraduate students do not receive explicit instruction on how to effectively communicate science to a diversity of audiences. Instead, communication assignments typically help students become proficient at sharing scientific information with other scientists through research articles, poster presentations or oral presentations. This presents a missed opportunity to instruct students on the complexities of communicating to the general public, the importance of which has come into sharp focus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Translating research findings so they can be understood by a non-specialist audience requires practice and deep learning and can act as a powerful teaching tool to help students build science literacy skills. Here I share the blueprint to a broadly-oriented science communication assignment built to address the core competencies of neuroscience education. The assignment acts as the final project for a 400-level neuropharmacology course at a small public liberal arts university. Students work in small groups to identify a topic of interest and research, script, and record an audio podcast geared towards a general audience. The assignment is scaffolded to allow students to work towards the final submission in small steps and to receive feedback from the instructor and their peers. These feedback steps pair with opportunities to revise their work to further develop students' communication skills. Initial feedback from students suggests the assignment promoted deeper learning and higher engagement with course content.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 38323062
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Case studies are an effective active learning method that increases student engagement and are readily adaptable from in-person to online learning environments. In this perspective, Neuroscience Case Network fellows (Neu...Case studies are an effective active learning method that increases student engagement and are readily adaptable from in-person to online learning environments. In this perspective, Neuroscience Case Network fellows (NeuroCaseNet; NSF-RCN-UBE Grant #1624104) provide specific examples of how case studies were successfully adapted for synchronous and asynchronous online learning, including general strategies and best practices for adapting case studies into both online learning environments.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 38323061
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In his book Descartes' Error, neurologist Antonio Damasio argues that humans do not make decisions by relying exclusively on the rational or reason-oriented parts of their brain (2008). Evidence from patients with brain...In his book Descartes' Error, neurologist Antonio Damasio argues that humans do not make decisions by relying exclusively on the rational or reason-oriented parts of their brain (2008). Evidence from patients with brain damage reveal that our abilities to reason and make decisions are greatly influenced by our emotions (Damasio et al., 1990; Saver and Damasio, 1991). In fact, our emotions and how we feel act as a gateway to our thinking and learning by providing "the bridge between rational [prefrontal cortex] and nonrational processes" [brainstem and limbic structures]." (Damasio, 2008). Understanding the ways in which our brain processes sensory inputs and integrates those inputs into our ongoing emotional state is critical for helping students become self-regulated, sophisticated learners. In the following article, I will begin by briefly summarizing the role of emotions in learning and the impact of toxic stress on our students' ability to engage, learn, and thrive. I will then define and present a trauma-informed teaching and learning paradigm with practical strategies that empower students to continue to learn and succeed. I will address a few misconceptions about trauma-informed education. I will conclude by making a plea to you, members of the undergraduate neuroscience community, by presenting a case for the utility and moral imperative of educating our students about the basic functioning of their brains, especially as it relates to emotional regulation and learning.
Frenzel KE, Grisham W, Ogilvie JM
… +1 more, Harrington IA
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 38323060
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In this paper we share the first five of what we hope will be many profiles of neuroscientists from historically underrepresented or marginalized groups. This initial collection of profiles, meant to stake out the genera...In this paper we share the first five of what we hope will be many profiles of neuroscientists from historically underrepresented or marginalized groups. This initial collection of profiles, meant to stake out the general territory for future offerings, takes as its subjects a fairly broad range of individuals from Nobel laureates to early career scientists and educators. The goal of this project is to facilitate the dissemination of materials neuroscience educators can use to highlight the scientific contributions and personal stories of scientists from historically marginalized groups, and has been developed more extensively in the Editorial that accompanies this collection (Frenzel and Harrington, 2021). We believe that by sharing these stories, and highlighting the diversity of those who have and will continue to contribute to the field of neuroscience, we can help to foster a more inclusive discipline for our undergraduate students. Each of these profiles is a testament to the respect these contributors hold for their subjects. We hope that others might see this new feature as an opportunity to share the admiration they have for those who have impacted them as colleagues, mentors, and role models.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
· 2022 · PMID 38323059
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Institutions of higher education are meant to provide opportunities for the growth and development of their students. As student bodies have become more diverse it would seem to follow that institutional efforts to satis...Institutions of higher education are meant to provide opportunities for the growth and development of their students. As student bodies have become more diverse it would seem to follow that institutional efforts to satisfy this obligation would likewise need to change. Despite increases in the numbers of historically underrepresented students entering higher education, the proportion of these students who graduate continues to lag behind that of students who are not historically underrepresented. As others have suggested, we believe the disparity between rates of matriculation and graduation parallels a disconnect between diversity and inclusion. Whereas the former is a relatively simple matter of access and demographic accounting, the latter concerns the lived experiences of students within our programs. Evidence suggests that the degree to which students feel valued within their programs can predict students' success, persistence, and graduation from these programs. Here, in an effort to promote greater inclusion, we propose a new pedagogical resource designed to share the personal stories and scientific contributions of neuroscientists from historically underrepresented or marginalized groups. After providing some context for why these interventions are so important, we describe the general expectations of these profiles and, in an accompanying article in this same issue, provide a number of examples. By incorporating these stories into our curricula we would hope to increase the sense of belonging of historically underrepresented or marginalized students and to increase awareness of disciplinary diversity among their peers. Ultimately, by challenging a colorblind approach to science in general and to neuroscience in particular, we hope to change our collective assumptions about who neuroscientists are and can be.