The goal of the National Science Foundation’s Research Coordination Networks in Undergraduate Biology Education (NSF RCN-UBE) program is to link biological research discoveries with innovations in biology education to improve the learning environment in undergraduate biology classrooms.
We are excited to begin new evaluation work for a recently awarded RCN-UBE to the University of Houston (main campus) and its partners from: Hampden-Sydney College, University of Alabama-Birmingham, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Rochester Institute of Technology, Pomona College, Rollins College, Randolph-Macon College, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Valencia College, and Georgia Gwinnett College.
The primary purpose of this network is to train and support educators from various minority serving institutions (2- and 4-year) that are Hispanic Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities in CRISPR-Cas9 technologies so that they can implement them in their own undergraduate laboratory classrooms. Recruitment will focus on Biology instructors, post-docs, and graduate students from these institutions and those who mentor underrepresented undergraduate students.
The CRISPR in the Classroom Network has the following objectives:
| Aim 1: | To develop a national network of undergraduate educators from two-year and four-year institutions (including graduate students and postdocs as ‘future faculty’) dedicated to spreading effective curricular modules for classroom and laboratory implementation based on experiential learning of CRISPR-Cas9 technology. |
| Aim 2: | To facilitate a series of annual workshops across the United States designed to provide instructors, postdocs, and graduate students with the resources, support, and confidence needed to introduce CRISPR-Cas9-based modules to undergraduate classrooms. |
| Aim 3: | To establish an online repository of proven CRISPR-Cas9-based modules across a variety of model systems with “ready-to-use” curricular elements for instructors that can be adapted for their specific pedagogical needs. |
