Proposals were due October 31, 2023
Major Workshops are opportunities for attendees to experience hands-on laboratory activities that have been developed and implemented for the classroom. Each three-hour workshop is reviewed prior to approval by the Major Workshop Committee, then peer-reviewed by participants, and ultimately by the Advances in Biology Laboratory Education editor before publication.
Most workshops are offered twice daily, morning and afternoon, so participants will have the opportunity to attend two workshops on each of two days, Wednesday and Thursday of the conference. Attendee selection of workshop sessions happens during the conference registration process, as space is limited in each.
For general information about major workshop sessions, see https://www.ableweb.org/conferences/able-major-workshops/.
Major Workshops
This is a tentative schedule for accepted major workshops, and is subject to change. The finalized schedule and room assignments will be announced prior to the conference.
| Name | Affiliation | Title | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drill, Emily | Carnegie Mellon University | A better understanding of immunological techniques through simultaneous western blots and immunohistochemistry | TBD | Wed. 6/26 |
| Jazbi, Parisa | California Northstate University | An Apple a Day Keeps Nosocomial Infections Away (Modifying Tiny Earth curriculum using fruit juice) | TBD | Wed. 6/26 |
| Park, Peter | Farmingdale State College | An Exploration of Threespine Stickleback Body Shape Evolution Using HHMI BioInteractive Data Explorer | TBD | Wed. 6/26 |
| Coleman, Aaron | University of California San Diego | Comparing Ethanol Sensitivity to Alcohol Dehydrogenase Enzyme Activity in Drosophila melanogaster | TBD | Wed. 6/26 |
| Kershaw, Jen | Acadia University | Cooking with Botany | TBD | Wed. 6/26 |
| Chu, Eric Wai Keung | MIT | Database Query to Prove Your Intuitions on Gene Predictions and Genetic Mutations | TBD | Wed. 6/26 |
| Swisher, Brian | Saint Michael’s College | Lake-in-a-Tube: a microcosm system to support labs in ecology | TBD | Wed. 6/26 |
| Doonan, Lynley | Carnegie Mellon University | Teaching CRISPR to First Year Students – A Semester Overview | TBD | Wed. 6/26 |
| Behrle, Courtney | Pitt Community College | What ARE You Inhaling? Take a scientific look at the dangers of vaping. | TBD | Wed. 6/26 |
| Johnson, A. Daniel (Dan) | Wake Forest University | Whatsits in Winter: A Branched Options Exercise for Illustrating Natural Selection | TBD | Wed. 6/27 |
| Niday, Tracy | Southeast Community College | A Biotechnology Industry Linked CURE: An Exploration into Dog Genetics and Behavior | TBD | Thur. 6/27 |
| Curry, Kimberly | University of Victoria | Assessing the viability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae following cryopreservation in DMSO, glycerol, saline, and YPD | TBD | Thur. 6/26 |
| Feissner, Robert | SUNY Geneseo | Don’t drink that water! – An authentic microbiological investigation of fecal water contamination. | TBD | Thur. 6/27 |
| Jones, Elizabeth | Shenandoah University | Evaluating the effect of temperature on species distribution: analyzing 30 years of landings data for the American lobster (Homarus americanus) | TBD | Thur. 6/27 |
| Sheil, Christopher | John Carroll University | Identification of Unknown Blue-Green Algae with Traditional Techniques and DNA Sequence Data | TBD | Thur. 6/27 |
| Marrone, Dana | University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis | Learning Biochemistry with an Experiment in Full Color | TBD | Thur. 6/27 |
| Gunasekara, Sanjiva | California State University, Fresno | Making Research and Scientific Writing Accessible: Tetrahymena as a Model Organism for Introductory Biology CUREs | TBD | Thur. 6/27 |
| Chapman, Dail | Georgetown University | Mystery Enzyme Digestion Lab | TBD | Thur. 6/27 |
| Zelaya, Anna | California State University San Bernardino | Updating current biology curriculum and assessment to be more culturally responsive | TBD | Thur. 6/27 |
| Sossa, Kenneth | Azusa Pacific University | Using the Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) to teach olfactory-based discrimination and learned behavior | TBD | Thur. 6/27 |
Wednesday Abstracts
A better understanding of immunological techniques through simultaneous western blots and immunohistochemistry
Emily Drill and Carrie Doonan, Carnegie Mellon University
Students learn the applications of antibodies using common research techniques of western blot and chicken embryo staining. By completing these experiments at the same time students are able to compare and contrast the steps of the techniques to gain a better understanding of how they work. We will walk participants through the lab, emphasizing a) how we organize these techniques to complete the highlighted techniques simultaneously in a single lab period and b) how we emphasize the similarities in development steps in the two techniques. Finally we will discuss our follow up activities and assessments. Intended for sophomore-graduate college level, biology majors.
An Apple a Day Keeps Nosocomial Infections Away (Modifying Tiny Earth curriculum using fruit juice)
Parisa Jazbi and Katie Caswell, California Northstate University
The goal of this lab is beyond teaching basic laboratory techniques; it is an opportunity to be part of a network of global scientists and researchers in antibiotic discovery. This lab addresses the diminishing supply of effective antibiotics worldwide by discovering potential new antibiotics from soil bacteria. Previous studies have shown that adding food substrates such as wheat bran to growth media enhances antibiotic production in bacteria. However, it remains unclear how fruit-modified growth media may impact antibiotic properties. Colonies isolated from the soil will be grown on trypticase soy agar (TSA) media modified with apple juice. Activity in this lab involves soil sample collection, dilution, modified media preparation, testing for antibiotic-producing activity, sequencing, and using BLAST to identify the antibiotic-producing organism. Ultimately, the results will be added to the Tiny Earth Database. Intended for sophomore-graduate college level, biology majors.
An Exploration of Threespine Stickleback Body Shape Evolution Using HHMI BioInteractive Data Explorer
Peter Park*+ and Kasey Christopher^+, * Farmingdale State College, ^ Duquesne University, + HHMI Biointeractive
Data collection, visualization, and analysis provide engaging ways to integrate the teaching of biology and statistics. The enormous range of habitat adaptation among threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) makes them a great model in which to explore relationships among morphology, ecology, and evolution using statistics. Participants will explore variation among preserved stickleback specimens in conjunction with a novel user-friendly statistical web tool, HHMI BioInteractive Data Explorer. Differences in body shapes will be measured using the ratio of body depth by standard length, and participants will generate hypotheses in relation to body shapes and variables such as habitat type and diet. (Printable versions of specimens will be provided to participants for their own use.) Data Explorer will be used to build graphs and to perform statistical analyses to evaluate hypotheses. Participants will discuss possible applications in their own contexts, including evidence-based strategies for teaching quantitative data analysis using this free, versatile tool. Intended for high school and freshman-junior college level, biology majors.
Comparing Ethanol Sensitivity to Alcohol Dehydrogenase Enzyme Activity in Drosophila melanogaster
Aaron Coleman, University of California San Diego
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has been widely used in undergraduate biology labs, as its short generation time and the large number of available mutants make it a versatile yet inexpensive model organism to work with. There are multiple Drosophila mutants with point mutations in the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) gene that decrease the enzyme’s catalytic rate. Here we describe a project that extends the Ethanol Mobility Behavior Assay (EMBA) student lab described by Echeverria and Silver Key (Advances in Biology Laboratory Education, vol. 42 article 6) to have students examine ADH catalytic activity in wild type and mutant Drosophila strains. In this 2 to 4-day project, students investigate whether decreased ADH activity in mutant fly strains correlates with greater sensitivity to ethanol. The workshop participants will get a hands-on introduction to all aspects of the project, and will perform the EMBA and ADH enzyme activity assays. Intended for freshman-senior college level, biology majors.
Cooking with Botany
Jennifer Kershaw, Acadia University
Laboratory education is founded on the principle that students learn best through hands on learning, problem solving, and application of curriculum to their lived experience. What better way to students minds and hearts then, than through cooking? This workshop will focus on botany through a culinary lens, and we’ll also highlight examples of biology in the kitchen activities we have done for our zoology and microbiology courses. These activities can be done in lab or at home (in a modified format) and could be done as one lab or parsed out across the semester to enhance work already being done. Students have found this an engaging way to make new terminology and concepts more concrete, as it builds on students’ skills in their at-home laboratory, the kitchen, and leverages their appetite to learn! Intended for sophomore-junior college level, biology majors and non-majors.
Database Query to Prove Your Intuitions on Gene Predictions and Genetic Mutations
Eric Wai Keung Chu, MIT
Taking thoughtful steps to research for the proofs can better retain newly gained knowledge than reading and remembering solutions. In our intro molecular biology lab, 7.002, we developed active learning exercises to unravel the features of our lab plasmid and to help understand the readiness of the students towards our experimental goals. We also extended the hypothesis of their lab project about site-directed protein mutagenesis to the rise of new COVID19 variants. Students work on multiple online open-sourced tools, such as ORFfinder and BLAST, and research on databases, such as GenBank and UniProt, to find supporting proofs to their predictions of genes and mutations occurrences. Towards the end, students evaluate their predictions and observe at least one unexpected result, a ribosomal frameshift that occurs mainly in viruses, which may spark their curiosity to practice science and motivate their interests in lab work. Intended for freshman-junior college level, biology majors and non-majors.
Lake-in-a-Tube: a microcosm system to support labs in ecology
Brian Swisher, Saint Michael’s College
The Lake-in-a-tube (LIAT) microcosm system allows students to create controlled, replicated experiments investigate the ecology and water quality of lakes. Students readily observe changes over short time scales and can quantify algae density using a variety of methods. For the past 3 years, first-year Saint Michael’s College students use the LAIT system in a case-study based lab program. Students investigate the impacts of abiotic (nutrient concentration, stormwater runoff) and biotic (food-chain length) on algae and then participate in a CURE that tests novel questions. Workshop participants will: 1) familiarize themselves with the LIAT system by collecting data from a completed simple experiment and 2) visit stations featuring LIAT systems that test the effects of abiotic and biotic components of lake ecosystems on algae cell density and 3) brainstorm additional hypotheses amenable to LIAT, provide feedback, and visit student posters from a CURE component using the LIAT system. Intended for freshman-junior college level, biology majors.
Teaching CRISPR to First Year Students – A Semester Overview
Lynley Doonan and Amanda Willard, Carnegie Mellon University
Frontiers, Analysis, and Discovery in Biological Sciences is a first-year, research-based laboratory course. Students work on a semester-long research project focusing on using CRISPR to edit yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). We teach the students molecular biology laboratory techniques in order to isolate and generate the critical components necessary for the CRISPR reaction. We slowly introduce CRISPR concepts throughout the semester as they relate to the experiment we’re conducting that day. In this workshop, we will provide an overview of how we teach our first-year students the theory of CRISPR and how we use CRISPR to mutate yeast in the laboratory. Additionally, participants will conduct the final assay we utilize to evaluate the effects of our mutations on yeast growth. We will also discuss how the theory is made accessible to all students, review activities, and materials we use to reinforce concepts. Intended for freshman college level, biology majors and non-majors.
What ARE You Inhaling? Take a scientific look at the dangers of vaping
Courtney Behrle, Pitt Community College
While electronic or e-cigarettes are devices known for delivering nicotine through an inhaled aerosol in a process known as vaping, emerging evidence suggests that the non-nicotine components of e-liquids, including base solvents and flavoring chemicals, may also be harmful to the respiratory system. In the February 2019 issue of the Harvard Gazette, Joseph Allen commented that “E-cigarette users are heating and inhaling flavoring chemicals that were never tested for inhalation safety.” In addition, the main solvents, propylene glycol and glycerin, have been under scrutiny since their use as theater fog and smoke which is a known to cause of lung damage to theaters workers. This session incoporates several labs that demonstrate the effects of vaping including an analysis of current research to recognize for the risks based on graphical data, observing damage to active plated cilia, and monitoring air quality of a non-nicotine vaping cloud in a closed system. Intended for high school or freshman-junior college level, biology majors and non-majors.
Whatsits in Winter: A Branched Options Exercise for Illustrating Natural Selection
Dan Johnson, Wake Forest University
This workshop demonstrates an adaptable outdoor simulation of natural selection, and a way to design more flexible, extensible labs. Students are “whatsits” living on islands. They feed inside a 4 x 4 meter square “territory.” There is sufficient food to survive, but students must find it in a limited time, or starve. Students see how selection acts on pre-existing variation by foraging using different mouthparts (knives, forks, spoons). They try to predict which mouthparts work best, but often find their predictions are wrong; rethinking their predictions is part of the debriefing questions. Finally they emigrate to new islands and forage for new foods; invariably one population is less successful at finding sufficient food. The simulations provide opportunities to explore many follow-up topics. The Notes for Instructors describe how the basic modules can be revised to introduce other evolutionary concepts and data analysis methods. Intended for freshman college level, biology majors and non-majors.
Thursday Abstracts
A Biotechnology Industry Linked CURE: An Exploration into Dog Genetics and Behavior
Tracy Niday* and Misty Wehling*, Gabriella Johnson*, and Erika Fong+, * Southeast Community College, + MiniOne Systems
The goals of this CURE focused on dogs are to engage non-major’s and major’s biology students as well as high school students in both biology and agriculture courses in an authentic research experience and to expose them to biotechnology careers. The CURE was designed in collaboration with a local Biotechnology company Neogen that does genomic testing of companion animals and livestock. This Dog centered CURE allows students to swab their own dogs and analyze a specific gene locus on chromosome six which is hypothesized to be correlated to how attached a dog is to their owner(s) called hypersociability. Students analyze their dog’s data to determine if there is a correlation between genotype and the hypersociability phenotype and using a larger samples size from the national database make a conclusion about whether or not this gene locus should be used industry in a dog DNA test. Intended for high school and freshman-junior college level, biology majors and non-majors.
Assessing the viability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae following cryopreservation in DMSO, glycerol, saline, and YPD
Kimberly Curry, University of Victoria
Cryobiology is the study of the effects of low temperatures on organisms. The ability to freeze and thaw organisms has many advantages including: 1) providing a “biological backup”, and 2) allowing for experimental replications. In laboratories, knowing the mechanisms behind natural cryopreservation can help to advance the cryo-technology of whole organ and possibly whole organism cryopreservation. For example, the wood frog, Rana sylvatica, has an internal cryoprotective system that allows the frog to survive a frozen state during winter hibernation. We will first teach the students how to culture and cryopreserve cells in the lab. Student’s culture cells, calculate the concentration of the cell culture, and dilute it to a desired concentration for freezing. Students learn how to use a hemocytometer and work in a sterile environment. In this exercise, we will investigate the effects of two commonly used cryopreservatives, DMSO and glycerol, in the cryopreservation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Intended for freshman-junior college level, biology majors.
Don’t drink that water! – An authentic microbiological investigation of fecal water contamination
Robert Feissner and Tom Reho, SUNY Geneseo
Residents in your college town are falling ill and concerns are that bacterial contamination of the water supply is to blame. Your municipal council has hired your students to investigate and identify the source of contamination. This workshop will deconstruct a 5-week freshman-level biology lab sequence utilizing an authentic scenario-based investigation. By doing it yourself, participants will learn how to perform the experiments necessary to identify the presence of fecal coliform bacteria in mixed cultures. Participants will learn the behind-the-scenes preparation required to set up the lab to create an open-ended experience with guaranteed results. Modifications to the lab sequence will be discussed to tailor this experience to your own programs. This lab is taught by faculty and Undergraduate Laboratory Instructors to 200+ students at SUNY Geneseo. We will present how we include upper-level students in the introductory labs as part of an integrative and applied learning experience. Intended for freshman-junior college level, biology majors.
Evaluating the effect of temperature on species distribution: analyzing 30 years of landings data for the American lobster (Homarus americanus)
Elizabeth Jones, Shenandoah University
Climate is a key factor governing the distribution of populations, thus increased global temperatures are associated with altered ranges for many species. To demonstrate this concept, this computer exercise examines the effects of temperature on the distribution of a commercially important species, the American lobster (Homarus americanus). Students will analyze 30 years of temperature and landings data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to derive temperature trends over time, lobster catch over time, and the correlation between temperature and lobster catch. While many ecology labs use R to for data analysis, this activity employs MS Excel to generate figures and execute statistics, thus eliminating the need for prior understanding of coding language. This laboratory exercise is intended for undergraduate biology or ecology courses and explores the concepts of climate change, linear regression, and correlation analysis. Intended for freshman-junior college level, biology majors and non-majors.
Identification of Unknown Blue-Green Algae with Traditional Techniques and DNA Sequence Data
Christopher Sheil, Michael Martin, Jeffrey Johansen, and Nathan Yaussy, John Carroll University
This laboratory presents students with “unknown” strains of blue-green algae (some may be new to science) and develops skills used to describe and name new species. Students examine and illustrate unknowns, reference dichotomous keys, and compare DNA sequence data from unknowns to similar data for known species. Students refine their statements of sample identity by determining where their sample resides on a phylogenetic tree. This laboratory can be run with samples collected locally near your institution, or as an opportunity for students to collaborate on a CURE with John Carroll University students and faculty. This lab develops four skills: Skill 1, examine/illustrate unknown specimen of cyanobacteria; Skill 2, use a dichotomous key to determine family and genus identity; Skill 3, use BLAST and GenBank to determine the genus to which an unknown likely belongs; and Skill 4, examine the placement of the unknown on a phylogenetic tree. Intended for freshman-junior college level, biology majors.
Making Research and Scientific Writing Accessible: Tetrahymena as a Model Organism for Introductory Biology CUREs
Sanjiva Gunasekara, California State University Fresno
This workshop presents a series of physiological experiments which constitute the CURE project used in our introductory biology course at CSU Fresno. All experiments utilize common lab equipment (microscopes and micropipettes) along with the low-maintenance protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila as the model organism. After an overview of the CURE project, workshop participants will brainstorm research questions related to two broad areas of interest: human impacts on freshwater ecosystems, or the effects of a substance on eukaryotic organisms. They will then create hypotheses to explore their research question, and choose from a variety of independent variables (test substances) to use in their experiments. Next, participants will monitor the effects of their variable on Tetrahymena cultures as they conduct four assays involving chemotaxis, bioconvection, osmosis, or phagocytosis. Afterwards, participants will be presented with a framework for writing a CURE report. If time allows, extensions of this project involving gene regulation will be discussed. Intended for freshman college level, biology majors and non-majors.
Learning Biochemistry with an Experiment in Full Color
Dana Morrone, University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis
One challenge for students in a biochemistry lab course can be the lack of visual cues in their experiments; students may perceive labs as exercises in mixing small volumes of clear liquids. We have developed a fusion protein of mCherry-GUS that is an ideal biochemistry lab tool. This fusion protein is robustly expressed, easily purified, exceptionally stable, brightly colored under ambient light, and capable of performing economical colorimetric assays. Students can intuitively track this fusion protein and monitor enzymatic reactions by following the colored protein and colorimetric reactions in each experiment. mCherry-GUS can be used across many weeks to teach expression, purification, enzymatic activity and kinetics; and this workshop will consist of learning those experiments. Further, these experiments can be done with either micro or transfer pipettes – making them accessible to budget conscious labs and students from high school through undergraduate.
Mystery Enzyme Digestion Lab
Dail Chapman, Georgetown University
This lab is designed for an introductory biology lab. It is the first lab that many students do in their scientific career. The gestalt of this lab, on its surface, gives students an opportunity to learn how to design thoughtful experiments. At the same time, the overarching purpose of this lab includes fostering an appreciation for the place of uncertainty in scientific research, using reflection and self-critique to grow as a scientist, and beginning to think of a science lab as an intellectual playground. The science of this lab draws on the new generation of environmentally friendly “green” laundry detergents that contain various enzymes including proteases and amylases. Students are given unknown enzymes (that are either a protease or amylase), known proteases and known amylases and diagnostic assays with a simple goal of designing a group of experiments to confidently identify the unknown enzyme. Intended for freshman college level, biology majors.
Updating current biology curriculum and assessment to be more culturally responsive
Anna Zelaya*, Ethell Vereen^, and Ania Majewski~, California State University San Berndardino, ^ Morehouse College, ~ University of Georgia
The need for inclusive teaching practices in STEM is critical for achieving and sustaining a diverse workforce to address the complex challenges of the 21st century. Despite genuine efforts, marginalized identities continue to face persistent obstacles that hinder their full participation and achievement in STEM. A promising approach for improvement is culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP), an inclusive instructional framework that honors and validates cultural heritage and social identity. K-12 research shows that CRP increases engagement and improves student outcomes. However, implementation of CRP in undergraduate education is not common. In this major workshop, we will discuss strategies to incorporate CRP in laboratory classrooms. Published practices for culturally responsive assessment will be shared. Participants will reflect on their current teaching practices and identify how to implement CRP practices. Participants will leave the workshop with an enhanced understanding of CRP and a tentative plan to include it in their lab courses. Intended for instructional faculty and administrators.
Using the Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) to teach olfactory-based discrimination and learned behavior
Kenneth Sossa, Azusa Pacific University
Learning occurs in humans and animals as a result of changes in experience that are detected through various sensory modalities. Olfactory sensation is a fundamental and highly utilized modality for many animals, especially insects. The scope and limit of insect olfactory learning have yet to be fully elucidated. We use adult Gromphadorhina portentosa to test the effects of starvation, sex, and food preference on olfactory-based discrimination in a 2-choice test. Fruits are used as attractants while a sulfur-containing compound (i.e. beta mercapto-ethanol- BME) is used to repel the cockroaches. Following a training period, results from single and paired choice tests reveal that cockroaches show preference and discrimination. Olfactory learning is further incentivized by food deprivation and only relieved with dog kibble (or another cockroach preference) once operant conditioning is established. This work showcases olfactory learning and memory in insects, a function vital for predator avoidance, mate selection, and food foraging. Intended for everybody!