D3181: Incorporating DNA barcoding in undergraduate courses to provide an enriched student experience with modern science

Many biology courses discuss DNA and its structure and function, but most do not include hands-on activities that connect students with the material they are learning. To counter this, we incorporated DNA barcoding activities into the curriculum of a freshman-level course (BSCI 145, “The Insect Apocalypse: Real or Imagined?”), and a senior-level course (BSCI 467, “Freshwater Biology”). The function of incorporating this active learning in the curriculum was to increase the students’ understanding of the purpose of DNA barcoding and how it can be applied to ecology. In both courses, students gathered insect samples in the field, and then completed the DNA barcoding activity in the laboratory. We assessed the learning of both classes through a pre- and post-activity survey on the purpose and ecological applications of DNA barcoding. The survey questions were open-ended, and the responses were graded with a rubric and then categorized. Despite the difference in STEM background between the classes, both classes demonstrated a better understanding of the purpose of DNA barcoding, with the less advanced course showing a sharp increase in knowledge of its ecological applications. More students described the purpose of the DNA barcoding as being a valuable tool to measure ecological impact along with species identification. Further probing of the importance of identifying species in a landscape resulted in students downrating the reasoning of environmental protection and uprating the reason being increased biodiversity knowledge used towards conservation efforts. Overall, the difference between the pre- and post-survey responses demonstrate that hands-on activities enhanced learning.