Can biochemistry majors develop computational thinking skills without learning how to program? We developed a novel approach to interdisciplinary instruction to enable undergraduate life sciences (BCHEM) students to work <i>“in concert”</i> with computer science (CS) students to analyze large genomic data sets. Our approach relies on well-defined <b>interdependent</b> roles for BCHM and CS students in a project-based laboratory. Recognizing distinct learning objectives for each major, we teach two separate lecture courses, but engage students in a joint computer laboratory. The following workflow was applied to five increasingly difficult assignments throughout a 10-week quarter: (1) BCHM students are presented with a research question, (2) they figure out what data is required to answer the question and write program requirements, (3) CS partners write programs, (4) BCHM and CS students collaborate on testing the program, (5) BCHM students use the program to answer the original question. We designed the assignments around the research project conducted by the Genomics Education Partnership: annotation of fruit fly genomes and comparative analysis of different genome regions. We tested this approach with three iterations of the course (50-60 students each). Our assessment included GEP knowledge quiz, evaluation of student artifacts by instructors and by partners from another discipline, and self-assessment using voluntary confidential surveys. Addition of the collaborative aspect to the course did not affect BCHM student learning gains on the discipline-specific assessment (knowledge quiz). Survey results revealed an increase in student confidence in their ability to analyze data and to collaborate with colleagues on interdisciplinary teams. We are currently developing/testing novel assessment tools for measuring learning gains in computational thinking without programming skills. We believe that our approach can be adapted to a wide range of interdisciplinary project/course combinations and seek collaborations with other programs to test this hypothesis. Supported by NSF # TUES 1140828.

Learning collaboration skills: Interdisciplinary project-based instruction for biochemistry and computer science majors

251st National Meeting (2016)

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