Author Profile

Spicing things up: Implementation of a CURE to investigate the antimicrobial properties of spices on six bacterial species

Heather Townsend, Community College of Rhode Island

Location: Rhode Island

Abstract

The goal of this course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) is for students to use scientific literature to choose a spice with known antimicrobial properties and test its effects on six bacterial species. The overall theme of the CURE is for students to learn about the importance of using credible sources of evidence in scientific research and to relate students' findings to the process of antibiotic discovery and the crisis of antibiotic resistance. Students start the semester learning about primary literature and how to find sources, avoid plagiarism, and use citations. They must then pick a spice (one per group) using primary literature and carry out a research project on the selected spice to identify its antimicrobial properties. They do a series of dilutions and test the dilutions on the six bacterial species (ATCC). All groups must use the entire class data in their discussion along with the historical data from previous semesters to evaluate and discuss their findings. As a final project, students design a professional poster that they present at a college-wide event. They also write up their research in the format of a journal article to provide them with practice writing scientific articles.

Student Goals

  1. Become familiar with scientific literature and use it to develop a research design.
  2. Formulate a research hypothesis to test and collaborate to develop and carry out a complete research project, including analyzing individual and group data.
  3. Develop written and oral communication skills.

Research Goals

  1. Determine the effects of a spice on six known bacterial species by selecting the spice based on primary literature and delineating its chemical components.
  2. Determine the range of compound effectiveness by diluting the spice at certain concentrations, analyzing the results, and comparing group- and class-wide data, as well as data from previous semesters, to formulate conclusions.

Context

This CURE was designed for BIOL 2210 – Introductory Microbiology, which intended for students majoring in nursing, dental, and other health-care related fields. The science prerequisites for this course are Anatomy and Physiology I & II. It runs for 15 weeks and there are roughly 24 students in a lab. Laboratories are held each week and run for a total of three hours.

Target Audience: Introductory, Major, Non-major, Upper Division
CURE Duration:A full term

CURE Design

Students work in groups of four throughout the project. They work every lab period on some aspect of their CURE so that they can make timely progress and see the relationship of the CURE to other laboratory procedures they learn. Students spend the first two hours of the lab conducting the traditional lab activities to complete the course learning objectives; the last hour of lab is spent on their CURE. Some weeks require the full lab period to work on their CURE. I have been able to eliminate some of the standard lab exercises since students learn and practice them through the implementation of the research project.

This CURE has a research framework as well as a bigger picture question. The research framework is understanding the antimicrobial properties of spices. The bigger picture question is how various chemicals interact or inhibit distinct species of bacteria differently and how these properties relate to antibiotic resistance.

The project is designed with weekly goals and weekly, graded products to help students stay on track with their work. Although the entire semester is mapped out, I do allow for some flexibility. They work in groups of four, however we have a lot of discussions on research design as a class so that all students have a chance to collaborate across groups. Sometimes a group may have a hard time formulating a research question and designing their projects accordingly, and the class discussion helps them get up to speed and stay on track.

The stakeholders are the faculty and medical community that I invite to attend the final poster presentations. The Nursing and Dental Hygiene faculty from the college are invited to attend the poster presentations; this is important to the students as many of them are looking to enter these degrees at the school and it gives them exposure and sets them apart form other students. I have also incorporated a Guest Lecture series (remotely via Zoom) to connect students with other researchers in a variety of fields to show how important conducting research is.

Core Competencies:Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering), Planning and carrying out investigations
Nature of Research:Basic Research

Tasks that Align Student and Research Goals

Research Goals →
Student Goals ↓
Research Goal 1: Determine the effects of a spice on six known bacterial species by selecting the spice based on primary literature and delineating its chemical components.
Research Goal 2: Determine the range of compound effectiveness by diluting the spice at certain concentrations, analyzing the results, and comparing group- and class-wide data, as well as data from previous semesters, to formulate conclusions.

Student Goal 1: Become familiar with scientific literature  and use it to develop a research design.
  • Complete homework that assesses prior knowledge of sources and evidence
  •  Identify primary literature

  • Use sources and evidence to select research article that pertains to the content area


Student Goal 2: Formulate a research hypothesis to test and collaborate to develop and carry out a complete research project, including  analyzing individual and group data.
  • Work collaboratively to formulate a research hypothesis
  • Draft a protocol for the research project
  • Swap draft protocols with classmates and critique/combine to finalize  materials and methods

  • Collaboratively carry out the research project 
  • Submit progress reports each lab day including alternative plans if things do not work as planned
  • Write reflection pieces throughout the semester to track progressive work toward the research goal


Student Goal 3: Develop written and oral communication skills.
  • Submit their research assignments throughout the semester to scaffold the work, including an Introduction in the beginning describing the overall objective, Materials and Methods after the project is set up, Results a week after the data are collected and analyzed, and finally the Discussion and Abstract 
  • Work together to put these pieces into a Powerpoint that will be printed poster size
  • Contribute to the poster presentation at the end of the semester

  • Write an overall reflection paper on the semester 
  • Through the process of completing and presenting the poster, actively engage in a reflection about the process


Instructional Materials

I provide a semester-long schedule that lists the exercises students need to complete for the standard lab activities and the CURE-specific tasks. Students appreciate seeing what is expected from them overall and on a day-to-day basis. Students complete weekly homeworks that align with the CURE. Students use Excel to analyze their data and create graphs and figures. Additionally, students are given access to a master spreadsheet with data from previous semesters.  They are expected to compare their data to other classes. This helps them see how results can vary and that scientific knowledge accumulates over time and replications.

Overview of CURE project (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 1.1MB Sep1 21)

Instructions for making dilutions (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 20kB Sep1 21)

Available materials and methods (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 12kB Sep1 21)

Example poster (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 3MB Sep1 21)

Final paper instructions (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 14kB Sep1 21)

CURE certificate (Acrobat (PDF) 124kB Nov5 21)

Assessment

Dilution formula check (Excel 2007 (.xlsx) 9kB Sep1 21)

Week 1 homework (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 15kB Sep1 21)

Week 2 homework (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 14kB Sep1 21)

Week 3 homework (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 18kB Sep1 21)

Week 4 homework (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 14kB Sep1 21)

Week 5 homework (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 14kB Sep1 21)

Week 6 homework (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 15kB Sep1 21)

Week 6 homework - online version (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 15kB Sep1 21)

Week 7 homework (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 12kB Sep1 21)

Week 9 homework (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 13kB Sep1 21)

Poster instructions (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 16kB Sep1 21)

Poster Rubric (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 13kB Sep1 21)

Instructional Staffing

Just me!!

Author Experience

Heather Townsend, Community College of Rhode Island

I was tired of doing the stand-alone "cookie cutter" labs that I always believed were the best for my students. I honestly did not know that high impact practices, like research projects, could be implemented at the community college level. I became very interested in developing a CURE so that each student had the opportunity to perform a research project. I love that a CURE can make undergraduate research more equitable for and inclusive of all students.


Advice for Implementation

I start the semester explaining to students the importance of research and how it relates to their own lives. I have found that student buy-in from the start of the CURE is extremely important. The example I provide is how antibiotic resistance is on the rise and how in Alexander Fleming's Nobel Prize acceptance speech warned of the misuse of penicillin in healthcare. I explain the importance for their careers as nurses.

Many of my students have never read primarily literature and they have a lot of difficulties understanding how to read this kind of work. I am invested in educating them on scientific literacy and the importance of using credible sources. I help them make sense of scientific literature by providing students with an overview of all of the parts of a journal article and picking simpler articles that align well with the CURE project.

I am an advocate for laboratory biosafety and the importance of understanding biosafety levels (BSL) as they pertain to the exercises students will be completing for the CURE. I always refer to the American Society for Microbiology's Biosafety Guidelines and have students complete an exercise where they review the biosafety levels. Since BSL refers to exercises and not specific bacteria, I also review the importance of using reliable bacteria samples as issued by the America type-culture collection (ATCC).

I try to make this CURE as interdisciplinary as I can since I feel it is important to show students that disciplines connect.  Having students analyze the chemical properties of spices to understand how those properties are effective as well as incorporating chemical formulas to determine the dilutions is a wonderful bridge to chemistry.

My biggest suggestion is to be open to change. I like to be prepared so not having the entire semester mapped out is hard for me. I have a set schedule of lab exercises each week, but then I leave the last hour open to develop and implement the CURE. Also, I keep a lab notebook as an instructor! It seems silly but I write everything down week to week (not necessarily the research but what was going on with the students) and the changes I wanted to make in future semesters.

A big problem for me is student retention in the course; many students drop within a few weeks and there have been some semesters where I am left with only two (and once one!) in a group. Students tend to find the CURE overwhelming when the group size is too small. I have addressed this by waiting to start the research until halfway through the semester. I also have students complete assignments individually until after the drop date and then switch to group assignments once groups have solidified.

With respect to costs,  we have a tight budget and I do not have a designated research lab that can be a source of resources. I redesigned the lab course so that I left out certain aspects to save money on materials and to re-appropriate those resources for the CURE. I also intentionally designed the CURE to be low cost.

I have worked with honors students prior to implementing protocols in lab; they run through protocols and work out all the potential problems before I have an entire class use the protocol. This helps  much more confident going into the semester with some knowledge on how things would proceed.

I allow students to pursue side projects; this piques their scientific curiosity and helps them solidify their scientific identity.  For instance, one semester, a student wanted to see what would happen if they tested the spice after heating it.  

I have created an excel sheet for students to double check their dilutions (I don't tell them of this until after they try to complete them first). I also maintain an excel sheet of all data from each semester for analysis.

I find it important to have some upfront discussions on two topics: ethics in research and failure in science.  I am incorporating an assessment for students on why being truthful and conducting research ethically is vitally important to the community.  We usually take this for granted, but many students have a lot of misinformation about science and the scientific process, so I see value in addressing ethical conduct of research from the beginning of the project. Regarding failure, my students get very frustrated when things do not work out. When I emphasize the importance of failure, they tend to accept it better. I use myself as an example, sharing times during my own education and career when samples accidentally blew up, PCR results were inconclusive, etc. When students do not observe any effects of their spice, they view it as a failure. I first have them repeat the experiment. If they still get negative results, I help them see that it just may be that the specific spice sample they chose was ineffective... This is still a result!

In my experience, the poster presentation is the most critical part of the semester. Students design their posters in PowerPoint and I print their posters at Staples. I have them dress professionally and act as they would if they were presenting at a national conference. Not only are they highlighting their research and disseminating their findings, but they are getting a sense of what it is like to present at a conference, which may make them more comfortable if they have this opportunity in the future.

I find the project very adaptable. For instance, students could test new microbial controls, essential oils, etc. Even if the research is not groundbreaking, it helps students see the relevance and importance of science. If students see the relevance of what they are doing - the relatability of the research goal, design, implementation, results, and poster presentation - they are much more wiling to take it seriously and see the importance to their lives.

Iteration

Iteration is important in my CURE. Inevitably groups get contamination, bacteria won't grow, their dilutions fail, etc. I have them process these issues as a class and problem-solve as to what will be the next steps. More important than this, I have students discuss what we would do next in the process if we had unlimited resources and time. What would they do as a side experiment? What variables could they change? Once semester a group wanted to test to see if heating the dilutions had an effect on their antimicrobial properties. I welcome the opportunity for them to change directions and repeat if they are not confident in their results.

Using CURE Data

Data are collected throughout the semester. In their final posters and reports, students must use the following:

  • Their own data
  • The entire class data
  • Historical data from previous semesters

By looking at all of these data, students have to consider more than just their own results to address the research question. Data quality has not been a problem since students are personally driven to do well. Students also help each other do good work in their groups and the weekly assignments help hold them accountable for their work. I don't intend to publish the results. I am more interested in introducing students to the research process, so using the data for research purposes outside of the classroom matters less to me. That said, the poster presentation is a way for students to share their findings with others outside of the course.

Resources

Brownell, S. E., Hekmat-Scafe, D. S., Singla, V., Chandler Seawell, P., Conklin Imam, J. F., Eddy, S. L., . . . Cyert, M. S. (2015). A high-enrollment course-based undergraduate research experience improves student conceptions of scientific thinking and ability to interpret data. CBE –Life Sciences Education, 14, 1–14.

Brownell, S. E., & Swaner, L. E. (2009). High-impact practices: Applying the learning outcomes literature to the development of successful campus programs. Peer Review (Spring), 26–30: Association of American Colleges and Universities. 

Corwin, L. A., Graham, M. J., & Dolan, E. L. (2015). Modeling course-based undergraduate research experiences: An agenda for future research and evaluation. CBE–Life Sciences Education, 14, 1–13. 

Corwin Auchincloss, L., Laursen, S. L., Branchaw, J. L., Eagan, K., Graham, M., Hanauer, D.. Dolan, E. L. (2014). Assessment of course-based undergraduate research experiences: A meeting report. CBE–Life Sciences Education, 13, 29–40.

Hanauer, D. I., & Dolan, E. L. (2014). The project ownership survey; measuring differences in scientific inquiry experiences. CBE–Life Sciences Education, 13, 149–158.

Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Shortlidge, E. E., Bangera, G., & Brownell, S. E. (2016). Faculty perspectives on developing and teaching course-based undergraduate research experiences. BioScience, 66, 54–62.

Swanson, H. I., Park Sarge, O., Rodrigo-Peiris, T., Xiang, L., & Cassone, V. M. (2016). Development of a course-based undergraduate research experience to introduce drug-receptor concepts. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development, 3, 57–66.

Dolan, E. L. (2016). Course-based undergraduate research experiences: current knowledge and future directions. Natl Res Counc Comm Pap, 1, 1-34.

Dolan, E. L. & G.C. Weaver.  A Guide To Course-Based Undergraduate Research: Developing And Implementing CUREs In The Natural Sciences.  2021.  Macmillan Learning.