Increasingly, undergraduate institutions are incorporating original research into the curriculum as a matter of best practice. However, while the practice of science has grown more collaborative, undergraduate research has remained largely confined to single-institution studies. Incorporating long-term, distributed research projects into the undergraduate research experience can better prepare students to interpret and engage in science of the future. The Decomposition in Aquatic and Terrestrial Invaded Systems (DATIS) project within the Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN) offers a good model for examining how to minimize challenges and maximize opportunities associated with classroom use of long-term, collaborative research projects. Eleven key challenges are identified, and practical solutions are provided for each. By modeling this scientific approach in primarily undergraduate institutions, we are preparing graduates who will have the tools and knowledge to work collaboratively and create their own distributed research networks. Our goal is that the decomposition project we describe here can inform and inspire others seeking to engage in research at the undergraduate level, either as potential research coordinators or as collaborators in an existing network.

Students need support to learn the core ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts that make up the field of biology so that they can both be successful as biologists and make informed decisions that require biological understanding. One way instructors can support students in these endeavors is to provide students with specific scaffolds the instructors design to structure students' performance on a task or engagement in a behavior. With the focus on both scientific concepts and practices, instructors may also need support to be able to develop scaffolds that align with suggested best practices. I offer a framework, referred to as FRAMER, and suggestions for instructors interested in developing scaffolds for biology courses, and provide an example of a successful scaffold implementation in an undergraduate biology course.

Innovation in assessment of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) courses in subjects such as biology and biochemistry is a widely discussed topic. We report the use of a novel, research-integrated course assessment designed to increase students' self-motivation and improve their learning outcomes. We encouraged submissions to peer-reviewed journals, supported by stepwise supervision on writing by the instructor, which led to possible publication of some student-written articles. We compared the results from two classes in 2015 and 2016, assessing the quality of the published articles on the basis of journal impact factor, journal Scopus score, and number of citations of each article, using supervised assignments to fulfill this goal. Assessment of research-integrated biology learning via potential publishing may motivate students to actively learn a biochemistry topic and encourage early-career professional development.

Microorganisms are diverse, minute, simple life-forms that generally cannot be seen by the naked eye and require the use of a microscope to be visualized. They have a great impact on all other life-forms. Their tiny size conceals them from us, engendering misunderstanding and fear due to the diseases caused by only a tiny minority of them. We conceptualized and installed an art exhibition called Tiny Enormous with the intent to educate our campus community and correct misconceptions about microorganisms. Tiny Enormous utilized a variety of artistic media, including paint, sculpture, video, and preserved plates, to display the diversity and ubiquity of microbes, and a series of infographics to illustrate key concepts and correct misconceptions. We surveyed visitors at the opening and closing receptions to examine their knowledge about, and perceptions and attitudes toward, microorganisms prior to and after visiting the exhibition. Respondents who had viewed Tiny Enormous demonstrated better knowledge of microbiological terms and concepts and self-reported increased knowledge about microorganisms compared to those who had not. Perceptions that microorganisms were harmful did not differ between subjects prior to and after visiting Tiny Enormous, possibly because of the exhibition's information about “superbugs.” Our results suggest that artistic representations of microorganisms are effective educational tools for both academic and nonacademic audiences.

In recent years, providing authentic and unique research experiences for undergraduates has become increasingly important, yet many educational institutions struggle to provide their students with such experiences. Engaging students in hands-on research is meant to increase their problem-solving skills and help them learn how to work in a collaborative environment. Unfortunately, many students never receive a genuine research experience in their undergraduate biology courses. We developed a semester-long, laboratory-based research project in which students worked in groups to investigate the prevalence of fish mislabeling in local restaurants and grocery stores using DNA barcoding. During the experimental process, students learned fundamental molecular techniques like DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction, gel electrophoresis, and DNA sequence analysis. Students also developed soft skills linked to working in teams and science communication. Over the course of the project, students collected their own fish samples and were responsible for their team's lab workflow throughout the semester. Some groups (12/25) identified instances of mislabeling on the basis of DNA evidence. Students synthesized their results in a full scientific manuscript and ended the semester by disseminating their results in a class-wide poster symposium. Collectively, the students documented that ∼21% (26/123) of the fish samples they had collected from local restaurants and at grocery stores in the Greater Lansing area were mislabeled. This project gave students the time and space needed to master molecular techniques (often through trial and error), and it engaged them in a place-based learning setting as they investigated the incidence of fish mislabeling in their local community.

Pulmonary gas exchange is a complex component of respiratory physiology. For many students, the movement of unseen gases can seem abstract and confusing. The “Gas Exchange Game” is a novel board game designed for use in a second-semester anatomy and physiology course. Students apply textbook knowledge of the laws of gas exchange and use the game board and pieces to see concrete examples of how gases move in the human body.

One of the central ideas behind microbiology is to see images that are not available to the naked eye. Through the use of digital microscopes, students in online courses can have exposure to those images, but the ability to view images of samples produced by the students is something that is not typically or easily replicated in an online course. The high cost of good-quality optical microscopes and the difficulty of using complex microscopes independently and communicating results are barriers to including this in an online lab course. Through the use of a lower-cost digital microscope that is easy to use, students are able to enjoy the experience of viewing images of microbes from their own sample and preparation.