The plant detectives: innovative undergraduate teaching to inspire the next generation of plant biologists

Encouraging more students to embrace plant science research is a global priority. We have evolved a second year undergraduate course from a standard lecture/practical format into an innovative research-led learning design that gives students hands-on experience of cutting-edge plant science research...

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Main Authors:	Beckmann, Elizabeth A., Estavillo, Gonzalo M., Mathesius, Ulrike, Djordjevic, Michael A., Nicotra, Adrienne B.
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4569745/

id	pubmed-4569745
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-45697452015-10-05 The plant detectives: innovative undergraduate teaching to inspire the next generation of plant biologists Beckmann, Elizabeth A. Estavillo, Gonzalo M. Mathesius, Ulrike Djordjevic, Michael A. Nicotra, Adrienne B. Plant Science Encouraging more students to embrace plant science research is a global priority. We have evolved a second year undergraduate course from a standard lecture/practical format into an innovative research-led learning design that gives students hands-on experience of cutting-edge plant science research and specialist instrumentation. By making tangible the links between plant genetics, biochemistry, physiology and function, the active learning curriculum extends students to their limits, and gives them insights into the multi-faceted nature of plant science research. Using genetically-mapped mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana, we challenge our students to apply their conceptual learning immediately to identify “unknown” genetic mutations affecting plant form and function. By exposing students early in their student careers to the challenges, rigors and excitement of plant science research, we have helped them grow quickly into astute researchers who truly deserve the title “Plant Detectives.” Many have become motivated to continue their studies as plant biologists in research-focused honors (pre-doctoral) and doctoral programs. Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-09-15 /pmc/articles/PMC4569745/ /pubmed/26442043 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2015.00729 Text en Copyright © 2015 Beckmann, Estavillo, Mathesius, Djordjevic and Nicotra. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	Beckmann, Elizabeth A. Estavillo, Gonzalo M. Mathesius, Ulrike Djordjevic, Michael A. Nicotra, Adrienne B.
spellingShingle	Beckmann, Elizabeth A. Estavillo, Gonzalo M. Mathesius, Ulrike Djordjevic, Michael A. Nicotra, Adrienne B. The plant detectives: innovative undergraduate teaching to inspire the next generation of plant biologists
author_facet	Beckmann, Elizabeth A. Estavillo, Gonzalo M. Mathesius, Ulrike Djordjevic, Michael A. Nicotra, Adrienne B.
author_sort	Beckmann, Elizabeth A.
title	The plant detectives: innovative undergraduate teaching to inspire the next generation of plant biologists
title_short	The plant detectives: innovative undergraduate teaching to inspire the next generation of plant biologists
title_full	The plant detectives: innovative undergraduate teaching to inspire the next generation of plant biologists
title_fullStr	The plant detectives: innovative undergraduate teaching to inspire the next generation of plant biologists
title_full_unstemmed	The plant detectives: innovative undergraduate teaching to inspire the next generation of plant biologists
title_sort	plant detectives: innovative undergraduate teaching to inspire the next generation of plant biologists
description	Encouraging more students to embrace plant science research is a global priority. We have evolved a second year undergraduate course from a standard lecture/practical format into an innovative research-led learning design that gives students hands-on experience of cutting-edge plant science research and specialist instrumentation. By making tangible the links between plant genetics, biochemistry, physiology and function, the active learning curriculum extends students to their limits, and gives them insights into the multi-faceted nature of plant science research. Using genetically-mapped mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana, we challenge our students to apply their conceptual learning immediately to identify “unknown” genetic mutations affecting plant form and function. By exposing students early in their student careers to the challenges, rigors and excitement of plant science research, we have helped them grow quickly into astute researchers who truly deserve the title “Plant Detectives.” Many have become motivated to continue their studies as plant biologists in research-focused honors (pre-doctoral) and doctoral programs.
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2015
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4569745/
_version_	1613475735902617600

The plant detectives: innovative undergraduate teaching to inspire the next generation of plant biologists

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