The Advanced Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory: A Student Team

Apr 10, 2014 - The advanced interdisciplinary research laboratory (AIRLab) represents a novel, effective, and motivational course designed from the in...
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The Advanced Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory: A Student Team Approach to the Fourth-Year Research Thesis Project Experience Paul A. E. Piunno,*,† Cleo Boyd,‡ Virginijus Barzda,† Claudiu C. Gradinaru,† Ulrich J. Krull,† Sasa Stefanovic,§ and Bryan Stewart§ †

Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario L5L1C6, Canada Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario L5L1C6, Canada § Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario L5L1C6, Canada ‡

S Supporting Information *

ABSTRACT: The advanced interdisciplinary research laboratory (AIRLab) represents a novel, effective, and motivational course designed from the interdisciplinary research interests of chemistry, physics, biology, and education development faculty members as an alternative to the independent thesis project experience. Student teams are assembled to work toward the completion of an interdisciplinary research project. Each team is composed of at least one student from a differing area of specialization (e.g., biology, biotechnology, chemistry, and physics), and projects are based on current trends in research. The inaugural project was the development of a portable DNA sequencer for in-field species identification; a project at the interface between physical and life sciences and that holds the potential for real-world application and positive social change. This work describes the details underlying the design and implementation of the AIRLab course, and includes an account of the method of student team assembly, the selection of a suitable research challenge, the specialized training provided in Agile project management, the methods used to achieve cohesive team dynamics, the learning outcomes from this experience, future directions that will be pursued for course improvement, and how our undergraduate degree-level expectations were met at an advanced level. KEYWORDS: Upper-Division Undergraduate, Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary, Collaborative/Cooperative Learning, Inquiry-Based/Discovery Learning, Problem Solving/Decision Making, Constructivism, Undergraduate Research

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INTRODUCTION Undergraduate education is a crucial phase in the preparation of creative individuals who are able to innovate. The intent of this endeavor is to enhance our undergraduate curriculum in such a way as to better prepare science graduates for the greatest breadth of career opportunities and enhance their ability to drive innovation through the provision of experience in collaborative and interdisciplinary research, teamwork, and team leadership skills development. This approach stems from recognition that1: (1) All natural sciences are interconnected. (2) Interconnections between the natural sciences are becoming both stronger and more extensive as our knowledge base grows. (3) Real-life science and technology challenges are often not divisible into components belonging discretely to specific disciplines. (4) Interdisciplinary education has long been known to be superior to discipline-specific instructional methods for the development of critical thinking skills and promotion of behaviors that lead to improved attitudes toward learning, social conduct, and intellectual performance.2−5 © 2014 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

(5) Regardless of whether students pursue career paths in industry, government, or academia, those with a multidisciplinary education and well-developed problem-solving, time-management, project management, teamwork, presentation, and scientific writing skills will have the highest probability for success in their careers. (6) This type of education has become even more critical in our current economic climate where all employers (i.e., academic, government, and industrial) are looking to maximize productivity and efficiency by placing an increased multidisciplinary expectation on their employees,6 a trend that will most certainly continue. From this, and the interdisciplinary interests of faculty members involved, the advanced interdisciplinary research laboratory (AIRLab) course was developed. In AIRLab, teambased interdisciplinary project activities are implemented as an alternative to traditional, discipline-specific, independent research courses. With regard to the novelty of the course, the concept of a multidisciplinary undergraduate research course is certainly not new.7−9 Most recently, Canaria et al.10 Published: April 10, 2014 655

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Table 1. Undergraduate Degree-Level Expectations That Were Met at an Advanced Levela Degree-Level Expectation Awareness of limits of knowledge

Autonomy and professional capacity

Description Demonstrate an understanding of the limits to their own knowledge and ability Demonstrate an appreciation of the uncertainty, ambiguity, and limits to knowledge and how this might influence analyses and interpretations Manage their own learning both within and outside the discipline, selecting an appropriate program of study Uphold the ethical values of the university, including freedom of expression and enquiry and its principles of academic integrity, equity, and inclusion Exercise initiative, personal responsibility, and accountability in personal and group contexts and decision-making in complex contexts Acquire an appreciation of how their areas of study relate to their personal and professional development

a

Note: The listed expectations were excerpted from the Guidelines for the University of Toronto Mississauga Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations.13

that views academia and society as being intimately connected, in which communication is free-flowing and these groups actively and collectively engage in addressing civic, social, and ethical issues. It is with these ends in mind that the AIRLab course was designed and developed. The expectations and outcomes listed above are also the most difficult to meet, largely as these are the hardest to measure. However, not only were the instructors able to measure these outcomes, but, more significantly, the students became acutely aware of these and were able to measure achievement of these outcomes themselves.

have developed a combined chemistry−biology lecture and laboratory course for second- and third-year undergraduates. Likewise, the concept of team-based undergraduate laboratory and research projects has been previously described.11,12 AIRLab differs from these through the provision of a multifaceted experiential learning opportunity that comprises the following: (a) assembling teams of three−four fourth-year undergraduate student members in which each team member holds expertise in a different area of specialization; (b) Immersion of the multidisciplinary student teams in a highly challenging, open-ended interdisciplinary research project; (c) providing the students with training and experience in project management skills development; (d) providing the students with training and practice in team-building skills development Combined, these constitute a new and comprehensive option for a capstone undergraduate research experience.

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IMPLEMENTATION

Project Identification

In order to demonstrate the deep-rooted ties across scientific disciplines and showcase the significance of learning to work as an interdisciplinary team, projects are designed to comprise components from numerous disciplines and are based on current trends in research. Projects should ideally address an unmet technological and societal demand so as to instill a sense of purpose in the student team and facilitate their taking ownership of the project. The projects were developed in brainstorming sessions held by the faculty involved when the course proposal was first being assembled and ahead of each offering of the course. The projects were designed to incorporate the expertise of the participating faculty and to ensure availability of equipment and materials. Each of the course instructors provided input as to the scientific question to be addressed, potential/significance of the project, and possible permutations that could be pursued (and their feasibility). The development of a portable DNA sequencer for in-field species identification was the inaugural project. The project addresses a technology development challenge with growing societal demands, particularly with regard to applications requiring near-real-time species identification, such as food authenticity testing,15,16 invasive species monitoring17 and wildlife conservation.18 This project required collaboration of students who were versed in biology, with knowledge and skills in DNA isolation, amplification, and sequencing; chemistry, with knowledge of microfluidic systems, separation science, and fluorescence spectroscopy; and physics, with knowledge of optics, electronics, and computer interfacing in order to develop a functional technology solution. While the project was composed of functional components from multiple disciplines, successful development required interdisciplinary participation of each team member. The expectation of the course facilitators was that each student

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DEGREE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS AND PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES The AIRLab course was designed to have our students meet the degree-level expectations of our institution13 and the program learning outcomes of the disciplines involved. The subset of program outcomes (for students specializing in biology, biotechnology, chemistry, or physics) that were focused on included these: (1) The student will be able to use computers proficiently for chemical simulation and computation, data acquisition and analysis, and literature searching and retrieval. (2) The student will be able to identify the key role played by science in addressing broad societal concerns such as energy, the environment, and health. (3) The student can communicate effectively, in both written and oral forms, and can transmit abstract notions and complex technical information clearly and concisely. (4) The student will be able to maintain the highest ethical standards of scholarly conduct. The degree-level expectations focused on are provided in Table 1. With the development of competencies in these areas, the AIRLab initiative hopes to produce students that will be creative, ethical, and intellectual persons who are able to effectively pursue their career aspirations and engage in the broader community as agents of positive change. These expectations and aspirations are consistent with the wellestablished scholarship of engagement as described by E. J. Boyer14 of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which defines a philosophy comprising four tenets 656

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Team-Building Workshops

would be familiar with the theory and work done for all components of the project, ensuring that the students would expand their knowledge beyond their specific areas of study and learn to communicate across the disciplines as part of this capstone experience.

In order to work productively as an Agile team, the group participated in two workshop sessions on team building with the guidance of an experienced educational developer. It should be noted that the course instructors were not present at these sessions in order to permit the student team to more freely engage in the exercises with the educational developer, who was not a scientist. In the first session, each team member completed problem-solving exercises with a specific project story in mind. This served to ground the exercise in the project and make clear to the students the value of the exercise with respect to efficiency in achieving their project deliverables and working effectively as a team. In the first session, each student identified his or her preferred approach to acquiring and processing information and which approaches to problem solving he or she tended toward. By understanding their own preference toward learning and problem solving, and the strengths and limitations of that approach, the students became sensitized to how they might adapt to develop strengths in other problem-solving approaches and improve their problem-solving skills. The students then shared the outcomes of their problem-solving exercise with the other team members. This permitted the team members to achieve recognition of the strengths of their problem-solving approaches and allowed the ensemble team to gain insight into their collective strength as a problem-solving unit as they learned to work with each other to adopt a more balanced and effective team approach toward problem solving. Gaining an appreciation and respect for how they problem solve as well as how their teammates problem solve also helped to improve communication among the group and minimize conflicts. Ahead of the second teamwork skills development session, the team was asked to reflect on the outcomes of their first session, particularly, what they had learned about themselves as individuals and as a team. In the second meeting, the team was again challenged to work through a technical problem-solving task related to their project, and then to communicate both the challenge and the solution to the educational developer. The educational developer facilitated the team’s engagement through a series of exercises to ensure that appropriate consideration of various approaches to problem solving were considered in addressing their challenge. The team was also made aware that the nature of the problem should define where the problem-solving process should be entered, rather than their personal preferences. The ability to move freely to other routes of engagement is an important skill to master when working as a part of a team, as others may not be so flexible in moving away from their preferred approach. From this, the team learned that the more skilled problem solver should be able navigate to other regions of problem-solving space to optimize the effectiveness of the team-based problem-solving activity. Soon after this session, the students were invited to meet with the educational developer individually to review their contributions in the workshop, the approaches taken by their teammates, and how they as individuals and as a team could better engage in a more balanced, effective, and flexible approach to problem solving.

AIRLab Team Assembly

AIRLab teams should be composed of one student from each area of specialization. For the inaugural course offering, the team consisted of four students who were completing specialist degrees in biology, biotechnology, chemistry, and physics. Prospective students applied for entry into the course, and the student team was assembled through the collective agreement of a group of facilitators (one from each area of specialization), with consideration given to student academic performance, capacity for research, evidence of interdisciplinary interests, and personality traits. The intention was to assemble a team composed of members of similar work ethic and creative drive in order to achieve the dynamics required for productivity. Just-In-Time Training Toolkits

Just-in-time training toolkits were provided to the AIRLab team to facilitate rapid development of technological competencies and laboratory skills as appropriate for completion of their research challenge. The toolkits are exercises coupled with associated equipment or software. For the inaugural offering, toolkits included the design and development of microfluidic devices, and computer interfacing. Additional toolkits were developed by an alumnus of the course and included those for signal processing and data analysis, optical microscopy, basic electronics (including Arduino embedded controllers), threedimensional (3D) computer aided design, and 3D printing. Additional toolkits will continue to be developed and added to the collection as the course continues. These toolkits will be developed through the involvement of students, such as those enrolled in our concurrent teacher education program19 and alumni of the course who remain interested in further developing their scientific and pedagogical skills. Project Management Training and Practice

Perhaps the most difficult tasks faced by students embarking on a research project are to obtain an appreciation of the scope and timeline of the project and the identification of the initial experiment(s) to pursue. Addressing a team-based multidisciplinary project of expanded scope can be even more daunting, as many undergraduate students do not possess formal training or experience with such tasks. To assist in the development of project management skills, formal instruction on the Agile method of project management was provided by a course instructor with industrial experience in the use of this technique. The Agile method was selected over traditional (e.g., “waterfall” or “push”) methods of project management as the Agile method is well-suited to projects with rapidly changing requirements and for which the end point is not well-defined, as is typical of research projects. The Agile method of project management has seen tremendous growth over the past decade. It originated as the Xtreme programming method in the field of software development,20 and it is now a popular and wellregarded component of current project management professional accreditation.21,22 A brief overview of the Agile method of project management and details of how Agile methods were implemented in the course are provided in the online Supporting Information, Appendix S1. 657

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Table 2. Summary of Course Evaluation Scores Av Score (N = 4)

Survey Statements for Response

Scale

I found the course intellectually stimulating.

4.75

The course provided me with a deeper understanding of the subject matter. The instructor(s) created a course atmosphere that was conducive to my learning. Course projects, assignments, tests, and/or exams improved my understanding of the course material. Course projects, assignments, tests, and/or exams provided opportunity for me to demonstrate an understanding of the course material. Overall, the quality of my learning experience was... Compared to other courses, the workload for this course was...

4.00 5.00 4.75

Scale 1: 1, not at all; 2, somewhat; 3, moderately; 4, mostly; 5, a great deal Scale 1 Scale 1 Scale 1

4.75

Scale 1

4.25 5.00

I would recommend this course to other students. The course instructor(s) encouraged students to think beyond the course material. The course provided instruction on how to critically evaluate ideas.

4.75 5.00 5.00

Scale 1 Scale 2: 5, very heavy; 4, heavy; 3, average; 2, light; 1, very light Scale 1 Scale 1 Scale 1

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OUTCOMES

subsequent steps to be taken by the next AIRLab team to continue the project. Additional details of instructor involvement and student assessment are provided in the online Supporting Information (Appendix S3).

Technology Platform Development

Over the course of their project, the student team devised stories and assembled a storyboard for the creation of a miniaturized sequencing system for species identification (see Appendix S1 in the online Supporting Information for an overview of Agile story creation and storyboard assembly). Stories were created based on theoretical considerations, published literature, and the information provided via experimental outcomes of previous stories. Research work included application of theory, exploration of the effectiveness of various designs of instrumentation, development of experimental methods with suitable controls, and critical assessment of experimental results to refine designs and methods. The final project storyboard is provided in the online Supporting Information (Appendix S2). In brief, the studentdefined project was based on the use of DNA barcodes,23,24 isothermal nucleic acid amplification of the target (barcode) nucleic acid sequence, and four-color, single-capillary Sanger sequencing. An isothermal method of DNA amplification was chosen for incorporation into the device because the process can be completed in a reasonable time (90 min) and permitted simplification of the device engineering since thermocycling was eliminated. Thermophilic helicase-dependent amplification (tHDA)25 was incorporated into the portable sequencer. This was a novel approach as minibarcode CO1 amplification by tHDA for species identification through sequencing had not been previously reported. In terms of sequencing, the goal of this project was to develop a microchannel electrophoresis system with four-color fluorimetric detection. The core focus of the work done by the inaugural team was to identify the conditions that would permit electrophoretic analysis of the sequencing reaction products (the first 120 nucleotides of the minibarcode CO1 sequence) using the shortest microchannel length possible while achieving single nucleotide resolution. To do so, a two-level factorial design of experiments26 was implemented for the optimization of a sieving matrix composition, buffer concentration, and applied voltage. While an all-in-one device for DNA sequencing was not completed, the student team ultimately addressed most of the aspects related to the optimization of electrophoresis conditions, construction of the optical detection system, instrument control, and data acquisition, and demonstrated the feasibility of tHDA for incorporation into a microfluidic system. The final iteration of the project storyboard provided a clear mapping of

Student Feedback

The inaugural offering of the AIRLab course received positive feedback from the students involved, as summarized in Table 2. In addition to these encouraging ratings, the students provided further comments about the course, which spoke highly of the engagement provided by the instructors’ team and the quality of their learning experience. Students commented that “This course was a great learning experience: in teamwork, in time management and in research. I’d definitely recommend it to other students interested in doing a fourth-year research thesis.” “[AIRLab was] a very engaging course. I felt like I learned more in this course alone than I did in multiple other courses combined.” All four students were invited to meet with the educational developer following the completion of the course. From these meetings, which were exploratory focus group meetings and individual interviews, the following insights were gained from comments made explicitly by the students: (1) Their metacognitive abilities had substantially developed. They each reported that they felt far more confident moving into the next phase of their education or careers as they became aware of how they learned and what was needed to solve complex problems. (2) They became aware that team building and maintenance are far more critical to advanced problem solving than they ever thought it was. Furthermore, maintaining effective team function is very hard work. (3) Although they placed little significance on the importance of high-performance teams at the beginning of the course, by the end of the term, they had come to appreciate the value of team dynamics. (4) They all were able to reflect on where they began when the group first solved a problem and recognize how they had progressed. They were able to articulate how they envisioned problem-solving space when they encountered a new problem-solving challenge and did not jump to what they thought was the easiest way to solve a problem. Instead they considered the problem itself and then determined the process for solving it. 658

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fronts will be used to tune the delivery of the course to maximize positive outcomes of the student learning experience. To date, three of the four inaugural AIRLab students have been accepted into graduate research programs. Interestingly, the student who completed a biology specialist degree applied to and was accepted into a chemistry graduate program. Enrollment and enrollment demand has increased for the second offering of the course. In total, 10 students applied for the 2013−2014 course (up from 6 in the inaugural offering), of which 6 students were accepted into 2 teams of 3. Note that this compares favorably with the number of students currently enrolled in independent research courses in chemistry (7) and physics (4), and represents a significant option for biology students. Currently, 29 students are enrolled in the biology independent research course offered at our campus. From the student recommendations received, we will advance the implementation of the initial teamwork skills development workshop and emphasize the significance of team maintenance and communication. Where possible, this will be done through the advocacy of a course alumnus. To place an increased emphasis on the value and more rapid adoption of the team-building component of the course, the syllabus has been adjusted to include a grade (5% of the course mark) associated with participation in these workshops. The course will also be improved through the addition of more just-in-time toolkits for rapid learning of core research and technology development skills so as to reduce student workload. In addition to the toolkits, we see the theme of experiential learning in a collaborative and interdisciplinary setting (by design) as being an aspect that can be transferred to other disciplines. The course developers are currently working to expand the scope of future AIRLab projects to accommodate team members and facilitators from mathematics, engineering, earth science, computer science, psychology, education, and information technology programs. It is interesting to note that the demands on the faculty participating in AIRLab are identical to those for faculty supervising an undergraduate through an independent research course. In both cases, the faculty to student ratio was 1:1. The participation of the educational developer is a new component that is unique to the AIRLab course; however, this does not represent an overwhelming demand on the part of the educational developer who in total devoted approximately 16 h of face-to-face time with the students individually and as a team over the entire academic year. In the second offering of the course, we have 4 faculty members supervising 2 teams of 3 students, which has brought the faculty-to-student ratio below that of our traditional independent research course. For the following year, we are planning to expand to 3 teams (9 students in total) that will be supervised by 6 faculty (including the educational developer). As such, we see this course to be quite scalable, with economies of scale serving to ease the burden on the faculty involved while still providing the students with a rich and fulfilling capstone experience. The participating departments have provided a budget of $2500 per student team. It is anticipated that the course cost will decrease over the years as the inventory of components accrues and, to a greater extent, only consumables spending will be required.

(5) They wished that the initial teamwork skills development workshop was done earlier in the course and suggested that, if one of them was available during the next course offering, he or she should act as a peer facilitator with the educational developer to help new students appreciate the importance of learning how they learn and solve problems as early as possible. (6) They learned how to critically read and evaluate scientific literature. The students were under the impression that they were capable of this at the onset of the course; however, they became aware of this limitation soon after starting their project work. By the end of the course, the students were able to identify that they had become more capable of critically reading and evaluating scientific literature. (7) They came to appreciate that they needed to learn to write and present their thinking throughout their program. Again, this was not viewed as significant at the beginning of the course. (8) They had an increasing awareness across the term of how limited their scope of knowledge actually was and how much they had to learn. They also became more and more aware of how much there is to still be learned in these disciplines. They learned that they could add to a body of knowledge as opposed to applying established knowledge, thereby exercising all four components of the scholarship of engagement. As evidenced from the interviews, the learning expectations and program outcomes were achieved at the highest level for an undergraduate specialist program. In particular, we were able to assess and have the students self-assess their limits of knowledge and degree of autonomy and professional capacity. The students were clearly able to participate in decision-making in highly complex contexts and were able to, on a personal level and in a group context, take ownership and accountability for decisions made and the ramifications of those decisions. They took personal responsibility for team conflicts and were able to constructively communicate with instructors, the educational developer, and each other about the nature of the conflict and how they would avoid having the same issues arise in highperformance teams in the future. These are insights that are not typically developed until completion of a postgraduate degree and attest to the effectiveness of the course design. Overall, the students completing the inaugural AIRLab course clearly indicated the high value they felt they obtained from the experience, particularly with regard to the significance of developing skills in teamwork, time management, and critical thinking. This strongly aligned with the key learning objectives of the course, the degree-level expectations of the university, the program outcomes at an advanced level, and aspirations of the instructors.

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FUTURE DIRECTIONS Moving forward, the course instructors will evaluate the success of the AIRLab course based on several parameters, including the following: enrollment demand, an annual survey of all participating course instructors, follow-up interviews with students who completed the course, student opinion survey results and comments, participation and awards at undergraduate conferences, employment success, and graduate program enrollment statistics with inclusion of data about any graduate awards and fellowships. Feedback received on these 659

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CONCLUSION Scientific research and understanding includes a depth of exploration at the interfaces between the core disciplines. Familiarity and comfort with interdisciplinary knowledge and methods by graduates is becoming ubiquitous and is accompanied by a need for students to be able to manage complex tasks, communicate across the disciplines, and work well with others as members of a cohesive and functional team. To this effect, we have implemented a novel advanced interdisciplinary research laboratory course that combines aspects of interdisciplinary scientific research with training and the development of practical skills in project management, team leadership, and teamwork. In the inaugural course offering, a student team composed of four senior undergraduates completing specialist degrees in biology, biotechnology, chemistry, and physics was assembled and presented with an interdisciplinary research challenge, namely, the development of a lab-on-a-chip device for in-field species identification. The students made significant progress as a team through the adoption of Agile project management methods and training in problem-solving and teamwork skills development. Feedback received from the student team was extremely positive and supported the notion that the learning objectives of the course and institution had been fulfilled at the highest level, particularly with regard to increasing the capacity for critical thought and professional capacity. This was also echoed by the voluntary participation of the team in a provincial-scale undergraduate research conference and by the application of one of our students to a graduate program outside of his or her area of specialization, which attested to the development of confidence, interest toward learning, and appreciation of science. Such outcomes will provide our students with an advantage that will support their careers as scientists and as agents of positive change, consistent with the scholarship of engagement as espoused by E. J. Boyer,5 as will be monitored over the years to follow. Improvements to the course will be made to better manage the workload of the students, in part through the development of additional technical training modules that will facilitate rapid skills development. Future iterations of the course will also explore the involvement of students from a greater range of disciplines.

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Chemical and Physical Sciences, the Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre, and the Biology Department at the University of Toronto Mississauga are also gratefully acknowledged for support of the AIRLab endeavor.

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(1) National Research Council. In BIO2012: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists; Whitacre, P. T., Ed.: The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, USA, 2003; pp 75− 86; http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10497 (accessed March 2014). (2) Newell, W. H. Academic disciplines and undergraduate interdisciplinary education: Lessons from the school of interdisciplinary studies at Miami University, Ohio. Eur. J. Educ. 1992, 27 (3), 211−221. (3) Newell, W. H. Interdisciplinary Curriculum Development. Issues Integr. Stud. 1990, 8, 69−86. (4) Field, M.; Lee, R.; Field, M. L. Assessing Interdisciplinary Learning. New Dir. Teach. Learn. 1994, 58, 69−84. (5) Kockelmans, J. J. Why Interdisciplinary? In Interdisciplinarity and Higher Education; Kockelmans, J. J., Ed.; Pennsylvania State University Press: University Park, PA, USA, 1979; pp 123−160. (6) Ares, M., Jr. Interdisciplinary research and the undergraduate biology student. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 2004, 11 (12), 1170−1172. (7) Van Hecke, G. R.; Karukstis, K. K.; Haskell, R. C.; McFadden, C. S.; Wettack, F. S. An Integration of Chemistry, Biology, and Physics: The Interdisciplinary Laboratory. J. Chem. Educ. 2002, 79 (7), 837− 844. (8) Karukstis, K. K. Reinvigorating the Undergraduate Experience with a Research-Supportive Curriculum. J. Chem. Educ. 2004, 81 (7), 938−939. (9) Iimoto, D. S.; Frederick, K. A. Incorporating Student-Designed Research Projects in the Chemistry Curriculum. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88 (8), 1069−1073. (10) Canaria, J. A.; Schoffstall, A. M.; Weiss, D. J.; Henry, R. M.; Braun-Sand, S. B. A Model for an Introductory Undergraduate Research Experience. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89 (11), 1371−1377. (11) Ford, J. R.; Prudenté, C.; Newton, T. A. A Model for Incorporating Research into the First-Year Chemistry Curriculum. J. Chem. Educ. 2008, 85 (7), 929. (12) McGoldrick, N. B.; Marzec, B.; Scully, P. N.; Draper, S. M. Implementing a Multidisciplinary Program for Developing Learning, Communication, and Team-Working Skills in Second-Year Undergraduate Chemistry Students. J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90 (3), 338−344. (13) Guidelines for University of Toronto Mississauga Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations. http://www.vpacademic. utoronto.ca/Assets/VP+Academic+Digital+Assets/DLE/UTM_DLE. pdf (accessed March 2014). (14) Boyer, E. J. The Scholarship of Engagement. Bull. Am. Acad. Arts Sci. 1996, 49 (7), 18−33. (15) Lowenstein, J. H.; Amato, G.; Kolokotronis, S. The Real maccoyii: Identifying Tuna Sushi with DNA BarcodesContrasting Characteristic Attributes and Genetic Distances. PLoS One 2009, 4 (11), No. e7866. (16) Wallace, L. J.; Boilard, S. M. A. L.; Eagle, S. H. C.; Spall, J. L.; Shokralla, S.; Hajibabaei, M. DNA barcodes for everyday life: Routine authentication of Natural Health Products. Food Res. Int. 2012, 49 (1), 446−452. (17) Shufran, K. A.; Puterka, G. J. DNA Barcoding to Identify All Life Stages of Holocyclic Cereal Aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on Wheat and Other Poaceae. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 2011, 104 (1), 39−42. (18) Eaton, M. J.; Meyers, G. L.; Kolokotronis, S.; Leslie, M. S.; Martin, A. P.; Amato, G. Barcoding bushmeat: Molecular identification of Central African and South American harvested vertebrates. Conserv. Genet. 2010, 11 (4), 1389−1404. (19) The concurrent teacher education program offered at the University of Toronto Mississauga allows students to simultaneously earn two undergraduate degrees, namely, a Bachelor of Education

ASSOCIATED CONTENT

S Supporting Information *

Text describing implementation of Agile project management in AIRLab, the final storyboard of the inaugural project, and assessment of AIRLab student teams and instructor involvement and a table listing AIRLab evaluation and marks breakdown. This material is available via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

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REFERENCES

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Corresponding Author

*E-mail: [email protected]. Notes

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The University of Toronto is gratefully acknowledged for the provision of financial support through the Provost’s Instructional Technology Innovation Fund. The Department of 660

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Degree and either an Honors Bachelor of Arts Degree or an Honors Bachelor of Science Degree. (20) Beck, K.; Andres, C. Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change, 2nd ed.; Pearson Education: Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA, 2005; pp 1−189. (21) Project Management Association of Canada: Certified Agile Project Manager. http://pmac-agpc.ca/Cert.APM (accessed March 2014). (22) PMI Agile Certified Practitioner. http://www.pmi.org/en/ Certification/New-PMI-Agile-Certification.aspx (accessed March 2014). (23) Hebert, P. D. N.; Cywinska, A.; Ball, S. L.; DeWaard, J. R. Biological identifications through DNA barcodes. Proc. R. Soc. B 2003, 270 (3), 313−321. (24) Meusnier, I.; Singer, G. A. C.; Landry, J.; Hickey, D. A.; Hebert, P. D. N.; Hajibabaei, M. A universal DNA mini-barcode for biodiversity analysis. BMC Genomics 2008, 9 (5), 214−217. (25) Jeong, Y. J.; Park, K.; Kim, D. E. Isothermal DNA amplification in vitro: The helicase-dependent amplification system. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 2009, 66 (20), 3325−3336. (26) Clausen, C. A.; Mattson, G. Principles of Industrial Chemistry; John Wiley & Sons: New York, NY, USA, 1978; pp 270−281.

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