key: cord-0849654-vrf246l7
authors: Parrington, Brianna A.; Giardino, William J.
title: Zooming into the Lab: Perspectives on Maintaining Undergraduate Biological Research through Computationally Adapted Remote Learning in Times of Crisis
date: 2021-03-31
journal: J Microbiol Biol Educ
DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.v22i1.2563
sha: 448de97c3d7e196b57d0608b8e85a18c5a040a2e
doc_id: 849654
cord_uid: vrf246l7

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many academic institutions attempted to limit viral spread throughout their communities by suspending face-to-face student instruction. The rapid transition from in-person to remote learning dramatically altered student–instructor interactions and ushered in a new set of educational challenges. Despite recent publications by experienced researchers that address the impacts of remote instruction on undergraduate research at a holistic level, we currently lack evidence for successful implementation of best practices in a remote research environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, to enhance remote scientific experiences and improve the skills of young biologists facing uncertain challenges in their future academic careers, we make nine recommendations for best practices in maintaining quality undergraduate research experiences, especially for computationally adapted projects, during online learning periods in times of crisis. Based on our experience participating in an undergraduate Stanford Summer Research Program that was conducted entirely remotely during the summer of 2020, we describe nine recommendations for best practices that institutions, faculty mentors, and undergraduate mentees can execute to maintain a high quality of biological research. Further elucidating the ways in which distance learning can be improved at the undergraduate research level will offer insights into making the most out of remote biological research in the months and years ahead.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, nonessential institutions like universities were mandated to postpone in-person instruction. Due to this unexpected change, universities had to quickly transition from an in-person classroom experience to a remote format. Not only did the delivery of classes change for students, but also all in-person programs affiliated with the universities had to accommodate unpredictable circumstances. Some of these initiatives that were forced to transition into an online format included essential research programs for undergraduate students. Despite a growing literature on how in-person research laboratory closures alter the dynamic of the laboratory as a whole, there is little knowledge surrounding how the quality of biology research can be maintained specifically for undergraduate students transitioning to a remote format.

Preserving high-quality research in remote undergraduate programs will be critical for students to develop laboratory skills, avoid academic and career setbacks, and improve future remote experiences in the months to come. In this article, we offer nine recommendations ( Fig. 1) to maintain best practices for remote undergraduate research from the perspectives of a senior undergraduate and a junior faculty member who have conducted computationally adapted remote neuroscience data analysis in the first-ever remote Stanford Summer Research Program (SSRP) during the COVID-19 pandemic. These nine recommendations, directed especially toward research faculty and administrators, are:

1) Schedule weekly one-on-one meetings with the students. 2) Invite students to attend relevant research seminars, journal clubs, and conference presentations. 3) Include students in group lab meetings. 4) Guide students through reading and critiquing scientific papers in the field. 5) Provide opportunities for students to write and speak about the project in formal and informal settings. 6 ) Offer professional development workshops and encourage students to attend them. 7) Direct students to collect and/or analyze data to advance the goals of the research project. 8) Offer networking opportunities for students to interact with other faculty and trainees. 9) Have mentee maintain self-care to promote emotional and mental well-being.

We call upon academic institutions, administrators, instructors, senior researchers, and undergraduate researchers to implement and execute these nine recommendations as a means of maintaining best practices and preserving the quality of biological research for undergraduates who are participating in remote research in future programs. This is crucial, as the next generation of scientists is currently being trained in an unconventional manner, based on a new format that relies heavily or entirely on remote learning. Our execution of these nine recommendations can provide the foundation for the successful implementation of future research programs to preserve the quality of biological research for undergraduate students.

The COVID-19 pandemic, or any time of crisis, can impact biological research on numerous levels: by altering instructor-student interactions, by forcing students to rapidly adapt to new online environments, by accentuating previously existing gaps in academic success due to socioeconomic factors, and by exacerbating the negative effects of psychological challenges. We discuss various ways in which these elements affect student learning and their potential effects on undergraduate student learning in a remote research experience. FIGURE 1 . Nine recommendations to maintain best practices for undergraduate research during times of crisis. Schematic for research faculty and administrators to refer to while guiding undergraduate researchers through remote research during the COVID-19 pandemic and other times of crisis. Created with BioRender.com.

Remote instruction alters instructor-student interactions. The transition from in-person to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic altered all instructor-student interactions within academic institutions. There are concerns over how the remote educational environment affects the quality of student learning. Students may not have access to the resources they need in order to receive a quality learning experience, as remote instruction may prevent students from receiving help on assignments (1, 2) . Indeed, recent literature demonstrated that help-seeking and network connections served as a predictor of academic performance in a non-COVID-19 online classroom experience (2) . During COVID-19 remote learning in science education, one study showed that interaction between a student and an instructor can influence student attitudes toward learning outcomes (1) . Additionally, students tend to have more enthusiasm for their field of study if they have the opportunity to contribute their beliefs about the subject and share them with other students (2) (3) (4) . Therefore, there is a legitimate basis to the concern that the absence of access to an in-person instructor and the lack of interaction with peers to discuss academic ideas (regardless of whether remote learning occurs during a crisis like COVID-19) may deter students from academic excellence that would have otherwise been achieved.

Remote research shifts projects to a virtual format. In addition to the lack of in-person interaction in the transition to online learning, undergraduate students also face struggles in transitioning their research projects to an entirely different format, which may involve learning new programming languages and how to effectively work and communicate with a faculty mentor in a remote setting. Learning how to use new programming languages and software may prove difficult for undergraduate students as they learn new analytical techniques under the stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, students may need assistance to troubleshoot code and may try actively searching for help on the Internet. However, they may find themselves at an impasse when forums for troubleshooting code are dominated by experienced coders using different styles of coding languages. Undergraduates may also look to work with their faculty mentor to troubleshoot code and communicate regarding project direction and ideas (5) . Students must learn to adapt to a new online format and schedule which best suits the communication and mentoring style of both the research mentor and the undergraduate mentee. Students may not even have met their faculty mentor in person and therefore have to develop their relationship entirely remotely. It is clear that the transition of the project and in-person interactions to a remote modality may be difficult for undergraduate students who seek to maintain the essential components of a quality research experience during a time of drastic change.

Remote learning and socioeconomic disparities during COVID-19. Socioeconomic status can influence student learning as a whole; specifically, stressors associ-ated with socioeconomic status can interfere with student learning in the research experience. This is one of the most prominent influences on student learning, particularly with regard to low-income individuals living below the poverty line. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Policy Development and Research, low-income individuals are classified as earning 80% of the median family income for a given area (N. P. Retsinas and K. E. Marchman, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development [https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ il/fmr98/sect8.html]). The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded the effects of socioeconomic status to produce a particularly deleterious situation. One study showed that more than half of lower-income students were more likely to delay graduation compared with higher-income students during the COVID-19 pandemic (6) . This study also found that COVID-19 worsened the already-existing disproportionate academic outcomes that specific socioeconomic groups faced prior to COVID-19 (6) . The role of socioeconomic status in academic performance increases during periods that further widen the socioeconomic gap such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The psychological challenges of transitioning to remote research. Lastly, many other factors impact student learning during biological research, some of which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Student responses were affected by, but not limited to, an ill-suited learning environment, family distractions, unemployment stress, financial burdens, personal or family illness, and mental and emotional distress (6, 7) . Studies have found that anxiety and stress negatively impact students' academic performance and that over 25% of students experienced moderate-tohigh levels of psychological anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic (7) . As a result of physical distancing guidelines, students have shifted their entire lives into the virtual format, including social relationships and corresponding ways of receiving social support. Given that physical distancing can exacerbate psychological challenges such as loneliness, anxiety, anger, depression, and even suicide (8) , it is important to remember that these mental health issues pose a further threat to adequate student learning in the virtual format. Not surprisingly, students who felt that they had greater social support also reported lower levels of anxiety (9) .

Scholars have previously attempted to characterize how the transition to remote learning for undergraduate biological research can be improved. One paper discusses and compares findings from many studies that were conducted on face-to-face and remote laboratories but compares the top-down perspective of face-to-face and remote learning (1) . Other literature discusses methods in which research practices can be maintained for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows during neuroscience research; however, this perspective again offers the top-down approach of how to effectively implement best research practices for more junior researchers (10) . Another article offers insight on how several senior researchers have been handling the shift to remote scientific research in their respective laboratories, but again, these perspectives are from the top-down viewpoint (11) . One study discusses three methods to engage students in research education: analyzing remote data, reading papers and science writing, and participating in science journal clubs (5) . This study offers a holistic view of implementing these practices as future solutions rather than showcasing their successful execution in a specific research experience.

Additionally, previous literature outlines several best in-person practices from the top-down perspective in which the undergraduate research experience (URE) is provided through mentors. These practices include teaching technical skills, emotional and personal support for the student, building community, providing networking opportunities, and peer interaction (12) . Another study discusses five inperson practices in undergraduate research programs from the mentor perspective: having weekly one-on-one meetings with undergraduates, faculty motivation for students in a URE, reading literature in which concepts are reinforced by the mentor, presentation opportunities for students in undergraduate research, and publication in a journal (13) . Previous literature that discusses best practices in an inperson URE from the top-down perspective demonstrates that there is a need for the undergraduate student perspective, specifically in the remote format, to confirm the validity of these best practices. As we align previous best practices for in-person UREs with our own, we use our experiences in an undergraduate remote research program as a senior undergraduate researcher and a junior faculty member. We suggest that our success in employing nine recommendations ( Fig. 1) for best research practices is evidence that effectively implementing and executing them preserves undergraduate research in the remote format, specifically from the bottomup perspective of an undergraduate researcher. We employ these nine recommendations with the goal of maintaining best practices in a remote setting similar to those used in inperson undergraduate research, with the goal of preserving the quality of undergraduate research for computationally adapted projects.

The transition from in-person to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic altered all instructor-student interactions within academic institutions. As a result, many in-person research opportunities for undergraduate students were cancelled for summer 2020. However, several summer research programs, such as SSRP, transitioned to a completely remote research experience. As a result, the curriculum of the in-person experience had to be completely reconfigured to fit the remote format. To provide a quality URE, SSRP's remote curriculum consisted of the following:

• 30 hours of coding workshops during the first week to teach students necessary programming languages • 25 to 30 hours working directly on the remote project for 7 weeks following the first week • attending a professional development workshop every week • practicing research presentation and scientific writing with graduate students • attending a scientific talk every week • social events to interact with other SSRP students and graduate students • meetings with research mentor as schedule permitted

The experiences of an undergraduate student and junior faculty mentor who participated in SSRP's remote program form the basis of our recommended best practices for the implementation of future remote research experiences for undergraduate students.

To contribute to the progress of the neuroscience research project, the student analyzed mouse behavioral videos from experiments that aimed to understand amygdala neurocircuitry contributions to stress response and reward-seeking behavior. For the duration of this project, the undergraduate student consistently participated in all but one of the nine of our recommended practices (Fig. 1) ; practice 3 (to include students in group lab meetings) was not applicable to our situation because there was a scheduling conflict between the lab meeting times and the program curriculum agenda.

1) Schedule weekly one-on-one meetings with the students. The undergraduate student organized and communicated with the faculty mentor via e-mail to schedule Zoom videoconferencing meetings at least once a week for 1 to 1.5 hours and sometimes scheduled another meeting using the same format within the same week, about 2 to 3 days later, for another hour. The meetings first consisted of slide presentations from the mentor providing educational background on the research, followed by discussing project ideas (e.g., explaining how using behavioral analysis software to quantify mouse behavior was important to understanding the role of neural circuits), discussing ways to find open-source behavioral analysis software online, troubleshooting code, discussing scientific articles, practicing oral presentation skills, and relaying data that were analyzed via behavioral software. The success of organized weekly meetings with a research mentor depends on transparency of expectations through verbal communication and through a signed contract that details expectations regarding student and mentor teaching styles.

2) Invite students to attend relevant research seminars, journal clubs, and conference presentations. The undergraduate student attended at least one 1-hour webinar series per week via Zoom videoconferencing within the related neuropsychiatry field to help understand current Volume 22, Number 1 research projects, methods, and approaches in the field. Additionally, the undergraduate student signed up to give a 12-minute presentation at SSRP symposium toward the end of the 9-week SSRP and to give presentations at two virtual national conferences. This recommendation can be successfully accomplished through attending weekly, 1-hour virtual research seminars and signing up for journal clubs and conference presentations to communicate their science to others. The student can use the seminars to prepare in the days leading up to the journal club or conference.

3) Include students in group lab meetings. Although the undergraduate student in this case was not able to attend virtual lab meetings due to a scheduling conflict, students can generally attend virtual lab meetings as permitted by the lab and COVID-19. Lab meetings provide opportunities to interface with other lab members besides the principal investigator (PI), and to stay up to date on other projects within the research lab. They also offer a forum for raising logistical issues that may arise during remote research and give important insights into a particular lab's hierarchical dynamics and the overall attitude/culture of the research group.

4) Guide students through reading and critiquing scientific papers in the field. Every 2 weeks, the undergraduate student was given a peer-reviewed research paper that was related to the neuropsychiatry field. The student was given 5 to 10 days to read the article depending on program demands and deadlines. The student then discussed the data, results, and conclusion of the paper with the faculty mentor in the scheduled weekly meetings for roughly 30 minutes. The student asked questions about the paper and was asked by the faculty mentor to analyze data within the figures of the paper. This recommendation can be successfully implemented by giving the student adequate time to read the paper and by effectively communicating the bimonthly schedule. Literature review is an important component of undergraduate research because it encourages self-directed learning of scientific principles via exploration of relevant journals and publications. 5) Provide opportunities for students to write and speak about the project in formal and informal settings. The undergraduate student was required by the SSRP to submit a revised abstract three times throughout the duration of the 9-week program. The undergraduate student was also required to give a weekly oral slideshow presentation of the research project in a small four-person group setting, where there was a graduate student present to give feedback. The student revised the slides every week and applied the feedback provided. The undergraduate student also practiced the same oral slideshow presentation in the weekly scheduled meetings with the faculty mentor as needed and submitted abstracts for, and virtually attended, the SSRP symposium and two national conferences to practice research communication to a diverse range of audiences. Successful implementation of this recommendation can be accomplished through weekly writing assignments, such as an abstract or small paragraph detailing the project, and through giving scientific talks (at least 10 to 12 minutes) formally and informally once a week to the faculty mentor, senior researchers, and peers. 6) Offer and encourage students to attend professional development workshops. To aid in professional development while conducting academic neuroscience research, the undergraduate student attended a weekly 1-or 2-hour professional development workshop offered by SSRP. These workshops included topics such as funding for graduate school research, graduate school (PhD) funding, what graduate school entails, scientific writing, and presenting workshops. For the successful implementation of this recommendation, it is important that institutions, programs, and faculty mentors offer these as weekly workshops and publicize them so that the undergraduate student can attend. 7) Direct students to collect and/or analyze data to advance the goals of the research project. The undergraduate student worked remotely for 5 hours per day (25 hours per week) on developing a methodological workflow for data analysis-in this case, testing and piloting multiple behavioral analysis software packages before arriving at an optimal program used to quantify mouse behavior. To do this, the student participated in the SSRP-required coding workshop week at the beginning of the remote program, where students were taught the Python programming language for 6 hours a day for a total of 30 hours that week, to ensure as much preparation for the remote research projects as possible, especially as many students did not have experience with coding. The student also sought external assistance on coding troubleshooting through online forums and through the SSRP Slack Channel, where coding workshop instructors were available to assist with troubleshooting coding errors. The drawback was that online forums were often too advanced for troubleshooting coding errors for coding beginners and troubleshooting coding errors via Slack messaging was often time-consuming. For this recommendation to be successfully followed, students who are in a remote program need to have access to adequate resources offering coding solutions that are at their coding level in order to troubleshoot. Additionally, students should have access to instructors who are proficient or experienced in these coding languages; coding office hours for beginners would be extremely helpful. To successfully benefit from progressing the remote research project through implementation of coding language(s), it is imperative that the student work on the project consistently. 8) Offer networking opportunities for students to interact with other faculty and trainees. Specific strategies ensured that the student was able to network with other students and faculty. The student attended bimonthly 30-minute office hours of graduate students to ask questions about graduate school, discuss research, and receive feedback on graduate school application materials. The student also e-mailed several faculty members to set up a 15-minute one-on-one meeting and eventually met with one of the faculty to discuss research and future graduate school plans. Finally, the student formed connections with other SSRP students during unscheduled SSRP hours. Additionally, the student took advantage of weekly workshops, responding to questions being asked by the presenter, having discussions with guest speakers such as faculty, and asking for clarification on topics that were being discussed. To successfully implement this recommendation, undergraduate students must take advantage of all opportunities to network with faculty and other students. It is also the institution's and program's responsibility to create as many opportunities as possible for students to enhance their communication and networking skills. This can be done by requiring students to invite five faculty members to a 15-minute one-on-one Zoom videoconferencing meeting; offering interactive workshops (1 hour per week) via Zoom videoconferencing that allow students the opportunity to speak up and ask questions of guest speakers and presenters; and offering weekly 30-minute office hours for undergraduate students to network with graduate students. 9) Have mentee maintain self-care to promote emotional and mental well-being. In order for the undergraduate student to maintain self-care to promote emotional and mental wellbeing, the student attended weekly virtual socials that were offered by the SSRP. These socials included playing online team games, watching movies, and socializing with other SSRP undergraduate students and graduate students in breakout rooms via Zoom videoconferencing. Additionally, the undergraduate student took breaks when needed from the computer when working remotely. The student made sure to get adequate sleep and eat healthy food in order to promote well-being. Most of all, the student took advantage of social networks during the COVID-19 pandemic by communicating with others via social media and video chatting. When feeling overwhelmed, the student communicated their struggles with the faculty mentor and with their social networks to ensure transparency and support. For this recommendation to be successfully executed, it is important that the student be able to practice self-care to relieve stress by taking some time off as needed and/ or leaning on support networks for help. Above all, it is important for institutions, programs, and mentors to be mindful that each student's situation is different and that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated already existing disparities. Transparency, mindfulness, and support must be provided for each student as many grapple with the uncertain outcomes associated with remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Having provided several tips and techniques to maintain the quality of biological research during the transition to the remote format during times of crisis, we call upon senior researchers and mentors, program directors, and university department leaders to take these recommendations under consideration in order to preserve UREs. Offering essential resources for undergraduate student success in research settings is crucial to increasing students' knowledge and propelling their academic careers. With COVID-19 affecting the lives of many, it is important to be mindful that each person's situation is different. We recommend that students communicate hardships or struggles that arise as a result of COVID-19 so that expectations can be reasonably adjusted to accommodate each student. This is important, as COVID-19 has proven to disproportionately affect those of specific socioeconomic status and those who are struggling with mental health issues, especially in higher education (2, 4) . Academic institutions must be considerate and flexible with students on a case-by-case basis during these uncertain times. Academic institutions can provide resources to help students mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in biological research.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been shown to significantly impact the magnitude and quality of research in many different ways. As we zoom into the future of academic science during times of crisis, it is essential to maintain best practices for undergraduates and for institutions to implement the highest caliber of research during remote work circumstances. Although COVID-19 has caused some major shifts in higher education, the primary goal of improving remote research for undergraduates can be accomplished through effective planning, collaboration, and transparency between undergraduates, mentors, and academic administrators to uphold these nine recommendations for the next generation of future scientists.

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