The University of Nebraska at Omaha has received a Research Coordination Network - Undergraduate Biology Education award for their project entitled Network for Integrating Bioinformatics into Life Sciences Education (NIBLSE). The long-term goal of this project is to establish bioinformatics as an essential component of undergraduate life sciences curricula nationwide. The field of bioinformatics, which uses techniques from computer science to store, manage, and analyze large biological data sets, has arisen to meet the challenges associated with such large data sets. It is now an important interdisciplinary field that is central to studying many aspects of biology, yet it is not an integral part of most biology curricula nationwide. The current project is informed by the results of the successful conference held by the PI team for their RCN-UBE Incubator project (DBI-134559).
In order to achieve full integration of bioinformatics into undergraduate life sciences education, NIBLSE is establishing a permanent network of investigators committed to this goal. The Leadership Team and Steering Committee are using the literature and their collective expertise to identify, vet, and refine a set of bioinformatics core competencies for inclusion in life sciences curricula. They are also identifying and vetting assessment tools that align with the core competencies and that will facilitate educational research related to the integration of bioinformatics into biology curricula. Finally, they are developing systems to organize and simplify dissemination of curricular materials, assessment tools, and professional development resources. The materials and resources developed by the network are having a broad impact on undergraduate education in the life sciences by enabling educators nationwide to effectively apply bioinformatics knowledge and skills to their teaching and research. This project is funded jointly by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education in support of efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Education: A Call to Action http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/.
