There is no time like the present to develop alternative, yet meaningful experiences that expose undergraduates to research. Mentored research is associated with increased persistence and contributes to the broadening of participation in the STEM workforce,1 but these experiences often have limited enrollments, are geographically bound, and require intensive resources such as significant time for one-on-one mentoring, laboratory infrastructure, and demand appreciable funding.2 On top of this, there are students who lack awareness of and do not have the support or confidence to apply to research programs, meaning there are significant barriers that make these experiences out of reach and further hinder efforts to broaden participation in research.3
The Genomic Education team at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), a non-profit biomedical research institute specializing in genetics and genomics, is dedicated to developing programming for early-career scientists and hosts 40 undergraduates every summer on our two research campuses in a long-standing mentored research experience, the Summer Student Program (SSP). Aware of the limited enrollment of SSP, we designed a two-week virtual short course offered every summer that leverages technology and utilizes low-cost, scalable solutions to introduce undergraduates from across the country to the research process and to careers in biosciences. The course began as a pilot with 26 participants in 2021 and since has been successfully scaled to accommodate over 200 students. To ensure the course is highly accessible, Cancer Genomics has an open-enrollment and no prerequisites aside from a suggested year of college courses. Over five iterations, 592 students from 208 unique US colleges and universities have completed the course, including a large percentage of students attending schools that lack research infrastructure.4
Contextualized Virtual Inquiry
Cancer Genomics is offered at no cost to participants and meets synchronously for one-hour sessions over Zoom, accommodating students with other obligations such as jobs or required coursework and is accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. The synchronous sessions include a mix of didactic lessons covering the biology of cancer cells and approaches to studying cancer genomes as well as invited speakers who are researchers or healthcare professionals who incorporate genomics into their work highlighting research and biosciences career paths. To increase participant engagement through contextualization, we designed and embedded a web-based inquiry project where students assume the role of a clinician analyzing a fictional patient’s genomic tumor testing results that identified gene variants that could be contributing to cancer progression. To ultimately devise a personalized treatment strategy for their patient that they present to their peers, participants learn and apply foundational concepts such as the consequence of changes to the DNA sequence, protein structure and function, among others. While we have updated and refined the course to offer different levels of engagement to further increase accessibility,4 typically over 100 students complete the inquiry project each summer.
Challenge: How can we leverage technology to support over 100 students with diverse backgrounds and preparations as they engage with a fully virtual inquiry project with few touchpoints?
Solution 1: Leveling the Playing Field
With open enrollment and minimal prerequisites, the preparations of participants vary drastically, and the course participants include those who have completed a handful of two-year college courses yet to determine their course of study, those who are nearing graduation and have experience working with genomic data, and everyone between. With only a few one-hour didactic lectures, it is impossible to cover every concept in detail, and therefore, asynchronous supplemental instruction must fill the gaps. To do this, we have optimized the organization of the learning management system (LMS) to: (1) create opportunity for students to assess their understanding of concepts relevant to the course and inquiry project, and (2) provide additional resources to fill knowledge gaps. The LMS is divided into five themed modules aligned to the didactic lessons, guest speaker topics, and stage of the inquiry project. The modules are released to students sequentially throughout the course and all include several common elements: a knowledge check, a discussion board reflection, and additional materials. The knowledge check serves as a formative assessment that gives students a score that never counts towards a grade. Additional materials include short videos, interactive digital content (eBooks), and articles pertaining to the module theme providing supplemental instruction on foundational concepts or more thorough explanations of these concepts. In the 2024 course, the most frequently accessed resources included an interactive eBook detailing the vocabulary and basic concepts relevant to conducting genomic research, an article that augments the hallmarks of cancer didactic lecture, and videos describing the use of next-generation sequencing when taking a bioinformatics approach to investigating cancer cells.
By diving deeper into the LMS access reports and analytics detailing the frequency of interactions (clicks) and downloads, we can estimate the extent to which participants used supplemental resources. Looking specifically at the first module, an overview of genomic research, the average score for the first attempt on the formative assessment was 80%, which increased to 95% for the second attempt. Interestingly, there is an inverse relationship between the score of the first attempt and the number of times the students interacted with an eBook resource detailing foundational vocabulary and concepts before making a second attempt. While we cannot confirm if they accessed resources outside of the LMS, these analytics suggest that students engaged more deeply with our provided resources if they showed a lack of understanding based on their initial assessment score.
Solution in short: Formative assessments guide students to our resources that can fill knowledge gaps.
“The most relevant part [of the course] for me was the resources provided such as articles and videos to get a better understanding of the material.” – 2025 Participant
Solution 2: Project Scaffolding & Rapid Feedback
Course participants opting to complete the inquiry project are divided into sections of about 30 students and then subdivided into peer groups of four or five based on time zone to facilitate collaboration. In their groups, participants work through three project checkpoints that guide them through publicly available tools and databases to investigate gene and protein function, cancer statistics, clinical significance of genetic variants, and more (Figure 1). Each of the three checkpoints includes a step-by-step protocol prompting participants to locate specific pieces of information and data, and each culminates with a written synthesis summarizing the data that will go into a final written patient genomic tumor testing report.
Figure 1. The inquiry project is scaffolded using guided checkpoints. At the start of the course, participants are provided a blank genomic testing report naming gene variants identified in their fictional patient’s cancer. Using checkpoints that guide them through the navigation of online tools and databases, in groups, the students identify the function and expression of each gene (Checkpoint 1), elucidate the consequence of DNA sequence changes (Checkpoint 2), and determine variant clinical significance as well as outline a possible treatment strategy (Checkpoint 3). Click here to enlarge.
Because the course is only two weeks long, it is vital to provide rapid feedback, which we accomplish through shared documents. At the start of the first week, we share a folder containing checkpoint templates and other files needed for the inquiry projects with each group. The shared documents themselves create a platform for collaborative work while eliminating submission issues. Instructors use the comment feature to provide feedback that all group members can see. Any work included in the shared document at the checkpoint deadline will be read and feedback is given within a day. Additionally, presentation slides and written reports are also competed on shared documents and instructors provide feedback on drafts as part of the third checkpoint.
Solution in short: The inquiry project is scaffolded into guided checkpoints provided as shared documents that promote rapid feedback and do not need to be formally submitted.
“The way the checkpoints were designed was really useful. Being walked through specific tasks was helpful for understanding the concepts and applications and the steps were very straightforward. As a result, the final project report was way less overwhelming.” – 2024 Participant
Solution 3: Just-In-Time Support
With over 100 students completing the inquiry project on databases largely unfamiliar to them prior to the course, it is expected that students would encounter navigation issues or simply get stuck. To prevent an inundation of questions, we followed guidelines for making highly accessible, effective short videos that serve as just-in-time support for students as they are completing the inquiry project.5 The videos are embedded directly into the checkpoints at each corresponding step and provide a walk-through of each database highlighting specific features and their navigation (Figure 2). Over four course iterations including these tutorial videos, 73% of participants report using the videos and of those users nearly all indicated they found the videos very or moderately useful.
Figure 2. Video tutorials are embedded directly into the project checkpoints. Click here to enlarge.
Consistent with best practices, we include support in additional modalities including written tutorials with screenshots as well as live opportunities in the form of office hours and small group synchronous sessions. Office hour times and Zoom links are also directly linked to each checkpoint document as well as instructor email addresses. Student who responded to our post-evaluation survey in 2024 indicated that they strongly agree (63%) or agree (37%) that they had their questions answered or received helpful responses.4 Yet, despite the large class size, instructors receive very few questions over email suggesting checkpoint-integrated supports and other touchpoints reduce overall email burden.
Solution in short: We created just-in-time support for students as they work through their inquiry projects asynchronously preventing an inundation of student questions and encouraging resourcefulness.
“The tutorials were the strongest tools I used in this course.” – 2023 Participant
Challenges Overcome
We recently published outcomes for the 2024 course that indicate Cancer Genomics not only positively impacts participant interest in science, but also effectively illustrates the process of science. Participants reported large gains in understanding how scientists think and solve real problems, and the experience prepared them for more demanding research.4 And while in-person mentored research may be the gold standard, we have developed low-cost, viable solutions to the challenges presented when creating high enrollment, accessible experiences that effectively introduce undergraduates to research.
If you are designing a large enrollment course, either virtual or in-person, and want to include inquiry, capitalize on the features of commonly available technology such as the LMS and a shared document system. Auto-graded formative assessments and posted resources fill knowledge gaps, guided checkpoints break the project into digestible pieces, just-in-time tutorials encourage independence during inquiry with few touchpoints, and shared documents promote group work and rapid feedback. It is worth the investment to design accessible resources that make running an inquiry project at scale less overwhelming for the students and instructors!
Additional Resources
Virtual Cancer Genomics Program: The Summer 2025 program was updated to include two options: The Summer Institute which is the full course along with the inquiry project, and the Short Course, which provides more flexibility for students who have other obligations. There is a section of the Summer Institute that provides two-year college students additional information on laboratory research and career paths in biosciences.
JAX Genomics Education: Learn more about JAX Genomic Education! The JAX Genomic Education (GE) team develops programs and offers hands-on research training for a variety of audiences. JAX GE is committed to creating educational programs for students, clinicians, researchers at all stages, and science educators.
Acknowledgements
The author owes many thanks to members of the Genomic Education team at JAX who made the development and continue to make the implementation of the Virtual Cancer Genomics Program for Undergraduates possible. This program relies on support from the Cancer Research Training & Education Coordination Core at The Jackson Laboratory Cancer Center and funding from The Jackson Laboratory Director’s Innovation Fund supported the creation of the pilot course. Sarah Wojiski, Marianne Goossens, and Emaly Piecuch contributed to the design of the original pilot; Jens Rueter provided guidance on the creation of the patient report project and continues to contribute ethical and clinical input; Adam McLean provides technical support and LMS guidance; and Paige Tanner and Alison Kieffer contribute to course promotion. Sarah Wojiski, Alexander Arnuk, Maeva Devoucoux, and Brittany Angarola are dedicated course instructors.
Author(s)
