Disseminating Molecular Biology for Environmental Engineers with NSF CCLI Support

For the past five years, more than fifty undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Cincinnati have participated in a term-length course, CEE69 Molecular Biology for Environmental Systems. Using a self-paced approach, teams of students complete laboratory exercises to answer open ended questions about the composition of the microbiological community in an environmental sample. With the financial support of a Adaptation and Implementation (A&I) track grant from the NSF Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement program the course from Cincinnati is being taught at four partner institutions. This paper highlights the unique challenges of adapting the existing course to other institutions as well as the formation of a meta-assessment program comparing institution-specific student assessment as well as an assessment of the capabilities of the instructors to successfully adapt the materials.