Dental News - Study shows student access to personal microbiome data increases class engagement

Dental Tribune International

Wed. 2. May 2018

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PROVO, Utah, U.S.: Researchers from Brigham Young University (BYU) in the U.S. have found that students are more engaged in course material and learning when they have access to their own biological data. Students enrolled in undergraduate science courses were able to use their own microbiome information in completing assignments, and the scientists reported that this integration of personal microbiome analysis in the classroom significantly improved interest.

“Whenever you can have students looking at something about themselves, it increases their desire to understand and also hopefully what they take away from the class,” said study co-author Dr. Steve Johnson, Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology at BYU’s College of Life Sciences.

As part of the study, Johnson and fellow microbiology and molecular biology researcher Dr. Scott Weber at BYU and their colleagues monitored the attitudes of juniors and seniors enrolled in undergraduate immunology, molecular biology and genomics courses with a two-week microbiome unit. At the beginning of the semester, students were given the option to use their own personal information gained through a microbiome kit or to use demo data. Gathered from swabs taken from the mouth, nose, skin and gut, their microbiome data were sequenced, and the students were then able to look at either the raw data, which they could use for further research, or the analysis given on their microbiomes.

To measure the results of personal microbiome analysis as a means of improving science education, a survey was sent to the students before, during and after the microbiome unit to determine how and if their interest and engagement were affected. Students who analyzed their own microbiome data reported spending 31 percent more time researching the microbiome than students who used demo data did. Students who used the kits also had increased confidence in their scientific reasoning ability and data interpretation skills and found the overall course significantly more interesting and engaging.

“I felt more personally invested in learning about names of bacteria when I knew that things like Bacteroidetes and Akkermansia could be protective to my health,” said Josie Tueller, a college senior who participated in the study.

Weber and Johnson hope that finding more opportunities to apply these practices in other disciplines will further increase student engagement in science education and be an effective tool for inspiring lifelong learning.

The oral microbiome, along with the gut microbiome, is one of the two most diverse microbiotas in the human body. The Human Oral Microbiome Database states that there are approximately 700 prokaryotic taxa that have been identified as existing in the oral cavity, so the information available to students was coming from a very diverse source.

The study, titled “Personal microbiome analysis improves student engagement and interest in Immunology, Molecular Biology, and Genomics undergraduate courses,” was published in PLOS ONE on April 11, 2018.

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