Supporting life and health sciences undergraduates in experimental design skills for a career in medical research

Introduction: There is a need for new medical researchers to support the implementation of the 2030 UK biological security strategy. Experimental design (ED) skills are vital to this goal. This study focused on the processes employed in Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) in the teaching of Scientific Methods and Statistics (SMS) undertaken by Human Biology (HB) and Biomedical Sciences (BMS) undergraduates.
Methods: ED teaching methods were reviewed in 2nd year HB and BMS classes using anonymous surveys containing Likert questions scored between 1 (strongly disagree) and 5 (strongly agree) for student perception of understanding & comfort with ED and preparedness for 3rd year research projects that employ these skills. Open questions allowed students to expand on their answers. Focus groups were conducted with 3rd year HB and BMS students, 3rd year project supervisors and module co-ordinators. Content analysis was conducted on open questions and focus group data. Likert scored questions were analysed using ANOVAs and t-tests.
Results: Understanding ED criteria increased significantly from years 1-2 (coinciding with the undertaking of the SMS module), no further increase was found between years 2-3. Student & supervisor focus groups identified application of knowledge in real life challenging.
Discussion: Application of ED is more difficult than understanding the basic tenets of Science given the higher order learning objectives associated with the subject. The ‘clean’ nature of examples used in class may mean students struggle when applying knowledge to real life scientific experimentation. Using ‘dirty’ data sets or gamification could contextualise learning to improve its application.