AI enabling computational biology
Project Overview
My project will integrate AI tools into lab instruction in the College of Biological Sciences (CBS) introductory lab courses required for all CBS students and majors: BIOL1961 and BIOL3004. Currently, students in lab are introduced to command line data analysis tools (such as R programming language) as a discipline specific tool for research. A subset of students will go on to complete a novel, course-based research project in the second semester that extensively uses those tools to analyze existing public human microbiome data to answer a student-generated research question. This project will integrate AI tools to help introduce students to learn command line coding, data analysis, statistics, and visualization. This will help students develop discipline-specific, career ready skills and lower barriers to learning a notoriously difficult and inaccessible skillset for biology students. The project will also create a custom AI powered chatbot that guides students towards analytical and coding approaches used in the applicable discipline of biology research. Lastly, the project will interrogate the relationship between student learning and the analytical tools used, asking whether using AI tools changes the sensemaking and cognitive load for students learning science process skills in biology labs.