Minority Undergraduate Outreach

A major outreach effort of the Duke Center for Systems Biology (DCSB) has been the implementation of a complex genetics course at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). NCCU is a historically black university located in Durham, near Duke's campus. After developing a course curriculum, procuring instructors from several Duke departments, and recruiting NCCU students, DCSB pioneered this course at NCCU in the fall semester of 2009.

Entitled "Human Diseases & Plant Stress: Understanding Complex Genetic Traits," the course was designed for upper-level undergraduate biology majors at NCCU.  The course was co-taught in 2009. 2010 and 2011 by DCSB faculty and postdoctoral fellows. The faculty liaison at NCCU is microbiologist Daniel Williams, who helps to coordinate the class lectures, field trips and student presentations.

The student learning objectives in the course are to describe the nature of complex genetic traits in humans and plants, and to read and present the primary literature in the field. The guest lectures cover topics involving analysis of complex genetic traits, with examples based on current research.  Throughout the semester, students participate in problem-solving activities in class, reflect on content by writing entries on the course blog and prepare oral presentations based on primary research literature.  The course also includes field trips to Duke University Sequencing, and Imaging Facilities.

An informal evaluation session with the students has revealed that they gained a deeper understanding of complex traits and that they developed an increased capability to read, comprehend and present primary literature.

DCSB plans to continue teaching this outreach course at NCCU in the following years, and is currently developing ways to make the course material available more broadly.