Meeting Abstract
Learners at ANGUS, a 2-week summer workshop on analysis of next-generation sequencing, range from undergraduate to faculty, may be novice, self-taught, or pre-trained, and hail from multiple countries. They reflect a full cross section of biological disciplines. Feedback for this course has been overwhelmingly positive in its 8-year history, but the extent to which this reflects effective instruction is unclear. It is also not clear whether all learners are served equally well. We distributed surveys, conducted interviews and classroom observations, and collected in-class feedback from learners. We also surveyed the volunteer instructors and helpers. These data suggest that satisfaction is based on different criteria for learners of different backgrounds. We note interesting variation in the ways in which learners conceptualize community as a resource for future support. Further perspectives on the value of participation to instructors and helpers, as well as support and challenges specific to novice learners and non-native English speakers will be presented. Ongoing retrospective study and plans for future intensive and sustainable assessment of this program will also be outlined. While this work arises out of an unusual setting – training biologists of all stripes in computational skills – the challenges faced in assessing this program are ubiquitous. The heterogeneity of this learner population and the flexibility of the workshop setting offer a unique opportunity to think expansively about how education creates value for diverse participants and the institutions that thrive on their work.
