A case study to engage students in the research design and ethics of high-throughput metagenomics

Case studies present students with an opportunity to learn and apply course content through problem solving and critical thinking. Supported by the High-throughput Discovery Science & Inquiry-based Case Studies for Today's Students (HITS) Research Coordination Network, our interdisciplinary team designed, implemented, and assessed two case study modules entitled "You Are What You Eat." Collectively, the case study modules present students with an opportunity to engage in experimental research design and the ethical considerations regarding microbiome research and society. In this manuscript, we provide instructors with tools for adopting or adapting the research design and/or the ethics modules. To date, the case has been implemented using two modalities (remote and in-person) in three courses (Microbiology, Physiology, and Neuroscience), engaging over 200 undergraduate students. Our assessment data demonstrate gains in content knowledge and students' perception of learning following case study implementation. Furthermore, when reflecting on our experiences and student feedback, we identified ways in which the case study could be modified for different settings. In this way, we hope that the "You Are What You Eat" case study modules can be implemented widely by instructors to promote problem solving and critical thinking in the traditional classroom or laboratory setting when discussing next-generation sequencing and/or metagenomics research.