“Use of an Online Discussion Board in Improving Student Confidence in PCR Primer Design” is the title of the ASMCUE 2022 recorded nine-minute session I watched tonight. Nancy Magill is in the Biotechnology Program at Indiana University. They teach the T315 Biotechnology Lab that is required for their Biotechnology majors and has molecular biology as a prerequisite. It is the first biology lab that many students take, according to Magill. It is a project-based lab that uses Bacillus subtilis to do a research project about enzymes in laundry detergent. Part of the DNA project is to design primers and use them. They use the amyE gene of Bacillus sp. that has high homology that helps with primer design. Magill mentioned that students are given one good example of primers. Students are provided four examples of primer sets. Examples of primer sets with issues include a reverse primer “as a direct match.” This is a common mistake in my experience. Example three has “too much diversity, too little homology.” After the examples, the second stage of the activity consists of the forum interactions. They then grade primers and the discussion board. This approach is an interactive peer review after a training experience with the examples. I will have to keep this in mind for primer design.
