Studentsourcing—Aggregating and reusing data from a practical cell biology course

Abstract

Practical courses mimic experimental research and may generate valuable data. Yet, data that is generated by students during a course is often lost as there is no centrally organized collection and storage of the data. The loss of data prevents its reuse. To provide access to these data, I present an approach that I call studentsourcing. It collects, aggregates, and reuses data that is generated by students in a practical course on cell biology. The course runs annually, and I have recorded the data that was generated by >100 students over 3 years. Two use cases illustrate how the data can be aggregated and reused either for the scientific record or for teaching. As the data is obtained by different students, in different groups, over different years, it is an excellent opportunity to discuss experimental design and modern data visualization methods such as the superplot. The first use case demonstrates how the data can be presented as an online, interactive dashboard, providing real-time data of the measurements. The second use case shows how central data storage provides a unique opportunity to get precise quantitative data due to the large sample size. Both use cases illustrate how data can be effectively aggregated and reused.