Table 3.

Frequency analysis of alumni responses to the question “Please comment on your GEP experience: What was good about it, and what changes would have made it better?”

Comment	Frequency	Examplesa
Enjoyment (literally saying “I enjoyed the course” or a thought much like it).	42	I enjoyed getting to experience the ownership of a portion of a project (my fosmid) while still being able to have the opportunity to work in a group setting and learn with my peers.
		I enjoyed participating in the GEP program because it allowed myself and a partner to really take a hands on approach to genomic education. The project was ours, had our name on it and we really felt like we contributed to the science. The process was long and at times difficult but overall, I enjoyed being part of it.
		I really enjoyed the feeling of participating in a meaning [sic] research project. In addition, I think it encouraged active participation in the class and encouraged partners to work diligently together to achieve a common goal.
Research-like (comments about how either the topic or the work made the student feel like a researcher as opposed to a passive student).	10	Working on near-independent projects in the small-group setting really set the course apart from other college experiences; it is certainly the closest a course ever came to emulating an actual research project.
		I liked that we were doing real, primary research, working directly with original sequence data.
		It was nice to actually be doing science “first-hand.”
Important or significant (similar to faculty comments that it was useful to be engaged in significant research).	6	I liked that what I did actually counted!
		It was very rewarding to take a class in which your work truly has an impact on the scientific community in comparison to most other classes where the learning is essentially to achieve personal means of learning the information and performing well on the examinations.
		I thought it was great to contribute to something practical and useful.
Confusion to clarity (comments that the early part of the course was confusing or frustrating but then learning led to clarity and understanding).	6	From what I recall, it was initially confusing as I got familiar with the websites and software required to analyze fosmids. Once I got going, though, it was like solving a puzzle, and I was satisfied with my work when the project was over. I can't think of anything in particular I would like to change.
		Frustration can easily occur when looking for a your fosmid. However, struggling through this research is also the best part because it is the best way to learn and understand your research.
		Constantly it was a trial and error for figuring out which key to use or tab, but once I knew how to use it, it was very easy but for the first couple of times it was confusing.
Relevant (was relevant to science or to grad school or career).	8	I think genomics is becoming a more relevant field and every student with an interest in bioinformatics, cell/molecular biology, or genetics should be exposed to the GEP course.
		I really enjoyed learning how to use all of the online bioinformatics resources. They have been extremely useful in my graduate studies. I think a stronger emphasis on annotation should be made due to the advances in sequencing technology [that] will probably make finishing obsolete in the future.
		The GEP experience was very helpful in introducing me to the field of bioinformatics and its associated tools. I consistently make use of the skills I gained while taking the course now, during the completion of my PhD program. It also helped to improve communicating scientific data, as I presented my results during the class and will also be a coauthor in an upcoming scientific article.
Realistic (the research was on a “real” or “authentic” problem as opposed to a scripted lab).	16	I liked that we were doing real, primary research, working directly with original sequence data.
		Gave a chance to get students involved in real-world work in the field of molecular biology and bioinformatics. Interesting and a great way to problem solve.
		Having a hand in generating real primary research as an undergraduate gave me so much more independence in my view of science. I did feel like I owned my project and was contributing to the greater field of knowledge.
Independence (working and thinking independently).	22	It really involved a lot of independent thought and problem solving ability. I enjoyed the challenge and I enjoyed the fact that I was contributing to the knowledge base.
		I truly enjoyed working independently on our GEP project. It was the only course I had in my undergraduate career that had novel research findings and did not require work with a partner. It was somewhat difficult to keep a “notebook” during the course, though I believe that this is a reflection of how parts of research are becoming more computational and are not as conducive to a traditional daily log of research.
		Working independently (separate from the professor) on a project where the answers were not previously known was an invaluable lesson about the scientific process.
Learned a lot.	14	I learned more about genomics in this class than I did in any other class I took in school.
		I really did learn an immense amount of information while taking the course. Before taking this course, I had no idea how to annotate genes of any specimen and had never heard of websites such as pubmed, NCBI, flybase, etc. This GEP course really exposed me to a whole new topic within what we had learned in high school. I really enjoyed being able to understand the complex, yet stimulating GEP information in this course.
		I learned a lot about genomics, bioinformatics tools and about research. I think that it was a great experience.
Interesting.	5	The experience that I received increased my interest in bioinformatics.
		It was interesting to learn how to use the interactive tools and fun to discover new genes. It made me feel as if I was a part of something important.
		At first, I was somewhat confused as to what it was that we (my partner and I) had to do, but with time it became more and more interesting and fun.
Teamwork is important.	4	Teamwork was good and the feeling of contributing to science.
		Working as a team with my partner was fun. I learned a lot about sequencing.
		Great experience of working together as a team and the results were perfect.
Negative (comments about time and clarity of instruction).	36	We should have spent more time doing the project. It was frustrating to spend all that time learning how to complete the project and then only doing one fosmid.
		I feel there needed to be more time spent introducing and really explaining the subject matter. I felt thrown into it and it only tangentially related to my course material.
		The entire process should have been explained more. I was not sure what I was doing.

^aVerbatim sample quotes are shown for each category.