Biophysical Society Bulletin | July-August 2024

Communities

Congratulations to the Winners of the Biophysical Journal Poster Competition The Biophysical Journal sponsors poster awards at each BPS Conference to highlight and support the work being done by the next generation of researchers. At the Molecular Biophysics of Membranes Conference, 26 posters were considered for the awards, and 4 presenters were

selected for their excellent research. Student Winners and Poster Titles:

Beatrix Goggin , University of Auckland, New Zealand Do Antidepressants Modulate Biological Membranes?

Katelyn Kraichely , University of Virginia Health System, USA The Two Snare Motifs of Snap25 are Structurally and Functionally Distinct Daniel Milshteyn , University of California, San Diego, USA High Pressure Biophysics for Dissecting Roles of Non-Bilayer Lipids in Biological Membranes Ryan Schuck , University of Tennessee, USA Cholesterol Blocks Oncogenic Activity and Self-Assembly of the EPHA2 Receptor

Biophysical Journal poster award winners (from left to right) Ryan Schuck, Daniel Milshteyn, Beatrix Goggin, and Katelyn Kraichely, along with conference Organizing Committee Co-Chair Syma Khalid.

Insights from PUI Network Meeting The Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI) Net work is a group for members who are interested in or currently building their careers at a PUI. The Network hosts various events to connect like-minded peers. It was proud to host a Catalyst Idea Mash, a recurring virtual networking event, on May 21. These sessions provide an informal space for peers around the world to meet and share ideas, triumphs, and frustrations related to a career at a PUI. At this session, attendees discussed their experiences with artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom, along with the ways that it can be adapted for and integrated into undergraduate educa tion.

and oral discussion if possible. For exams, several pro fessors discussed the importance of in-class assess ments with either an oral or on-paper component. Despite these hurdles, AI also presents unique op portunities. In this vein, the attendees at this session shared a few ways they have found to reinforce a student’s learning process by incorporating AI. For ex ample, asking students to generate content, such as a lab report, with AI and then edit it and submit a revised version. This requires them to summarize their infor mation concisely and to “peer review” by themselves. Similarly, another suggested workshop asks students to generate citations for a topic by using AI, which the students must verify by using traditional methods, giving students experience reviewing primary sources in a much more dynamic way. An important undercurrent of this discussion was that while the capabilities of AI are extremely impressive, it is a tool that is defined for better or ill by how well it is used. Many students are exploring this technology already, and educators must adapt to continue pro viding a high-quality learning experience. If they do, the advantages may be far greater than any potential challenges along the way.

AI presents a clear challenge to educators everywhere, in that it simplifies or subverts many of the established evaluation tools used to ensure that students are genuinely learning. Given the difficulty of consistently detecting AI usage, updating assessment methods was a large part of this discussion. This chiefly involved adjustments to the structure of assignments, placing more emphasis on citations, logical reasoning, and comprehension checks. For assignments such as lab reports or projects, some attendees found success with draft-based tasks that require continual, iterative sub missions, along with the incorporation of peer review

July/August 2024

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THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY