a leap of faith welcome to the first issue of the journal of forensic science education. our vision is for the journal to showcase the work of forensic science educators. we feel that this first issue sets us sturdily on that path. the journal has been a goal of cofse for years and it has taken our team two years of weekly meeting to produce this first issue. in this issue, there are several excellent papers by authors from seven institutions. we appreciate the authors going through this process of learning new software and the platform with us. we hope that you read and enjoy each article. readers, we welcome your input. we know there may be things we can improve and we look forward to your feedback and ideas. we welcome guest editors who would like to edit special issues. we look forward to your ideas. please contact us if you are interested in serving in this capacity. finally, thank you to the community of forensic educators for supporting the journal and making this first issue possible. we couldn’t do it without you. thank you, adrienne brundage kelly elkins lawrence quarino continuing to be connected when classed ended for winter break, we were still able to travel to visit family and friends, shop, and go to museums and sporting events. what a different a semester makes. how many of us planned to transition our classes, both lectures and labs, online this spring? our response to a worldwide viral pandemic has required just that. the spring semester has changed k-12, college and university courses as most schools moved face-to-face courses online. educators everywhere faced the challenge to master web conferencing tools and course management systems and remotely mentor research. the changes have spurred innovation and faculty have found approaches and tools they will retain as they move back into the classroom, whenever that may be. jfse challenges forensic educators to disseminate best practices, for traditional and online education. we look forward to receiving your submissions once you have had time to reflect upon your work and organize your thoughts into a paper. this issue includes several classroom and laboratory activities, some of which can be modified for online learning. we hope you enjoy the issue and continue reading. best regards, adrienne brundage, ph.d kelly m. elkins, ph.d lawrence quarino, ph.d., d-abc tri-editors-in-chief journal of forensic science education we are indexed! the past year has led to many developments for the journal. we applied for – and received – an international standard serial number (issn) from the u.s. library of congress. the journal of forensic science education is now indexed by the directory of open access journals (doaj). jfse has always been an open-access journal. readers can freely access the papers published in jfse from the website. there are no open access or page charges. furthermore, authors retain copyright of their work. in the past, the published papers were stamped with "© 2020 journal forensic science education” and it was also included in our paper template. as authors retain all rights, the template and papers now are stamped with “2021 journal forensic science education.” we have updated the ‘copyright and licensing’ section of the website. we apologize for the confusion. we assure you we are committed to publishing excellent contributions from all forensic educators and their advances in forensic education and making your papers accessible. the current issue includes articles encompassing many of the forensic disciplines including crime scene investigation and trace analysis, serology, entomology, instrumental analysis, and forensic education research needs. keep reading and sharing your work. we’re glad you are in our community and we look forward to publishing and promoting your work. kelly m. elkins, ph.d. lawrence quarino, ph.d., d-abc adrienne brundage, ph.d. tri-editors-in-chief journal of forensic science education scholarship in times of crisis over the past eight months, many of us have had to change how we teach and innovate how we deliver the content in our courses to our students. we have created virtual lab experiences. we have created virtual learning modules. we have recorded or delivered our lectures synchronously using virtual conferencing platforms. we have implemented virtual labs delivered by commercial education service entities. we have navigated remote assessment and testing. we have mentored student bioinformatics, data analysis, survey and statistical research that utilized previously collected data when we couldn’t use our labs. this issue highlights your creative innovations for instruction of large lectures online, newly developed virtual labs and teaching tools for instruction of instrumental analysis and crime scene, tools for accessing dna data in cloud servers and virtual analysis, and assessments of student learning in virtual education in a special section, “scholarship in times of crisis.” also in this issue you will find papers reporting upon course-based undergraduate research experiences, or cures, which have been found to be effective in engaging more undergraduate students and a more diverse population of undergraduates in research. central to the journal’s mission of being a resource for all forensic educators, there are papers focused on education in the fields of large enrollment introductory forensic courses, crime scene investigation, forensic biology and instrumental analysis. keep reading and contact us with your feedback, submissions and ideas. best regards, adrienne brundage, ph.d, d-abfe kelly m. elkins, ph.d lawrence quarino, ph.d., d-abc tri-editors-in-chief journal of forensic science education j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education coyle commentary skin biology for the forensic scientist this is a brief commentary on a recently published article with a surprising finding that indicates recent touch dna from a handler is more detectable than the wearer of the item (sessa, f, salerno, m, bertozzi, g, messina, g, ricci, p, ledda, c et al. touch dna: impact of handling time on touch deposit and evaluation of different recovery techniques: an experimental study. scientific reports 2019; 9: 9542.). touch dna has been studied since 1997 and more than twenty years later, the ability to predict the timing of dna deposit has remained elusive and variable. the sessa et al. article is an interesting scientific study that suggests recent touch could be the more predominant and successfully genotyped profile. an improved understanding of basic cellular processes like cell division and organ development enhance our understanding of the types of biological evidence left behind at a crime scene. invisible or barely visible traces such as touch dna samples, saliva stains, vaginal fluids and latent prints all share a common element, the epithelial cell. the developmental processes behind epithelial cell initiation, maturation and apoptosis are amazingly well regulated cellular processes underlying the development of the largest human organ, commonly known as the skin. in 1956, turnover rates were studied in the skin epidermis and intestinal epithelium by hooper (1). mobile cell populations in blood samples were identified as having a rapid turnover rate compared to most fixed tissues except the skin epidermis. the epidermis is characterized by stratified tightly adherent cells arranged in layers where mitosis is restricted to the lower layers. in order to maintain the correct thickness of the skin, the number of dividing cells must equal the number of senescing cells and must move from the origin that is deeper in the epidermis as a coordinated tissue unit to the surface. india ink injection studies confirmed this theory; the cell layers of the epidermis are displaced together and differentiate together as a coordinated event. studies of cell turnover included an estimated turnover rate of thirteen days for cells on the forearm. environmental factors may affect the turnover rate and include calorie load, nutrition, hormones and temperature. overall, the epidermis is a coordinated cell renewal system designed to protect an individual and eliminate cells that become damaged or infected on a regular basis. dna from fingerprints was first reported in nature by van oorschot et al. in 1997 (2). since then, the pursuit of the characterization of how dna is deposited and transferred has been consistently studied but remains elusive. the relevance to forensic science education is obvious from a recent scientific reports article that describes the unusual finding of simulated handler contact with clothing being more successful in yielding dna results than the recovery of the wearer dna from the clothing (3). how is it that this scientific finding could be inverted from our expectation based on length of contact? of the total 240 samples obtained from the brassiere that had been sterilized and then worn for more than 12 hours, surprisingly only 5 samples were detected as the wearer having the major profile. the full dna profile from the handler processed for touch dna was detected at a high rate (87.6% to 99.24%). this finding was regardless of handler time or dna collection method. one excellent explanation for better detection of the most recent but likely less abundant handler dna in this study is the effect on cellular and free dna and exposure to the environment. the environment contains moisture which facilitates bacterial action. bacteria and human skin contain enzymes called dnases that are protective and designed to break down foreign dna on the skin surface that could be infective. a dnase enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of phosphodiester linkages in the dna molecule resulting in a degradation of the double helix to single nucleotides. single nucleotides are not detectable with standard human identification test methods [e.g. short tandem repeat (str) analysis]. this could be one scientific explanation for the observation of less wearer dna in this particular study. it would be highly interesting to place a “clock” on the dna degradation mechanism by dnases to explain the high level of variability of dna recovery from different handled items that have been published in a variety of scientific studies; an interesting future direction of inquiry on touch dna (4, 5). heather miller coyle1 1forensic science department, henry c. lee college of criminal justice & forensic sciences, university of new haven, 300 boston post road, west haven, ct 06516 usa references 1. hooper ce. cell turnover in epithelial populations. journal of histochemistry & cytochemistry 1956;4(6):531-540. 2. van oorschot rah, jones mk. dna fingerprints from fingerprints. nature 1997;387:767. 3. sessa f, salerno m, bertozzi g, messina g, ricci p, ledda c, et al. touch dna: impact of handling time on touch deposit and evaluation of different recovery techniques: an experimental study. scientific reports 2019;9:9542. 4. meakin g, jamieson a. dna transfer: review and implications for casework. forensic sci int genet 2013;7(4):434-443. j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education coyle 5. van oorschot rah, szkuta b, meakin ge, kokshoorn b, goray m. dna transfer in forensic science: a review. forensic sci int genet 2018;38:140-166. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education kochis commentary how covid has transformed the landscape of forensic science education during this unprecedented time in education, forensic science teachers across the globe have been faced with the added burden of changing their in-class curriculum to an online format. this could be frustrating for the beginning teacher; however, i have been teaching for almost 20 years and find technology an exciting tool to use in the classroom. i teach honors forensic science to seniors at lasalle-peru high school in illinois. my background with a master’s degree in forensic science has allowed me the privilege of teaching forensic science at my school. during the pre-covid era my curriculum involved lectures; webbased assignments based on criminals in the news; laboratory experiments; demonstrations and in-class visits from experts in the fields of criminal justice, forensic science, and law. since i belong to the international association of identification (iai) i have attended many conferences to keep up to date on the latest technology to bring back to my students in the classroom. during this pandemic because the conferences are on hold, i have searched the internet for many creative ideas to transform laboratory experiments and research into an online format. i have a few examples of how i was able to transform my curriculum into an online format to keep it interesting while still holding the students to the highest standards. my high school is currently in full remote learning. we have been utilizing google classroom and google meet to reach our students. students are required to be in attendance for all 7 class periods for only 33 minutes each. this has been another obstacle that teachers have had to face this school year because it cuts instruction time down by over 20 minutes. for the lecture part of the class i post my powerpoint notes in the classroom page. i share this with them while i go over the material in class, which is similar to how i would present the material in class before the pandemic. i still require the students to interact with me during this time. the web-based assignments which are now posted in the classroom page are research-based about people with crimes that relate to the forensic topic studied at that time. we then spend some time reviewing the importance of those cases. in class laboratory experiments before covid have always been a favorite with the students. i have had to modify all of lab experiments in one way or another. i worked with the technology department at the school to help me make pre-lab video demonstrations. some were made in the years before covid and include students, administration, and professionals to demonstrate the material and proper procedures for performing the lab in class. this year i have made videos of myself demonstrating the procedures, sometimes taking close-ups of the evidence and results so they can answer analysis questions. sometimes i require the students to perform the lab at home. an example of a lab that they can do at home is the anthropometry lab. they are given all of the instructions including the pre-lab video directions ahead of time. i ask the students to have two different family members measure the required body parts using any measuring device. i purchased taylor’s tapes for those that were able to come to the building to pick up the materials. i was very impressed with their results. photographs of evidence are also incorporated into many of their lab documents, even taking close-ups if necessary. i have purchased several devices, for the computer and the microscope, that allow the students to visualize the evidence at higher magnifications. for example, in their class versus individual evidence lab i usually have 20 different pieces of evidence on the lab tables with evidence markers. the evidence corresponds to the 20 crime scenarios on the lab sheet. this year for a remote lab, i took close-up photos and incorporated them into the document before posting it in google classroom. for other labs during their google meet sessions, i demonstrate so they can see the proper lab procedures and the results. the students then take the results to complete the lab exercise. the blood typing and testing for blood labs are better accomplished this way. when school started, i asked the technology department about how to get the many expert guest speakers to talk to the students during their google meet. i was disappointed when i found out that they did not believe this was possible without adding them to the classroom pages. it wasn’t until i heard from a guest that contacted me from a forensic advice forum on facebook that i belong to that i soon learned that the impossible is possible. i send the link that posts when i open the google meet. the guest clicks on the link in their email and i admit them to the meeting. we have heard from 4 experts from around the united states so far and this has worked out great. they can share their material, powerpoint slides, models, and other items, with the students. for those experts that are in different time zones and cannot speak in the morning i have set up a separate google classroom page for all of my students. we use this one in the afternoon. since the students are done with classes at 12:06, i use this for extra credit. i am so appreciative for the technology that has allowed me to continue having experts talk to my students. i have found that during this remote teaching time the internet can be an incredible teaching tool as opposed to an encumbrance. there are many websites where teachers j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education kochis are posting ideas for remote teaching. teachers can use this material to incorporate into their own curriculum or make modifications as needed. i have learned to adjust my teaching style this year. it has been exciting for me to use these new tools to bring forensic science to my students. nancy kochis, m.s.1 1 lasalle-peru high school, lasalle, illinois nkuchis@lphs.net j forensic sci educ 2021, 3 (1) 2021 journal forensic science education weidner key to the forensically important beetle (insecta: coleoptera) families of north america lauren m. weidner, ph.d.,1* and gareth s. powell2 1school of mathematical and natural sciences, new college of interdisciplinary arts and sciences, arizona state universitywest campus, 4701 w. thunderbird rd., glendale, az, 85361, usa 2department of biology, college of life science, brigham young university, 4102 lsb provo, ut, 84602, usa *corresponding author: lauren.weidner@asu.edu abstract: beetles (coleoptera) are one of the most common insect orders associated with remains making them useful in forensic investigations. reliably identifying the insect composition throughout the decomposition process is vital to accurately using insect succession data. to date, there are no pictorial keys to identify families of forensically important beetles in north america. here we present a dichotomous pictorial key for beetles that can be associated with carrion, encompassing beetles commonly encountered on decomposing remains and other families that occur less frequently, totaling 21 families. this key is specifically designed to be utilized by professionals and students without the need for specific morphology training. keywords: beetles, carrion, dichotomous, nearctic . introduction flies (diptera) and beetles (coleoptera) are two of the most often used orders of insects in the field of forensic entomology. forensic entomologists utilize developmental data, faunal succession patterns, and habitat preferences of these insects to aid in criminal investigations (1-3). blow flies (diptera: calliphoridae) and flesh flies (diptera: sarcophagidae) are typically the initial colonizers of vertebrate remains and can arrive to a corpse within minutes, making them a valuable resource for estimating time since death (3-5). however, in more advanced stages of decomposition, beetles become important indicators of time since death. forensically relevant beetles are attracted to remains based on varying chemical cues released throughout the decomposition process (6-8). some beetles, such as rove beetles (coleoptera: staphylinidae), are predaceous on fly larvae and will arrive early in the decomposition process, while this food source is still abundant, whereas others, such as skin beetles (coleoptera: dermestidae) and hide beetles (coleoptera: trogidae) will arrive later in decomposition to feed on dried remains. due to their early arrival, more focus is given to flies in the forensic entomology literature but understanding the behavior and ecology of beetles associated with remains is a critical step in strengthening this field of study. despite the importance of coleoptera in forensic entomology, there remains very few diagnostic resources to aid in reliable determination of these taxa. this paper provides a pictorial dichotomous key to the forensically relevant beetle families found throughout north america. this publication aims to increase the use of forensic entomology, specifically beetle identification in a classroom setting and for students conducting decomposition research. methods couplets for the provided dichotomous key were adapted from multiple sources (9-10) and reworded without taxonomic jargon in an effort to make the tool more accessible to those that may not have formal entomology training. high-resolution images were taken using either a leica dfc450 camera mounted onto a leica m165c stereomicroscope or a vision digital passport imaging system. montaged habitus images were created using leica application suite version 4.2 software for the former, and zerene stacker 1.04 for the later system. images are specifically edited and cropped to show diagnostic features and are not meant as standalone identification tools (figures 1-21). mailto:lauren.weidner@asu.edu j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education weidner key to adult beetle families of forensic importance figure1a free trochanters; first abdominal sternite interrupted by hind coxae (a)……………………………………..…2 figure 1b first abdominal sternite complete (b)………………………………………………………..………………….3 figure 2a metacoxa not reaching elytron laterally, last maxillary palpomere distinctly narrower than penultimate (a) …carabidae figure 2b metacoxa reaching elytron laterally, last maxillary palpomere not distinctly narrower than penultimate (b) …dytiscidae j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education weidner figure 3a antennae with strongly asymmetrical, usually lamellate club of 3-8 antennomeres; procoxae large, strongly transverse or conical and projecting below prosternum (a)………………………………………………………………..4 figure 3b antennae not lamellate, or coxae not as above (b)…………………………………………………….…….6 figure 4a antennae with 11 antennomeres (a) geotrupidae figure 4b antennae with fewer than 11 antennomeres (b)…………………………………………………………………5 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education weidner figure 5a abdomen with 5 ventrites (a) trogidae figure 5b abdomen with 6 ventrites (b) scarabaeidae figure 6a elytra very short leaving 3 or more abdominal tergites exposed (a)……………………………………………..7 figure 6b elytra longer, leaving no more than 1 or 2 abdominal tergites exposed (b)……………………………..……..10 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education weidner figure 7a antennae with distinct club (a)…………………………………………………………….……………………8 figure 7b antennae not clubbed (b) staphylinidae figure 8a antennae with 4 apical antennomeres expanded into asymmetrical club(a) silphidae figure 8b antennae not as above (b)………………………………………………………………………………………………….9 figure 9a procoxal cavities open (a) staphylinidae figure 9b procoxal cavities closed (b) nitidulidae j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education weidner figure 10a antennomere 8 smaller than 7 or 9 (a) leiodidae figure 10b antennomere 8 never smaller than 7 and 9 (b)………………………………………………………………...11 figure 11a antennae with 7-9 antennomeres, antennomeres 7-9 usually forming loose, tomentose club, antennomere 6 often forming a cupule at base of club (a) hydrophilidae figure 11b antennae variable but not as below (not shown)……………………………………………………………….12 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education weidner figure 12a metacoxa with distinct posterior face (at least medially) set off from ventral surface by carina of flange (a)..13 figure 12b metacoxa without distinct posterior face, ventral surface of metacoxa more or less continuous with first ventrite (b)………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………….15 figure 13a dorsal surface of elytra setose, though often patchy (a) dermestidae figure 13b dorsal surface of elytra smooth and without setae (b)…………………………………………………………14 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education weidner figure 14a each elytra with 9 or 10 punctate striae (a) agyrtidae figure 14b elytra without punctate striae (b) silphidae figure 15a antennae geniculate, club usually of 3 antennomeres (a) histeridae figure 15b antennae not obviously geniculate, clubbed or not (b)………………………………………………………..16 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education weidner figure 16a metacoxa extending laterally to reach elytral, epipleuron, or side of body (a)……………….………………17 figure 16b metacoxa not reaching elytron (b)………………………………………………………………………….…18 figure 17a body covered in bristly hairs (a) cleridae figure 17b body not covered in bristly hairs (b)………………………………………………………………………….19 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education weidner figure 18a mesoand meta-tarsi with equal numbers of tarsomeres (i.e. 5-5) (a) nitidulidae figure 18b metatarsus with one fewer tarsomere than mesotarsus (i.e. 5-4) (b)………………………………………….19 figure 19a tarsal formula (number of tarsal segments on each leg) 5-5-4 (a)…………………………………………..20 figure 19b tarsal formula not 5-5-4 (not shown)………………………………………..……………………………….21 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education weidner figure 20a base of pronotum with distinct constriction (a) anthicidae figure 20b base of pronotum lacking constriction (b) tenebrionidae j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education weidner figure 21a abdomen with 6 ventrites (a) staphylinidae figure 21b abdomen with 4 or 5 ventrites (b) ptinidae j forensic sci educ 2021, x, x-xx 2021 journal forensic science education weidner acknowledgements the purdue entomological research collection (dr. eugenio nearns) is thanked for access to several representative specimens needed for study and subsequent imaging. the authors also thank the individuals who beta tested this key and specifically chong chin heo (faculty of medicine, universiti teknologi mara, malaysia) for providing detailed feedback. lastly, the authors would like to thank the reviewers and editor for comments that greatly improved the manuscript. references 1. catts ep, haskell nh. editors. entomology and death: a procedural guide. clemson, south carolina: joyce’s print shop, 1990. 2. amendt j, zehner r, johnson dg, wells, j. future trends in forensic entomology in: amendt j, goff m l, campobasso cp, grassberger m. editors. current concepts in forensic entomology. london: springer netherlands 2010; 353-368. 3. tomberlin jk, mohr r, benbow me, tarone am, vanlaerhoven, s. a roadmap for bridging basic and applied research in forensic entomology. annu rev entomol 2011;56:401-421. 4. anderson gs, vanlaerhoven sl. initial studies on insect succession on carrion in southwestern british columbia. j forensic sci 1996;41(4):617-625. 5. weidner lm, monzon ma, hamilton gc. death eaters respond to the dark mark of decomposition day and night: observations of initial insect activity on piglet carcasses. int j legal med 2016;130(6):16331637. 6. leblanc hn, logan jg. exploiting insect olfaction in forensic entomology in: amendt j, goff ml, campobasso cp, grassberger m. editors. current concepts in forensic entomology. london: springer netherlands 2010; 205-221. 7. von hoermann c, ruther j, reibe s, madea b, ayasse m. the importance of carcass volatiles as attractants for the hide beetle dermestes maculatus (de geer). forensic sci int 2011;212(1-3):173-179. 8. von hoermann c, ruther j, ayasse m. volatile organic compounds of decaying piglet cadavers perceived by nicrophorus vespilloides. j chem ecol 2016;42(8):756-767. 9. arnett rh, thomas mc, skelley pe, frank j h. editors. american beetles, volume ii: polyphaga: scarabaeoidea through curculionoidea, volume 2. boca raton fl: crc press, 2002 10. johnson nf, triplehorn ca. borror and delong's introduction to the study of insects. belmont, ca: thompson brooks/cole, 2005. methods j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education londino-smolar remotely teaching a large enrollment introduction to forensic science course gina londino-smolar, ms1 1department of chemistry and chemical biology, forensic and investigative sciences program, indiana university purdue university indianapolis, 402 n. blackford st. ld 326, indianapolis, in 46202 glondino@iupui.edu abstract: during the fall semester at indiana university purdue university indianapolis (iupui), an introductory course in forensic science is typically taught face to face with a maximum enrollment of 300 students. this is done in a large lecture hall with stadium seating. due to social distancing restrictions according to the cdc, the lecture hall which typically holds roughly 420 students could only allow 73 students at one time. therefore, teaching online at a distance was the only option available to teach the course. many decisions needed to be made on the teaching model of the course and how students would be engaged in the course content. there was a wide variety of options for distance learning and teaching mode. it was decided the hybrid distance model would best benefit the students and instructor for the large lecture course. distance hybrid includes up to 75% asynchronous instruction with at least 25% of synchronous live teaching done completely remotely. determining the best tools and technology to use as well as what material to cover during both types of teaching was a challenge. online video conferencing tools were not typically used in large live lectures and needed to be adapted to engage students with the course materials. the learning management system (lms), typically used to record grades and collect assignments, now needed to house all the learning materials and assessments as well as be organized in a way that students could easily find the correct resources. the paper will address the challenges and resolutions for teaching large lectures remotely. keywords: large lectures, remote instruction, forensic education introduction large enrollment courses are typical across many 4year institutions for introductory and gateway courses. these can house anywhere from 100 to 500 students and are usually taught in large lecture halls with stadium seating. there is an instructor on stage, behind a podium with lecture slides or written notes on an overhead projector. there is not much discussion or interaction with students in large lectures, and rarely do students ask questions, or interact with the instructor. over time, there have been ways to better encourage students to engage in large lecture classes and participate in the course material through response systems, simple index cards, or one-page papers. teaching in a large enrollment course has been greatly changed over the past decade, with new teaching methods, advances in technologies, and active learning classrooms. even with 400 students there are ways to engage students and have a better sense of their ability to grasp the concepts. however, due to social distancing restrictions currently in place across institutions in the united states, large lecture classrooms are not able to accommodate even 100 students. at iupui, the classroom where the introductory course in forensic science is taught can normally hold 420 students but only 73 students are allowed at one time during the ongoing pandemic. the course also had assigned seating and attendance verification for contact tracing that is difficult to complete for each class period. with a maximum enrollment of 300 but only allowing 73 students in the classroom at one time, the course would have to be taught five times for all the students to be able to sit in lecture and participate in class discussions. therefore, a remote, hybrid distance teaching model was chosen to teach the course with over 270 students this fall semester. hybrid distance is a teaching model which allows for up to 75% of the course material to be taught asynchronously with at least 25% of the course materials to be taught live during regular class meeting times via remote instruction using a video conferencing tool. the course typically meets twice a week for 75 minutes each class period. it was decided to use one day each week for live synchronous teaching to review course material and answer questions about course assignments. the second weekly course meeting date is used for students to complete lecture material, lecture presentations and lowstakes questions, activities over the unit topic, and j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education londino-smolar participate in the discussion boards. this work is to be done asynchronously. the actual class time is used for online office hours for students to ask questions live during a scheduled meeting time. attendance is required for the one weekly course meeting and is recorded using a live response system. the second weekly meeting is optional and attendance is not recorded. a typical introduction to forensic science course is taught using this style of teaching. with a maximum enrollment of 300 students, a variety of students enroll in the course; from majors in forensic science to non-science majors at all levels of undergraduate study. the course covers a survey of forensic science topics including crime scene investigation, forensic science laboratories, law in forensic science, impression evidence, and death investigation sciences. each topic is covered over the course of one week with two class meetings with a total of 75 minutes per week. for the remote version of the course, students are required to meet virtual one day a week with a second meeting optional. the face-to-face section of the course invites experts in relevant fields to give guest lectures. this includes speakers from law and all branches of forensic science including forensic anthropology, entomology, pathology, fingerprinting, firearms identification, and questioned documents. the guest speakers are still lecturing in the course via video conferencing tool. each guest speaker has one class period to lecture on the unit topic, which is recorded and available for students to review afterward. the second weekly session focuses on reviewing the guest speaker content and is optional for students to attend. this is also recorded and posted for students to review. it is required that students attend one weekly session. during the semester, three exams and a comprehensive final are given covering the course material. the final exam is given during an exam week and students are supplied materials to help prepare for the exam. as part of the exam week, a review session with the course instructor was developed using questions proposed by students prior to the session. students are asked to comment on three questions before the review session: 1. what was most clear, helpful, or meaningful in the module? 2. what concepts or ideas from this module are still unclear? 3. what additional comments, insights, or questions do you have about this module’s consents or ideas? this allows the instructor to check for student understanding of the module content which is covered on the exam. it allows the review session to be tailored to the most ambiguous content from the student view (1). this feedback can also be used for future teachings by using methods that students like or are most helpful in student learning. the second weekly meeting is open for the students to complete the exam online. the students have a 24-hour period to complete the one-hour exam using an automated proctoring software. the exams are to be completed independently without course resources. this teaching method allows for at least 25% live synchronous instruction and the remaining time to be spent on asynchronous learning which may include optional course meetings. this paper will look at ways that help manage large enrollment courses in an online classroom. methods there are key concepts which are important to use in the online, hybrid teaching model. these following will be highlighted and discussed with examples.  course organization and management  learning technology tools and student interaction  communication and feedback an important feature to use in online education is the learning management system (lms) (2). this tool should be used to deliver all course content in an organized and repeatable manner. the lms used in this course is canvas, which allows for all course content to be organized into modules. all assignments, quizzes, files/folders, and discussion tabs are hidden from students and all course material must be accessed through modules. modules are open for students two weeks before the start of the material. for example, module 3 which starts week 7, would open week 5 of the course. each module is set up by a set of weeks which covers a specific group of topics. figure 1 shows each module with the week and topic listed. figure 1 modules organized by week and topic another organizational technique is to have the same general contents within each unit. for a course that has scheduled meetings, the meeting link, date and time are essential. in addition to the meeting link, each unit contains an overview of the unit, lecture material, and assignments. there are also exam specific units which include quiz check-in, study tips on preparing for the exam, details and instructions for taking the exam, and reviews over each unit the exam is covering. examples of unit organization can be seen in figure 2 and 3. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education londino-smolar figure 2 unit organization figure 3 exam week module organization and content finding the right learning technology tools is a necessary topic in remote instruction (3). in addition to the lms, other technologies are used to help instruction, engage students with course content and deliver assessments. attendance is a regular part of the normal class routine, even in a large lecture course. it is important to record and report attendance, especially for struggling students. students without regular attendance are contacted by both the instructor and their academic advisor using the student engagement roster (ser) tool, with hopes of retaining students. currently a response system is used to take and record student attendance during the required weekly remote class meeting. response systems can also be used to engage the students throughout the lecture by asking questions on the materials. this can ensure that students are listening and interacting with the lecture. this is done using top hat. students are given a unique daily code that can be entered into the top hat app or texted to a phone number. figure 4 shows an example of a shared screen with the course meeting attendance code. student attendance is reported on the ser along with academic issues and instructor suggestions for the student. this is done a few times during the semester, keeping students on track with their grades and resources available to them. figure 4 attendance code screen share for students student to student interaction is usually lost in the online environment. students have a difficult time meeting fellow students, forming study groups, and interacting with each other. therefore, it is necessary to develop an online community for students to interact with each other, especially in large lecture classes. discussion boards are a useful tool to foster student interaction, however, with large enrollment classes, it is best to form small groups for discussion. this builds a sense of community in a large course and helps students meet others remotely. the lms can create randomized small groups which can be used for group assignments and discussions. students are placed in groups of ten throughout the semester. the small groups are used in breakout rooms on the video conferencing tool (zoom), discussion boards, and joint google docs. students are able to collaborate and form a community in the virtual classroom. in a traditional classroom, a line would form at the end of class where students would ask questions over content or advice on their major. much of this is lost in the online environment but students still have questions and need feedback on assignments. during live synchronous lectures, that chat is open to all students and monitored throughout the lecture. this allows students to ask questions during class while the course material is being presented. generally, students are shy in large lecture halls and do not feel comfortable asking questions in front of all the other students. however, in the online classroom, j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education londino-smolar students are more open and comfortable with using the chat feature in zoom to ask questions. figure 5 shows an example of the lecture with the chat open. this has been a great tool that can be used to open the lines of communication with students. questions can be answered simultaneously during the lecture or held until the end for a guest speaker. the chat can also be saved and posted for students to use as a resource for study or while reviewing the recorded lecture. figure 5 zoom screen with presenter and open chat communication feedback is paramount when teaching in the online environment (4). not having in-person communication can be difficult for both the student and the instructor, therefore it is important to have an online presence which can be done via recorded videos (5). weekly announcements for assignment reminders and upcoming lecture topics are a good way to keep communication open with students. this can be done with recorded video or text and linking assignments or resources to give students quick access to what needs to be completed. figure 6 shows a weekly recap announcement with descriptions of assignments and resources for students. figure 7 shows an example of video feedback after an exam and includes key points in text below. figure 6 weekly lecture recap announcement figure 7 video exam feedback with exam statistics and additional resources discussion and conclusion teaching remotely can be difficult, especially with a large enrollment course. making sure to use organization methods for course materials and assignments can be helpful for students in an online environment. it is also important to utilize learning technology tools to help with student interaction and engagement with the course material. this can include tools within the lms, such as discussion boards, as well as outside the lms, such as top j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education londino-smolar hat and google docs. having an open line of communication and continuous feedback is needed in an online environment. student familiarity with the chat feature is critical for this step. weekly recaps and detailed feedback on assignments is important so that students are familiar with course expectations. this is a new learning experience for all parties and there is much more to learn about distance hybrid teaching. as the semester continues in the remote learning environment, development of new tools and resources will be used. assignments will change with the need for student engagement with each other and the course materials. feedback and communication between the students and the instructor will continue to increase as we approach the end of the semester. it is imperative to use best practices in teaching online to engage and help students reach course expectations. overall, teaching remotely can be successful as long as there is continuous engagement from both the instructor and the students. references 1. walker dm. classroom assessment techniques: an assessment and student evaluation method. creat educ 2012; 3:903–907. 2. boettcher j v, conrad rm. the online teaching survival guide: simple and practical pedagogical tips. 2nd ed. san francisco, ca: john wiley & sons, 2016. 3. conrad rm, donaldson j a. engaging the online learner: activities and resources for creative instruction. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass, 2011. 4. hattie, j, timperley, h. the power of feedback. rev educ res 2007;77:81-112. 5. turner w, wes j. assessment for “digital first language” speakers: online video assessment and feedback in higher education. inter j teach learn high educ 2013;23:288–296. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education coticone pivoting remote: techniques for teaching forensic science utilizing virtual student-led case studies in a blend flex mode sulekha rao coticone1*, camila garcia1, lora bailey van houten2 1 department of chemistry and physics, florida gulf coast university, ft myers, fl 33965, 2 california department of justice crime laboratory, fresno ca 93740 *corresponding author: scoticon@fgcu.edu abstract: as a result of covid-19, new approaches are being adopted to improve student learning and accommodate active learning at higher education institutions. at our university, two forensic science courses were taught that combine in-person and online instruction. using the "blend flex" paradigm, students alternated between "in person" and "remote" study. students were invited to create case studies using journal articles and news items in order to increase their participation in the course. students presented their case studies in virtual or “in person” settings at the end of the semester. student learning was assessed by data from several evaluations including the student perception of instruction (spoi) surveys, which were completed at the end of the semester. according to the survey results, students agreed that the case study instruction helped them understand the course subject, piqued their interest in the course, and improved their knowledge of the material. furthermore, students found that the case studies even when presented virtually were helpful in improving their presentation skills. based on the data, we believe that including student-led case studies even when run virtually, can help students learn crucial skills for their future careers. keywords: virtual, forensic science, case studies introduction forensic science provides an excellent setting for illustrating fundamental concepts in science (biochemistry and chemistry) and criminal justice as well as connecting those principles across disciplines. students improve their critical thinking and problem-solving skills by learning how to solve challenging scenarios involving different forensic science specialties. the majority of forensic science courses are taught in a traditional format, with lectures reinforced by laboratory exercises. this model though widely recognized lacks the element of creativity (1). furthermore, some studies have raised concerns about how this model effectively prepares students for the workplace. specifically, there appears to be a disconnect between the university curriculum and active case work (2-4). in order to bridge the gap between the two aspects, student driven case study presentations were introduced into two forensic science courses at the university. the use of problem-based case studies has been well documented in many subject areas including biochemistry and chemistry (5-11). forensic science also provides an ideal setting for the use of case study-based learning (12). apart from learning the applications of biochemistry and chemistry, students also develop their communication, team-work and analytical skills. originally conceived as a special topic elective for chemistry majors, two forensic science courses have been developed at our university with separate curriculum and lab exercises. the courses in forensic biochemistry and forensic chemistry were created to support the university's new bachelor of science in forensic science degree. due to the covid-19 pandemic, adjustments were made in spring 2020 to support virtual learning within the entire curriculum at our university. faculty were given many options, including in-person (for small classes), online, hybrid, and blend flex (for combined laboratory courses). the following were some of the first changes made for online-only classes: i) voice over power points ii) online worksheets iii) online quizzes and exams iv) weekly communication; v) online/in person case study presentations. the two forensic courses were taught in the blend flex mode in fall 2020 and spring 2021. this entailed a mix of “in person” and “online” lectures. since the class could accommodate only 50% capacity for students, the students were divided into 2 cohorts (blue and green). all labs were held with 50% attendance. course structure the prerequisites for both the forensic biochemistry and forensic chemistry course are a full year of general chemistry and organic chemistry with laboratory. the forensic biochemistry and forensic chemistry courses are required courses for forensic science majors. additionally, these courses serve as electives for j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education coticone biochemistry and chemistry majors as well as a chemistry minor elective. the two courses are worth three credits and meet twice a week for 2 hour and 15 minutes. the first hour of the class is devoted to lecture/problem solving exercises and the remaining hour and 15 minutes is dedicated to class discussions and laboratory exercises. the final grade is based on a two-part assessment. the first part is a set of three exams and weekly quizzes that evaluates critical thinking and problem-solving skills, including interpretation of data (60% of the grade). the remaining 40% of the grade is based on laboratory exercises including course based undergraduate research experiences (cures) and case study presentations. for the forensic biochemistry course, students learn the fundamentals of biochemistry and its applications to forensic science including dna typing analysis. for the forensic chemistry course, students learn the applications of chemistry in drug detection and trace evidence (e.g. polymers, fibers and materials chemistry). both courses require students to develop a mini research project (cure) and a case study presentation. for the case study presentations, students work in groups and are tasked with finding a case study which utilizes content that they have learned during the course. students are graded using a pre-assigned rubric which scores based on content (with in depth coverage) in forensic biochemistry/chemistry, organization and mechanics and finally on vocabulary. approximately thirty undergraduate students (a combination of forensic science, chemistry, biochemistry, and biology majors in their senior year) were enrolled in each of the courses in fall 2020 (forensic biochemistry) and spring 2021 (forensic chemistry). case study students in groups of two were tasked with finding an appropriate case study during the middle of each semester. students were asked to choose cases based on topics related to course content (mass disasters, historical investigations, paternity testing, forensic drug or trace evidence etc.). the case study presentations were held in the last week of the semester. due to covid-19, students were given the option of presenting either “in person” or via zoom or using a pre-recorded video of their presentation. some examples for student led forensic biochemistry case studies included: colin pitchfork, oj simpson, green river, and the golden state killer. for the forensic chemistry case studies, students picked the chicago tylenol murders, the moscow hostage crisis involving fentanyl, the deaths due to abuse of dextromethorphan, to name a few. the groups of students assigned to a case study were asked to research the case study thoroughly and present a detailed power point presentation with background, biochemical/chemical data available, the tests and instrumentation used and the verdict of the case. the 20-minute presentation was followed by a discussion on the case. some cases that generated a lot of interest included the casey anthony case and the oj simpson case, where students had a lively discussion on whether the data obtained from the evidence provided proof for conviction. students also graded all presentations and took multiple surveys which were used to assess their understanding of the course content using case study presentations. methods to determine the effectiveness of the use of case study analysis in student understanding of course content, a mixed method approach (both qualitative and quantitative) was utilized. specifically, to assess student learning, we utilized three different anonymous surveys i) peer review ii) informal survey iii) quantitative data and comments from the university managed student perception of instruction (spoi) survey. the student perception of instruction survey included questions with a likert scale and short answer questions. results peer review students were asked to perform a peer review during their final presentation and comment on each of the case study presentations (survey 1). this provided the students with a process of self-assessment and evaluation. for the first question (which case study did you like the best and why?) the responses included the case study they liked best: tied very well with what they learned in the course, was easy to relate to, was well organized, had good information, was interesting and kept their attention, was detail oriented with a lot of research, was thought provoking, led to lively discussions, was easy to understand and well explained and discussed new techniques. student comments to the second question (criteria for which project they liked best) varied from clear detailed explanation of events, chemical tests performed, relevance to the course content, design layout, style of presentation, followed the rubric, interesting etc. they seemed to enjoy choosing their own case studies based on the topics covered in class. students were also given an opportunity to grade the case study presentations. survey 1: peer review 1. comment on which case study you liked the best and why? 2. what criteria did you use to decide which case study you liked the best? 3. how did you decide on your case study? 4. give the order of preference of the case studies. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education coticone informal survey at the end of the semester, students answered an informal survey where they suggested improvements, reflected on their personal preferences and their learning benefits (survey 2). students were asked to suggest improvements. student comments were positive and constructive recommending small but useful changes to the presentation styles. they also commented on what they learned from the case studies they chose as well as the peer presentations. survey 2: informal survey 1. what improvements can you suggest that students could have done to improve their case study projects? “make visually appealing power point presentations with more pictures” “include new methods that we did not go over in class” “use timelines to develop the background of the case study” “more appropriate tone while presenting (not monotonous) 2. what did you learn from the case study presentations? “how frustrating it can be to have a cold case and the importance of constantly improving our scientific methods (growing the dna database, getting better extraction methods)” “awesome to see a cold case solved with new technology” “being able to use what we learned in forensic biochemistry to real life cases” “importance of proper examination of evidence” student perception of instruction (spoi) students were surveyed using a questionnaire with a 5-point likert scale about their perception of the benefits of the case study using a university conducted end of semester assessment (student perception of instruction or spoi). based on the results, we found that 88% of the students either strongly agreed or agreed that the instruction included the case studies helped them understand the course material. all students agreed that the case study instruction generated interest in the course. in addition, about 89% of the students strongly agreed or agreed the courses were effective in improving their critical thinking skills. finally, 90% of the students strongly agreed or agreed that the courses were effective in improving their knowledge of course content. students also provided anonymous comments during an end of semester survey of the student perception of instruction (survey 3). most students admitted that the case study projects supported their learning the most because it provided them with an opportunity to apply everything they learned during the semester. some students thought the case studies were fun but time consuming. others felt that though the final case study project was troublesome, it was very beneficial in learning the course content. they also thought that this experience should be introduced in other courses and that they learned a lot by doing the case studies. survey 3: student perception of instruction comments 1. which assignments (paper, project etc.) supported your learning the most. please explain. “the case study supported my learning the most because it provided me with an opportunity to apply everything i learned this semester” “the case study projects and labs were very helpful with learning course content” “the case study project was nice as it was a good application of what we learned in the semester” “the mini project (cure) supported my learning of forensic chemistry, along with the case study project” 2. which assignments (paper, project etc.) were the most troublesome. please explain. “the final project (case study) was troublesome, but very beneficial to learning the course content” “the most difficult part about the case study was working with the other people in the group. there is always someone in the group that doesn’t care as much and tries to put minimal effort” “the case study was fun, but very time consuming” “none, all assignments aided in my learning and were appropriate for learning” discussion and conclusion due to the pandemic, two forensic science courses at the university were taught in the “blend flex” mode. the “blend flex mode involved instructors and students meeting on campus with social distancing at regularly scheduled times. students were assigned into two cohorts or groups that rotated between on-campus and online meetings. to facilitate active learning, case study presentations were assigned to student groups. based on end of semester assessment, we found that case studies helped students learn and apply course content to “real j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education coticone world” cases. students also learned communication skills and how to work in groups. the information gathered could additionally be used by the department as a tool for evaluating critical thinking and oral communication skills. we intend to use similar case study projects in additional upper-level science courses as a result of these findings. incorporating case study projects into other classes would allow students to be more creative while also learning critical thinking skills that will be useful in their future employment. references 1. thompson t. choose your own murder: nonlinear narratives enhance student understanding in forensic science education. forensic sci int: synergy 2020;2:82-85. 2. bolton-king rs, kara h, cassella jp, rankin bwj, morgan rm, burke s, fripp d, kaye jp. increasing the accessibility and impact of justice related student and practitioner research. forensic sci int: synergy 2020;2:60-71. 3. beresford dv, stotesbury t, langer sv, iles m, kyle c. yamashita, b. bridging the gap between academia and practice: perspectives from two large scale and niche research projects in canada. sci justice 2020;60(1):95-8. 4. quarino l, brettell ta. current issues in forensic science education. anal bioanal chem 2009; 394(8):1987-93. 5. dinan f. chemistry by the case. j coll sci teach 2002;32:36–41. 6. cornely, k. content and conflict: the use of current events to teach content in a biochemistry course. biochem mol biol ed 2003;31(3):173178. 7. cornely k, bennett n. thalidomide makes a comeback: a case discussion exercise that integrates biochemistry and organic chemistry. j chem educ 2001;78(6):759-761. 8. cheng vkw. an environmental chemistry curriculum using case studies. j chem educ 1995;72 (6):525-527. 9. cornely k. use of case studies in an undergraduate biochemistry course. j chem educ 1998;75:475-478. 10. summerfield s, overton t, belt s. peer reviewed: problem solving case studies. anal chem 75; 181a-182a. 11. allchin d. problem-and case-based learning in science: an introduction to distinctions, values and outcomes. cbe life sci educ 2013;12(3); 364-372. 12. cresswell sl, loughlin wa. a case-based scenario with interdisciplinary guided-inquiry in chemistry and biology: experiences of first year forensic science students. j chem educ 2017;94: 1074-1082. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education zeller simulation of population sampling and allele frequency, linkage equilibrium, and random match probability calculations cynthia b. zeller1* and kelly m. elkins1* 1chemistry department, forensic science program, towson university, 8000 york road, towson, md 21252, *corresponding authors: czeller@towson.edu, kmelkins@towson.edu abstract: population sampling and analysis are necessary for performing dna typing statistics. in this activity, we present a population sampling simulation using candy as a manipulative for hands-on learning to empirically develop a population database and promote calculations including allele frequency, polymorphism, linkage equilibrium, hardy-weinberg equilibrium, and random match probability. candy of different types are assigned to genetic loci and colors are assigned to represent allelic variations. the activity has been used for several years in a forensic molecular biochemistry course to aid in teaching this topic. keywords: forensic science, population, statistics, allele frequency, linkage equilibrium, random match probability, candy, undergraduate/graduate, analogies/transfer, hands-on learning/manipulatives . introduction the topic of a population database (1) used in forensic statistics calculations is abstract and therefore difficult to conceptualize without data. creating population databases is essential to estimating the rarity of a genetic profile for an individual – such as a perpetrator of a crime or missing person – in the relevant population. allele frequencies are used in random match probability (rmp) and likelihood ratio (lr) statistics. students can be introduced to calculations using published population databases to analyze their laboratory data (2) but still may not conceptualize how to prepare and test a population database. manipulatives have been demonstrated to help students learn difficult genetics concepts. for example, socks have been used to teach mitosis and meiosis (3). candy has been used to teach punnett squares (4) and genetic drift (5). relatedly, candy has been used to build a dna model (6), chocolate has been employed in a crime scene investigation activity (7), and one black candy sprinkle in a million candy sprinkles has been used to demonstrate the concept of one part per million (ppm) (8). in this activity, students are provided candy of different types and colors to represent different genetic loci and alleles at those loci to teach difficult concepts including creating a population database and computing statistics for allele frequency, minimum allele frequency (maf), linkage equilibrium, hardy-weinberg equilibrium (hwe), and rmp for an individual profile. materials and methods materials the instructor should obtain 5-6 packages of candies, snack bags and cups before the classroom session. the use of fun size packs of each type is a mechanism to reduce contamination. care should be taken prior to the exercise to survey students to avoid potential allergens that may affect the particular population of students in the class. in the example in this paper, good & plenty® licorice candy, smarties®, skittles®, starburst, plain m&m’s®, and chocolate chips were obtained. other candy products such as dum dums lollipops, gumballs, dots, mentos, mike and ike, and gummi bears have also been used and other regional candy varieties could be substituted. population simulation to simulate the population sampling process, the students are instructed to take two of each candy and place them in a snack bag. the instructor asks each student to describe the candy type and color contents in their bag and tabulates them in a chart on a chalkboard or whiteboard or in a shared spreadsheet using an overhead projector. for smaller class sizes, it is recommended that each student assemble two or three bags in order to obtain more samples. results an overview of the process for developing the population database and statistical tests is shown in figure j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education zeller 1. the instructor provided good & plenty®, skittles®, m&m’s®, starburst, and smarties® candy. the instructor filled containers with the different candy types and placed them at each student’s seat. alternatively, a bag or box of each candy type could be placed on a table at the front of the room or the students could be provided snack size bags. the candy types are used to represent genetic loci. the colors are used to represent alleles. figure 1 process for developing a population database and using it to perform statistical tests. the composition of each bag sampled by the students represented the genetic makeup, or genotype, of an individual in the population. in a recent class, the instructor instructed the 22 students to each assemble two bags containing two of each candy type. this resulted in a total of forty-four bags representing a sampled population consisting of 44 individuals (n=44). consistent with the diploid nature of human autosomes, each locus had two alleles. the students reported the results for each individual in the population represented by the candy in the bag (figure 2). the resulting tabulation of the candy types and colors represents a population database assembled with the class. it visually shows how often each allele occurs at each locus in a population and was used for genotype frequency calculations. from the tabulated data, the total number of each color for each type of candy was totaled. the allele frequency is computed by dividing the number of sampled alleles by the total number of alleles in the population. figure 2 color data for each candy by individual. for example, the class counted 34 pink and 54 white good & plenty® alleles for computed frequencies of 0.38636 and 0.61364, respectively. the allele frequencies were computed for each color of each candy (table 1a and supplementary information). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 smart ies®st arburstm&m's®skit t les®good & p lent y® j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education zeller next linkage equilibrium tests were performed. the linkage disequilibrium test is a likelihood ratio test to determine if two loci are inherited independently or not. the students were asked to choose gametes from good & plenty® candies and chocolate chips. the test compares the gamete frequency to the allele frequency from the population database and uses the constant d to determine the linkage. data for a simple calculation based on the two allele system is shown in table 1. table 1 allele frequencies (a) and gamete data (b) counts and fractions for good and plenty® and chocolate chips (n=44) for linkage equilibrium tests (a) (b) in order to calculate the linkage equilibrium coefficient, d, the gamete frequency data is compared with the allele frequency data. if the genes, in this case the candies, are not linked then the product of the gametes formed from the most common allele of each locus and the gametes formed from the least common of the two loci minus the product of the gamete frequencies of the other two gametes should equal zero. in this example, d= (0.4090)(0.1363)(0.3409)(0.1136) = 0.0017. due to the limited number of gametes used in this example, the number is close to, but not zero as would be expected. the data was also used to determine if the loci were in hardy-weinberg equilibrium. a χ2 test was used to test the hypothesis that the observed genotypes are the product of a random union of gametes. in order to do this, the students used the data obtained to compare the actual numbers of each genotype to the predicted numbers and determine how much difference exists (table 2). the χ2 statistic can be computed mathematically using the χ2 equation or using software such as excel or spss and interpreted by calculating the probability (p) value. in excel, the function chitest(actual_range, expected_range) will result in the test statistic. the degrees of freedom is one less than the number of categories, or 2 in this example. a low χ2 value indicates a high correlation between the actual and expected values. if the test statistic is greater than the p value using the significance level of 0.05, there is no significant departure from the hwe. alternatively, a significance level of 0.05 indicates no significant linkage equilibrium. in excel, chisq.dist.rt(x, degree_freedom) returns the right tail p value. the computed p = 0.635092 meaning the result is not significant at p < 0.05. the population database should only be used for reporting if there is no significant linkage equilibrium and if the database conforms to the hardyweinberg equilibrium. table 2 example of hardy-weinberg equilibrium chi square test using the good & plenty® data the database is reviewed and the maf is assigned for any allele for which the sampled allele frequency is lower than the maf. the maf compensates for the sampling of rare alleles in the population database due to small sampling size. a standard maf method requires that a minimum of 5 copies of an allele are used for the allele frequency calculation. the maf is computed by dividing 5 by 2n where n is the number of individuals in the database. for example, the observed frequency for pink smarties is at the maf threshold. the counted number of pink smarties was 5 and the number of alleles for n=44 is 88. dividing 5 by 88 results in 0.05682 as shown in table 3; the value of the maf equals 5/2n or 5/(2*44). finally, using the computed or maf allele frequencies at all of the candy loci in the population database and the product rule, the instructor demonstrated calculations of the rmp for each allele and for the overall genotype for one of the individuals used to build the population database. table 3 shows the computation of the random match probability using hwe for a selected set of candy loci corresponding to individual 25 in figure 2. table 3 rmp calculation of individual 25 from the population database the allele frequencies in the population database sum to 1 as shown in table 1a. the alleles in an individual are represented by p and q. if there are two events in the probability space, p+q=1 is represented by (p+q)2=1 and binomial expansion results in p2+2pq+q2=1. thus, the genotype probability of the allele combination at each locus is computed using 2pq for heterozygotes and p2 or q2 for homozygotes. for each locus, the rarity of the probability is shown by taking the reciprocal of the probability to yield the 1 in value. the combined rmp is shown in the last column pink 0.38636 brown 0.75 white 0.61364 ecru 0.25 good & plenty® chocolate chips pink brown pink ecru white brown white ecru 18 (0.4090) 6 (0.1363) 15 (0.3409) 5 (0.1136) genotype actual expected pp 6 6.5682 pw 22 20.8636 ww 16 17.1875 chi square 0.9080 probability (right-tail) 0.6351 locus allele frequency allele frequency probability 1 in combined good & plenty® white 0.61364 white 0.61364 0.37655 2.66 2.66e+00 skittles® green 0.13636 red 0.22727 0.06198 16.13 4.28e+01 m&m's® blue 0.26136 red 0.12500 0.06534 15.30 6.56e+02 starburst orange 0.27273 orange 0.27273 0.07438 13.44 8.82e+03 smarties® pink 0.05682 purple 0.10227 0.01162 86.04 7.59e+05 j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education zeller and is computed using the product rule. the rmp for this profile using the population database is 1 in 0.759 million. for comparison, the most common genotype is computed using the highest frequency alleles at each locus and the least common genotype could be computed using the maf for each locus. these values bookend the range of rmp values for the theoretical least and most common genotypes using the loci and population database. discussion population databases enable criminalists to determine how often a particular genotype may be encountered and how the allele frequencies determined using population database data are used to compute statistics including rmp and lr. the database can be used to determine the rmp for a hypothetical individual, the most common genotype and the least common genotype. the time needed for the activity will vary depending upon class size, number of individuals tabulated for the population, the number of candies used, and how many rmp calculations are performed. typically, a population database will have at least 100 individuals or more. the activity may require a 50-minute class period or more if the instructor demonstrates many examples or if the class size is large. the population database described in this paper is small and a similar database may result in loci that are not in linkage equilibrium or hwe. the activity engages the students in a hands-on activity to demonstrate an otherwise abstract concept of a population database. furthermore, the students practice the following terms: individual, population, locus, allele, genotype, minimum allele frequency, linkage equilibrium, and random match probability. the forensic molecular biochemistry (frsc 601) course at towson university is enrolled by 12-24 students each year. the activity can be performed with small and large classes. preparing more candy bags to represent individuals should more closely represent the allele frequency in the population. care must be taken to correctly identify the color of the candy; colorblindness may alter the perceived and reported color. the candy materials used in this activity are inexpensive, accessible, and non-toxic. the students are more engaged when working with a manipulative, especially an edible one such as candy. after the data is collected, the students are invited to indulge in eating the candy. the activity poses no chemical hazards although students may report a stomachache if they eat too much of the candy. this activity can also be used to teach inclusion/exclusion of individuals to k-12 students. for example, sixth grade students were asked to take two good & plenty® candy. approximately half of the class selected each color. then, they selected two skittles® candy. the class was asked who had both a pink good & plenty® and a red skittles® candy and the students were engaged in a discussion of how many individuals were included and excluded. finally, each student selected a dum dums lollipop. the students were asked if anyone had a pink good & plenty®, red skittles® and a butterscotch dum dums. this activity demonstrates that it is important to use several “traits” in the analysis. conclusion the activity engages students with candy manipulatives to teach abstract genetics concepts and terminology by creating a population database with a class and computing genotype statistics. acknowledgements the authors thank the towson university students that enrolled in frsc 601 from 2007-2019 and north harford middle school sixth and eighth grade classes from 20072009 for their participation. references 1. butler jm. forensic dna typing. 2nd ed. burlington, ma: elsevier academic press, 2005. 2. elkins km. forensic dna biology: a laboratory manual. waltham, ma: elsevier academic press, 2013. 3. chinnici jp, neth sz, sherman lr. using “chromosomal socks” to demonstrate ploidy in mitosis & meiosis. the american biology teacher 2006;68(2): 106-109. 4. baker wp, thomas cl. gummy bear genetics. the science teacher 1998:25-27. 5. staub nl. teaching evolutionary mechanisms: genetic drift and m&m's®. bioscience 2002;52(4):373–77. 6. have your dna and eat it too. https://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/dna/haveyour dnaandeatittoo.pdf (accessed april 20, 2020). 7. marle pd, decker l, taylor v, fitzpatrick k, khaliqi d, owens je, henry rm. csi–chocolate science investigation and the case of the recipe rip-off: using an extended problem-based scenario to enhance high school students’ science engagement. j chem educ 2014;91(3):345-50. 8. meloan ml, meloan jm, meloan ce. candy sprinkles to illustrate one part per million. j chem educ 1994;71(8)658. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education zeller supplementary information population database allele frequency tables good & plenty® simulated population (n=44) pink 0.38636 white 0.61364 skittles® simulated population (n=44) purple 0.19318 yellow 0.28409 red 0.22727 green 0.13636 orange 0.15909 m&m's® simulated population (n=44) brown 0.15909 yellow 0.10227 red 0.12500 green 0.17045 orange 0.18182 blue 0.26136 starburst simulated population (n=44) pink 0.27273 yellow 0.25000 red 0.20455 orange 0.27273 smarties® simulated population (n=44) white 0.22727 yellow 0.11364 red 0.19318 green 0.14773 orange 0.14773 pink 0.05682 purple 0.10227 brown 0.01136 j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education coticone integrating course-based undergraduate research experiences (cures) in advanced forensic science curriculum as an active learning strategy sulekha rao coticone 1* , lora bailey van houten 2 1 department of chemistry and physics, florida gulf coast university, ft myers, fl 33965 2 california department of justice crime laboratory, fresno ca 93740 *corresponding author: scoticon@fgcu.edu abstract: in an effort to improve student learning outcomes and retention in advanced forensic science curricula, a research-based curriculum has been developed at the university. during the first six weeks of the semester, students are introduced to fundamental research techniques in a forensic biochemistry course. these include presumptive tests, dna extraction, dna quantitation, short tandem repeat-based polymerase chain reactions and capillary electrophoresis. using this fundamental knowledge, students develop a research problem/hypothesis, identify suitable protocols using a literature survey, plan and collect samples, determine variables, analyze data and present their results as a formal laboratory report as well as an oral presentation. students specifically design experiments dealing with changing variables (e.g. temperature, reaction conditions) in the collection, storage and extraction of dna for forensic dna analysis. data from student assessment of learning gains (salg) surveys administered at the end of the semester supported gains in student learning. additionally, preversus postsurvey data showed that students gained confidence in organizing and presenting their data as well as a deeper understanding of the applications of biochemistry in forensic science. we conclude that incorporating cure research projects in other forensic science courses will help provide students with opportunities to be innovative and learn important critical thinking skills for their future careers. keywords: cures, forensic science, active learning . introduction one of the center pieces of scientific education for undergraduate students with a science major is the incorporation of laboratory experiences (1). in the history of chemical education, four different laboratory instructions have been developed and identified in science based curriculum: traditional (expository), inquiry, discovery and problem based (2, 3). the traditional (expository) style is the common instruction style (recipe based or cookbook labs), whereas the inquiry method is closer to how scientific research is conducted (4, 5). the traditional method tends to test knowledge and comprehension with little emphasis on evaluation, analysis, and creativity. inquiry based labs are more student centered, requiring them to formulate a problem, design experiments, gather and analyze data and communicate their conclusions. the national research council (nrc) has emphasized the need for a revision in traditional laboratory courses to focus more on critical thinking skills and a deeper understanding and knowledge application (6). this has led to a number of new initiatives in scientific laboratory instruction (7-9). it has also been shown that engaging students in an undergraduate research experiences is a highly effective strategy for increasing interest and retention in stem degrees (10). these experiences inspire students to pursue advanced degrees and careers in stem fields. hands-on experience gained by students performing undergraduate research leads to improved technical skills within their discipline, enhanced critical thinking and communication skills, and provides them with the knowledge and skills necessary to be life-long learners. studies have shown these enriched connections are specifically beneficial for underrepresented minority students in stem (11). more recently, original research and course based research experience (cures) have gained a lot of attention as a high impact strategy to improve learning outcomes resulting in improved student learning (12, 13). additionally, several instructors have integrated research experiences into introductory science courses to improve undergraduate student interest and preparation for their science careers (14, 15). these research based courses differ from expository (traditional) experiences since students are asked to develop procedures where outcomes for the experiments are not known. the j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education coticone benefits include learning important problem solving, critical thinking, communication skills and gaining a deeper understanding of their field of study. these experiences have been shown to have positive outcomes for students including better grades, persistence and retention and increased interest in graduate education. the forensic biochemistry course has been developed to support a new bachelor of science in forensic science program at the university. the course was formulated based on the interest of popular television shows such as crime scene investigation (csi). the course combines important concepts in biochemistry with criminal justice studies to encourage student interest using the forensic science theme. students learn the essential techniques used to solve crimes using forensic dna analysis improving their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. we have recently included a cure research based laboratory component to the course to expand access to authentic research experiences. students are challenged to develop “real world” based forensic questions, design experiments, acquire and analyze data and finally defend their projects as a formal presentation in front of their peers. methods course organization the prerequisites for the special topics course are a full year of general chemistry and organic chemistry. the course which is worth three credits meets twice a week for 2 hours and 15 minutes. the first one hour of the class is devoted to lecture and the remaining hour and 15 minutes dedicated to laboratory exercise/cure research project. the final grade is based on a two-part assessment. the first part is a set of three exams, weekly quizzes and laboratory exercises (70% of grade) that evaluates critical thinking and problem-solving skills, including interpretation of data. the remaining 30% of the grade is based on the cure research projects, final project presentation and a manuscript-based laboratory report. course design and implementation students are first introduced to research techniques and background information in forensic dna typing. the lectures function by providing students with the basic and fundamental source of information on forensic dna analysis. students learn how forensic dna is extracted, stored, quantitated and analyzed using pcr and capillary electrophoresis. the laboratory experience spans the entire semester and is divided in two major components. in the first part, students are exposed to experiments with known protocols, which are used to familiarize the students with the main laboratory techniques. these experiments have defined outcomes and serve as controlled investigations for following hypothesis driven research. armed with this basic knowledge, students are divided into groups of 2-3 students and given the task of developing a cure project. this involves performing a literature survey, developing a hypothesis and designing experiments to test the hypothesis. examples of student projects include: does the ph of the beverage affect dna recovery from glass bottle rims? does the substrate (cotton, leather, nylon) affect the amount of dna recovered? does the quality of the buccal swabs affect the amount of dna extracted? can you obtain dna from tears or ear wax? the students collect data, repeat the experiments (iteration) and make appropriate changes to their experimental design which is a critical factor in cures (12). students analyze their data and provide appropriate results and discussion. finally, student learning is evaluated by a group presentation at the end of the semester. the presentation focuses on the research groups’ unique hypothesis, results and discussion and future direction. the presentations are graded by the instructor using a rubric as well as by their peers (peer review). a manuscript-based laboratory report is also generated by each group using a standard template provided. the template follows the layout of a journal article and includes sections on abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion and conclusions. crime laboratory analysts from local crime laboratories are also invited to share their expertise and interact with the students. additionally, students are surveyed for their opinion on their research projects. this comprehensive assignment exemplifies the core ideals of the thinking, discovering, and writing in an interdisciplinary course that stimulates critical thinking and original ideas. results course assessment to assess student learning, we utilized five different methods of assessment. these include a pre/post cure project survey, a students assessment of learning gains (salg) survey, a student led peer review and finally an informal survey. i) pre and post cure project survey a pre/post survey conducted with the students before and after the cure project showed positive trends in organization of data, scientific communication and confidence in the research project (figure 1). j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education coticone figure 1 pre and post survey sata regarding cure poster presentations the greatest improvement was seen in an understanding about what forensic scientists do in crime laboratories. however, students perceived least gains in developing their oral scientific communications. this is being addressed by providing students more opportunities to discuss scientific literature using journal articles related to their cure projects before their final presentation. this will help familiarize the students with the scientific jargon and boost their confidence for the final presentations on their cure projects. ii) student assessment of learning gains (salg) the student assessment of their learning gains (salg) instrument was developed in 1997 by elaine seymour, an evaluator of pedagogy for undergraduate chemistry courses (16). the salg instrument focuses exclusively on the degree to which a course has enabled student learning. specifically, salg asks students to assess and testify on their own learning, and on the degree to which specific aspects of the course have contributed to that learning. salg is a web-based instrument consisting of statements about the degree of “gain” (on a five-point scale) which students perceive they have made in specific aspects of the course. using salg, students reported that they accomplished good to great gains in their ability to critically read journal articles as well as writing documents in discipline appropriate style and format and working on cure research projects (figure 2). to address the lower gains in the participation of discussions in the class, more time will be provided for students to first present their hypothesis to the class before undertaking the experimentation with a class discussion on the projects. figure 2 student assessment of their learning gains (salg): class impact and attitudes. the graph lists the mean and confidence interval (±3 times the standard error) for each item. 1:no gain, 2: little gain, 3: moderate gain, 4: good gain, 5: great gain questions asked included the following. as a result of your work in this class, what gains did you make in the following? 2.1 critically reading of journal articles related to forensic science 2.2 writing documents in discipline appropriate style and format 2.4 working on a cure project 2.5 participating in discussion in class iii) peer review students were asked to perform a peer review during their final presentation and comment on each of the research projects (survey 1). this provided the students with a process of self-assessment and evaluation. student comments were positive and constructive recommending small but useful changes to research design and methodology as well as presentation styles. for the first question (which project they liked best and why?) students thought the concept, method, results, and presentations were interesting, related to their daily life, and were well organized. student comments to the second question (criteria for which project they liked best) varied from interest in the project, depth of study, organization, clarity of data, confidence, and knowledgeable presentation. students were also asked to grade the projects and suggest improvements to the projects. survey 1 cure research projects (peer review) questions asked included the following. 1. comment on which project you liked the best and why? 2. what criteria did you use to decide which project you liked the best? 3. give the order of preference of the research projects from 1-5 (do not grade your project) (1 being the best) 0 20 40 60 80 oganize data develop oral scientific communication confidence about my research project understand what forensic scientists do post pre j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education coticone 4. what improvements can you suggest that the students could have done to improve their projects? iv) informal survey at the end of the semester, students answered an informal survey where they mentioned their most enjoyable aspects of the project which included statements reflecting their personal preferences (survey 2). they seemed to enjoy designing their own experiments rather than following a set procedure. they also admitted to the most frustrating parts of the project which included the several trials needed to get consistent data and unexpected results. they also wanted more time to complete their projects. finally, students provided feedback on whether they thought that the cure projects were useful. most students admitted that cure research projects helped them solve novel problems. they also thought that this experience should be introduced in other courses and that they learned a lot by doing the projects. survey 2 cure research projects informal survey questions asked and examples of responses are listed below. 1.what was the most enjoyable part about the cure project projects? “being able to design our own project and learn” “our own investigation rather than follow a set procedure” “hearing about the challenges of the projects and what they would do differently” “doing research on a new idea and analyzing the results” 2. what was the most frustrating part about the cure research projects? “the several trials of the experiment to get consistent data” “unexpected results but also makes it more interesting” “the same aspects that were enjoyable were also challenging” 3. what would you change about the cure research projects “more time to do the cure projects” 4. do you think cure projects are useful for learning how to do research? “yes, researching our own topics helped us understand why research is so important and how to do it” “absolutely, more classes should have this experience” “yes, it challenges science students to solve novel problems with what we have learned” “yes, i learned more from the cure research project” “i learned a lot from the cure research project” based on the results, we plan to incorporate these cure research projects in other upper division forensic science courses. this study can also be used as an assessment tool by the department. incorporating research projects in other courses will help provide students with opportunities to be innovative and learn important critical thinking skills for their future careers references 1. elliott mj, stewart kk, lagowski jj. the role of the laboratory in chemistry instruction. j chem educ 2008;85(1):145-149. 2. domin ds. a review of laboratory instruction styles. j chem educ 1999;76;543-547. 3. domin ds. students’ perception of when conceptual development occurs during laboratory instruction. chem educ res pract 2007;8(2): 232-254. 4. murthy ppn, thompson m, hungwe k. development of a semester-long, inquiry-based laboratory course in upper-level biochemistry and molecular biology. j chem educ 2014;91:1909-17. 5. brownell se, kloser mj, fukami t, shavelson r. undergraduate biology lab courses: comparing the impact of traditionally based cookbook and authentic research based courses on student lab experiences. j coll sci tech 2012;41(4):36-45. 6. fox ma, hackerman n. (eds.) evaluating and improving undergraduate teaching in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. national research council:washington dc, 2003. 7. caspers ml, roberts-kirchhoff e.s. an undergraduate biochemistry laboratory course with an emphasis on a research experience. biochem molecular educ 2003;31(5): 303-307. 8. hofstein a, navon o, kipnis m, mamlok-naaman r. developing students’ ability to ask more and better questions resulting from inquiry-type chemistry laboratories. j res sci teach 2005;42(7):791-806. 9. craig pa. a project-oriented biochemistry laboratory course. j. chem educ 1999;76(8):1120-1136. 10. russell sh, hancock mph, mccullough j. benefits of undergraduate research experiences. science 2007; 316(5824):548-49. 11. lopatto d. survey of undergraduate research experiences (sure): first findings. cell bio educ 2004;3:270-77. 12. brownell se, kloser mj. towards a conceptual framework for measuring the effectiveness of coursebased undergraduate research experiences in undergraduate biology. stud high education 2015; 40:525-544. 13. mordacq jc, drane dl, swarat sl, lo sm. development of course-based undergraduate research j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education coticone experiences using a design based approach. j coll sci teach 2017;46(4):64-75. 14. buck lb, bretz sl, town mh. characterizing the level of inquiry in the undergraduate laboratory. j coll sci teach 2008;38(1):52-58. 15. weaver gc, russell cb, wink dj. inquiry based and research based laboratory pedagogies in undergraduate science. nature chem bio 2008;4(10):577-80. 16. seymour e, wiese d, hunter a, daffinrud sm. creating a better mousetrap: on-line student assessment of their learning gains. paper presentation at the national meeting of the american chemical society, san francisco, ca. 2000. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education farnam transitioning a mock crime scene for remote learning leanna farnam1 and kimberly farah1* 1 forensic science department, lasell university, 1844 commonwealth avenue, newton ma 02466 *corresponding author: kfarah@lasell.edu abstract: the covid-19 pandemic resulted in transitioning an in-person introductory forensic science course to an online version of the course. typically, the culminating experience in the course was a mock crime scene setup that required students to collect trace evidence, analyze trace evidence, analyze provided toxicology/autopsy reports, and present their results to others. the transition to the online learning environment required a new approach to the mock crime scene scenario, while still achieving the same learning objectives. in lieu of an actual mock crime scene, photographic evidence and police reports were provided so students could determine relevant evidence that needed to be collected from the crime scene and submit their evidence log. after that activity, students were provided a formal evidence analysis report, allowing students to interpret the evidence in an online learning environment. finally, students completed a written report summarizing their findings. according to survey results, students gained confidence in their analysis skills and in their understanding of the course material. we believe that other online crime scene scenarios can be developed for upper-level courses to support the continuation of remote or hybrid learning environments, and as a preparation for online certification examinations. keywords: forensic science, teaching methods, remote instruction, case studies introduction forensic science and criminal justice majors typically take a general forensic science course as part of their introduction to the discipline. at our institution, we have a small building that has been used to stage mock crime scenes for students taking the introductory forensic science course. given the relatively small class size (18-24 students), we typically assign four groups; two groups are responsible for staging two different crime scene scenarios, and two groups are tasked with solving the staged crime scenes. students are required to incorporate at least five types of evidence into the mock crime setup (i.e., fingerprints, bloodstain patterns, hair, glass, and biological evidence) for subsequent collection and analysis. students selected to solve the mock crime scene must analyze the evidence, develop a presentation for the class, and attempt to “solve” the case for their peers. additionally, as part of our commitment to the agefriendly university (afu) initiative, we have also used mock crime scenes to promote intergenerational teaching and learning (1,2). the afu initiative was launched in 2012 and calls for institutions of higher education to respond to the needs and interests of age-diverse populations through more age-inclusive approaches to curriculum and practices (3-5). for these scenarios, residents of lasell village, our university-based retirement community (ubrc), develop a crime scene scenario for students to solve. working with the course instructor, the village residents then gather the evidence for the students to analyze and set up a mock crime scene in their community. the forensic evidence includes footwear impressions, hair, fingerprints, toxicology reports, and an autopsy report. students “interview” suspects, gather reference samples, process the crime scene, and attempt to solve the crime. students are then split into groups and use several class periods to analyze the evidence, discuss results, and ultimately present their conclusions to village residents in the form of a powerpoint presentation. each student group must explain how their particular evidence will be analyzed (i.e., for hair-microscopy) and then all students in the class present their conclusions as to “who did it” and “how”. after the presentation, village residents divulge the solution to the crime (3). typically, the introduction to forensic science course is taught twice weekly for a total of 150 minutes per week. at least one session a week is devoted to laboratory exercises including bloodstain pattern analysis, hair analysis, blood typing, fingerprinting, arson investigation, impression evidence, and dna typing. the other weekly session is lecture-based and includes weekly quizzes on course topics. homework includes both published case studies (6) and case studies being developed for publication. due to covid-19, in spring 2020, the in-person course was moved to remote mid-way through the semester. as such, for students to participate in the mailto:kfarah@lasell.edu j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education farnam culminating mock crime scenario, an alternative method of delivery had to be developed. further, laboratory exercises could not be delivered in person, thus course assignments had to be modified accordingly to provide students with the skills necessary to solve the mock crime scene scenarios. using lessons learned from the spring 2020 transition, and with the continued need for remote or hybrid learning, the introduction to forensic science course was again taught online in fall 2021. crime scene scenario the background for the online crime scene scenario included a case report prepared by the responding officer and a collection of photographs of the crime scene. three different crime scene scenarios were developed, but for assessment purposes, only one crime scene was used for this study. a copy of the sample police report is provided in supplement 1. crime scene photographs were uploaded to canvas (the learning management system used for this course) by the course instructor, with each photograph identified by a number. example photographs are shown in figure 1 and figure 2. figure 1 depicts an overall view of the crime scene and figure 2 provides an example of a close-up photograph of the crime scene. approximately 20 photographs were taken of each crime scene. figure 1 long view of mock crime scene scenario figure 2 example of a close-up photograph of the mock crime scene. students were asked to thoroughly review the police report and the crime scene photographs. students then completed table 1, indicating the photograph number, the type of evidence they would collect, and how they would analyze the evidence. students were not required to include all photographs in their evidence log if they determined a photograph did not showcase probative evidence. table 1 crime scene scenario evidence log. photo # evidence collected testing required once the evidence logs were submitted, students were then provided with an "evidence analysis" folder on canvas. this folder contained the results from dna analysis, drugs/toxicology analysis, trace evidence analysis, serological testing, and fingerprint analysis, ready for interpretation. copies of the evidence analyses, and solutions will be provided on request. students were asked to interpret the results of the analyses and write a formal scientific report. a sample report was provided to students, along with a report template (provided in supplement 2). methods at the conclusion of the exercise, a short anonymous survey was conducted to assess student learning and to gather feedback on the transition to a virtual mock crime scene. the survey was approved by the university j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education farnam institutional review board. questions were taken from the salg (student assessment of their learning gains) (7). the salg is a web-based instrument that allows students to assess their perceptions of learning gains made over the duration of a course. questions included a likert scale with endpoints labelled (1) no gain and (5) great gain, and short answers. the survey asked students to self-report the gains they experienced from completing the mock crime scene scenario. questions included a likert scale or were short answer. results students were asked to what extent the crime scene scenario activity helped them develop their forensic science analytical skills. the majority reported gains ((m = 3.63, sd = 0.66), with 62.5% of students reporting a good to great gain in their analytical skills as shown in figure 3. crime scenes can be large in area and include a variety of physical evidence. the ability to process a crime scene and collect essential evidence for analysis is integral for practitioners in the field (8-10). the virtual mock crime scenes that were developed for the course included a variety of physical evidence for the students to identify, as well as opportunities for discussion of evidence processing techniques. while students reported gains in their forensic science analytical skills, many students failed to identify evidence that would be of assistance to the case (e.g., powders, bottles). this weakness suggests that further activities are needed to improve students’ evidence identification and collection techniques. figure 3 to what extent did the crime scene scenario activity help you develop your forensic analytic skills? students were also asked if the mock crime scene activity increased their confidence in understanding the course material. figure 4 shows that 68.8% of students reported a good to great gain in their understanding of the course material (m=3.73.sd =0.84), as a result of “solving” the mock crime scene scenario. figure 4 as a result of your work on the crime scene scenario, what gains did you make in your confidence that you understand the material in the course? students were asked for a response to the question: how did the mock crime scene activity contribute to your learning in this class? responses included comments such as: “it allowed me to put my knowledge of forensic science to the test using a hands-on learning experience. much more valuable than any paper test.” “it allowed me to apply my knowledge from the entire semester to a real-world scenario.” “i was able to put everything that i learned in this one assignment. for example, the knowledge i learned from different modules played a role in completing the mock activity. it was a fun assignment and it got me really thinking as if i were a crime scene investigator. i wish i was able to do this activity hands on, which could have been really cool to do.” past research (11-13) has found that an authentic approach to scientific analysis versus a cookbook laboratory format provides for a better understanding of how scientific analysis is conducted and a greater interest in the scientific field. the above comments indicate that students enjoyed analyzing the mock crime scene, felt it was more useful than a traditional examination, and allowed them to apply the knowledge they gained in the course. several students commented that it would have been more effective to do the activity hands on. they felt the in-person experience would add value to activity. the final open response question asked how this activity changed the student’s attitude about forensic science analyses. responses included comments such as: “the case study changed my attitude because it showed me that i actually do know what i am talking about. it also showed me that i can have confidence when discussing how to do blood testing or drug testing.” “this case study changed my attitudes about forensic science analysis by giving me a deeper insight into how evidence is collected; i did not expect the process to be as j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education farnam intricate as described within the modules. due to this reason, i found myself developing a deeper respect for forensic scientists and the work they do in order to confirm the involvement of a culprit, or suspect.” the comments above, and other responses, indicate that students gained confidence in their knowledge of forensic science, and gained an understanding of the complexities of analyzing a crime scene. several students commented that they were now aware that many different people (e.g., police, crime scene investigators, and scientists) participate in crime scene investigations, and that analysis is both timeconsuming and difficult. several students also commented on how the mock crime scene activity (and the course) changed their decisions regarding their major: “it made the decision worth it to switch majors from forensic science to criminal justice as i would not like to do that work for a living.” “it actually helped me better understand that this is the field i would like to go into when i graduate.” because this course is typically taken in the first or second year of our forensic science program, it provides an excellent means for students to immerse themselves in the field. . discussion and conclusion the covid-19 pandemic required courses that were taught in person to move to an online format. to continue to ensure that students in an introductory forensic science course had the opportunity to participate in a culminating experience, a mock crime scene scenario was developed for the online learning environment. due to ongoing challenges with covid-19, lasell village residents have thus far been excluded from the online mock crime scene scenario but during the next online course offering, village residents will once again be active participants. the tentative plan is for residents to assist in writing the scenario and participating in taped interviews. as with the in-person scenario, students will present their results to the residents, in the form of a zoom meeting. questions related to the village participation will be included in future assessments as well. the assessment results indicate that students felt the scenario increased their confidence in their understanding of the course material, changed their attitudes about forensic science analyses, and allowed them to test their knowledge in as realistic a manner as the online teaching environment allowed. other researchers (14) have pointed out the importance of both collection and handling of physical evidence. while students were presented with photographic evidence, the complexity and amount of evidence associated with a physical crime scene could not be fully replicated solely through photographic evidence. the use of virtual reality technology (15) is a promising alternative that would address the above limitations but currently the setup times and costs for that technology are prohibitive. in the future, it would be helpful to gather additional student input on what improvements could be made to the online mock crime scene. it would also be useful to explore students’ attitudes towards forensic science analysis over the course of the semester, as many students enter the course using television crime shows as the basis for their understanding of forensic science (i.e., the csi effect). as the need for remote or hybrid learning continues, we intend to further develop online crime scene scenarios for use in upper-level courses as a means to assess critical skills required for forensic science majors, and to prepare students for online competency certification exams. references 1. farah ks, montepare jm. older adults as teaching allies: opportunities for age-friendly university innovation. proceedings of the gerontological society of america annual scientific meeting; 2020 nov 4-6; philadelphia (pa). 2. montepare jm, farah ks. talk of ages: using intergenerational classroom modules to engage older and younger learners across the curriculum. gerontol geriatr educ 2018;39(3):385-394. 3. farah ks, montepare jm. using mock crime scenes to promote intergenerational teaching and learning. international federation on aging newsletter. sept 2018. 4. montepare jm. introduction to the special issue-agefriendly universities (afu): principles, practices, and opportunities. gerontol geriatr educ 2019;40(2):139141. 5. o’kelly c. age-friendly university annual report. retrieved from https://www.dcu.ie/sites/default/files/agefriendly/afu _annual_report_complete.pdf. 6. farah ks. disaster at the daisy’s: a case study in forensic analysis. national center for case study teaching in science (nccst). 2019. 7. seymour e, wiese d j, hunter a, daffinrud sm. creating a better mousetrap: on-line student assessment of their learning gains. proceedings of the national meetings of the american chemical society: symposium on using real-world questions to promote active learning; san francisco, ca, march 27, 2000. 8. girard, je. criminalistics: forensic science, crime, and terrorism. 4th ed. burlington, massachusetts: jones and barlett learning, 2021. 9. saferstein r. criminalistics: an introduction to forensic science. 13th ed. upper saddle river, new jersey: pearson, 2021. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education farnam 10. shaler r. crime scene forensics: a scientific method approach boca raton, florida: crc press, 2011. 11. brownwell se, kloser mj, fukami t, shavelson r. undergraduate biology lab courses: comparing the impact of traditionally based “cookbook” and authentic research-based courses on student lab experiences. j coll sci teach 2012;41(4): 36−45. 12. coticone sr, garcia c, van houten lb. pivoting remote: techniques for teaching forensics utilizing virtual student-led case studies in a blend flex mode. j forensic sci educ 2021;3(2). 13. cresswell sl, loughlin wa. a case-based scenario with interdisciplinary guided-inquiry in chemistry and biology: experiences of first year forensic science students. j chem educ 2017; 94:1074-1082. 14. kanu ab, pajski m, hartman m, kimaru i, marine s, kaplan, lj. exploring perspective and identifying potential challenges encountered with crime scene investigations when developing chemistry curricula. j chem educ 2015; 92:1353-1358. 15. mayne r, green h. virtual reality for teaching and learning in crime scene investigation. sci just 2020; 60:466-472. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education farnam supplement 1: sample police report july 27, 2019, 03:23 123 pine road, billerica, ma report of officer farnam on the morning of saturday, july 27, 2019, at approximately 03:23, dispatch received a report of gun shots fired at 123 pine road. upon arrival, i secured the scene and received the following information from witnesses: the owner of the house, mark barker, was throwing a party with friends. at one point in the evening, one partygoer by the name of steve bell decided to pull a prank on another partygoer, omar littleton, by pretending to steal his drugs. thinking steve did, in fact, steal his drugs, omar became very upset, and an argument ensued between the two men. witnesses state that omar left the party but stated “wait until i come back for you!” before leaving. approximately 45 minutes after the argument, witnesses state that omar returned to the party, entered the backyard of the house, and began shooting at steve. steve was shot in the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene. omar was seen running from the yard down the street. i observed the scene to consist of a white house with a white vinyl fence along the perimeter of the backyard. the fence gate was located to the left of the house driveway. upon entering the backyard through the fence gate, a shed was located straight ahead, and a deck was located to the right, in the very back of the house. on the deck, i observed a table with various beverages, white powder-like material, and green-leafy material. to the right of the table, i observed a male with an apparent gunshot wound to his chest. red-brown stains were observed on the deck to the immediate right of the male. a search of the area revealed a 9mm handgun in a nearby wooded area. close to the gun, a piece of material, such as that belonging to an item of clothing, was observed on the ground. the search for omar littleton has been unsuccessful at this time, however, his records reveal that mr. littleton has been convicted of multiple felonies. csi lasell has been called in to assist with the forensic investigation of this case. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education farnam supplement 2: sample report [date] [case type]: [case date]: [case location]: dear officer farnam: as per your request, an investigation was made of the scene involving [victim’s name] in [case location]. an inspection of [type of location inspected] was completed and the scene was photographed. the following items were collected from the scene for [type of analysis] analysis. • [item 1 description] • [item 2 description] the following is a summary of my analysis. • [item 1]: include your analysis summary here. this should include terms like match, non-match, etc. support the reasons for your conclusions. • [item 2]: include your analysis summary here. this should include terms like match, non-match, etc. support the reasons for your conclusions. i trust this report will be of assistance to your ongoing investigation. if you have any questions or desire to discuss any analysis results with me, please contact me at your convenience. sincerely, [your name here] csi xxx university j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education tran fostering small group discussion in an online instrumental analysis course using google docs cynthia j. kaeser tran, ph.d.1*, mary f. lamar, ph.d.2 1department of chemistry, eastern kentucky university, 521 lancaster avenue, richmond, ky 40475 2college of science, eastern kentucky university, 521 lancaster avenue, richmond, ky 40475 *corresponding author: cindy.tran@eku.edu abstract: in recent years there has been a strong case made for the improved learning outcomes that come with the use of active learning environments such as those involving flipped or pogil models within inperson classrooms. a cornerstone of these classrooms lies in the use of small group discussion facilitated by the instructor or teaching assistants. these discussions allow students to explore material using critical reasoning and scaffolded questions to build to high order thinking. due to the covid-19 pandemic, many classrooms were forced to immediately move to remote learning models in spring 2020. many of these courses were further reimagined into fully online designs for fall 2020 and beyond. while there are many technological tools available, this activity presents a method for leveraging the collaborative nature of the google doc platform for fostering discussions among students. this method is presented in the context of a largely asynchronous instrumental analysis course for chemistry and forensic science students. the advantages and disadvantages of this method are presented specifically in the realms of student engagement and soft skill development. the robustness of this method in how it could be utilized in other teaching environments such as synchronous or hybrid courses is also discussed. keywords: active learning; instrumental analysis; remote learning; pogil introduction an instrumental analysis course and lab are required as part of the forensic science (chemistry option) and chemistry undergraduate curriculum at the authors’ university. students from both programs are enrolled in the same lecture course (cross-listed) with differing lab experiences. the chemistry major students perform a small synthesis as part of the lab to prepare them for their synthetic and analytical course plus lab (capstone experience) while the forensic science major students concentrate on learning more instrumentation that they may need for their future courses such as trace evidence, drugs and toxicology, and their senior capstone experience (1). this article will focus on the instrumental analysis lecture. to build active engagement between students and the course material, a process oriented guided inquiry learning (pogil) model (2) for lecture instruction was introduced during the fall 2018. while the course was based on pogil, the material utilized was not reviewed by pogil. this classroom model emphasizes exploration of course material and critical consideration of the information provided through small-group discussion, image interpretation, and application of concepts to new situations. this model type has been successfully implemented within in-person chemistry classrooms (3–7) including in instrumental analysis courses (8-9) and analytical chemistry courses (9). in the fall 2018 and 2019 offerings, student-led discussion groups were the cornerstone with the instructor serving a facilitator to help further student conversations into higher level thinking. class time was balanced between small group discussions and interactive short lectures to summarize concepts while introducing new topics. the worksheets developed supplemented the class information and guided the discussion. due to the covid-19 pandemic, many university courses for the fall 2020 semester transitioned to on-line learning environments to reduce students’ exposure to the virus and accommodate the reduction in classroom seating for social distancing purposes (for example a classroom usually containing 70 students sits 30 students due to social distancing) (10). this course was no exception. with online education, a variety of ways have been utilized to engage students with course material and discussion including using video conference breakout rooms (10), discussion boards, wikis (11), and blogs in learning management systems. breakout rooms allow small group discussion but require students to be synchronously meeting at the time designated by the instructor. this does not always accommodate asynchronous offerings and can be difficult to coordinate for a student population spread across several time zones. in addition, the instructor is unable to be in all of the breakout rooms at once. discussion boards for pogil activities can be useful, but do not foster real-time interaction and refinement of j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education tran answers as editing posts or tracking edit histories is not easily accomplished. also, given the overall number of questions posed for discussion and how many of these questions are scaffolded toward an overall goal, separating questions into individual discussion boards seems impractical. trevathan and myers (11) developed an option for on-line pogil activities using wikis, individual student blogs and a facebook group. while the ease of recording a grade is an advantage with wikis and blogs, students have to learn the tools/gadgets associated with this technology. utilizing pre-loaded figures and questions for each group’s discussion is not easily accomplished using these platforms. with improvements among technology platforms abounding, other options can be utilized for small group discussions. in this case, the instructor utilized google docs. the advantage of a google doc over a learning management system wiki is that students are already familiar with google drive and the associated programs shareability. at the authors’ university, students have their own google drive associated with their university account. additionally, the edit history features and ability to control editing permissions were advantageous. the purpose of this article is to outline the strategies employed utilizing google docs for facilitating small group discussions with an online course. methods course organization while the online instrumental analysis course in fall 2020 was designed to operate in an asynchronous format, the instructor utilized an option provided by the university to maintain the scheduled normal meeting time (8-9:15 am, t/th). this set time provided students a time where they could reasonably be expected to be available and collaborate with their small groups, though meeting at the designated class time was not required. this time block also allowed students real-time contact with the instructor to answer questions about the course. this course utilized blackboard as the learning management system. topics were covered in modules usually lasting 2 weeks (table 1). each module in blackboard included an overall checklist of expectations, instructor videos produced using recorded powerpoints or illustrations filmed utilizing a document camera, small group discussion worksheets utilizing google docs (see example in appendix), homework sets (true/false, multiple choice, matching and short answer questions), and a self-reflection journal (~300 words) about students’ learning or locating research utilizing the module’s topic. in addition to the module work, an 8 to 10 minute small group presentation about an instrumentation type not otherwise covered in the course was assigned and a comprehensive final complete the course assignments. small group assignment the student population of the course consisted of junior and senior-level students majoring in forensic science (chemistry option) or chemistry with an approximately 2:1 ratio between the majors. prior to the start of term, an optional survey was distributed to students to gather information about their anticipated availability for group work during the week outside of the designated class time. groups were primarily selected based on common times of availability. secondary criteria for group selection was student major. groups were selected to include a mixture of the two majors to maximize the diversity of backgrounds and foundational knowledge for discussion. group size was limited to 4-5 students, with one group dropping to 3 students mid-semester. students completed a group contract at the start of term to outline expectations for participation, communication, and completion timelines. group contracts were revisited throughout the semester and revised to reflect changes in group dynamics or reinforce group expectations. table 1 topic schedule google doc group folders the instructor created a folder in the google drive for each group and granted editing privileges to the group members. this ensured the integrity of the group’s work and privacy from being viewed/edited by other groups. all worksheets for each module were placed in the group folder prior to the start of each 2-week module. one worksheet was due at the end of each week of the module, giving ample time for completion and the opportunity to work ahead within a module. students were instructed to log in using their university accounts each time they edited the document and to ensure that all group members made week topic 1 review of quantitative analysis concepts 2-3 ultraviolet-visible (uv-vis) spectroscopy 4-5 fourier transform infrared (ftir) spectroscopy 6-7 atomic spectroscopy, including atomic absorption (aa), inductively coupled plasma optical emission (icp-oes), and x-ray fluorescence (xrf) 8-10 chromatography introduction: basics and gas chromatography (gc) 11-12 liquid separations: high pressure liquid chromatography (hplc), ion exchange (ic), and capillary electrophoresis (ce) 13-14 mass spectrometry (ms) 15 group presentations and review (thanksgiving week) 16 comprehensive written final j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education tran meaningful contributions to the document. student progress was monitored through instructor checks each weekday morning. daily feedback was provided though written notes in the worksheet text (highlighted in an alternate color from the student work to distinguish from other text) as well as using the comment feature in google docs. students were encouraged to leave comments on the worksheet if they had specific questions and required more immediate feedback. student participation was tracked using the edit history. as a formative activity, the worksheet grade was assigned based on participation and completion only with correct answers provided after the worksheet due date. group worksheets the first author attended a week-long analytical chemistry pogil workshop during the summer 2018. this experience inspired the class organization and worksheets developed for fall 2018 and fall 2019 instrumental analysis sections. these worksheets were then modified for the on-line fall 2020 section. utilizing knowledge about the different pogil question types, the first author constructed directed (answered using textbooks or course videos), convergent (answered via group agreement), and divergent (range of possible answers) questions for the worksheets (10). not every worksheet contained all three question types, though each type was utilized within each module. the worksheets served as an aid for the students to answer their homework in conjunction with the instructor-provided videos and assigned textbook readings. each worksheet consisted of 6-10 questions, similar to the worksheet provided in supplementary material. for full credit, a student had to participate in multiple questions and all of the questions on the worksheet had to be answered. thus if a student did not participate for a week, the remaining students in the group were still responsible for completing the worksheet for full credit. the students were informed of this requirement at the start of the semester. results student engagement student engagement in the small-group discussions was difficult to quantify during in-person instruction. unengaged or naturally quiet students often have limited interaction with their group or fail to make meaningful contributions to the discussion. while the instructor attempted to engage these students in the discussion, fostering consistent participation during in-person was not always feasible. the instructor had difficulty deciding if a student should receive their full participation points for their given efforts. however, the virtual environment improved this by tracking student contribution to the final document as quantifiable evidence of contribution. naturally quiet students may find it easier to type their responses to the questions rather than speak them and can thus contribute their thoughts to the discussion without additional anxiety. for students who are otherwise nervous sharing their thoughts without having time to process them ahead of time, accessing the worksheet ahead of a group meeting allowed students to gather their thoughts before having to discuss them with a broader group. finally, this format allows groups to meet when students are at their prime. the instructor had previously observed that the 8 am time slot assigned to this course hampered student discussion during the first 20-30 minutes of the class due to the early hour and some students having a laboratory/course the previous night. allowing groups to meet outside of the designated times provided an opportunity for students to approach the material when their minds are already active, improving their engagement with the material and thoughtful consideration of the discussion questions posed. however, this environment is not without some disadvantages. for groups deciding to meet outside of the designated class period, the availability of the instructor to hear ongoing group discussions and engage in conversation with the group is limited. when groups become “stuck” on a question in a real-time setting, the instructor can ask leading questions to guide students to the correct answer or line of thinking. the lack of real-time facilitation was observed to stunt student’s critical thinking as they often spent more time trying to locate an answer directly from the course textbook or an outside source rather than critically considering the question at hand, an aspect that being in class without accessing reference materials forces students to achieve. comments made by the instructor upon reviewing the student answers was a substitute for this, but an imperfect one as there was no guarantee that feedback was revisited by the student in a meaningful way. additionally, there is often an element of “eavesdropping” that occurs between groups in a classroom environment where one group may listen in on another group’s conversation with the instructor or amongst themselves and gain a piece of information they needed to continue their work. as the group worksheets are not shared among the entire class, there is not a clear way to replicate this aspect of in-class discussion using the google doc format. also if a question proved problematic for all the groups, the students do not know that a concept was difficult for the whole class, which can create a feeling of isolation in their misunderstanding when the misunderstanding was universal. problematic questions were addressed with the addition of mid-module videos as needed. soft skill development j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education tran while not a formal learning objective for this course, increasing communication skills in developing scientists was one that is highlighted in a pogil-model classroom. articulating thoughts orally and in writing is a foundational skill that students will need throughout their continued college education and beyond. one advantage of the google doc platform over the in-person classroom was that students are forced to write their answer to each question. in the classroom setting, they might discuss a question, agree on an answer, and move on without actually writing the answer in their notes for future reference, limiting their practice of articulating answers clearly. since the record of their discussion in the google doc platform was their written response, students were required to summarize their discussions in succinct answers reflecting their group’s discussion. additionally, any feedback provided by the instructor was also present in writing for future reference and study. one disadvantage of the online environment is that students may write answers without actually discussing the answer with their group, limiting their opportunity to practice expressing their understanding orally. outside course responsibilities and conflicting schedules required groups to meet asynchronously periodically, but the instructor encouraged students to read and comment on other group members’ answers. methodology robustness with much uncertainty concerning delivery format for courses and the looming possibility that future semesters could be transitioned to fully online delivery, course designs have to be robust and easily transferable between multiple learning environments. small group discussions employing google doc worksheets could easily be adapted for in-person learning by having students work on the worksheet recording their answers in real-time using a laptop, but instructors have to emphasize the requirement for every student to act as a recorder on a worksheet. for hyflex models where half of the class is in person while half the class meets remotely, a group could meet via a video conferencing platform with half its members in the classroom and the other half attending virtually. the instructor could still serve as facilitator, group-to-group “eavesdropping” could still occur and much of the authenticity of the group discussion format could be preserved. in any case, should a quick transition to a fully virtual environment be necessary for school closure due to illness, inclement weather or other unforeseen issue, the platform for accessing and recording group discussions would be preserved with minimal downtime in the course. while the advantages are strong and led this instructor to embrace this mode of teaching, this method of iterative written feedback on group worksheets is time intensive. to achieve the full effect of discussion between students and instructor, feedback must be provided in a timely manner and is typically required multiple times before assigning a grade for the worksheet. if the group completed their worksheet close to the due date, the instructor has to choose whether or not to provide feedback. with the fall 2020 section, the instructor decided not to provide feedback if the students started the worksheet the afternoon of the deadline as the students had several days to begin the assignment. this technique can be labor-intensive and may be most easily achieved in courses with small class sizes (<40 students) or through the use of a teaching assistant to help monitor the discussions. while for faceto-face courses, the instructor would review the worksheets in class and outside of class, feedback using the google doc required an average of 30 minutes per group each week. discussion and conclusion the current protocols surrounding in-person class meetings (social distancing) due to covid-19 can make pogil-style classroom small group discussions difficult to achieve. while there are many options for virtual platforms for discussion (9-11), the user friendliness, widespread availability, and editing capabilities of google docs provided advantages in preserving small group discussion in a remote learning classroom. while maintaining the development of communication skills, the instructor observed more widespread and consistent participation in group discussions in an online environment as students were able to exhibit more flexibility in the scheduling of these activities to suit the needs of the group members. these interactions are similar to the discussions that wenzel examines with an analytical chemistry course (9) where he served as a facilitator. the first author facilitated students’ discussions/answers by commenting on groups’ google doc throughout the week. although spurring students into higher-level problem-solving skills remains a challenge in this method, the ability to provide iterative formative feedback and the robustness of the google doc group discussion format across the variety of instruction modes now implemented in classes are strong advantages that make this an effective method for facilitating small group discussions in a virtual classroom. references 1. eastern kentucky university. undergraduate catalog 2020-2021. https://catalogs.eku.edu/ 2. moog rs, spencer jn (editors). process-oriented guided inquiry learning. illustrated edition. washington, dc :new york:american chemical society, 2008. 3. hein sm. positive impacts using pogil in organic chemistry. j chem educ 2012;89(7):860–4. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed100217v https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3a%2f%2fcatalogs.eku.edu%2f&data=04%7c01%7claquarin%40cedarcrest.edu%7c875e47855b4d4118472908d88e462d80%7cd880b2161d3e4c3c9455fc43d98137d6%7c1%7c0%7c637415779362069280%7cunknown%7ctwfpbgzsb3d8eyjwijoimc4wljawmdailcjqijoiv2lumziilcjbtii6ik1hawwilcjxvci6mn0%3d%7c1000&sdata=uhliinjmy82zcxpfcve5g6kpdeh0stfwdufyc0qlqvu%3d&reserved=0 https://doi.org/10.1021/ed100217v j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education tran 4. hunnicutt ss, grushow a, whitnell r. guidedinquiry experiments for physical chemistry: the pogil-pcl model. j chem educ 2015;92(2):262–8. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed5003916. 5. casadonte d. the effectiveness of course flipping in general chemistry – does it work? the flipped classroom volume 2: results from practice. american chemical society, 2016;19–37. 6. maloney v. conversion of a lecture based organic chemistry course sequence to fully flipped classes with pertinent observations from other flipped chemistry courses. the flipped classroom volume 2: results from practice. american chemical society, 2016;93–106. 7. esson jm. flipping general and analytical chemistry at a primarily undergraduate institution. the flipped classroom volume 2: results from practice. american chemical society, 2016;107–25. 8. lantz j, cole r, project tp. analytical chemistry: a guided inquiry approach instrumental analysis collection. john wiley & sons, 2014. 9. wenzel, t. j. cooperative group learning in undergraduate analytical chemistry 1998;(70): 790a– 795a. doi: 10.1021/ac982050g 10. reynders g, ruder sm. moving a large-lecture organic pogil classroom to an online setting. j chem educ 2020;97(9):3182–7. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00615. 11. trevathan j, myers t. inquiry learning techniques in information technology. j learn des 2013;6(2):11. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed5003916 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00615 methods results discussion and conclusion the current protocols surrounding in-person class meetings (social distancing) due to covid-19 can make pogil-style classroom small group discussions difficult to achieve. while there are many options for virtual platforms for discussion (9-11), the u... j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education tidy a break from the zoom using a students home environment to teach forensic science interpretation during the covid-19 pandemic. dr. helen tidy1*, ian parker1 1school of health and life sciences, teesside university, middlesbrough, ts1 3bx, uk, *corresponding author: h.tidy@tees.ac.uk abstract: the rapid move to online learning during the covid-19 pandemic has created the need for academics to rapidly develop new and innovative ways to deliver practical content. while many laboratory sessions have moved to online simulations these are not necessarily suitable for the teaching of the interpretation of forensic evidence. the move to online teaching and simulations can increase a student’s exposure to digital devices enhancing “zoom fatigue”. an alternative suggestion to using only online simulated laboratory practicals is to utilise the students home environment in creating datasets which then lend themselves to understanding the intricacies of forensic interpretation of evidence types. these tasks involve little or no resources on the part of the student and allow them to explore, investigate and observe factors relevant to interpretation. student feedback showed this form of data gathering task to be a welcome break from the digital device and allow for greater and more prolonged understanding of how to interpret forensic evidence. keywords: covid-19, interpretation of forensic evidence, laboratory practical, home environment . introduction teaching forensic science during the covid-19 pandemic has afforded lots of obstacles for academics. one of these obstacles is how to effectively teach what is by nature a very practical subject. many institutions have tackled this problem by moving their laboratory practical sessions online and utilising simulated laboratory resources (1). this is an approach adopted widely within the sciences to facilitate students learning practical skills (2 5). online laboratory sessions are ideal for teaching the fundamentals of techniques but not ideal for teaching the intricacy of interpretation of forensic evidence types. potkonjak et al (2016) also notes that finer laboratory skills are often acquired through real hands-on experience and the creation of online simulations, where nothing can in effect go wrong, can result in a lack of seriousness, responsibility, and carefulness on the part of the student (6). in addition, the increased reliance on a digital device may exasperate the “zoom fatigue” some students are already suffering in a world where the majority of their time and teaching is online. zoom fatigue or “computermediated communication (cmc)” exhaustion (7) is a very real problem in a covid-19 world where university teaching is either hybrid (a combination of online and in person) or completely online. providing opportunities for the student to have time away from their digital device is essential in ensuring a healthy learning environment – this can be problematic when teaching relies on the student undertaking some form of prolonged simulated online laboratory session. the approach adopted in this instance was to provide time away from the digital device in allowing students to explore their own home environment to gather data that assists in the interpretation of forensic evidence. data collected by each student builds a larger data set which can then be discussed in online seminar sessions, providing students ownership of the discussion and thus further helping to relieve zoom fatigue. by ensuring students are undertaking active tasks before, during or after live sessions is one way to lessen the fatigue of online learning (8). there is also the suggestion that by teaching purely in an online one-dimensional environment, there is a lack of consideration towards the diversity of learning styles of students. hall (2020) acknowledges that some students may need greater time to process information; whereas others may need time to write their learning down to absorb and consider it which may not be accommodated in an intense online environment (9). moving the teaching away from the digital device, be it for a short time, helps allow students to learn at their pace and in their own manner. in addition to allowing the students a break from their digital device, the approach adopted in this instance allows students to explore and gain an understanding of factors j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education tidy that affect how a forensic evidence type is interpreted prior to a conclusion being drawn. this is a forgotten area in practical teaching with many laboratory sessions focusing on gaining the required laboratory skills of a forensic scientist. where interpretation skills are generally incorporated into practical work is in the interpretation of a set of results from an analytical piece of equipment, thus focusing on the source level reporting aspect of forensic science rather than the more wider interpretation skills required from a forensic scientist in analysing evidence types at activity level (10). it is worth noting that the data gathering tasks rely on no specialist equipment so are very accessible in design, yet the students still undertook key skills in experimental observation and data collection. teaching methods 2nd year bsc forensic science students students learn about a different forensic evidence type across a two-week cycle; week 1 was used to establish the basics of the evidence type through a series of short asynchronous lectures and an associated home environment orientated data gathering task. the task is designed to allow students to build up a data set of knowledge in a certain forensic area that would then allow for them to consider aspects of forensic interpretation in greater detail. week 2 allowed students to meet with others in their pre-determined groups via microsoft teams to discuss their findings and formulate responses to key questions set by the tutor. this was undertaken prior to discussing them with the tutor in the live seminar sessions. the aim was to encourage students to undertake a more active approach in their learning rather than receiving the knowledge through a series of lectures where their learning is passive in nature. the data gathering tasks were all designed to allow students time away from their digital device and where no specialist equipment or expertise is required. an overview of the set tasks are summarised below: • the interpretation of fibres as forensic evidence – students were asked to record 15 upper garments in their wardrobe in terms of what fibre type and fibre colour they were composed of. these were then collated into a group set of results allowing the students to assess the most common fibre type and most common fibre colour in their dataset. students were then able to compare their results with published population studies (11 14) and discussion in the live seminar allowed for why a database approach might differ to results found via a population study and what effect the commonness of a certain fibre type or fibre colour would have on the evidential interpretation of fibres. • the interpretation of glass as forensic evidence – students were asked to walk around their local area and record what broken glass they identified on the ground as well as the area they were walking around (i.e. urban or rural area). again, the results were collated as a group and students were asked to consider what type of glass is commonly encountered as background glass in the environment. the seminar session focused on comparing the results the students found with what is commonly encountered in casework and why background glass in the environment may differ from glass encountered in casework (generally students found mainly curved container glass sources whereas casework glass is mainly flat in nature). the students were also asked in the live seminar to consider how the commonness of glass type/composition affects the evidential interpretation of glass evidence. • the interpretation of paint as forensic evidence part 1: students were again asked to walk around their local area and observe what colour the windows were painted (or record if they were double glazed and not painted). as with previous tasks, results were collated as a group and the students formed a dataset on the commonality of observed paint colours in their local environment. this allowed for comparison to published research on the most commonly encountered paint colours observed in forensic casework utilising research by moore et al (15). in addition, in the seminar it was discussed whether paint was still a valid evidence type to search for in house burglaries when a high proportion of windows are now double glazed. • the interpretation of paint as forensic evidence part 2:– students were asked to form 10 of their own coloured “paint” layers using whatever pens they had in their household as shown in figure 1. this allowed students to compare in their groups if anyone had formed the same paint layers and consider if this would potentially make paint conclusive as an evidence type in this context. the discussion in the seminar further focused on this aspect and the moore et al. (15) research also informed the discussion. the design of these tasks all acknowledged that the students were a group who had bonded and knew one another as a result of their onsite 1st year studies. the approach had to be altered for 1st year students who had not yet had a chance to bond as a group onsite. the approach was altered as detailed below. . j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education tidy figure 1 example of paint layers 1st year forensic science and crime scene science students the notion of a break from digital delivery by utilising the home environment was incorporated into a 1st year practical. the practical looked at how the wear and damage on items of footwear might affect a forensic scientist’s interpretation of the strength of evidence. students were asked to document the wear and damage they were seeing on up to 5 pairs of their own footwear. results were collated via a microsoft forms survey the students completed at the end of their examination thus negating the need for group work and reducing student anxiety. figure 2 example of presentation of student data regarding the wear and damage on their footwear via microsoft forms the collection of data via microsoft forms had an advantage in that forms collates the data into an appropriate format ready for teaching, saving the tutor time in preparation of material as shown in figure 2. as with the 2nd year data gathering tasks, the results were discussed via a live seminar session which also gave the students a chance to ask questions about footwear marks as a forensic evidence type. discussion providing students with a break from their digital device during their studies is essential in the new covid-19 era to lessen or avoid zoom fatigue (9). the approaches to achieving this varies from providing breaks within live sessions to asking students to participate in activities that take them away from their digital device during the lesson. ebner and greenberg suggest that although strategies to relieve zoom fatigue are effective in the short term, they may not be successful in motivating students to engage enthusiastically with their online courses and other effective interventions are required (16). the teaching approach discussed in this paper provides students with a prolonged but active break from their digital device where they can manage their own learning at their own pace. hall highlighted the fact that by delivering a fully online curriculum, the inclusivity of allowing students time and space to learn at their own pace can be lost (9). feedback from students indicates that this is appreciated: “it was definitely a much-needed break from digital learning. it helps to refresh the mind and eyes. one more powerpoint and i may have needed a psych evaluation. ….” “i think it was very helpful for my learning to take a break from the digital and focus on something ‘real’.” other students drew a clear distinction between feeling actively involved in the learning activity rather than undertaking an online simulation highlighting that the practical nature of the activity helped them retain the information much better: “the information i got from the practicals i was able to retain much easier than what i have for practicals in other modules that have been online simulations. by having a physical practical to do, it kept my more motivated to complete my work whilst at home! “ “the practical was memorable, and i think due to how interactive it was-having to draw your footwear mark wear on the diagrams, this helped to retain the information better.” there is also a hint in the first comment, that this was also a welcome break from the digital world with the suggestion the physical nature of the practical keeping them more motivated. it was also interesting to observe that some students not only utilised their home environment in the undertaking of the tasks but their households too; counting glass or noting the paint on windows became a family affair involving the younger members of the j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education tidy household who were being home-schooled due to lockdown at the time. whereas it was clear that students appreciated the break from their digital device, the aim of the data gathering tasks was to ensure students were able to gain an understanding of how varying factors affects the interpretation of forensic evidence. this was achieved by the tasks being used to gather datasets which then allowed for discussion on how this data affected the interpretation of a particular forensic evidence type: for example, what would be a common fibre colour/type and how does this than affect the interpretation of fibre evidence. the concept of how forensic interpretation is affected by multiply factors is one that is sometimes difficult for students to grasp. allowing them to be active in the collection of data that then demonstrates how commonness of a certain fibre type or paint colour affects the interpretation of that evidence and provides an active approach to teaching these concepts. one student commented that the task really helped to not only to understand but also consolidate the knowledge: “i really enjoyed them and it was definitely helpful to consolidate concepts not only for the exam, but also for future projects, work and such. i felt like i didn't have to study as much; everything was and still is so fresh in my mind because of those weekly practicals. it was a great experience in my opinion.” the advantage of the tasks in developing an understanding and retention of factors significant to forensic science interpretation was further echoed by other students: “i really enjoyed the practicals for **** and have been the most enjoyable for me this academic year. ………. plus it helped me lots in understanding the interpretation as well.” “our footwear examination practical was quite helpful in the understanding of how footwear can be affected in similar ways, yet still hold unique characteristics.” “this practical was very good and it forced me to think about the importance of wear and damage on items of footwear and the significance of these pieces of evidence.” “the practical was memorable, and i think due to how interactive it was-having to draw your footwear mark wear on the diagrams, this helped to retain the information better.” when the examination marks for the 2nd year students were compared to previous years, it was observed that there is a marked difference in achievement. the cohort this academic year achieved a mean exam grade of 60% whereas the previous two years the mean exam score was 52% (2018) and 47% (2019). figure 3 provides a further analysis of grade achievement, showing a higher attainment of marks for those students undertaking the data gathering tasks to support their seminar sessions in 2020 compared to previous years. the examination focuses on knowledge of key evidence types combined with questions on the interpretation of these evidence types. the marked difference in average grades for the 2020 cohort compared to previous years suggests a better retention and understanding of factors affecting the interpretation of forensic evidence. interpretation of forensic evidence has always been an area of forensic science education that students find difficult; it is something that cannot easily be acquired from a textbook but it a crucial skill in becoming an effective forensic scientist. figure 3 the frequency distribution of exam grades for students studying the same module over the previous 3 years in addition, engagement with online learning was measured within the 1st year module where a combination of home data gathering tasks and online simulated practical sessions were utilised. it was noticed that where online laboratory simulations were used alone, engagement was much lower than when used in conjunction with the interpretative home data gathering tasks were used. for example, an online microscope simulation 24 students were observed to be actively engaging with the task, whereas the footwear marks practical using a homebased data gathering task showed 42 students to be actively engaging. this clearly suggests that the use of a homebased data gathering task aided engagement and it was also noted that the level of observations and discussion was of a level more consistent with students more advanced in their studies. the advantages of these types of practical are clear, the active component makes them more memorable for students as well as providing a much-needed break from their digital devices. in addition, allowing the students to have ownership of their learning in creating their own datasets allows them to see how factors affect forensic j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education tidy science interpretation more clearly and retain this knowledge for longer. conclusions it is important as educators we understand that students require a break from their digital devices in order to lessen the effects of zoom fatigue, but this cannot be at the expense of effective learning strategies. the approach adopted in this instance was to use a student’s home environment to allow them to gather datasets that help them gain a better understanding of the interpretation of forensic evidence types. feedack from students indicated that they appreciated the break from online learning and the ownership and active nature of the tasks helped them gain a better understanding of the concepts which underpin the interpretation of forensic evidence. in addition, the nature of the tasks helped them retain the information more easily. empirical data also suggests that these tasks improve student knowledge and engagement. these data gathering tasks while developed to fit the online learning environment forced onto higher education by covid-19 are also appropriate for non-pandemic times as preparation for onsite seminars allowing students to have ownership of their learning and a more authentic learning experience. acknowledgements no financial support was received for this work. references 1. thompson t, collings a, earwaker h, horsman g, nakhaeizadeh s, parekh u. forensic undergraduate education during and after the covid-19 imposed lockdown: strategies and reflections from india and the uk, forensic sci int 2020;316: 110500. 2. delgado t, bhark s-j, donahue j. pandemic teaching: creating and teaching cell biology labs online during covid-19. biochem mol biol educ 2021;49:32–37. 3. longhurst g, stone d, dulohery k, scully d, campbell t, smith c. strength, weakness, opportunity, threat (swot) analysis of the adaptations to anatomical education in the united kingdom and republic of ireland in response to the covid-19 pandemic. anat sci educ 2020;13(3):312-5 4. mahaffey al. chemistry in a cup of coffee: adapting an online lab module for teaching specific heat capacity of beverages to health sciences students during the covid pandemic. biochem mol biol educ 2020;48: 528-531. 5. lorusso ns, shumskaya m. online laboratory exercise on computational biology: phylogenetic analyses and protein modeling based on sars-cov2 data during covid-19 remote instruction. biochem mol biol educ 2020;48:526–527. 6. potkonjak v, gardner m, callaghan v, mattila p, guetl c, petrović vm, jovanović k. virtual laboratories for education in science, technology, and engineering: a review, computers and education 2016;957:309-27. 7. nadler r. understanding “zoom fatigue”: theorizing spatial dynamics as third skins in computer-mediated communication. computers and composition 12/2020;58:10263 8. mpungose c. lecturers’ reflections on use of zoom video conferencing technology for e-learning at a south african university in the context of coronavirus. african identities 03/2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/14725843.2021.1902268 9. hall cl. from zoom fatigue to belly breaths: teaching away from the screen. theol relig 2020;23:294. 10. cook r, evett i, jackson g, jones p, lambert j. a hierarchy of propositions: deciding which level to address in casework. sci just 1998;38:(4):231-9 11. palmer r, oliver s. the population of coloured fibres in human head hair. sci just 2004;44(2):83-8. 12. marnane r, elliot d, coulson s. a pilot study to determine the background population of foreign fibre groups on a cotton/polyester t-shirt. sci just 2006; 46(4):215-20. 13. roux c, margot p. the population of textile fibres on car seats. sci just 1997;37(1):25-30. 14. grieve m, bierman t. the population of coloured textile fibres on outdoor surfaces. sci just 1997;37(4|): 231-9. 15. moore r, kingsbury d, bunford j, tucker v. a survey of paint flakes on the clothing of persons suspected of involvement in crime. sci just 2011; 52(2):96-101. 16. ebner n, greenberg e. designing binge-worthy courses: pandemic pleasures and covid-19 consequences. negot j 2020;36(4). https://doi.org/10.1080/14725843.2021.1902268 teaching methods discussion j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education chohan construction and characterization of an inexpensive electrostatic lifter balwant s. chohan1, rodney a. kreuter2, danny g. sykes2* 1school of arts & sciences, felician university, lodi, nj 07644. 2department of chemistry and forensic science program, pennsylvania state university, university park, pa 16802. *corresponding author: dgs12@psu.edu abstract the teaching of instrumental methods of analysis as applied to chemical and forensic science problems at many educational establishments continues to be hampered by high-cost, high-power requirements, and sheer bulk of the instrumentation. the smile initiative (small, mobile instruments for laboratory enhancement) that we have developed incorporates an inquiry-based project that addresses these issues by significantly engaging students, and thus enhancing the confidence and achievement of students in our technology-based analytical courses. one instrument that has been designed, constructed, and characterized is the electrostatic lifter. the electrostatic lifter is a versatile nondestructive technique that can lift and recover impressions of prints left in the dust of a floor, and from dusty walls or doors. the instrument and technique conveniently lends itself to miniaturization, and facilitates the practical application of impression analysis within standard undergraduate and advanced high school forensic science related courses. the entire instrument was constructed from scratch for less than $50, thus allowing deployment of multiple apparatuses in labs that are allocated a modest budget. details on how to construct the instrument is provided together with some characterization data obtained from a variety of smooth and rough surfaces. keywords keywords (audience): upper-division undergraduate, first-year undergraduate/general keywords (domain): analytical chemistry keywords (pedagogy): hands-on learning/manipulative, inquiry-based / discovery learning keywords (topics): forensic chemistry, instrumental methods introduction analytical chemistry occupies a prominent place among scientific and engineering disciplines. it is a highly practical hands-on based scientific discipline with deep roots in the world of atoms, molecules, and molecular transformations, with the ability to precisely and accurately assess these entities with specific instrumentation. analytical chemistry has evolved dramatically over the past few decades, from a collection of empirical recipes and prescriptions to that of a branch of chemistry built upon solid theoretical principles. the modern day discipline takes a more holistic approach to analytical properties; it is technology driven, and is research-active. the application of this field helps ensure quality of air, water, food, consumer products, and medicines. the application of this field ensures quality of air, water, food, consumer products, and medicines. furthermore, the role of analytical chemistry in solving crimes, both to protect the public and to protect the innocent from unjust punishment cannot be overstated. applications in forensic chemistry have served as a rich palette from which we have been able to stimulate the interests and abilities of students, particularly those that arrive from non-major chemistry/forensic science fields. an understanding of the scientific process in selecting the right tools, and the technologies involved in such instrumentation has been an important goal of the analytical chemistry courses developed at penn state over the past two decades: our analytical chemistry students learn to appreciate the many quantitative and j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education chohan qualitative tools available, and most importantly, make an intelligent choice among the many possible ways of solving an analytical problem. we purposefully place a strong emphasis on students acquiring a deep insight into the principles upon which the methodology is based, thus ensuring proper use and a learned evaluation of the experimental findings. this approach leads to a thorough understanding of the scientific process that can be applied to many other problems and disciplines, including forensics. one inquiry-based module of these courses is centered on development of small inexpensive analytical instruments that we have abbreviated as smile (small, mobile instruments for laboratory enhancement). this lab pedagogy requires students in the upper level instrumental analysis course to research into, design, construct, characterize, and troubleshoot small instruments. the process guides the students in asking relevant research questions regarding the required materials and techniques, and includes background information and training protocols that are necessary to achieve the overall objective which is a well-designed functional analytical instrument (1-8). underclassmen, including visiting school students, are then taught how to assemble the instruments from kit form, and how to make full use of them upon returning to their classrooms. the instrument described herein augments instruction relating to impression evidence, specifically to the application of an electrostatic dust print lifter, a versatile technique that can lift and recover impressions of prints left in the dust of a floor, in light soil from a criminal's shoes, and from dusty walls or doors (9-12). locating and recovering obvious impressions from mud, dirt or blood are common and easily accomplished, but dust prints found in many indoor crime scenes are often overlooked and damaged or obliterated, and therefore a sensitive lifter instrument is indispensable in gathering physical evidence. using footwear marks to track movements of suspects can lead to other forms of evidence, and so assist in placing other collected evidence into context and thus ensure a full scene investigation takes place. the entire electrostatic lifter can be designed from anywhere between $50 to $75 depending on if the instrument is designed from scratch or if a driver plus multiplier is purchased to aid in its construction. this is clearly an inexpensive alternative to commercial lifting devices that can cost upwards of $650 or more. the instrument remains under constant development, and our latest model has obtained some remarkable data from a variety of smooth and rough surfaces. methodology three commonly used methods for lifting dust shoeprints are electrostatic lifters, gelatin lifters, and an adhesive lifter followed by chemical enhancement. the electrostatic lifter is a nondestructive recovery process, and operates by applying a high voltage electrostatic charge onto a lifting film which is placed over the imprint mark. a metal plate to the side serves as the reference ground. the resulting charge difference between lifting film and the surface on which it rests causes dust on the surface to attach to the film, this adhesion draws the film onto the surface bearing the print. the film retains a charge after the unit is turned off, and so retains the particles of dust. such commercial devices are capable of producing a charge in the range of 10 to 15 kilovolts, however the current is negligible. the lifting film is metalized mylar foil (part no. a-5036, arrowhead forensics, lenexa, ks). one side of the foil consists of a conductive material which holds the electrostatic charge. the other side of the foil consists of nonconductive material and is the side which captures the attracted dust particles. figure 1 shows the constructed lifter device. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education chohan figure 1 the electrostatic lifting device constructed by students (blue), together with the grounding plate and mylar lifting film. the electrostatic lifter is powered with a 9 v alkaline battery, and features a cockcroft-walton multiplier which allows generation of a high voltage at very low current. the voltage output of the lifter is between 10 to 12 kv. the circuit is completed when metal grounds touch the stainless steel plate and the voltage output lead is connected to the lifting film. the circuit diagram is provided in figure 2. a detailed list of components and a description of the circuit are provided in the supplemental information (si). in order to build the instrument as shown, some machine work (drill press or hand-held drill) on the housing is required, which may add a very small cost that is not reflected in the total. figure 3 shows the internal layout for the electrostatic lifter which uses an in-house etched breadboard for the transformer and other circuit components; however, the simplicity of the design permits direct solder connections between the components. the cockcroft-walton multiplier was purchased fully assembled from the manufacturer. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education chohan figure 2 circuit diagram for the electrostatic lifting device. a is the cockcroft-walton multiplier, and b is the driver circuit for the multiplier. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education chohan figure 3 internal bread board circuitry highlighting connections to the momentary on-off button and the led located on the lid of the housing. the electrostatic lifter takes less than two hours to construct from kit form. the assembled unit has dimensions of 17 cm x 8.5 cm x 3.4 cm. the decision to use a pre-assembled multiplier and miniature ac transformer results in a far lighter instrument than the commercial units. the biggest advantage of such a circuit is that the voltage across each stage of this cascade is equal to twice the peak input voltage into each respective stage, thus requiring relatively lowvoltage-rated components. once assembled, students conducted a series of experiments based on published literature (12). the electrostatic lifter was tested on nine different surfaces including office paper, carpet, linoleum, ceramic tile, untreated cement, waxedsealed cement, cardboard, newspaper, and hardwood flooring. using a pair of rubber-soled sneakers, students identified up to ten individual characteristics of the right foot impression. a volunteer puts on both sneakers and, using the right foot, steps into some all-purpose flour, and then walks 20 paces on a given surface. students then used the electrostatic lifter to lift the 11 th step of the right foot and all subsequent steps until at least one of the individual characteristics (as identified earlier) drops out of a lifted print. the step at which this occurs depends on the type of surface, amongst a number of other factors. the specific choice of the 11 th step came from an initial experiment which found prints from a smooth tiled surface provided a high-quality print up to the 13 th step, and prints of rapidly diminishing quality following this step. the lifting process and image acquisition were generated by carefully placing the lifting film over the surface of the impression. the grounding-connection plate was placed adjacent to the lifting film, and the lifting film was charged. the charge was distributed throughout the film using a foam brush. the film was then removed and viewed using white oblique light and photographed using a digital camera. the mylar film used to collect the impression can attract excess dust, and so it was important to photograph the dust print lifts immediately. if a j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education chohan print was not obtained on the 11 th step then the process was repeated on each prior step of the right foot until a useable impression was obtained. results the real success of the student-built electrostatic lifter was measured by lifting foot prints from multiple surfaces. for each surface examined the 11 th right footprint was analyzed. the results of the experiments are presented in table 1, and the lifted prints, as observed and photographed under white light are provided in figure 4; the unsuccessful print from untreated cement is not shown. table 1 data from the constructed electrostatic lifter showing the footprints detected. surface lifted step 1 office paper 11 th 2 carpet 8 th 3 linoleum 11 th 4 tile 11 th 5 untreated cement unsuccessful 6 waxed-sealed cement 11 th 7 cardboard 11 th 8 newspaper 11 th 9 hardwood flooring 11 th j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education chohan figure 4 photographed images of the lifted foot prints. (top) the rubber sole shoe (1), carpet (2), linoleum (3), and tile (4). (bottom) from waxed-sealed cement (6), cardboard (7), newspaper (8), and hardwood floor (9). note that the lift is a mirror image of the actual impression. discussion and conclusion the specific student learning objectives (los) for the complete set of electrostatic lifter activities are as follows (after completing this module, you should be able to -): 1. define and identify the class and individual characteristics of footwear impressions imaged using an electrostatic lifter. 2. identify and explain the variables which impact the quality of the lifted prints. 3. understand the theory of operation of the electrostatic lifter, and be able to independently operate, troubleshoot, fix, and maintain the device. students in the course have previously taken a course in crime scene investigation; therefore, lo #1 reinforces material already covered in the program’s overall curriculum. lo #2 requires j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education chohan students to develop a method which isolates each variable in order to enable a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the electrostatic lifting device as an investigative tool. variables, such as surface texture, humidity, pace, weight placed on each step, composition of sole material, wear and tear on sole surface, the thickness and distribution of flour on the sole of the footwear, among others, are commonly identified but not all student groups recognize such a ‘complete’ set of variables. further, not all student groups perform the optimized method on a negative control for one or more of the surfaces. the students in the course are made aware that faculty guidance does not ensure a successful end to any project; success or failure is based on the student’s initiative, motivation, organization, and work ethic. the electrostatic lifter as constructed provides very good results on most of the surfaces that were investigated, with clear and distinguishable prints. the electrostatic lifter does require a smooth flat surface for best results, as determined by the quality of print and the failure to achieve prints from the untreated cement flooring. because the surface of the cement is rough-textured, the mylar lifting film does not adhere to the cement as effectively as the other surfaces, thus providing no recognizable results. ideally, the dust film on the target substrate should consist of loose, very finegrained, and dry dust for this process to work. the untreated cement was the only experiment conducted outside where humidity is of significant concern. the carpet surface was also less successful compared to other surfaces primarily due to its rough texture. the texture makes it difficult for a proper ground to be achieved when applying the electrical charge, and for the lifting film to fully adhere to the surface. overall the other surfaces examined provided far better data due to the film fully adhering to the surface. a student with sights set towards a career in the forensic sciences must possess a basic knowledge of the chemical and life sciences as well as have an advanced exposure to the tools and technologies used by these disciplines. by making tools accessible to students, they learn how to operate them and understand the capabilities and limitations of that particular instrument and methodology. unfortunately, the ability of many programs and institutions to maintain and improve the quality of their educational offerings in this field is under constant threat because of the increasing costs to maintain state-of-the-art instructional facilities and the shrinking nature of funding sources. however, it is possible to provide rugged, low-cost, low-maintenance, and low-power instruments capable of providing accurate information for a fraction of the cost of commercial instrumentation. the small mobile instruments for laboratory enhancement (smile) program that we have developed has shown that it is possible, with just a basic understanding of electronics and instrument design theory, to obtain high-quality data from an instrument that students can build within a few hours (lo #3). the only substantial difference between a commercial instrument and a studentbuilt instrument are the software and specialty components; the basic design and methods for probing chemical systems are practically identical. at penn state, students in the senior-level instrumental analysis and forensic chemistry courses build smile instruments as part of their laboratory experience, test their devices by performing standard experiments, and then assist in the development of new, unique laboratory activities and supporting instructional materials. the student-built instruments are then used by their younger peers in lower-level chemistry and forensic science courses. as the younger peers advance through the curriculum, they help improve the design of the instruments and help optimize the experimental protocols. the smile initiative enhances student competency in science and engineering fields, and the co-curricular exposure fosters student ownership of a program's curriculum. a number of the studentbuilt electrostatic lifters have also been donated to penn state university police services and to the us postal inspection service. the electrostatic lifter is relatively simple in design and construction, such that high school students, participating in a six-week summer research program sponsored by summer experience in the eberly college of science (seecos) in collaboration with upward bound math and science, have built and used the device. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education chohan the seecos program promotes educational opportunities for low-income students by helping them overcome class, social, and cultural barriers to higher education. the design and construction of a small electrostatic lifter that can generate footprint data for forensic analysis at a fraction of the cost of a commercial instrument was described. the constructed electrostatic lifter is simple to use and has provided some high quality footprint results, particularly those that were lifted from smooth surfaces, as is usually found in an active indoor crime scene. the constructed instrument has additional merits of small size, low weight, and high portability since it requires just a single 9v alkaline battery. with some brief training, the electrostatic lifter device provides an effective and reproducible method for collecting and forensically examining latent dust footprints. acknowledgments the authors thank robert crable of the research instrumentation facility at penn state. we would like to thank the penn state schreyer institute for teaching excellence, and the summer experience program in the eberly college of science (seecos) for financial support. seecos is supported by the upward-bound math and science center (ubms) at penn state, and a us doe trio grant. references 1. dominguez, vc, mcdonald, cr, johnson, m, schunk, d, kreuter, r, sykes, dg, wigton, bt, chohan, bs. the characterization of a custombuilt coulometric karl fischer titration apparatus. j chem educ 2010;87:987-991. 2. mcdonald, c, johnson, m, schunk, d, kreuter, r, sykes, dg, wigton, b, chohan, bs. a portable, low-cost, led fluorimeter for middle school, high school, and undergraduate chemistry labs. j chem educ 2011;88:1182-1187. 3. wigton, b, kreuter, r, sykes, dg, chohan, bs. the characterization of an easy-to-operate inexpensive student-built fluorimeter. j chem educ 2011;88:1188-1193. 4. chohan, bs, sykes, dg. teaching analytical chemistry: application of the smile initiative to bioanalytical chemistry instruction, in teaching bioanalytical chemistry, hou, hjm. (ed), acs symposium series 2013; chapter 6:105-138. 5. mott, jr, munsons, pj, sykes, dg, chohan, bs. development and characterization of an inexpensive portable cyclic voltammeter. j chem educ 2014;91:1028–1036. 6. clippard, cm, nichisti, jc, kreuter, r, sykes, d, chohan, bs. the use of a custom-built coulometric karl fischer instrument for the determination of water content in chocolate. food analytical methods 2015;8:929-936. 7. clippard, cm. hughes, w, chohan, bs, sykes, dg. construction and characterization of a compact, portable low-cost colorimeter for the chemistry lab. j chem educ 2016;93:1241-1248. 8. galyamova, a. johnson, mm, chohan, bs, sykes, dg. the construction and characterization of a conductivity meter for use in high school and undergraduate science labs. the chemical educator 2019;24:22-26. 9. naples, vl, miller, js. making tracks: the forensic analysis of footprints and footwear impressions. the anat rec (part b: new anatomist) 2004;279:9-15. 10. bodziak, wj. footwear impression evidence: detection, recovery and examination. 2nd ed. boca raton, fl: crc press, 2000. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education chohan 11. fisher, baj, fisher, dr. techniques of crime scene investigation. 8th ed. boca raton, fl: crc press, 2012. 12. craig, cl, hornsby, bm, riles, m. evaluation and comparison of the electrostatic dust print lifter and the electrostatic detection apparatus on the development of footwear impression on paper. j forensic sci 2006;51:819-826. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education elkins approaches for teaching forensic body fluids analysis for remote learning kelly m. elkins1* and cynthia b. zeller1* 1chemistry department, forensic science program, towson university, 8000 york road, towson, md 21252 *corresponding authors: kmelkins@towson.edu, czeller@towson.edu abstract: serology and body fluids analysis is an important piece of the curriculum for forensic biology students in forensic education programs. in the spring and fall 2020 semesters, we pivoted to provide our laboratory curriculum online in response to the global covid-19 pandemic. in this paper, we report upon our development and implementation of approaches for teaching forensic serology, forensic molecular biology, and body fluids analysis course lab content for remote learning. we report on five strategies we employed to teach laboratory content via remote instruction: prerecorded lab videos and content modules, decision dependent response powerpoint slides, lab testing data for virtual review and reporting, student driven mock case testing in synchronous class with web-based conferencing, and labster virtual lab simulations. the approaches integrated seamlessly into our course management platform. the virtual labs and approaches opened new learning opportunities for our students. keywords: forensic science, serology, body fluids, teaching methods, remote instruction, inclusion . introduction the forensic science education programs accreditation commission (fepac) requires laboratory experiences for students in accredited programs (1). in the spring 2020 semester, many colleges and universities across the united states and abroad quickly moved to remote learning models to keep students and faculty safe from the threat of infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sars-cov-2), most commonly referred to as covid-19, after it emerged in asia in 2019. prior to the spring 2020 semester, all towson university (tu) chemistry courses were taught in person face-to-face. the forensic faculty team has utilized a studio lecture/lab approach for most forensic courses including forensic chemistry, forensic serology, forensic body fluids analysis, dna technologies, and forensic analytical methods. tu shifted to remote instruction in march 2020 just prior to the scheduled spring break in the academic calendar. for the fall semester of 2020 most instruction was moved online, although the university permitted some laboratory experiences as well as undergraduate research, internships and clinical practices to be conducted in person with safeguards in place following the united states centers for disease control (cdc) guidance. the modifications included faculty taking the collaborative institutional training initiative (citi) program back to campus course, spacing student work stations at least 6feet apart in teaching labs, requiring masks to be worn, wiping surfaces with antiseptic wipes, and complying with new, reduced occupancy room limits. additionally, in the fall 2020 semester, students and instructors ultimately were allowed to decide if they wanted to learn or teach in person based upon their risk circumstances for the disease (hyflex). in the hyflex environment, even if an instructor offered a traditional campus laboratory experience, students could request and would be offered an equivalent virtual learning experience. tu courses, including forensic courses, were offered using the hyflex model. as a result of the shift to online instruction, instructors needed to develop lab experiences that could be delivered remotely. while medical training programs have long included simulation and virtual exercises in their curriculum (2) and some forensic education programs have been offered online, our programs have been taught using traditionally methods consisting of classroom lectures and hands-on laboratories in the classroom on our main campus. other programs have developed and implemented online courses and curricula. very recently, a one-week standalone curriculum for medical residents was published (3). the trainees were provided eight online case-based simulation modules and four mini cases to solve, although j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education elkins ultimately the residents were taught medical lab techniques and serology testing at the bench (3). previously, in silico lab experiences were developed to teach pcr primer design (4), cloning (5), manipulation of dna sequence data (6), and dna statistics (6-8) to forensic and biochemistry students. in the spring 2020 semester, we offered frsc 420 body fluid analysis required for undergraduate students pursuing the bachelor of science degree in forensic chemistry dna track option. in the fall 2020 semester, we offered frsc 601 forensic molecular biochemistry and frsc 610 forensic serology for students enrolled in our master of science in forensic science graduate program. we employed the flipped classroom model and provided all students pre-recorded lectures uploaded to the course management site to view prior to the synchronous class time. we created and used several approaches for teaching forensic biology, forensic serology and body fluids analysis lab content for remote leaning for students in our courses. the approaches were designed to be educationally rigorous and inclusive. the approaches for teaching forensic body fluid analysis for remote lab experiences is the topic of this paper (table 1). table 1 five approaches for teaching serology content using remote instruction prerecorded lab videos and content modules decision-dependent response powerpoint slides lab testing data for virtual review and reporting labster virtual lab simulations student driven mock case testing in synchronous class prerecorded lab videos and content modules in the spring 2020 semester, modules were created in our course management system, blackboard, to teach all remaining body fluids analysis course content virtually. modules were created for all laboratory exercises that the students were scheduled to perform during the last half of the semester when the university pivoted to online instruction. the content modules in blackboard are a convenient way to organize materials around subject areas. in this way, the instructor grouped readings, videos, powerpoints and activities in a centralized location for each topic. owing to the course coverage of forensic biology including both serology and the dna typing process and interpretation, modules included standard forensic biology material: dna extraction, dna quantitation, dna amplification, dna separation, electropherogram interpretation, genetics, dna statistics and forensic dna report writing. the serology portion was completed in person earlier in the semester in spring 2020. the virtual serology module was created when tu continued to offer online options in the spring 2021 semester. the students were provided specific instructions and materials to review and activities that needed to be completed at any particular time. each module contained readings from the textbook used for the course and readings from the primary literature. videos of relevant lab activities were imbedded into powerpoints and an activity was provided that was designed to mimic the setup activities needed for the particular laboratory exercise. the students were instructed to view the videos and complete report forms based upon the results they observed in the videos. when they had questions, faculty guided the students through the modules and responded to concerns in video conferencing sessions. student classwork was graded on completion and accuracy. the forensic serology course module is shown in figure 1. included in the module is instruction in report writing followed by a serology case and notes for processing and interpretation by the students. also included in the serology module are protocols for blood, semen, saliva, and other body fluid testing and interpretation. the students were assigned to upload their completed report directly into the course management system. figure 1 screenshot of the serology course module decision dependent response powerpoint slides it is a critical goal of tu’s undergraduate and graduate body fluids analysis courses that students are taught to not only memorize terms but also understand the lecture content and demonstrate that understanding by applying their knowledge to analyze evidence and evaluate a case scenario. these are three of the higher levels of learning and understanding on the bloom’s taxonomy scale (9). in order to assess student critical thinking skills using a case scenario, the hyperlink function in powerpoint was used to develop a student-driven decision-dependent response slide show for a virtual case exercise (figure 2). the slides were piloted with students in a forensic molecular biochemistry course and used by students in the body fluids analysis course in the serology module. the students are presented with a case scenario and evidence submitted in a mock case. following some introductory slides, the students are presented with the scenario as shown in figure 2. the students simulate j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education elkins analyzing the case and performing testing by clicking on the text boxes describing the evidence and then choosing the testing to perform on the items. the students must consider what evidence is available and where body fluids might be present. figure 2 flow of slides and decisions the most probative evidence comes from closest to the scene of the crime. the students decide their plan of attack. for example, after being shown the evidence, if the student selects “sexual assault evidence collection kit,” they are presented with the “sexual assault evidence collection kit” slide. if the student selects “vaginal swab” or another item, they are presented with options of tests to perform on that evidence item. for example, upon selecting the slide for “vaginal swab” the student must decide which test to perform based upon the scenario. if the student selects “acid phosphatase,” the result is shown and the student can record the “data” and interpret the result. on the results slide, the student can select from the options to navigate back and the link will bring them back to the linked slide. even in the absence of an in person lab experience, the focus of our courses was on understanding case testing methodology, decision making of what evidence to test, analysis of results and preparing a report. in their applications of the tool, the students were instructed to take notes on their selections and “findings” and write a report of those findings using the appropriate reporting statements and submit these in the blackboard course management system. the students were instructed to indicate the priority of the evidence by listing them in order of greatest priority in their reports. the students were instructed that all tests did not need to be performed on each item but test results were included in the slides for blood, semen and saliva testing for every piece of evidence, in case that was their plan. students were graded on the logic of the plan of their evaluation of the evidence, the completeness of their notes, and the accuracy of their report. lab testing data for virtual review and reporting in the fall 2020 semester, some of the students in our forensic serology course opted for a virtual learning experience for the laboratory portion of the course. to provide all students instruction on the testing methods and a laboratory experience, students were offered in person and virtual lab experiences. all students were instructed to view prerecorded prelab lectures on the theory and practice of the lab testing asynchronously prior to coming to the in person or virtual lab session. in the hyflex environment, the instructor taught students in person and online. the students who attended the in person lab performed serology tests on purchased body fluid samples to simulate quality control sample testing and prepared serial dilutions for each body fluid. this included testing neat samples, a negative control, and the serial dilution series for the relevant body fluid using each test and viewing purchased, prepared slides of human and animal blood, semen and hairs using a compound light microscope. for the students who selected the virtual learning option, the instructor recorded photographs of the pipet settings, process, and lab testing data results for the j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education elkins chemical tests described above, images of alternate light source testing results, and microscope ocular field of view with magnification settings and slide specimen labels. for this module focused on learning the serological testing procedures and interpreting the results, the faculty member compiled the photographs into powerpoint slides that were shared with all students using the course management system and the students viewed the slides asynchronously. all of the students were instructed to document the reagent recipes, testing procedures, test results, and microscope observations in their lab notebooks as we routinely require. the lab notebooks were graded for accuracy and completion. labster virtual lab simulations the university of maryland (usm) system offered all faculty the opportunity to use labster (10) in their fall 2020 courses at no additional cost to our students. the labster simulations seamlessly embedded into the blackboard course management system contracted by the university (figure 3) and the adopted modules populated in the gradebook. figure 3 snapshot of labster integration in blackboard course management system six modules most closely aligned to the course objectives were assigned including: lab safety, biosafety, solution preparation, pipetting, antibodies, and elisa. students were required to complete five of the six modules; if they completed all of the modules, their five best scores were used in the computation of their grades. students could take the additional modules visible in blackboard from the labster suite if they desired. students could work at their own pace to progress through the modules. the module due date was set for late in the course so students had ample time to access and complete the simulations. screenshots of frames from the labster elisa module are shown in figure 4. figure 4 two screenshots of frames in the labster elisa module (used with permission) student-driven mock case testing in synchronous class while an asynchronous learning model was used to introduce and deliver introductory lab testing procedures and quality control data in the forensic serology course, a synchronous model was used to deliver and involve students in the mock crime scene case testing course module. the instructor created the mock case but the students on the virtual session directed the case testing. the instructor or a graduate assistant acted as their “hands” in the lab. since this module was synchronous, the students were able to decide upon the steps and direction for the testing process and the quantity of each reagent to add and the order. since there were multiple students in the session, the case was directed by several students as compared to the in person option in the classroom in which each student worked on their own individual cases. the mock case testing for the online and in person groups spanned three weeks and culminated in a case report and expert witness testimony in a mock trial. the mock trial was synchronous during class time using a web-conferencing meeting platform. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education elkins discussion we developed and tested five modes of virtual instruction options for our forensic serology, forensic molecular biochemistry, and body fluids analysis courses. we found that most students were engaged and most were able to learn the theory and decision making skills similarly to the traditional model and in some cases, the theory was reinforced better using the virtual model than the traditional in class approach. even in the absence of an in person lab experience, the focus of our courses was on understanding of cases, testing methodology, decision skills, analysis of results, and preparing a report. while most of the students opted for the traditional in person laboratory experience in fall 2020 in the forensic serology course, two students opted for the fully remote option and five opted for the in person option for the introductory testing module and remote option for the mock case testing. the student lab notebooks for the students learning remotely were of equally high quality as the students who performed the testing in person. the variation in quality was more a factor of the individual student than the learning mode selected. another option would have been to stream the class testing synchronously or record videos of the lab testing. the photographs were adopted due to the limits of the recording and streaming technology available to the instructor and need to simultaneously teach the in person students. while the virtual students were provided with all of the lab data for interpretation after class, the students did not get to experience locating reagents, performing the tests, pipetting, and even experiencing the smell of the fluids and reagents from working in lab. student feedback on the simulated serology case using the powerpoint slides was positive. the slides utilized an advanced tool in the software, the hyperlink function. the faculty benefited from being able to assess student understanding and decision making in a remote environment. student feedback on labster was also positive. the students especially liked that it introduced them to lab activities and environments we cannot offer at towson university, including working in a biosafety level three (bsl-3) lab. they also liked that they were able to simulate performing an elisa. we do not include elisa testing in the course lab experiences due to the long waiting times including overnight and hour-long incubations needed to carry out the testing procedures. a strength of the labster lab experience were the frequent explanations of theory and ‘quizzes’ of what to do next. as the students were working independently, as opposed to with a lab partner, in the online environment, they needed to fully engage and make decisions on which reagents to use, what step to do next, and which equipment and settings to use. the software also ‘catches’ potential errors of using the wrong reagent before the student performs the step. there are some drawbacks of the online lab modules. students do not set the volume in the pipette replicates, load pipette tips after each pipetting step, pour reagents into multi-pipette troughs, and prepare reagents and dilutions for an experiment except in the introductory module on the topics. additionally in traditional labs, they do not have an assistant to do tasks like pipetting for them although lab assistants certainly do prepare reagents, perform preliminary preparation steps for experiments, and repeat steps that did not work in lab between lab sessions to ensure a quality lab experience for the students. students provided positive feedback about the virtual, synchronous mock case experience. students responded that they felt it went well and they liked that they were able to control the decision-making process. it was helpful for the instructor to have assistance of a graduate assistant to also serve as the “hands” on camera for the students while also teaching another group of students simultaneously in person in lab. they were able to view and record the results from an external camera set-up attached to the computer. in the courses, we employed many modalities for learning serology content and multiple alignments to gauge student learning. all assessments were conducted using electronic testing synchronously or via take-home exams. conclusion the virtual lab experiences developed to teach tu students body fluids analysis provided students an opportunity to actively participate, learn and continue their educations while remaining safe off-campus during a pandemic. while there are some drawbacks to remote learning in that students do not get the hands-on experience of learning the mechanics and realities of laboratory testing, the approaches we developed are options for instructors to provide students with content, assessment, and the ability to develop higher order skills and apply them to mock casework, while working from their desktops at home. acknowledgements the authors thank the students in our spring 2020 forensic body fluid analysis and fall 2020 forensic serology and forensic molecular biochemistry courses for their patience, feedback and enthusiasm for learning, sonia vagues for assisting with the mock cases, and emily zeller for her expertise with powerpoint and educational design. thanks to labster and usm for technical support of the online labs and sam butcher of labster for permission to use the images of the labs. references 1. forensic science education programs accreditation commission (fepac) accreditation standards, j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education elkins http://fepacedu.org/sites/default/files/fepac%20standards%20 02152020.pdf (accessed november 17, 2020). 2. binstadt es, walls rm, white ba, nadel es, takayesu jk, barker td et al. a comprehensive medical simulation education curriculum for emergency medicine residents. ann emerg med 2007;49:495-504.e11. 3. dent e, guarner j. serology curriculum for residents using online, case-based simulation modules. am j clin path 2020;154 (supplement_1):s13-s14. 4. elkins km. designing pcr primer multiplexes in the forensic laboratory. j chem educ 2011;88:1422–27. 5. elkins km. an in silico dna cloning experiment for the biochemistry laboratory. biochem mol biol educ 2011;39(3):211-15. 6. elkins km. forensic dna biology: a laboratory manual. waltham, ma: elsevier academic press, 2013. 7. zeller cb, elkins km. simulation of population sampling and allele frequency, linkage equilibrium, and random match probability calculations. journal of forensic science education 2020;2(1). 8. baranski j, davalos-romero k, blum m, burke n, foster a, hall a. fauxdis: a searchable forensic dna database to support experiential learning. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1). 9. airasian pw, cruikshank ka, mayer re, pintrich pr, raths j, wittrock mc. in: anderson lw, krathwohl dr, (eds). a taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives (complete edition), 1st ed. new york: longman 2001. 10. labster, https://www.labster.com/ (accessed november 17, 2020). seeking lab experiments for general forensic science courses we want to thank our authors and contributors for sharing their experiences teaching forensic science during a global pandemic and continuing write articles of interest to forensic educators. the journal has had interesting and diverse contributions since its inception. there remains much interest in lab experiments and activities for general forensic science courses. as teachers, faculty, and professional educators, we invite you to share your ideas, classroom activities and lab experiments that work. at the journal of forensic science education, we are dedicated to being the forum for publishing forensic lab experiments and classroom activities. if you are doing active learning, experiential learning, and service-learning activities with your students, we are looking for these submissions from you. all submissions will undergo peer review. kelly m. elkins, ph.d. lawrence quarino, ph.d., gke-abc adrienne brundage, ph.d. tri-editors-in-chief journal of forensic science education j forensic sci educ 2021, 3 (1) 2021 journal forensic science education jonesjones 2021.docx a review of existing forensic laboratory education research and needs assessment sabra jones, ms, ma1,2*, ronald r. thrasher, phd1, b. bavette miller, phd1, james d. hess, phd1, jarrad wagner, phd1 1oklahoma state university, center for health sciences, tulsa, ok, usa; 2boston university school of medicine, biomedical forensic sciences, boston, ma, usa, *corresponding author: sabraj@bu.edu abstract: introduction: forensic education is relatively new in comparison to other scientific disciplines as is content delivery via non-traditional, on-line or hybrid academic programs. published research on educational approaches is also limited. therefore, this study identifies current peer reviewed research in the area of forensic laboratory education regardless of pedagogy. methods: a literature search using pubmed (us national library of medicine, national institutes of health, bethesda, md, usa) was conducted to identify relevant peer-reviewed articles. the search terms "forensic", "laboratory", "education", and "standards" were used to identify research in this area. using the terms "forensic laboratory education standards" resulted in 155 results, however after a closer examination, only 14 of the articles were relevant to forensic laboratory education (baranski et al., 2020; brooks et al., 2017; burgess et al., 2011; chohan et al., 2020; dadour et al., 2001; feliciano et al., 2019; henson, 2019; horowitz & naritoku, 2007; maeda et al., 2014; mckenna, 2007; spencer et al., 2017; stamper et al., 2020; tregar & proni, 2010; zeller & elkins, 2020). results: the majority of the literature resides in forensic medical/nursing, biology, anthropology/entomology and psychological/psychiatry education or is not specific to one forensic discipline. each of the articles were assessed for target educational level (e.g., undergraduate, graduate, post graduate/doctoral, medical or continuing professional education), forensic discipline, pedagogy, delivery style (synchronous, asynchronous, or hybrid), academic standards, and educational levels of faculty/authors. conclusion: there is a significant lack of literature on effectiveness of forensic laboratory education. there is a need for laboratory education research in the areas of forensic chemistry, biology, physics/pattern interpretation, crime scene/death investigation, and digital multimedia. further, research on effective laboratory education that is supported by educational standards could be helpful to the forensic education community in considering content delivery, educational effectiveness, research needs for forensic education as well as assisting organizations who hire graduates of forensic science programs. keywords (audience): upper-division undergraduate, graduate, post graduate keywords (domain): forensic science laboratory education keywords (pedagogy): synchronous, asynchronous, traditional, hybrid, on-line keywords (topics): forensic laboratory education, forensic educational standards, pedagogy introduction forensic education is relatively new in comparison to other scientific disciplines as is content delivery via nontraditional, on-line or hybrid academic programs. published research on forensic education effectiveness is limited, especially with regard to forensic laboratory education. since 1977, several reviews of forensic educational programs have been published (1–5) that highlight the variability in academic programs, course work, faculty demographics, laboratory courses offered, as well as the perspectives on hiring decisions with regard to forensic science degrees. further, with the creation of the forensic science education programs accreditation commission (fepac) there has been a shift from unaccredited to accredited forensic programs with the adoption and implementation of meeting accreditation standards (fepac, 2020) (6). forensic science is characterized as a hands-on career, with seven overarching disciplines: biology, digital multimedia, medicine, scene examination, physics/pattern interpretation, chemistry-trace evidence, chemistrytoxicology, and chemistry-seized drugs (7). each of these forensic disciplines utilizes hands-on techniques whether in the field or in the laboratory. consequently, forensic analysts must acquire unique skills (via formal educational j forensic sci educ 2021, 3 (1) 2021 journal forensic science education jonesjones 2021.docx programs) prior to work force participation in addition to those learned on the job. academic programs offering degrees focused on forensic science must offer laboratory and didactic courses which teach these relevant hands-on techniques. those accredited by fepac, which must first meet institutional accreditation, must demonstrate adherence to developed standards which include “…the financial resources available to the program in comparison to those available to other natural science programs at the institution [as well as] the physical facilities available to the program, including classrooms, laboratories, and any other facilities the program routinely uses…” which demonstrates the need for equipment and space to carry out laboratory courses (fepac, 2020) (6). therefore, this study sets out to identify current peer reviewed research in the area of forensic laboratory education regardless of pedagogy. to provide the reader an overview of the disciplines in which educational research has been conducted, a review of degree programs (e.g., undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate/professional education), delivery (e.g., traditional, on-line, or hybrid), delivery style (e.g., synchronous, asynchronous, or hybrid), if academic standards were addressed, and educational level of faculty. methods a literature search using pubmed (us national library of medicine, national institutes of health, bethesda, md, usa) was conducted to identify relevant peer-reviewed articles. the search terms "forensic", "laboratory", "education", and "standards" were used to identify research in this area. using the terms "forensic laboratory education standards" resulted in 155 results, however after a closer examination, only 14 of the articles were relevant to forensic laboratory education (1,8–20). each of the articles were assessed for target educational level (e.g., undergraduate, graduate, post graduate/doctoral, medical or continuing professional education), forensic discipline, pedagogy, delivery style (synchronous, asynchronous, or hybrid), academic standards, and educational levels of faculty/authors. results educational research evaluating the curriculum, content, and/or effectiveness of forensic laboratory education has been conducted primarily over the past 20 years, with ~71% occurring within the last ten years (n=10 from 2011-2020 and n=4 from 2000-2010). with regard to forensic science academic programs, ~35% of articles were focused on undergraduate education, ~35% were focused on post-graduate education, and ~28% were applicable to undergraduate, graduate and post graduate education with no specificity to educational level. the forensic discipline categories of the peer reviewed research are outlined in figure 1 with ~64% focused on medicine (e.g., forensic pathology, forensic nursing, forensic anthropology, forensic entomology; n=9), ~7% were non-discipline specific (e.g., stem v. non-stem educational backgrounds, n1), ~22% on biology disciplines (e.g., dna; n=3), and ~7% were physics/pattern interpretation (e.g., physical evidence; n=1) related. figure 1 forensic disciplines of peer reviewed research on laboratory education effectiveness. medicine is most represented (9 of 14 articles). notably, no review articles covering scene examination, chemistry, and digital multimedia were identified. biology of the three peer reviewed articles relating to forensic biology, all focused on traditional in-person synchronous education. baranski et al. (2020) focused on a searchable forensic dna database referred to as “fauxdis” modeled after the combined dna index system or codis and how faculty can utilize it as part of “experiential learning exercises in which students apply the scientific method to solve mock crimes” (14). the authors were also mindful of cost associated with commercial kits used to generate dna profiles, noting that the use of fauxdis is a cost-effective alternative. feliciano et al. (2019) focused on biological evidence collection for touch dna. in their work, the exercises were developed to serve as an example of experimental design and training on dna contamination and touch dna (8). the work of zeller and elkin (2020) titled “simulation of population sampling and allele frequency, linkage equilibrium, and random match probability calculations” focused on hands-on learning of population database and calculations (13). the authors used different types of candy in their forensic molecular biochemistry course to demonstrate the concepts of genetic loci and allelic variations. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3 (1) 2021 journal forensic science education jonesjones 2021.docx medicine by far, the majority (n=9; 64%) of published research in forensic laboratory education focused on medical disciplines such as medico legal death investigation including pathology, nursing, anthropology, and entomology (9–11,15–20). the work of stamper et al. (2020) titled “towards understanding how to instruct students in dichotomous identification keys in a mixed stem forensic science education environment” focused on academic backgrounds of students (stem vs. non-stem majors) and their abilities in decision confidence and accuracy in dichotomous key training (9). identification keys are used in a number of forensic disciplines such as fingerprints, seized drugs, skeletal osteology, and entomology. in the article “forensic pathology education in pathology residency: a survey of current practices, a novel curriculum, and recommendations for the future”, spencer et al. (2017) draw attention to the inconsistency in medical programs which offer training in forensic pathology, and the authors provided recommendation for improvements including forensic pathology requirements such as the mandatory forensic pathology rotation with a minimum time of four weeks, the necessity of accredited programs, documented curriculum, and evaluations of effectiveness (17). brooks et al. (2017) also highlighted the usefulness of the autopsy as a learning tool beyond forensic pathology training to clinical medicine, specifically they noted that autopsy training is critical to education on the pathogenesis of disease (18). similarly, horowitz and naritoku (2007) concluded that the autopsy as an underutilized educational tool for the training of medical and pathology residents (11). it is noted that to utilize the autopsy as effectively as possible, that financial resources must be made available to do so. the authors suggested several possible solutions, including “incorporating autopsies into payment schedules, into clinical trials, and in pay-forperformance initiatives” (11). maeda et al.’s (2014) work focused on molecular pathology, its role in death investigation and the importance it plays in social risk management (20). the authors concluded that the application of forensic molecular pathology to investigate the genetic basis, as well as the cause and process of death at the biological molecular level in the context of forensic pathology is key to providing society information on what factors play a role in death. in mckenna’s (2007) work, the author highlighted the use of in-training/in-service examinations and its role in graduate medical education (19). in-training/in-service examinations were developed by the american board of medical specialists certifying board where forensic pathology is a component. the examination was used to assess the effectiveness of graduate medical education and can be a useful tool to assess a program as well as student competency. the in-training/in-service examinations could be compared to the american board of criminalistics forensic science assessment test (21). the fsat is an optional examination that some academic programs offer to their students to assess general competency in 26 knowledge, skills and abilities areas (21). however, not all students take part in the fsat examination even when it is offered by their academic program and therefore it may be an underutilized tool. in the article “using mammalian skulls to enhance undergraduate research on skeletal trauma in a forensic anthropology course”, henson described a traditional synchronous approach to training students using mammalian skeletons (e.g., deer) in place of human for the purpose of forensic anthropology education (10). dadour et al.’s article focused on professional education in the use of forensic entomology and it’s use by pathologists, police, and the judiciary system (16). in “criminalistics and the forensic nursing process”, burgess et al. described an interdisciplinary laboratory course where criminalistics tools are applied to the field of forensic nursing (15). unlike the previous articles, educational standards developed by the american nurses association and the international association of forensic nurses were specifically addressed. further, the course was developed to address a number of forensic topics which could be encountered by forensic nurses. the authors went on to note that it was necessary to develop the laboratory course using cost effective measures (15). physics/pattern interpretation chohan et al.’s article “construction and characterization of an inexpensive electrostatic lifter” focused on an alternative to high-cost, high-power requirements, and sheer bulk of the standard instrumentation used in forensic laboratories with the “smile initiative (small, mobile, instruments for laboratory enhancement)” (12). the authors noted that the smile project “incorporates an inquiry-based project” in an upper level undergraduate analytical chemistry course where students are tasked with research, design, construct, characterization, and troubleshooting small instruments (12). further, the process included conveyance of this information to underclassman or visiting high school students. although the authors categorized their work as a forensic chemistry due to the analytical component, the smile instrumentation was focused on pattern/impression evidence and interpretation with its creation of an electrostatic dust print lifter. the developed electrostatic lifter was described as on par with commercial instrumentation with the exception of software and specialized components (12). non-discipline specific in 2010, tregar and proni provided a review of undergraduate or bachelor of science as well as graduate or j forensic sci educ 2021, 3 (1) 2021 journal forensic science education jonesjones 2021.docx master of science in forensic science programs (1). in their work, the authors offered a snapshot of forensic education circa 2010 with a focus on standardization, specifically fepac. the authors found variability in the following areas: size of academic programs, subject areas, adherence to fepac standards, strong science curriculum, faculties with advanced degrees, and diverse forensic-oriented courses (1). further, the authors noted the variability in forensic programs, including the offered courses, internship requirements, as well as resources such as laboratories dedicated to forensic science courses. ultimately, the authors concluded that “mandatory accreditation would assist laboratory directors and other forensic personnel in their confidence that graduates of forensic higher education programs have the skills necessary to contribute to the field at large” (1). discussion in this review of the over 150 original articles, some peer reviewed research focused on analogous scientific areas which were not specific to forensic science. one such case, jones’s article “creating a longitudinal environment of awareness: teaching professionalism outside the anatomy laboratory” highlighted an issue in human anatomy education that overlaps with forensic science which is professionalism in education and where it should fit in the overall academic process (jones, 2013) (22). jones highlighted that often in medical education, professionalism is emphasized in anatomy courses where students are faced with a “confrontation with mortality” with regard to dissection of human remains and how this is processed by the student (jones, 2013) (22). jones noted that these topics are often overlooked in other medical courses where it could also be discussed. further, students may be exposed to traumatic conditions of the remains or specimens due to medical conditions or roughness of dissections and must practice the responsibility of confidentiality. students training in forensic science, including laboratory courses, face similar issues. for example, some institutions make use of gross anatomy laboratories to process evidence retrieval on cadavers. further, mock evidence is often presented that closely resembles actual cases a faculty member has encountered. finally, instruction may be augmented by actual crime scene photos, reports, and documentation that has been redacted so that students are exposed to content from or similar to that in forensic laboratories. in these cases, forensic science students are faced with the same issues of professional behavior relating to dealing with not only human remains whose death may or may not have been the result of a tragic event, but to some of the most heinous criminal acts that one can imagine. this being so, students may experience vicarious trauma or relate the events to personal experiences. per fepac standards, “professional practice” or “professional responsibilities” is listed as required topics that must be covered in forensic curriculum, however it is not specified how a program must address it other than addressing the topics by “involve[ing] multiple class meetings and may involve multiple learning modalities, such as lectures, laboratories, and demonstrations” (fepac, 2020) (6). only one third (n=5; ~35%) of the articles referred to educational standards, with two (~14%) referencing fepac standards. three (~21%) of the articles noted the need for standardization and eight (~64%) did not address educational standards. of the authors, ~57% of the articles were written by faculty holding phds, ~35% held md or do, ~7% were rns, ~35% held ms degrees and ~28% held bs or ba degrees. of the educational styles, ~85% were delivered in traditional or in-person formats, ~14% were provided in a hybrid or both in-person and on-line formats, with two of the articles the delivery style was not specified. similarly, ~85% were delivered in synchronous delivery, ~14% were not specified with no articles addressing asynchronous or hybrid approaches. forensic science and many of the tools necessary to carry out forensic analysis are often very expensive and/or require specialized space requirements. a topic that was addressed in multiple relevant articles was that of ways in which forensic tools such as autopsies, instrumentation/hardware or software could be recreated or used via more cost-effective approaches (11,12,14,15). for example, in both chohan and burgess et al.’s articles, the authors discuss the cost associated with development of the tools used to educate their students (12,15). chohan notes that the small, mobile, instruments for laboratory enhancement or smile initiative costs less than $50.00 to construct. burgess et al. note that the forensic laboratory course they developed for forensic nursing students was done so for less than $200 for supplies for the entire 12 modules. although these are two informative examples of creative alternatives, both student trainees and academic educators in forensic science need actual instrumentation and/or tools used in forensic laboratories. institutions with or hoping to develop a forensic science program must allocate the necessary funds to enable it to be done so appropriately. finally, there is no published research on laboratory education effectiveness for the following forensic disciplines: digital multimedia (e.g., digital evidence, facial identification, speaker recognition, video/imaging technology and analysis), scene examination (e.g., crime scene investigation and reconstruction, fire and explosion investigation, dogs and sensors), or chemistry (e.g., trace materials, ignitable liquids, explosives, gunshot residue, seized drugs, and forensic toxicology). therefore, research in this area would benefit not only the educational programs in content and its delivery, but with the input of the forensic scientific community, has the potential to help ensure that future forensic scientists receive quality j forensic sci educ 2021, 3 (1) 2021 journal forensic science education jonesjones 2021.docx education, comprehensive of all forensic science subdisciplines. conclusion there is a significant lack of literature on effectiveness of forensic laboratory education as demonstrated by the mere ~9% (n=14) of the 155 articles. there is a need for laboratory education research in the areas of forensic chemistry, biology, physics/pattern interpretation, crime scene/death investigation, and digital multimedia. connecting the effectiveness of laboratory education and educational standards is essential. further, with research on effective laboratory education that is supported by educational standards the forensic education community would have objective evidence to consider with regard to how academic programs deliver content, the overall effectiveness of the courses they are offering, as well as assisting forensic organizations who hire graduates of forensic science programs. acknowledgements the corresponding author would like to acknowledge the support of the boston university school of medicine’s biomedical forensic sciences graduate program director, dr. robin cotton, assistant director, amy brodeur, and her colleagues dr. adam hall and patricia jones. in addition, she would like to thank the boston university school of medicine’s department of anatomy & neurobiology chair, dr. jennifer luebke and past department chair dr. mark moss for their support. she would also like to acknowledge the help of ketki bagwe for her assistance in formatting. the corresponding author also expresses her gratitude to her doctoral committee, dr. jarrad wagner-chair, dr. ron thrasher, dr. bavette miller and dr. james hess for their continued support and encouragement throughout her doctoral research. finally, she expresses her immense gratitude to dr. bryan jones for his willingness to review this work prior to submission and his continued support. references 1. tregar kl, proni g. a review of forensic science higher education programs in the united states: bachelor’s and master’s degrees. j forensic sci 2010;52(6):1488-93. 2. siegel j. the appropriate educational background for entry level forensic scientists: a survey of practitioners. j forensic sci 1988;33(4):1065–8. 3. higgins km, selavka cm. do forensic science graduate programs fulfill the needs of the forensic science community? j forensic sci 1988;33(4):1015–21. 4. furton kg, hsu yl, cole md. what educational background do crime laboratory directors require from applicants? j forensic sci 1999;44(1):128– 32. 5. quarino l, brettell ta. current issues in forensic science higher education. anal bioanal chem 2009;394:1987–93. 6. fepac. forensic science education program accreditation standards. american academy of forensic sciences 2020. p. 1–18. 7. osac. the organization of scientific area committees for forensic science. 2020. 8. feliciano v, tupper k, coyle h. an engaging lesson model for biological evidence collection training for dna. j forensic sci educ 2019;1(1). 9. stamper t, weidner l, nigoghosian g, johnson n, wang c, levesque-bristol c. towards understanding how to instruct students in dichotomous identification keys in a mixed stem forensic science education environment. j forensic sci educ 2020;2(1). 10. henson k. using mammalian skulls to enhance undergraduate research on skeletal trauma in a forensic anthropology course. j forensic sci 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residency: a j forensic sci educ 2021, 3 (1) 2021 journal forensic science education jonesjones 2021.docx survey of current practices, a novel curriculum, and recommendations for the future. acad pathol 2017;4:2374289517719503. 18. brooks eg, thornton jm, ranheim ea, fabry z. incorporation of autopsy case-based learning into phd graduate education: a novel approach to bridging the “bench-to-bedside” gap. hum pathol 2017 oct;68:1–6. 19. mckenna bj. the american society for clinical pathology resident in-service examination: does resident performance provide insight into the effectiveness of clinical pathology education? clin lab med 2007 jun;27(2):283–91; abstract vi-vii. 20. maeda h, ishikawa t, michiue t. forensic molecular pathology: its impacts on routine work, education and training. leg med (tokyo) 2014 mar;16(2):61–9. 21. fsat. forensic science assessment test (fsat). 2020. 22. jones tw. creating a longitudinal environment of awareness: teaching professionalism outside the anatomy laboratory. acad med 2013;88(3):304–8. methods results discussion j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education baranski fauxdis: a searchable forensic dna database to support experiential learning jacqueline baranski1, karen davalos-romero bs1, melanie blum bs2, nichole burke bs2, ashley foster ms2, ashley hall phd1* 1university of illinois at chicago, department of biopharmaceutical sciences, 833 s. wood st, chicago, il 60612 usa.*corresponding author: amhall7@uic.edu 2university of nebraska-lincoln, forensic science degree program, department of entomology, po box 830816, lincoln ne 68583-0816 usa abstract: codis (combined dna index system) is the generic term used to describe the system of u.s. criminal justice dna databases administered at the local, state and national levels. as of december 2019, the national database contained over 14 million genetic profiles. access is restricted, however, to authorized government agencies and the database cannot be used in learning exercises. therefore, we have initiated the construction of a dna profile database modeled after codis and intended for use by educators. the fauxdis dna database is a tool that can be used as part of experiential learning exercises in which students apply the scientific method to solve mock crimes. the dna profiles generated from collected evidence are searched against the known profiles contained in fauxdis and statistics applied to quantify the power of an identification. the database currently contains 151 dna profiles. to generate these profiles, we have developed a work flow analogous to those employed in u.s. operational forensic laboratories. the use of expensive commercial kits has been avoided, making the methods cost-effective and easily transferrable to other laboratories. the fauxdis dna database is available for use by educators in exchange for the submission of novel profiles or unique samples to be profiled. the goal is to encourage national and international collaboration leading to the establishment of a learning network. keywords: forensic, dna, codis, database, experiential learning . introduction the collection and analysis of evidence from a crime scene is the scientific method in action. investigators make observations, formulate hypotheses about the probative value of potential evidence, and test these educated guesses by submitting samples to an operational forensic laboratory for analysis. in the case of biological evidence, analysts extract dna from an unknown (crime scene) sample, quantify the nucleic acid, amplify it by polymerase chain reaction (pcr), and generate a profile. the unknown dna profiles can be searched against a database of known (reference) samples for the purpose of identification. translating these processes to the teaching laboratory would create opportunities in experiential learning. to meet this goal, the objectives of the work described here are: 1) construct a tool that educators can apply to reinforce the scientific method through experiential learning; 2) challenge students to demonstrate proficiency in the molecular biological techniques central to forensic dna analysis; and 3) connect educators in a learning network. the utility of forensic dna profiling-based modules in undergraduate teaching laboratories has been demonstrated in earlier work (1-4). in a series of exercises, students generated twoto three-locus forensic profiles using commercial kit-based assays coupled with native agarose or capillary electrophoresis for pcr product visualization. the modules not only introduced students to the biochemical principles applied in forensic analysis but also instructed them in the meticulous laboratory technique required for biological investigations. we have developed an educational module that expands upon this to include thirteen codis str loci plus a sex-informative locus. dna profiling is completed on a capillary electrophoresis unit, and the resulting genotype is searched against our newly developed dna database, the function of which was inspired by the u.s. national dna database. codis (combined dna index system) is the general term used to describe the system of u.s. criminal justice dna databases administered at the local, state and national level (5, 6). the national arm of this database, ndis (national dna index system), contains over 14 million offender profiles as of december 2019 (https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometricanalysis/codis/ndis-statistics). an unknown (crime scene) sample is searched against the database with the goal of identifying a known (reference) sample. these activities are restricted to authorized government labs and cannot be https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/ndis-statistics https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/ndis-statistics j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education baranski used as experiential learning tools for students. therefore, we have initiated the construction of a dna profile database modeled after codis and intended for use by educators fauxdis. the fauxdis dna database currently contains 151 genetic profiles, each comprising fifteen short tandem repeat (str) markers and one sex-informative insertion/deletion. it is a tool that can be used as part of experiential learning exercises in which students apply the scientific method to solve a mock crime by generating dna profiles and searching the database of known samples. statistics can be applied to quantify the power of identifications. the reagents and instrumentation used to construct and maintain the fauxdis database are analogous to those employed in u.s operational crime laboratories, challenging students to demonstrate proficiency in the molecular biological techniques central to forensic dna analysis. with the fauxdis established, the final project objective is the creation of a learning network of educators, both domestic and international. collaborating educators will be given access to fauxdis in exchange for the submission of complete, novel, single-source dna profiles to the database. the source dna samples can then be incorporated into the educators’ on-site experiential learning activities, culminating in a profile search in the fauxdis database that is successful due to the prior deposit of those genotypes. increasing the size of the database by including collaborator contributions will not only foster this alliance and increase the overall impact of the project, but will strengthen individual probability calculations based on direct observation (described below) by decreasing allele frequencies. in this report, we introduce the fauxdis dna database and demonstrate its function. we describe the development of a cost-effective analysis procedure, the goal of which is to increase the accessibility of the laboratory exercises to other colleges and universities. we have avoided the use of expensive commercial kits by: 1) adapting a procedure for the expression and purification of taq dna polymerase; 2) extracting dna with a standard phenol:chloroform protocol; 3) quantifying dna using a published sybr green method; and 4) developing an inhouse multiplex pcr primer mix. methods sample collection samples from human subjects were collected with informed consent using the university of illinois at chicago protocol 2016_0431. sterile cotton-tipped swabs (puritan, guilford, me) were used to collect buccal samples from donors. the swabs were dried in a room temperature hood overnight and stored in a sealed paper envelope at 4°c until use. taq dna polymerase taq is a heat-resistant enzyme produced by the thermophilic microorganism thermus aquaticus. this microbe thrives in extreme environments such as hot springs and hydrothermal vents, and its enzymes have evolved to be stable at high temperatures. commercially, it is one of the most expensive reagents used in the dna profiling process. it can, however, be expressed and purified in-house at a greatly reduced cost. to engineer the starting material, the gene encoding taq is inserted into e. coli. when induced, the taq gene is overexpressed, producing large quantities of the protein. stocks of e. coli containing the plasmid, paktaq, have been deposited in the addgene plasmid repository (https://www.addgene.org/) by david engelke (7), and are offered to educators at minimal cost. to produce taq polymerase for our database, we adapted the procedure described by bellin et al (8), which can be completed in nine sessions: 1) preparation of starting material: induction of taq expression in large-scale cultures, 2) lysis of bacterial cells and heat precipitation, 3) polyethylenimine (pei) precipitation, salt washes and dialysis, 4) purification by chromatography: biorex 70 columns (bio-rad, hercules ca); 5) ultrafiltration and dialysis, 6) protein determination by fluorometry, 7) visualization by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, an 8) determination of enzyme activity by pcr. isolation and purification of dna dna was extracted from samples using a standard phenol:chloroform method (9). briefly, the cotton tip was removed from a swab and incubated overnight (12 – 18 hours) at 56oc in 400 µl dna extraction buffer (100 mm nacl, 10 mm tris-hcl ph 8.0, 25 mm edta, 0.5% sds, 0.1 mg/ml proteinase k). the swab was removed to a spin-x filter (corning, tewksbury ma) and the tube was centrifuged. four hundred microliters (an equal volume) of 25:24:1 phenol/chloroform/isoamyl alcohol (fisher, norcross ga) were added. dna was precipitated for at least 1 hour in 1 ml (2.5 volumes) absolute ethanol at-20°c and pelleted by centrifugation. the pellet was washed twice with 1 ml (2.5 volumes) 70% ethanol and dried in a 56°c incubator. the dna was re-solubilized in 30 µl sterile water by overnight incubation in a 56°c water bath (12 – 18 hours). quantification human dna was quantified by alu-specific real-time pcr (10). ten microliter reactions were prepared containing: 2 µl of purified dna, 2.6 µl of nuclease-free water, 5 µl of 2x itaq universal sybr green supermix (bio-rad), and 0.4 µm each primer (forwardgtcaggagatcgagaccatccc;reversetcctgcctcagcctcccaag) (sigma aldrich, st. louis, mo). the standard curve ranged from 0.0077 ng/µl to 16.7 ng/µl with a total of eight data points and was https://www.addgene.org/ j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education baranski generated using a human genomic dna standard (bioline usa inc., taunton, ma). the cycling conditions were: 95ºc for 2 minutes; then 35 cycles of 95ºc for 15 seconds, 68ºc for 1 minute. a melt curve was generated from 65ºc to 95ºc to confirm the single pcr product. dna profiling: multiplex pcr forensic pcr multiplexes in the u.s. typically contain between 15 – 24 short tandem repeat (str) loci and at least one sex-informative locus. we have developed an in-house version of a 16-locus system, powerplex 16 (promega, madison wi). using the publicly-available primer sequences (11), we optimized the system for use in our hands, resulting in an informative forensic assay at a fraction of the cost of the commercial kit. the 25 µl reaction contained: 5 µl 5x colorless gotaq® flexi buffer, 2.5 mm mgcl2, 2.5 µm dntps, 2.5 units gotaq® flexi dna polymerase (promega corporation, madison wi), and 10 mg/ml bsa (thermofisher scientific, waltham ma). the primers were combined as a master mix in the following concentrations: dss51358 – 0.15 µm; tho1 – 0.15 µm; d21s11 0.30 µm; d18s51 – 0.41 µm; pentae – 1.10 µm; d5s818 – 0.19 µm; d13s317 – 0.13 µm; d7s820 – 0.36 µm; d16s539 – 0.17 µm; csf1po – 0.20 µm; pentad – 0.70 µm; amelogenin – 0.25 µm; vwa – 0.12 µm; d8s1179 – 0.51 µm; tpox – 0.61 µm; fga – 0.75 µm. the cycling conditions were: 1) 96°c for 2 minutes; 2) 10 cycles of: 94°c 30 seconds, ramp 0.5°/s to 60°c for 30 seconds, ramp 0.2°/s to 70°c for 45 seconds; 3) 22 cycles of: 90°c for 30 seconds, ramp 0.5°/s to 60°c for 30 seconds, ramp 0.2°/s to 70°c for 45 seconds; 4) 60°c for 30 minutes. dna profiling: genetic analysis pcr product was analyzed using the 3130 genetic analyzer (thermofisher scientific, waltham ma). one microliter of pcr product was combined with 0.5 µl gs liz 600 lane standard (thermofisher scientific) and 9.5 µl deionized formamide (thermofisher scientific). samples were electrophoresed on the 3130 genetic analyzer with the following run parameters: g5 dye set; oven temperature: 60°c; polymer_fill_volume: 6500 steps; current stability: 5µa; prerun voltage: 15 kv; pre run time: 180 s; injectionvoltage: 1.2 kv; injection time: 10 s; voltage number of steps: 40 nk; voltage step interval 15 s; data delay time: 1 s; run voltage: 15 kv; run time 1500 s. hazards and safety precautions laboratory personnel maintain current safety, chemical, and bloodborne pathogen training in accordance with university of illinois standards. material safety data sheets (msds) containing information about potential hazards and how to work safely with chemicals are maintained in the laboratory. personnel are completely trained under the supervision of experienced researchers in the use of all reagents and instrumentation. universal precautions are practiced when handling all samples of human origin, and phenol:chloroform:isoamyl alcohol is only opened inside a chemical safety hood. any waste generated from its use is deposited in a red biohazard sharps container in the hood. all biological waste is deposited in an appropriate biohazard or sharps container for collection and disposal by uic environmental health and safety personnel. results the size of the peaks in the dna profile, defined in base pairs, need to be converted to allele number for transfer to the fauxdis database. genemapper id-x software (thermofisher scientific) can translate size to allele number, but the exercise could also be a learning tool. the complete allelic ladder can be defined by running a known dna standard and using the allele(s) determined at each locus as benchmarks. the size of the repeat unit is defined for each locus (https://strbase.nist.gov/), and that number can be added or subtracted from the benchmark allele. for example, the locus csf1po has a repeating four-base sequence (agat). the genotype of the 2800m control dna at csf1po is 12, 12. in our hands, this allele is 341 bp. the size of allele 13 is calculated as 341 + 4 = 345 bp. using the allelic ladder, the number of base pairs can be converted to allele calls for all of the loci, and student understanding of the structure and function of the alleles in the dna profiling system are reinforced. the prototype fauxdis dna database is contained in an excel file; we are currently converting it to a searchable, online format that can be easily shared and accessed by collaborating users. we can search for a match to the genotype of an unknown sample by querying the reference samples in the fauxdis dna database. in the excel file, select “data” from the ribbon at the top of the spreadsheet and select “filter” (figure 1a). clicking on the arrow in one of the cells opens a drop-down menu from which the locusspecific genotype that matches the unknown can be selected. in figure 1b, we selected the d3 locus. with all choices except “14, 15” de-selected from the d3 drop-down menu, the query returned 7 profiles with the genotype 14, 15 (figure 2a). to further refine the search, selecting the genotype “6, 7”at tho1 returned a single reference profile (figure 2b). once a database reference profile matching the crime scene sample is identified, fauxdis can further be used as a tool to teach the principles fundamental to the calculation of allele frequencies and genotype probabilities. we https://strbase.nist.gov/ j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education baranski describe two alternative models, the choice of which can be based upon the educational background of the students involved and/or on the depth to which the professor wishes to explore the subject. the probability that the dna profile of a random, unrelated person in the population will match the profile generated from an unknown (crime scene) sample is the random match probability (rmp). the rmp can be calculated based on either observed or expected allele frequencies. allele frequency can be estimated by direct observation using the counting method (12). the number of times a dna profile is observed in the database is compared to the total number of profiles, e.g. sample db0470 (figure 2b) has a frequency of 1 in 151, or 0.66%. determination of genotype frequencies by counting does not rely on theoretical assumptions, therefore it is a simpler method. however, it does not take advantage of the power of the genetic approach. theoretical models based on the principles of population genetics can be applied to calculate expected allele frequencies (13). there are two basic assumptions: 1) independence between loci (linkage equilibrium); and 2) independence between alleles (hardy-weinberg equilibrium). linkage equilibrium indicates that the loci are independent and associate randomly. from a forensic standpoint, this means that each matching allele is assumed to provide statistically independent evidence and the frequencies across all of the tested loci can be multiplied to calculate the rmp using the product rule. for a population in hardy-weinberg equilibrium, allele frequency can be correlated with genotype frequency. for heterozygotes, frequency is calculated by: 2pipj, where pi = the frequency of the one allele and pj = the frequency of the other allele. homozygote frequency is calculated by: p2 + p(1-p)θ, where p = allele frequency and θ = 0.01 in a typical population or θ = 0.03 in an isolated population. the theta correction is a measure of the effects of population substructure i.e. co-ancestry of alleles (14). a table of expected allele frequencies that can be used in calculations of the rmp is available in the literature (15) and online at: (https://www.promega.com/products/pm/geneticidentity/population-statistics/allele-frequencies/). https://www.promega.com/products/pm/genetic-identity/population-statistics/allele-frequencies/ https://www.promega.com/products/pm/genetic-identity/population-statistics/allele-frequencies/ j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education baranski figure 1a-b the first 20 profiles in the fauxdis database are shown. the genetic loci are listed across the top of the excel spreadsheet, and the genotypes are entered in the cells. to search the database: a) select data from the top ribbon and click on filter (indicated by arrows); b) click on the arrow in one of the cells to open a drop-down menu and select the genotype (d3 is indicated by the arrow). a b j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education baranski figure 2a-b refining the fauxdis database search: a) from the profile list generated for figure 1, select the genotype 14, 15 at the d3 locus to return seven profiles; b) designate the genotype 6,7 at tho1 and identify a single profile. a b j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education baranski discussion and conclusion we report the development of a dna profile database modeled after codis (16) and available for use as a teaching tool. fauxdis currently contains 151 dna profiles and is searchable as an excel spreadsheet. we have defined a set of analysis procedures analogous to those employed in u.s. operational forensic laboratories for the generation of dna profiles from biological samples, populating the database with reference (known) samples. in experiential exercises encouraging the application of the scientific method to crime scene investigation, students can generate dna profiles from unknown (crime scene) samples. the unknown profiles are searched against fauxdis, and statistics applied to calculate the random match probability. to our knowledge, there is no similar tool available to educators at this time. fauxdis is in the early stages of development. we report a fully functional spreadsheet-based database here, but this format will become unsustainable with the continued addition of dna profiles. with this proof-ofconcept in place, we are developing an interactive online tool that can easily be made available to contributors. in either format, we anticipate collaborations with educators both domestically and internationally resulting in a learning network. we recognize that many colleges and universities will be limited by the availability of the necessary instrumentation to generate a dna profile. to extend the experiential learning opportunity to as many students as possible, we will also accept single-source samples for inhouse analysis. in exchange for a certain number of unique samples, we will generate profiles and deposit them in the database, as if they were collected and submitted to an operational forensic laboratory. the introduction of this tool as a part of experiential exercises designed to reinforce the practice of the scientific method is expected to be of great benefit to students. first, students who participate in experiential learning activities develop a better understanding of basic scientific principles and are more likely to be retained in a stem discipline. next, the experience gained by participation in these exercises may be attractive to potential employers, as the work flow and statistical analyses are analogous to those used in an operational crime laboratory. with additional profiles and collaboration in a network of educators, we believe the fauxdis dna database will be a dynamic learning tool. acknowledgements the authors thank the department of pharmaceutical sciences at the university of illinois at chicago for financial support for this project. references 1. mcnamara-schroeder k, olonan c, chu s, montoya mc, alviri m, ginty s, et al. dna fingerprint analysis of three short tandem repeat (str) loci for biochemistry and forensic science laboratory courses. biochem mol biol educ 2006;34(5):378-83. 2. lounsbury km. crime scene investigation: an exercise in generating and analyzing dna evidence. biochem mol biol educ.2003;31:37-41. 3. delong frost l, peart st. dna isolation from a dried blood sample, pcr amplification, and population analysis: making the most of commercially available kits. biochem mol biol educ 2006;31(6):418-21. 4. millard jt, pilon am. identification of forensic samples via mitochondrial dna in the undergraduate biochemistry laboratory. j chem educ 2003;80(4):444-6. 5. reeder dj. impact of dna typing on standards and practice in the forensic community. arch pathol lab med 1999;123(11):1063-5. 6. baechtel fs, monson kl, forsen ge, budowle b, kearney jj. tracking the violent criminal offender through dna typing profiles--a national database system concept. exs 1991;58:356-60. 7. engelke dr, krikos a, bruck me, ginsburg d. purification of thermus aquaticus dna polymerase expressed in escherichia coli. anal biochem 1990;191(2):396-400. 8. bellin rm, bruno mk, farrow ma. purification and characterization of taq polymerase: a 9-week biochemistry laboratory project for undergraduate students. biochem mol biol educ 2010;38(1):11-6. 9. comey c, koons b, presley k., smerick j, sobieralski c, stanley d, and baechtel f. dna extraction strategies for amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis. j forensic sci 1994;39(5):1254-69. 10. nicklas ja, buel e. development of an alu-based, real-time pcr method for quantitation of human dna in forensic samples. j forensic sci 2003;48(5):936-44. 11. krenke be, tereba a, anderson sj, buel e, culhane s, finis cj, et al. validation of a 16-locus fluorescent multiplex system. j forensic sci 2002;47(4):773-85. 12. nrc. dna technology in forensic science. washington (dc): national academy of sciences; 1992. 13. nrc. the evaluation of forensic dna evidence. washington (dc); 1996. 14. butler j. forensic dna typing, 2nd edition: academic press; 2005. 15. steffen cr, coble md, gettings kb, vallone pm. corrigendum to 'u.s. population data for 29 j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education baranski autosomal str loci' [forensic sci int genet 7 (2013) e82-e83]. forensic sci int genet 2017;31:e36-e40. 16. butler j. dna databases: uses and issues. advanced topics in forensic dna typing: methodology: elsevier; 2012:214-70. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education rippy thawing cold cases in the classroom michelle rippy1* 1department of criminal justice at california state university east bay, 25800 carlos bee boulevard, hayward, ca 94542 *corresponding author: michelle.rippy@csueastbay.edu abstract: this paper outlines the use of a current cold case to utilize foundational forensic science knowledge and connect theory to practice in an upper-division course. the cold case presented by a local law enforcement agency to two upper-division forensic science courses, with the students being responsible for compiling information, researching testing, and presenting the information back to the law enforcement agency. students were provided with a voluntary online survey and a semi-structured interview with the detective sergeant of the local law enforcement agency. the student survey showed that the project was wellreceived, assisted in increasing knowledge in forensic science and cold cases significantly and to confirm future career paths. the interview explained the preparation needed to provide the cold case as well as the benefits obtained and the willingness to participate in future projects. keywords: cold case, high-impact practice, forensic science, experiential learning . introduction the introduction of forensic science to the lives of many comes through popular dramatized prime-time television and idealized streaming service shows. just as fictional television shows can influence jurors, students can enter college with an unrealistic expectation of forensic science and the criminal justice system [1]. even shows that claim to be reality-based do not properly show criminal procedures and efforts used to solve cases, as there is difficulty in condensing a murder investigation to 44 minutes [2]. the csi: crime scene investigation television phenomenon, as well as other similar forensic-based shows, have encouraged more students to enter the fields of criminal justice and forensic science, though there is significant difficulty to explain the realities of the work versus what students have known from shows and movies [3]. television show processes and procedures can be taken as gospel, forcing a myth versus reality unlearning of incorrect or stylized information. there is commonly a lack of realization of the heavy science coursework required to work in the field of forensic science, turning students away from the field and into allied areas [3]. vicay and zaikman’s 2017 research showed that there was no correlation of forensic knowledge with watching crimerelated television shows, possibly creating a false sense of knowledge when preparing for coursework or choosing careers [4]. teaching forensic science to students in a social science major can be especially challenging, as many students have only taken the minimal science coursework required for an undergraduate degree. building the foundation to explain the basic information behind deoxyribonucleic acid (dna) testing or blood spatter analysis can occupy nearly half of the semester. with this challenge, the incorporation of high-impact practices was introduced to an upper-division forensic science course within a social science major at a large, public university in california. high-impact practices is a common buzz phrase in academia and are inclusive of first-year seminars, learning communities, common intellectual experiences, collaborative assignments, research, and writing-intensive courses [5]. research shows high-impact practices are effective for student success, as there is a significant amount of time dedicated to a project with meaningful topics and the ability to apply gained knowledge [5,6]. when developing a project to bridge lecture-based learning to real life and incorporate basic science knowledge, the high-impact practice chosen for the forensic science course was a collaborative project. just as investigative units work in teams, the students would be assigned to groups to tackle the project. the focus then turned to building the actual project and requirements. with the author having experience working cold cases and the recent publicity with the arrest of the suspected golden state killer, a cold case project was chosen to fuse science with investigations using a real cold case as the carrier. cold cases are cases that are inactive and unsolved [7], and many agencies do not have enough investigators to work older cases with the influx of active cases occurring daily. cold cases hold a significant amount of importance, including justice for the victims and their families and the possibility of discovering other victims and stopping future crimes [8]. there was trepidation of the reception of this assignment by students, mailto:michelle.rippy@csueastbay.edu j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education rippy as an active cold case had never been handled academically on campus. cold cases have been incorporated into coursework in the past, including graduate students in washington, dc summarizing cold case files to triage cases for investigators [9]. florida state university in panama city’s partnered with the cold case investigative research institute to assist with cold cases, including requesting evidence processing and speaking with experts in the case [10]. while the specific work completed was not outlined, students provided support to investigators regarding cold cases. the course the upper-division forensic science course is seated in the undergraduate criminal justice major. students can take the forensic science course as an elective or as a requirement for an option in justice & enforcement. the course learning objectives are set by the department and include the evaluation of a crime scene, physical evidence, and laboratory results, understanding the function of a crime lab and the value of physical evidence, and the ability to draw inferences about physical evidence and determine alternative explanations for the evidence. the university does have natural science majors with a forensic science option, and the forensic science course serves as an elective for those students and anthropology students interested in forensic science. there are no preor co-requisites for the course. two sections of the course were taught in fall 2018, with 49 and 52 students respectively. the course was a 3-unit semester course taught in a hybrid setting with 2 hours of physical class time and 1 hour of instruction online per week. the course had 15-weekly modules, with no work scheduled over thanksgiving break. journal articles were assigned weekly in place of having a textbook as an alternative learning solution. the course content included an introduction to forensic science, ethics and bias, science from the crime scene to the laboratory, an overview of evidence, reconstruction, death investigations, physical pattern evidence, fingerprint evidence, bloodstain pattern analysis, dna evidence, toxicology, questioned documents, firearms and tool evidence, introduction to cold cases, interviews, case preparation, public speaking, and testimony in court. six quizzes were present in the course based on reading, with both in-class and online quizzes assigned. weekly discussion boards had the requirement for a primary post and one response to a classmate regarding a case or topic relating to the material presented that week. a midterm was in the ninth week of the course and there were four laboratory exercises. the laboratory exercises occurred in a group with individualized evidence and reports required of each student. the laboratory exercises included physical evidence comparison, fingerprint evidence, ballistic evidence, and a “build your own lab” where students outlined a laboratory exercise from a topic we discussed in the course. the final group project held the most weight of all assignments in the class at 30% of the final grade. the students were randomly placed into groups of 6-8 people using the learning management system, and the groups were formed immediately after the add/drop period. the final project required the students to write a 6-8-page paper outlining the cold case, the evidence from the scene, recommendations for testing of the evidence, and followup that should occur. the students were also responsible for giving a press conference-type presentation lasting 6-8 minutes in length explaining the evidence found during the investigation and their recommendations for testing and investigative follow-up. the press conferences occurred in front of their classmates and a sergeant and lieutenant from the cold case law enforcement agency. the requirements were thoroughly reviewed during class and were present in the learning management system. there were two class days reserved solely for in-class work on the final group project, and two class days were spent on the presentations. the case local law enforcement agencies were contacted to determine interest levels of sharing a cold case with the forensic science classes. nearly all agencies contacted expressed interest, though the request for a classroom presentation and introduction on the case and participation in the press conference presentations limited participation due to staffing. the redaction process for some agencies would take longer than the project length, and one agency did not have personnel available to review and choose a cold case. ultimately, one agency was able to provide a 30+-year-old cold case homicide including the entire case file, redacted for confidentiality. the nearly 200-page report included the law enforcement reports, investigative reports, prior arrest history, interviews, evidence collected with a scene sketch, and an autopsy report. the detective sergeant introduced the case to both classes and explained that all case content was made available for review by the students. the detective sergeant outlined the location of the crime at the time of the murder, as well as investigatory challenges when working cold cases. the students were provided with the report days in advance of the detective sergeant’s presentation, to allow for specific questions about the case to be addressed. since the local law enforcement agency was spending a significant amount of time and effort on providing this cold case, i volunteered to compile all information presented by the students for recommendations on the case and prepare the information into a report. project preparation j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education rippy the students were able to work on the cold case project for 5-6 weeks before the presentations. the groups generally worked well together, and there were thoughtful discussions about the case in class. some students struggled with the idea that there were no video cameras available for viewing or cell phone towers to show the possible locations of involved parties. others expressed extreme frustration with the inability to read all of the handwritten reports. the lack of viewability became a learning tool for understanding the difficulties of cold cases, as well as utilizing methods for reading difficult handwriting and non-technology based investigative methods. some students searched through microfiche to try to locate news articles, traveled to the county courthouse to try to locate information, and others returned to the scene of the crime for photographs and an attempt to determine a scenario from the diagrams present in the report. for the press conferences, multiple groups prepared a slide show, which aided in describing the location of the evidence and so their crime scene scenario was easily tracked. after the initial case presentation to the students, the author spent over 30 hours outside of class in the latter portion of the semester assisting students to gain an understanding of the difficult components of the report. the realities of cold cases, with missing pages, unreadable areas, and incomplete reports was made clear to students at the end of this project, with many comments during class made about how easy it looks on television. the author mitigated group member absence and lack of participation in three groups, though a vast majority of the students remained motivated to work on the project and potentially determine who the suspect(s) may be. student cold case investigation recommendations students presented their recommendations in both the press conference format and in their final papers. the suggestions for evidence testing were appropriate for the items to be tested, including the use of cyanoacrylate fuming, dna testing with entry into the combined dna index system, stab wound analysis, testing of autopsyretrieved specimens, blood spatter analysis, decedent tattoo analysis to determine the artist or possible affiliations, and a complete recreation of the scene for further analysis. students also suggested which witnesses, as listed by date and time of contact, should be re-contacted based on the likelihood that they may have additional information. at the end of the presentations, a possible investigative scenario was provided to the students by the detective sergeant. the student recommendations were placed into a report and provided to the local law enforcement agency, who was planning to follow-up on evidence processing and witness contacts. methods a mixed-methods approach was utilized to determine the effectiveness of the cold case project as a tool to increase understanding of forensic science. an institutional review board approved a confidential online survey that was provided to students for voluntary completion, and a semi-structured interview was conducted with the detective sergeant from the local law enforcement agency. the semi-structured interview questions are present in appendix a. the survey instrument included demographic information, questions with a likert scale, multiple-choice questions, and short answer questions. the survey contained 22 questions, inclusive of five demographic questions, with questions available in appendix b. the research instrument for the semi-structured interview included seven open-ended questions. results the student survey received 44 complete responses from both sections of the course, with a combined student total of 101. the result was a 43.6% response rate, with most respondents being female (77.3%), 21-23 years old (50%), criminal justice majors (75%), taking the course as required for their major (88.6%), and working part-time, less than 40hours per week (52.3%). the students were asked about their enthusiasm level about the cold case with levels of dread to very enthusiastic, and 43% of the respondents noted that they were very enthusiastic about the project. only one respondent had worked on a cold case before this class, which was through an internship or employment. when asked about their level of understanding of forensic science and cold cases at the start and end of the semester, students rated their knowledge from very basic (heard terms in the news) to advanced knowledge (significant coursework, research, or experience). with regard to forensic science knowledge at the start of the semester, 77% of respondents listed their knowledge as advanced basic to moderate. at the end of the semester, 89% of respondents listed their knowledge as high moderate to advanced. for cold case knowledge at the beginning of the semester, 61% of the respondents noted their knowledge to be very basic to basic. at the end of the semester, 93% of respondents ranked their knowledge at high moderate to advanced. at the end of the semester, no respondent ranked their knowledge on either topic as below moderate. all respondents noted that the foundational material in the course was used to assist with the cold case, with 9% of respondents listing that the foundational knowledge was used in a limited manner. for the introduction of the case by the detective sergeant, 89% of the respondents found this to be helpful or somewhat helpful. all respondents felt the cold case project assisted in understanding the challenges of cold cases. forty of the j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education rippy respondents, or 91%, noted that the cold case project assisted them in confirming their career goals. in the optional short answer portions of the survey, respondents commented about their enthusiasm for the project ranged from being excited about the opportunity to learn from a real cold case and applying their critical thinking skills and gain hands-on experience. one respondent mentioned growing up watching documentaries on cold cases and finally having the opportunity to work on a cold case. others noted that they do not enjoy working on group projects and not knowing what to expect. when asked about how the cold case assisted in the understanding of topics, students noted that the case was a real-world adaption of knowledge gained in class, how information from other groups brought different perspectives, how much the student did not know and wants to learn. the final question was to provide additional information they would like to share and comments included that the homicide case was not interesting, and others confirmed their positive experience and stated the request for cold cases in future courses. in a semi-structured interview with the detective sergeant, the sergeant stated that his agency had never participated in a project like this before. the local law enforcement agency does not have an investigator assigned to cold cases, and the major crimes detectives work on cold cases as time allows. the case was chosen as information had been recently received so the detective sergeant was able to become familiar with the case. it took approximately 5 hours to prepare the cold case and redact the confidential information. the perceived risks noted by the detective sergeant is that a student may be a relative to the victim, witness, or suspect. if a student is related to the victim, new information may come to light, though if the relation was to a witness or suspect the case might become compromised. the detective sergeant found the information and recommendations to be helpful in investigating the case, including new and innovative techniques that can be used in this case and other cases. the detective sergeant is willing to participate in future cold case projects. discussion and conclusion with the addition of the cold case project, the course was found to be a success in terms of student feedback on knowledge gained in both forensic science and cold cases. a local law enforcement agency was able to obtain information on forensic testing, interviewing, and other techniques that can assist in the cold case investigation and future investigations. students were able to gain experience working in groups as well as presenting findings and recommendations. with this project, students will be able to connect course knowledge to real-world situations and improve their critical thinking skills, which is vital for their future careers. in future sections of this course, the author will request that the course be fully lecture-based to allow 3 hours of instruction in class during the week. the additional time will allow for the presentation of more lecture content, allow for more questions to be asked in class, and to have added time to work on the cold case project. the structure worked well with starting the cold cases after the midterm and having a presentation by the agency. future courses will include multiple cold cases, up to 4, of varying types including john and jane does and missing persons. with the addition of different case types, databases including namus, can be introduced and searched. the groups will be limited to four persons, as larger groups can get lost in the distribution of work instead of the work itself. the press conference presentations will continue to be open to the participating law enforcement agencies and the author will compile full reports with the recommendations of the students. reaching out to law enforcement agencies well in advance of the course starting may assist with the time needed to obtain clearance to share the case or redact the information. with proper preparation and time available to assist students during the semester, the cold case project can be an appealing addition to any forensic-based course. acknowledgements the author would like to acknowledge the approval process, work completed, and time spent from the local law enforcement agency to allowing this project to come to fruition. the author looks forward to future collaborations. references 1. ewanation la, yamamoto s, monnink j, maeder e. perceived realism and the csi effect. cogent soc sci 2017;3(1):1-13. 2. huey l. ‘i’ve seen this on csi’: criminal investigators’ perceptions about the management of public expectations in the field. crime media cult 2010;6(1):49-68. 3. cole s, dioso-villa r. csi and its effects: media, juries, and the burden of proof. new engl law rev 2007;41(3):435-469. 4. vicay a, zaikman y. the csi effect: an investigation between watching crime shows and forensic knowledge. n am j psychol 2017;19(1):51-64. 5. kuh g. high-impact educational practices: what they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. washington, dc: association of american colleges and universities, 2008. 6. kilgo c, ezell sheets a, pascarella j. the link between high-impact practices and student learning: some longitudinal evidence. high educ 2015;69(4): 509-525. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education rippy 7. adock j, stein s. cold cases an evaluation model with follow-up strategies for investigators. boca raton: crc press, 2010. 8. jacobs k, wellman a, fuller a, anderson c, jurado s. exploring the familial impact of cold case homicides. j fam stud 2016;22(3):256-271. 9. davis r, jensen c, kitchens k. cold case investigations: an analysis of current practices and factors associated with successful outcomes (report no. 237558), 2011. retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/237558.pd f. 10. johnson h. csi partners with cold case investigative research institute, 2018. retrieved from: https://pc/fsu.edu/article/csi-partners-cold-case investigative-research-institute. appendix a semi-structured interview with a detective sergeant 1.) have you or your agency participated in a collaborative cold case effort with an educational institution? 2.) how was the cold case chosen? 3.) do you have a dedicated unit or personnel assigned to cold cases? 4.) how much time (estimate) did you spend preparing the cold case for review by students? 5.) what were the perceived risks and benefits of presenting a cold case to a local university/educational institution? 6.) was the presentation of information and copy of recommendations from the student papers helpful in investigating the cold case? if so, how? 7.) would you be willing to participate in a cold case exercise like this in the future? appendix b student survey questions 1.) which section of crj 380 are you enrolled in? a. section 1 b. section 2 2.) what is your age? a. 18-20 b. 21-23 c. 24-28 d. 29-35 e. 35+ f. prefer not to state 3.) what is your gender? a. female b. male c. other d. prefer not to state 4.) what is your work status? a. i do not work / full-time student b. i work part-time (up to 30 hours per week) c. i work full time (30-40 hours per week) d. i work over 40 hours per week 5.) what is your major? a. criminal justice b. chemistry c. biology d. anthropology e. other 6.) why did you take this course? a. required for my major b. required for my minor c. not a required course, but i have interest in pursuing a career in forensic science d. not a required course, but i have personal interest in forensic science e. other 7.) what was your knowledge of forensic science at the start of the semester? likert-style scale from: very basic knowledge (understanding of the topic and some types of evidence) rated as 1 to advanced knowledge (significant coursework, research or work experience in forensic science rated as 8.) what was your knowledge of cold cases at the start of this semester? likert-style scale from: very basic knowledge (heard the term in the news) rated as 1 to advanced knowledge (significant coursework, research or experience in cold cases) rated as 5 9.) when you were notified of the cold case project, were you enthusiastic about the project? likert-style scale from: dreading the project rated at 1 to very enthusiastic about the project rated at 5 https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/237558.pdf https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/237558.pdf https://pc/fsu.edu/article/csi-partners-cold-casej forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2020 journal forensic science education rippy 10.) why were you list your enthusiasm for the project as you did? short answer 11.) have you worked on a cold case before? a. yes – in the course of my employment or internship b. yes – in another course c. no d. maybe 12.) did you use the materials gained in the first portion of the course to work on the cold case project? a. yes b. no c. limited 13.) did the cold case project show you the difficulties of working on cold cases? a. yes b. no c. maybe 14.) do you feel the cold case helped you to understand topics in forensic science better with the real world application? likert-style scale from: the cold case did not help me understand forensic science topics better rated as 1 to the cold case increased my knowledge of forensic science topics rated as 5 15.) why did you answer how the cold case assisted in understanding of topics? short answer 16.) was the presentation of the cold case by the detective sergeant and the availability of the entire file helpful in understanding the occurrences of the case? a. yes b. no c. maybe 17.) which assignment in class assisted the most in your understanding of forensic science? a. laboratory assignments b. assigned reading c. discussion boards d. cold case project e. quizzes f. midterm 18.) at the end of the semester, how would you rate your knowledge of forensic science? likert-style scale from: very basic knowledge (understanding of the topic and some types of evidence) rated as 1 to advanced knowledge (significant coursework, research or work experience in forensic science) rated as 5 19.) at the end of the semester, how would you rate your knowledge of cold cases? likert-style scale from: very basic (heard the term in the news) rated at 1 to advanced knowledge (significant coursework, research or experience in cold cases) rated at 5 20.) do you believe the cold case project will assist you in your future career? likert-style scale from: the cold case project experience will not help at all rated at 1 to the cold case project experience will help immensely rated at 5 21.) did the cold case assignment assist in confirming your career goals? a. yes b. no c. maybe d. i don’t know 22.) please provide any additional information you wish to share about the cold case project. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education bunting creating, implementing, and evaluating forensics activities kits in a remote learning modality jocelyn c. bunting department of biological sciences, salisbury university, 1101 camden avenue, salisbury, md 21801, corresponding author: jcbunting@salisbury.edu abstract: the covid-19 pandemic resulted in many learning institutions switching from the traditional face-to-face instruction to remote learning. this study highlights the use of a low-cost and low-tech forensics activities kit for an introductory forensics lecture course that was taught remotely during the spring 2021 semester. each student in the course received a forensics activities kit which included a packaging evidence kit, fingerprinting kit, handwriting/chromatography kit, and a blood spatter kit. at the end of the semester, students were surveyed for feedback regarding the kits. the majority of students agreed that the individual kits were effective activities for learning the respective material. all students agreed that overall, the kits helped them to further understand the forensics concepts as well as increased their confidence in understanding the material. this study suggests that low-cost, low-tech, instructorassembled forensics kits are effective hands-on activities for students and should be considered when developing a remote or distance education course. further research into using hands-on activities kits within virtual forensics courses should be explored. keywords: forensics, activities kits, hands-on, remote learning, distance education, low-cost, low-tech introduction in april 2020, the covid-19 pandemic disrupted the education of approximately 1.5 billion students worldwide (1). early in the pandemic, many classes that were typically taught in a face-to-face setting needed to shift to a remote learning modality. remote learning, or distance education, is a type of online instruction that occurs when a course is taught virtually, without any faceto-face instruction, during set class meeting days and times (2). as the pandemic continued, many classes remained online for more than a year (3,4). the shift to a remote learning modality presented various opportunities as well as challenges for educators and students (5-7). a recent study by mukhtar et al. surveyed faculty and students regarding the advantages and limitations of online learning during the covid-19 pandemic (7). one limitation noted was the disruption to hands-on activities in classes such as laboratories and clinicals (7). a faculty member commented, “in anatomy, the study through models was good. but hands-on training is not possible, the student will not be able to understand properly. skills need actual hands-on training” (7). students also expressed frustration with the loss of hands-on activities while learning online during the pandemic. according to a 2020 study conducted by shim and lee, many college students reported that one of the shortcomings of remote learning was the constraints on practicals and experiments (5). faculty and student dissatisfaction regarding the loss of hands-on activities within a remote setting is understandable as numerous educational research and theorists, including piaget and bruner, have shown that “learning by doing,” especially within the sciences has many advantages (8). the society for college science teachers position is that, “laboratory experiences should be related to and integrated within the conceptual flow of every science course” (9). the students surveyed during shim and lee’s research suggested conducting face-to-face classes for hands-on activities (5). however, during the pandemic, this was not safe or feasible due to a variety of reasons including adherence to social distancing guidelines, maximum room capacities, and the availability of large on-campus laboratory spaces that adhered to dedensification requirements. science instructors whose courses had included hands-on activities or laboratory investigations were faced with the problem of how to continue to provide these practical learning opportunities to students, even though the course was being taught online. this paper discusses how to overcome this challenge by presenting a case study highlighting the j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education bunting creation, implementation, and evaluation of an instructorassembled forensics activities kit. this kit allowed students in an introductory forensics lecture course to participate in hands-on activities while in a remote learning modality during the covid-19 pandemic. materials and methods salisbury university is a public university located on the eastern shore of maryland. at salisbury university, biology 105: science and society “introduces the nonbiology major to the broad principles, fundamental ideas, and new discoveries in biology that significantly affect the human being's present and future existence” (10). a variety of biology 105 course topics are offered such as “the history of spice,” “insects and human society,” “the history of zoos,” and “forensics.” the goal of the biology 105 forensics course is to introduce forensic science with an emphasis on processing the crime scene and the evidence recovered during an investigation. biology 105 forensics is a lecture course with a class size of no more than 20 students. this lecture course typically meets two days per week for one hour and fifteen minutes each time. biology 105 forensics has been taught in three different modalities. during the fall 2019 semester, the course was taught face-to-face. in this format, all students met in the classroom for the duration of the class time. during the fall 2020 semester, the course was taught in a hybrid format in which students met for the first day of class each week online synchronously. on the second day, half of the class would meet for the first half of the meeting time in the classroom, and then the second half of the class would meet for the second half of the meeting time in the classroom. this allowed for de-densified face-toface instruction that followed social distancing guidelines. during the spring 2021 semester, the course was taught remotely. in this format, all students met online synchronously during class time. the instructor created forensics activities kits prior to the start of the spring 2021 semester (figure 1). after the add/drop date, students picked up a kit from the instructor on campus or received a kit by mail. the students were not charged an additional fee for the kits. also, students were not required to return the kits to salisbury university at the end of the semester. the forensics activities kit contained several smaller kits: a packaging evidence kit, a fingerprinting kit, a handwriting/chromatography kit, and a blood spatter kit. figure 1 individual forensics activities kits prepared for the spring 2021 semester. these individual kits (packaging evidence, fingerprinting, handwriting/ chromatography, and blood spatter kits) were then assembled into a large-padded mailer envelope for each student all of the contents were contained within a large padded mailer envelope. individual kit contents were contained within separate resealable storage bags. the activities kit also contained various papers such as a general directions sheet, graph paper for crime scene sketches, printer paper for a pharmacy fold, a copy of a federal bureau of investigations (fbi) applicant fingerprint card on printer paper, a document to examine various handwritings and practice forgeries, and a document to record blood spatter data. packaging evidence kit the packaging evidence kit contained the following items: a piece of fabric with simulated blood, a piece of evidence tape, a biohazard sticker, a small manila envelope, an evidence identification label, a small piece of a rubber band, and a piece of printer paper (figure 2). the rubber band was packaged in a small resealable storage bag within the kit to keep it from being lost. students used kit items to practice packaging a piece of mock evidence by placing the fabric with simulated blood into the manila envelope. they sealed the envelope using the evidence tape, and affixed a biohazard sticker to the envelope along with a completed evidence identification label. additionally, students practiced packaging the mock trace evidence, a segment of a rubber band, by creating a pharmacy fold using the supplied piece of printer paper. students were asked to supply tape to seal the pharmacy fold. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education bunting figure 2 components of the packaging evidence kit. this kit contained the following items: a piece of evidence tape, a biohazard sticker, a small manila envelope, an evidence identification label, a small piece of a rubber band, a piece of fabric with simulated blood, and a piece of printer paper (not shown). fingerprinting kit the fingerprinting kit contained the following items: a piece of clay, a small plastic magnifying glass, a copy of an fbi applicant fingerprint card on printer paper, and an ink pad (figure 3). the piece of clay was packaged in a small resealable storage bag within the kit to preserve the clay and separate it from the other components. using this kit, students practiced creating and viewing plastic fingerprints by impressing their fingers into the clay. then, students used the magnifying glass to view the friction ridge pad impressions. again, using the magnifying glass, students created and viewed latent prints by pressing a finger onto the magnifying glass. during the remote class, students also watched as the instructor deposited latent prints onto a glass pane within a door. the students then watched as the instructor used oblique lighting to locate the fingerprints and magnetic powder to develop the prints. the instructor then demonstrated how to recover the prints using latent fingerprint tape and a fingerprint card. additionally, students created patent fingerprints by applying ink from the ink pad to their fingers and then applying this to a copy of an fbi applicant fingerprint card. lastly, students classified each of their fingerprints as a loop, whorl, or arch. figure 3 components of the fingerprinting kit. this kit contained a small plastic magnifying glass, a piece of clay, a copy of an fbi applicant fingerprint card on printer paper, and an ink pad. handwriting/chromatography kit the handwriting/chromatography kit contained a 15 ml conical tube with a piece of chromatography paper located inside of it. on the chromatography paper was a line drawn with a black marker approximately 1/4 from the bottom of the paper. the kit also contained a small weigh boat, a disposable transfer pipette, and a line from sherlock holmes from the adventure of the blue carbuncle written in various handwriting (figure 4). students supplied the water for this activity. during this hands-on activity, students investigated chromatography and handwriting. they were provided background on a mock bank robbery where a note was recovered. it was requested that the mock evidence be processed to determine which type of marker was used to j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education bunting write the note. students were advised that their chromatography paper contained the ink that was used in the bank robbery note. figure 4 components of the handwriting/chromato graphy kit. this kit contained a disposable transfer pipette, a weigh boat, a 15 ml conical tube with a piece of chromatography paper located inside of it. on the chromatography paper, there was a line drawn with a black marker approximately 1/4 from the bottom of the paper. the kit also contained a piece of paper with a line from the adventure of the blue carbuncle. first, students removed the chromatography paper from the conical tube. then, they filled the small weigh boat with water. using the disposable transfer pipette, students transferred water from the weigh boat to the conical tube, filling it with 2 ml of water. they placed the chromatography paper back into the conical tube and placed the tube in an upright position. prior to class, the instructor used six different black markers (including the same marker that was used to write the note and student’s chromatogram) to create six chromatograms, one for each marker. in class, the instructor placed five of the chromatograms in conical tubes containing isopropyl alcohol; however, the sixth chromatogram (that was the same marker that was used to write the note and student’s chromatogram) was placed in water. while waiting for the instructor’s and students’ chromatograms to develop, students practiced writing the sentence, “the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.” the students wrote this sentence with their dominant hand, non-dominant hand, and also with their dominant hand in all capital letters. these sentences allowed students to view various elements of their handwriting such as spacing, slanting, and lettering. next, students placed a piece of paper or notebook under the paper and re-wrote the sentence to view an example of indented writing. students also viewed a piece of paper in the kit that contained a line from sherlock holmes in the adventure of the blue carbuncle (11). students practiced forging the writing on each line. students then reflected on how natural writing, a subconscious task, differs from mimicked writing. the instructor advised students that this activity was used to illuminate forgeries and that copying someone’s writing is not acceptable. lastly, students revisited the chromatograms. the instructor presented the chromatograms to the class that had developed for the six black markers. students observed the chromatograms and identified the correct marker that wrote the note by comparing the separation that they viewed within their chromatogram to the known chromatograms that the instructor had prepared. after the experiment, the instructor advised the students that the solvents within the known conical tubes were not all the same. the instructor explained that it wasn’t possible to send isopropyl alcohol through the united states postal system and that many markers are not water soluble. therefore, in order to view separation of the marker dyes, isopropyl alcohol was used for five of the inks. the instructor further explained that the marker that was used to draw the line on the chromatography paper included within the student’s chromatography kit was water-soluble which was why water was used as the solvent. blood spatter kit the blood spatter kit contained the following items: a 15 ml conical tube with instructor-made simulated blood, a disposable pipette, an index card, a piece of wood, a piece of tile, a piece of carpet, a piece of fabric, a ruler, and a document to record blood spatter data (figure 5). the conical tube containing the simulated blood was placed in a separate resealable storage bag within this kit. students used this kit to view blood spatter on different surfaces. using the ruler, simulated blood, and a pipette, students dropped blood from approximately 10 cm and 30 cm above the various surfaces (tile, fabric, paper, wood, and carpet). students recorded the diameter of each drop as well as any observations about the drops. students compared the size of the blood droplets which were dropped closer to the surface versus farther away. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education bunting figure 5 components of the blood spatter kit. this kit contained a ruler, a piece of wood, a piece of tile, a piece of carpet, a piece of fabric, a 5×8 inch index card, a disposable transfer pipette, a 15 ml conical tube with simulated blood, and a document to record blood spatter data (not shown). hazards and safety precautions the forensics activities kit included directions for the kit which reminded students of general safety precautions. the directions advised that only the forensic student should use the kit during the appropriately scheduled class time. since there were minimal safety risks, personal protective equipment (ppe) was not included in the kit as the contents consisted of nonhazardous forensic supplies and household materials. students were informed that the blood within the kits was simulated, but could possibly stain skin, clothing, or work surfaces, and therefore, they should wash immediately if a spill occurred. additionally, the instructor provided specific directions that pertained to each kit during the respective activity. items were chosen for each kit to minimize safety hazards. the ink pad used was a non-toxic ink pad. all of the blood material was simulated either using a red marker or using a mixture of water, corn starch, corn syrup, and food coloring. within the mixture, the food coloring was used to create the appearance of blood, while the corn starch and corn syrup were used to increase the viscosity so that it was similar to blood. the magnifying glasses used were plastic, not glass. also, the chromatography kit did not contain any solvents which could be flammable. student surveys to obtain feedback regarding the forensics activities kits, students were asked to complete a short survey at the end of the semester once all the activities within the kits had been completed. student participation was voluntary. if a student completed the survey, 2 extra credit points were awarded for the semester. using a likert response scale, students were asked to think about each of the forensics activities kits and to select their level of agreement with the following statements:  the packaging evidence kit (included envelope, fabric with simulated blood, evidence tape, evidence label, trace evidencepiece of rubber band, and a piece of paper for a pharmacy fold) provided an effective activity for learning how to package evidence properly.  the fingerprinting kit (included clay, magnifying glass, ink pad, and fbi applicant card) provided an effective activity for learning about different types of fingerprints and fingerprint patterns.  the handwriting and chromatography kit (included handwriting samples, pipette, weigh boat, conical tube, and chromatography paper with ink) provided an effective activity for comparing handwriting samples and writing instruments.  the blood spatter kit (included simulated blood, pipette, ruler, tile, wood, fabric, and paper) provided an effective activity for viewing and comparing blood droplets that originated from various heights onto different surfaces. using a similar likert response scale, the survey also asked students to think about all the forensics activities kits as a whole and to select their level of agreement with the following statements:  overall, the forensics activities kits helped me to further understand forensics concepts.  overall, my confidence in understanding the forensics concepts increased due to using the forensics activities kits.  overall, the forensics activities kits contained all of the supplies that i needed to conduct the activities. lastly, students were asked if they believed any additional supplies or kit activities would help to strengthen the delivery of these forensics concepts. if the students answered yes, they were asked to describe their thoughts on additional supplies or kit activities. this survey study was approved by salisbury university’s institutional review board. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education bunting results ten out of the seventeen spring 2021 biology 105 forensics students completed the survey. for each of the individual kits, the majority of students strongly agreed or agreed that the kits were effective activities for learning the material. regarding the packaging evidence kit, 70% strongly agreed and 30% agreed that the kit provided an effective activity for learning how to package evidence properly. similarly, 70% strongly agreed and 30% agreed that the fingerprinting kit was an effective activity for learning about different types of fingerprints and fingerprint patterns. regarding the handwriting and chromatography kit, 50% strongly agreed, 40% agreed, while 10% disagreed that the kit provided an effective activity for comparing handwriting samples and writing instruments. lastly, 70% strongly agreed and 30% agreed that the blood spatter kit provided an effective activity for viewing and comparing blood droplets that originated from various heights onto different surfaces (figure 6). figure 6 student responses regarding the effectiveness of individual forensics activities kits in learning the material. in considering all the forensics activities kits as a whole, all the students strongly agreed or agreed with the survey statements. eighty percent of the students strongly agreed and 20% agreed that overall, the forensics activities kits helped them to further understand forensics concepts. similarly, 80% strongly agreed and 20% agreed with the statement, “overall, my confidence in understanding the forensics concepts increased due to using the forensics activities kits.” lastly, 90% strongly agreed and 10% agreed that the forensics activities kits contained all of the supplies that i needed to conduct the activities (figure 7). when students were asked if they believed any additional supplies or kit activities would help to strengthen the delivery of these forensics concepts, one student suggested including a kit with pieces of a gun such as the barrel as well as the different impressions that are made by it in order to better understand the topic of firearms. figure 7 student responses when considering the overall forensics activities kit. discussion and conclusion the forensics activities kits provided students with a hands-on experience while in a remote setting, which were useful even in a lecture course. student survey responses overwhelmingly agree that individual kits were effective activities in learning the respective forensics material. possible explanations for these survey responses are that the activities kits reinforced theoretical lecture material, increased student focus and engagement, and/or piqued student interest in the subject matter. these possible mechanisms would need to be further explored with future research. with regard to kit supplies, most students agreed that the kit contained all of the resources that were needed. the only suggestion was that pieces of a firearm be included in the kit which is valid; however, for a variety of reasons, it is not logistically possible to include these items safely within a kit. the forensics activities kits used in this study were basic kits that could easily be assembled by an instructor. preparing and packaging the kits took approximately one week. this time did not include designing the kits which can be quite time intensive when considering backward designing a course, especially in a remote setting. the forensics activities kits were prepared for a nominal cost. all of the kit supplies as well as the storage baggies and large padded mailer envelope cost approximately $9.00 per student. supplies bought for the kits were purchased through salisbury university’s biology department. the kits provided all students with equal access to the handson materials needed for the class which is crucial for any course, including those offered remotely (12). alternatively, an instructor could purchase kits from an j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education bunting educational science supply company. several of these companies offer forensics kits for the classroom; however, few offer commercial kits intended for the individual learner in a remote setting, and many of those can be rather costly. as a result, instructors could consider creating low-cost, low-tech, hands-on activities kits based on a variety of forensics topics for their remote courses. studies on hands-on activities used in online learning settings exists for a variety of science subjects (13-20). moreover, some studies have shown that students who are in a distance education course with hands-on activities perform as well or better than students learning in a faceto-face setting (19-21). however, there is a research gap in studying these hands-on activities specifically within forensics as there appears to be limited literature related to the subject matter (21-23). while this study has limitations with regard to a relatively small sample size (n=10) and students’ self-reporting, it can serve as a starting point for future research centered around the implementation and evaluation of hands-on activities that are designed specifically for a remote forensics course. the focus of future studies could compare outcomes of forensics courses with face-to-face instruction and handson activities to that of remote instruction with activities kits. furthermore, the implementation of hands-on activities kits within a remote forensic science majors’ course could be explored. lastly, when creating and using forensic activities kits within a remote course, instructors should consider the potential impacts regarding forensic science education programs accreditation commission (fepac) program accreditation. while the covid-19 pandemic presented numerous challenges within higher education, it also offered educators the opportunity to thoughtfully reimagine their courses in an online setting. this study suggests that it is possible to successfully develop and implement low-cost, low-tech, hands-on activities within a remote forensics class. when necessary, this may be a feasible alternative to traditional face-to-face instruction. acknowledgements the author wishes to express her gratitude to the following individuals for their support and assistance with this study: dr. kim quillin, dr. sarah e. j. winger, dr. f. les erickson, dr. victor miriel, ms. sandy ramses, mrs. krispen laird, capt. victor bunting, jr., and salisbury university’s spring 2021 biology 105 forensics student survey participants. references 1. united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization. education: from disruption to recovery. https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse (accessed june 14, 2021). 2. salisbury university online learning. https://www.salisbury.edu/administration/academicaffairs/instructional-design-delivery/online-learning/ (accessed june 16, 2021). 3. ihe staff. inside higher ed. live updates: latest news on coronavirus and higher education. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/06/14/liv e-updates-latest-news-coronavirus-and-highereducation (accessed june 14, 2021). 4. burke l. inside higher ed. cutting the in-person semester short. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/11/17/co lleges-end-person-instruction-early-due-covid-19spread (accessed june 10, 2021). 5. shim te, lee sy. college students’ experience of emergency remote teaching 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10.31979/themis.2017.0508 https://doi.org/10.1130/ges00511.1 https://doi.org/10.2134/jnrlse2007.361139x https://doi.org/10.31979/themis.2017.0508 j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education elkins nuclear forensics: history, selected cases, curriculum, internship and training opportunities and expert witness testimony kelly m. elkins1* 1chemistry department, towson university, 8000 york road, towson, md 21252, *corresponding author: kmelkins@towson.edu abstract: nuclear forensics is the investigation and analysis of the source of nuclear materials for nuclear attribution including trafficking and illegal possession and enrichment of natural materials. nuclear forensics cases include radionuclide theft, illegal trafficking and possession, loss of nuclear weapons, and poisonings. to prepare forensic chemists to handle materials in these cases and law enforcement to thwart these threats, nuclear forensics courses are offered at united states colleges and universities. this paper reports upon the field of nuclear forensics including history and cases, ongoing threats that underscore the need for education, courses offered and topics covered, internship and training opportunities, and expert witness testimony in nuclear forensics. a robust reference list of peer-reviews papers, websites, books and book chapters that can be used in such a course is included. keywords: forensic science, nuclear forensics, case studies, curriculum, expert witness testimony . introduction the goals of this paper are to introduce the reader to the history of nuclear forensics and selected cases as well as disseminate course options, curriculum content, textbooks and peer-reviewed journal article sources, internship and training opportunities, and expert witness testimony in nuclear forensics. the information has been collected and organized from various sources including peer-reviewed journal articles, government publications, internet searches, books and book chapters. herein, existing courses and curriculum content is discussed along with a broad reference list that educators can use in implementing or designing nuclear forensics courses at their universities. a brief history of nuclear chemistry with the discovery of x-rays in 1895 by wilhelm conrad roentgen and henri becquerel’s discovery of radioactive properties in uranium in 1896, the field of nuclear chemistry was born. beginning in 1898, maria (marie) skłodowska-curie and pierre curie discovered that pitchblende and chalcolite contained radioactive polonium, radium thorium among other elements (1). the early years of nuclear chemistry extend to world war ii. manmade elements were prepared by bombarding naturally-occurring elements with alpha particles, neutrons, and deuterons starting in 1919 when ernest rutherford reported upon his synthesis of oxygen-17 from nitrogen-14 using alpha particles. in 1934, irène joliotcurie (daughter of marie and pierre curie) and her husband frédéric joliot-curie bombarded aluminum-27 with alpha particles to yield phosphorus-30, the first demonstration of artificial radioactivity. in 1937, ernest lawrence bombarded molybdenum-42 with deuterons to form technetium-43. in 1938, otto hahn, lise meitner and fritz strassmann bombarded uranium with neutrons which led to their discovery of nuclear fission. from the 1930s, glenn seaborg and his colleagues at the university of california, berkeley synthesized over 100 new elements and isotopes including cobalt-60, plutonium-239, neptunium and all transuranium elements through 102; some of the findings were delayed for publication until the post-war years (2-8). nuclear forensics: a definition while nuclear chemistry focuses on the study of the reactions that result in changes in the composition of atomic nuclei, nuclear forensics is the investigation and analysis of the source of nuclear materials for nuclear attribution including trafficking and illegal possession and enrichment of natural materials (6-8). nuclear forensics cases nuclear forensics cases include radionuclide theft, illegal trafficking and possession, loss of nuclear weapons, and assassination poisonings (9-13). although the international atomic energy agency (iaea) has policies and safeguards to prevent smuggling, radioactive material, j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education elkins radioactive dispersal devices and nuclear bombs have all been lost and stolen. table 1 lists selected nuclear forensics cases and the year of occurrence (9-15). while not comprehensive dozens of such cases have been reported annually in recent years it demonstrates the breadth of nuclear forensics cases encountered by law enforcement. the first seizure of radioactive material was in switzerland in 1991 (11,12). thousands of trafficking events have been reported since then (15). reports involving the seizure of nuclear material have originated in germany, czech republic, hungary, poland, belarus, among other european countries, as well as russia, the middle east, pakistan, and african countries (14). although most of the seized material is not nuclear weapons-grade, it is toxic and emits radioactivity and poses health risks upon exposure. threats that the material could be used to create “dirty bombs”, explosive devices containing radioactive material, or be released in ventilation systems or subways incite fear in civilian populations. radionuclides including cesium-137, iodine131, strontium-90, cobalt-60, iridium-192, americium-241, uranium-235, uranium-238 and plutonium-239 may be used in a dirty bomb. as noted by sam kean (16) in his book, the disappearing spoon, “…sprinkling a tenth of an ounce of cobalt-60 on every square mile of earth would pollute it with enough gamma rays to wipe out the human race.” (p.113) in addition to illegally trafficked radionuclide material, “broken arrows” are nuclear weapons that were lost, stolen, accidentally launched or detonated (17). these incidents have been reported to occur at least 32 times since the 1950s with six weapons yet unrecovered (17). for example, the united states (u.s.) has lost at least seven nuclear weapons (18). a hydrogen bomb that was lost was found in 1989 (19). the james martin center for nonproliferation studies reported 155 incidents in 2013 and 170 incidents in 2014 where nuclear or radiological material was lost, stolen or outside regulatory control (20). u.s. nuclear materials including plutonium and cesium were reported missing by u.s. department of energy officials in 2017 and still not yet recovered over a year later (21). in august 2018, the malaysian police reported that they cannot account for two radioactive dispersal devices (22) with one missing more than a year. ongoing threats and need for education radionuclides are widely available due to their commercial use. radionuclides are unstable atoms that readily decompose emitting particles and energy. uses include research, medical equipment, smoke detectors, nuclear power plant fuel, specialized materials, and nuclear bombs for military use (10). examples of applications include: phosphorus-32 use in leukemia therapy, cobalt-60 use in radiotherapy machines for cancer therapy and in food sterilization, technicium-99 use in imaging bones and the circulatory system, iodine-131 use in treating thyroid diseases, cesium-131 use in treating prostate cancer, and iridium-192 use in treating coronary disease (10). as demonstrated in table 1, household and commercial products can be the source of radionuclides for malicious use. an on-going potential threat recognized by the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission is the use of radionuclides to produce a radiological dispersal device (rdd) or “dirty bomb” (24). forensic chemists and crime scene investigators need to be trained to approach and analyze nuclear forensic evidence just as they would body fluids sampled to determine a dna profile or chemical weapons samples to determine their identities and sources (21). first, the seized material must be analyzed to determine if it is indeed radioactive (21). then age dating, isotope composition, presence of trace elements, isotope ratios, grain size, and shape can be determined and used in source attribution (25-29). table 1 selected nuclear forensics cases and year of occurrence (9-15,20-23) case year radioactive material seized in switzerland in first reported case 1991 boy scout david hahn dismantled household products to construct a nuclear reactor in a united states backyard shed 1991 smugglers transported 56 kg of plutonium hidden in scrap metal from russia to north korea by train 1992 russian naval officer stole 4 kg of 20% enriched uranium235 nuclear fuel rods from severomorsk, russian 1993 363 g of plutonium-239 was seized at a munich airport 1994 turkish authorities arrest seven turks in seizure of weapons grade uranium 1994 russian authorities recovered four 90-kg containers of cesium-137 and arrested the thieves 1995 polish guards at the polish-czech border discovered eleven strontium-90 filled cigarette pack-size containers 1995 chechen separatist leader shamil basayev and associated militants buried a dirty bomb in a moscow park 1995 german authorities detected cesium-137 smuggled from zaire to germany on a commercial flight 1996 cobalt-60 containing radiotherapy machines sold as scrap metal cause eight people to be ill with radiation syndrome 1998 highly enriched uranium intercepted at the turkishbulgaria border 1999 cobalt-60 containing radiotherapy machines sold as scrap metal resulted in radiation syndrome illness in ten people and three deaths 2000 russian defector litvinenko assassinated using polonium210 2006 cobalt-60 stolen by mexican thieves 2013 plutonium and cesium nuclear materials stolen from vehicle of u.s. department of energy officials 2017 malaysian industrial radiography unit containing iridium192 reported lost 2018 nuclear forensics courses offered by u.s. college and universities although not as common as forensic science, forensic biology or forensic chemistry courses, several united states colleges and universities including syracuse university, university of utah and university of j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education elkins tennessee, knoxville offer graduate courses in nuclear forensics as shown in table 2. university of california berkeley offers an undergraduate course in radiochemical methods in nuclear technology and forensics. in addition, towson university offers a module in nuclear weapons and forensics in its advanced lecture topics: weapons of mass destruction undergraduate course. other nuclear topics courses are offered by engineering departments at clemson university, university of texas – austin, and penn state university including technical nuclear forensics, nuclear safety and security, and nuclear security system design, respectively. table 2 courses in nuclear forensics offered by u.s. colleges and universities course no. title insitution chem 146 radiochemical methods in nuclear technology and forensics university of california, berkeley nuc 520 radiochemistry, nuclear fuel reprocessing and nonproliferation syracuse university ne 635 nuclear forensics university of tennessee, knoxville fsc 654 nuclear forensics syracuse university fsc 669 science of countering weapons of mass destruction syracuse university nuc 7220 analytical nuclear forensics university of utah course topics nuclear forensics courses are focused on educating students about nuclear weapons of mass destruction (30) and how to perform source attribution (31) of nuclear samples (32). topics covered by the courses include the history of nuclear chemistry (2,3,8,16), ethics of dual use research (33-36), defining radionuclides, sources of radiological materials (10), nuclear compounds and reactions, nuclear decay, aging samples (27,28), fission, safety, sample collection (37), sampling and handling, methods of detection, environmental nuclear forensics (37,38), and reporting of results (30). additional topics include swipe and single particle samples, gas phase counting and separations, isotopic signatures, method of production, sample origin, nonproliferation, intended use, preand post-detonation analysis, nuclear fuel reprocessing, and spent fuel transport and storage (39-43). key “fingerprinting” analysis in nuclear forensic cases for determining provenance includes determining isotopic and phase composition, morphology, microstructure, elemental composition, isotopic composition, isotope ratios, and rare earth element pattern. (26,29,42,44). for comparisons, the japanese government has developed a prototype type nuclear forensics library (nfl) (45), the european commission has validated reference materials for dating nuclear materials (46), and the u.s. national institute of standards and technology (nist) has a nuclear materials characterization group and produces standards. cation exchange chromatography is used to separate rare earth elements (47). instruments including geiger-mueller counters (1), liquid scintillation counters (1), alpha spectrometry (1), gamma spectrometry (1,48,49), x-ray fluorescence (xrf) (49) energy dispersive spectroscopy (eds) (43,50), electron probe microanalysis (50), scanning electron microscopy (42,51,52), transmission electron microscopy (42), micro-raman spectroscopy (42), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (icp-ms) (29,31,49), secondary ion mass spectrometry (sims) (51), autoradiography (51) laser ablation (la)-icp-ms (47,53), and laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (libs) (54) are used in the experimental analysis of nuclear materials. courses include theoretical and hands-on experience with these instruments. uv-vis spectrophotometry, differential scanning calorimetry (dsc), powder x-ray diffraction (pxrd), thermogravimetric analysis (tga), tga-mass spectrometry (tga-ms) are used for morphological analysis (43,52). case studies may focus on dismantling of household materials to recover and enrich radionuclides (6, 55), improper disposal of medical devices (10), illegal trafficking of radionuclides and nuclear weapons (56), poisonings attributed to radionuclides, detecting accidental release of radionuclides (10) and nuclear power plant accidents (57-60), and post-detonation analysis of environmental samples. textbooks and books in addition to the peer-reviewed literature, textbooks are an excellent source of nuclear forensics content. textbooks that offer chapters on nuclear chemistry, weapons of mass destruction, and chemical biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives (cbrne) include adventures in chemistry by julie millard (6), criminalistics: forensic science, crime, and terrorism by james girard (7), and introduction to forensic chemistry by kelly elkins (8). choppin, liljenzin and rydberg’s book radiochemistry and nuclear chemistry (1) includes a chapter on detection and measurement techniques. other general interest books with interesting information about the history of the elements, uses of radionuclides and case studies are the disappearing spoon by sam kean (16) and the poisoner’s handbook: murder and the birth of forensic medicine in jazz age new york by deborah blum (61). internship and training opportunities several agencies worldwide offer internship programs in nuclear forensics and materials analysis and related j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education elkins policy. the u.s. department of homeland security offers a six-week nuclear forensics summer school program taught on a rotating basis with selected colleges and universities. the u.s. central intelligence agency (cia) also recruits undergraduate and graduate students to internship positions as intelligence analysts; one track is the “science, technology & weapons analyst” position that is focused on the identification and analysis of weapons proliferation and proliferators including chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. the u.s. federal bureau of investigation (fbi) also offers undergraduate and graduate internships that focus on a broad range of issues. training programs for u.s. undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral scholars are available through oak ridge institute for science and education (orise) at national labs including los alamos, pacific northwest, and oak ridge. internationally, internships are offered by the international nuclear safeguards, the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons (opcw), the nuclear threat initiative (nti), the nuclear nonproliferation education and research center (nerec), the united nations regional centre for peace and disarmament in asia and the pacific (unrcpd), the center for arms control and nonproliferation, the arms control association (aca), the ploughshares fund, and the stockholm international peace research institute (sipri), to name a few. additional local opportunities may also be available to students and researchers worldwide through law enforcement and military agencies and their colleges and universities. expert witness testimony students in forensics degree programs take courses in criminal justice, chemistry, biology, physics, geology, anthropology, computer science, statistics, and the law. in many courses, students are assigned groups with which to evaluate a case and take on different roles for presentation to the class. students may be assigned the roles of defense attorney, prosecuting attorney, and expert witness. the questions asked of a witness in a nuclear forensics case may be unique to that type of case. sample questions for an expert witness in a nuclear forensics case may include:  describe your education, experience, and specialized training in nuclear forensics.  on how many cases have you served as an expert witness in nuclear forensics?  define radioactive material.  explain nuclear fission.  how can radioactive material be detected?  what is the detection limit of this method?  what is the error rate of this method?  where was the nuclear material seized or obtained?  how can you determine the source of the radionuclide?  what is the source of the radionuclide in question?  is possession or movement of the material regulated?  does the country of origin have regulations that cover the radionuclide?  how can this material be disposed of legally?  was the possession or movement of the material an accident or intentional? the future of nuclear forensics education radionuclides continue to be used in a variety of household and medical devices; improper use of these materials is always a possibility and trafficking continues. chemists must be aware of radionuclides used in materials and the threats that each pose. they must also be prepared to determine the sources of the radionuclides. due to the negative effects on human health caused by exposure, proper safety precaution and rapid detection of released radionuclides and materials is essential. it is imperative that the next generation of chemists and forensic scientists be equipped with knowledge of these materials and how to solve problems and cases that may be encountered. forensic programs should consider offering electives in nuclear forensics to address these needs, if they are not doing so already. acknowledgements the author thanks jaqueline dorhout for providing links to articles and research assistance from ashley cowan and brianna kiesel for performing web searches, formatting references, and reading manuscript drafts. the feedback 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science and technology: history and reviews, d.s. ensor, ed. research triangle park: rti press, 2011; pp. 339-66. 59. masson o, baeza a, bieringer j, brudecki k, bucci s, cappai m, et al. tracking of airborne radionuclides from the damaged fukushima dai-ichi nuclear reactors by european networks. environ sci technol 2011;45(18):7670-7. 60. mclaughlin pd, jones b, maher mm. an update on radioactive release and exposures after the fukushima dai-ichi nuclear disaster. br j radiol 2012;85(1017):1222–5. 61. blum d. the poisoner’s handbook: murder and the birth of forensic medicine in jazz age new york. new york, ny: penguin books, 2010; pp. 336. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx fauxdis: an interactive online forensic dna profile database ashley hall phd 1* , jonathan bisson, phd 1 1 university of chicago at illinois, department of pharmaceutical sciences, 833 s. wood st, chicago, il 60612 usa.*corresponding author: amhall7@uic.edu abstract: forensic science has captured our collective imaginations for generations, whether it be in the medical examiner’s room with quincy, examining blood spatter with dexter, or in the crime lab with forensic files. with the right tools and applications, we can take advantage of this popularity and use forensic science as a vehicle to teach critical thinking skills and the scientific method, both of which are integral in the collection and analysis of forensic evidence. the forensic scientist makes observations, formulates hypotheses about the probative value of evidence, and tests these educated guesses by submitting crime scene samples to an operational forensic laboratory for analysis. with a dna profile generated from crime scene evidence, the forensic scientist can conduct direct or indirect database searches in hopes of finding a match and learning the identity of the donor of the questioned sample. the u.s. national dna database system, codis, contains millions of offender dna profiles, but its use is restricted to authorized operational labs. therefore, in this report, we introduce the fauxdis dna database, a searchable online dna profile database that is available to educators for use in experiential exercises such as mock crime scene analysis. the database currently contains autosomal profiles, but can be expanded in the future to contain other marker systems such as y-chromosome short tandem repeats or massively parallel sequencing data. keywords: dna database, dna analysis, codis, scientific method, critical thinking introduction forensic science is everywhere – you can hardly search your tv offerings without encountering shows such as ncis, one of the many iterations of csi, or even a “so-new” snapped. this fascination with crime and justice is not new (remember quincy?); true crime and forensic science have captured the imagination for decades now. with the right tools and applications, we can take advantage of this popularity and use forensic science as a vehicle to teach critical thinking skills and the scientific method. critical thinking is the basis of all sound science. it can be defined as metacognition, logical argument analysis, and the rigorous weighing of evidence to support a claim. the scientific method is a structured mode of critical thinking that relies on hypothesis, experimentation and interpretation of the evidence (1). the collection and analysis of forensic evidence requires, among other skills, critical thinking and application of the scientific method. the forensic scientist makes observations, formulates hypotheses about the probative value of potential evidence, and tests these educated guesses by submitting samples to an operational forensic laboratory for analysis. for dna analysis, the forensic scientist first extracts dna from the sample, quantifies the nucleic acid, amplifies it by polymerase chain reaction (pcr), and generates a short tandem repeat (str) profile. the questioned crime scene profile is uploaded to a database and searched against indices of known samples for the purpose of identification. bringing these processes to the classroom could provide experiential learning opportunities that highlight critical thinking abilities and are the scientific method in practice. traditional approaches of dna profiling, however, can be costprohibitive in a classroom setting. therefore, we sought to develop cost-effective analysis procedures that could increase the accessibility of these laboratory exercises (2). by avoiding the use of expensive commercial kits, cost per sample can be significantly reduced with: 1) expressing and purifying taq dna polymerase in-house (3); 2) quantifying dna using a published sybr green method (4); 3) extracting dna with a standard phenol:chloroform protocol (5); and 4) using in-house multiplex pcr primer mixes to amplify dna. the dna profile can then be searched against a profile database of known samples. codis (combined dna index system) is the general term used to describe the system of u.s. criminal justice dna databases administered at the local, state and national level. codis is organized in separate indices containing autosomal short tandem repeat (a-str) dna profiles: convicted offender index, arrestee index, forensic index (containing biological crime scene evidence), and unidentified human remains and voluntary samples collected from relatives of missing persons. as j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx of october 2021, the national arm of this database, ndis (national dna index system), contained almost fifteen million offender profiles, over four and a half million arrestee profiles and over one million forensic profiles (https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometricanalysis/codis/ndis-statistics). there are direct and indirect approaches for database searching to identify the potential source of a forensic biological sample. in a high-stringency direct search, a crime scene dna profile is searched against the codis offender and/or arrestee indices for a direct match, or “hit,” in which all alleles at all loci match exactly. a moderate-stringency search is useful with dna evidence that contains a mixture, is partially degraded, or to accommodate the use of different dna typing kits from various labs. a moderate stringency search may result in a partial match, which the fbi defines as a match between two single source profiles having at each locus all of the alleles of one sample represented in the other sample (https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometricanalysis/codis/codis-and-ndis-fact-sheet) and may indicate a potential biological relationship between the two donors. a partial match is the spontaneous product of a regular database search and is distinct from the results of an indirect familial search (6). familial searching is a deliberate query of the dna database using specially designed software for the purpose of identifying first-order biological relatives of the donor of a crime scene profile. close relatives will share more dna than unrelated individuals, e.g. full siblings share approximately 50% of their dna. familial searching begins with a query of the offender/arrestee indices for a direct match. if there are no hits, the questioned profile is searched against the database again to identify dna profiles that are similar but not identical. the profiles are ranked in order of the probability that their donors share first-degree kinship with the person who left the crime scene dna using the likelihood ratio and/or number of shared alleles (6,7). the top male candidates’ samples are further profiled using y-strs to establish the familial relationship. familial searches are not conducted at the national level. each state must determine whether it will perform familial searching, and if so, the criteria and procedures that will govern its use. as of 2021, labs in arkansas, california, colorado, florida, michigan, texas, utah, virginia, wisconsin and wyoming perform familial searches, while maryland and d.c. laws specifically prohibit these searches (https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometricanalysis/codis). both direct and indirect database searches can be part of experiential learning exercises in which students apply their critical thinking skills and the scientific method to solve mock crimes, ultimately searching the database and calculating match probabilities. codis activities are restricted to authorized government labs, therefore, a dna profile database that can be used as a teaching tool has been established – the fauxdis dna database. an earlier version of the database was previously introduced as searchable spreadsheet file (2). in the current report, we introduce the interactive, online fauxdis dna database and demonstrate its function. fauxdis (https://www.https://www.fauxdis.org) is an online, interactive dna profile database (figure 1). it currently contains one hundred fifty-five dna profiles, each comprising up to twenty-two strs and one sexinformative locus. it is available for use in exchange for the submission of novel autosomal str profiles to the database. the fauxdis database can be searched using a full or partial str genotype. it is currently searchable for profiles containing any combination of the twenty codis loci, pentae, pentad and amelogenin. database use is not restricted to a specific multiplex kit; it can support entries generated from kits such as powerplex 16, powerplex fusion, sgm, or profilerplus/co-filer. methods the fauxdis platform the back-end of the website is built in kotlin (https://www.kotlinlang.org) with the spring boot framework (https://spring.io/projects/spring-boot) and uses postgresql (https://www.postgresql.org/) as its database. the front-end is built using vuejs (https://www.vuejs.org) and vuetify (https://www.vuetifyjs.com). it is deployed in docker (https://www.docker.com) containers and deployed using ansible (https://www.ansible.com/). the https certificates are obtained with certbot (https://certbot.eff.org/) from let's encrypt (https://letsencrypt.org/). results to generate a dna profile, we first purified the dna using a phenol:chloroform extraction protocol, amplified with an in-house powerplex 16 multiplex system, and separated the amplicons by capillary electrophoresis on a 3130 genetic analyzer. genemapper id-x software (thermofisher scientific) displayed the full multiplex as an electropherogram, with the x-axis delineated in units of size in base pairs (bp), and the y-axis as height in relative fluorescence units (rfu). a powerplex 16 allelic ladder was needed to convert the peak size in base pairs to genotype; this was used as an experiential exercise. https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/ndis-statistics https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/ndis-statistics https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/codis-and-ndis-fact-sheet https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/codis-and-ndis-fact-sheet https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis http://www.fauxdis.org/ https://www.kotlinlang.org/ https://spring.io/projects/spring-boot https://www.postgresql.org/ https://www.vuejs.org/ https://www.vuetifyjs.com/ https://www.ansible.com/ https://certbot.eff.org/ https://letsencrypt.org/ j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx figure 1 the fauxdis dna database. a) fauxdis homehome page; and b) a clear sample search page a b j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx to construct the allelic ladder, we used the published genotype of the 2800m dna standard (promega) as a benchmark (8). we amplified 2800m dna with our inhouse powerplex 16 system and determined the size, in bp, of each of the amplified peaks. any dna standard with a known genotype, e.g. 9948, can be used as a benchmark in this exercise. the size of each 2800m peak was translated to its genotype, and entered in to the allelic ladder template. then, using our understanding of structure of the str loci, a full allelic ladder could be constructed (supplementary figure 1); 2800m benchmark alleles are bolded and justified left. as an example, our amplified 2800m had two peaks, sized 232 and 236 bp at the d8s1179 locus. the known 2800m genotype at d8s1179 is 14, 15, therefore allele 14 is 232 bp and allele 15 is 236 bp. according to the powerplex 16 technical manual (8), or from the strbase locus fact sheet (https://strbase.nist.gov/str_d8s1179.htm), we know that d8s1179 is a tetranucleotide repeat. to construct the ladder around the benchmark alleles, we can start with allele 15, which is 236 bp. therefore allele 16 is 240 bp (236 + 4), allele 17 is 244 bp (240 + 4), and so on. this process is repeated at each locus to generate a complete allelic ladder. to ensure the most accurate measures, an allelic ladder should be generated in-house for each instrument to control for the particular environmental conditions of the space, as these affect electrophoretic mobility (9), and thus allele size. direct database searches. to perform a high stringency direct search, enter each allele from a full profile on the “sample search” line corresponding to the appropriate locus. either one or two alleles can be entered for each locus. click “start” and the search will be completed, typically in milliseconds. only the samples that are a direct match, containing all alleles at all loci match exactly, will be returned (figure 2). figure 2 fauxdis full profile direct search. the 23-locus profile is found in time in the database. a moderate stringency direct search can be simulated by entering a partial profile in the “sample search.” there is no minimum number of loci required to perform a search, and samples containing any or all of the alleles entered will be returned, that is, the database samples retrieved contain all of the alleles in the questioned sample. figure 3 demonstrates the use of a partial profile. in figure 3a, we only entered “x,x” for amelogenin, returning 80 samples. adding the “16,17” alleles at the d3s1358 locus, six samples were returned (figure 3b). including “8, 9.3” at tho1 in the query resulted in only one profile (figure 3c). as we include additional profiles in the database, a greater number of matching loci will be necessary to identify a single profile. https://strbase.nist.gov/str_d8s1179.htm j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx figure 3 fauxdis partial profile direct search. a) searching with the x, x alleles at amelogenin returns 64 samples; b) adding 16, 17 at d3s1358 reduces the list to 9 samples (continued on next page) b a j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx figure 3 fauxdis partial profile direct search: continued from previous page, c) adding 8, 9.3 at tho1 results in a single profile indirect database searches a true indirect, or familial, search requires specialized software. we cannot simulate the search exactly but can use fauxdis to teach the principles. as of november 2021, the database contains one known family group. their genotypes and relationships are provided as part of the worksheets in supplementary 2. to demonstrate the database function, we used a partial profile comprising one allele at each locus of a known profile, db0079. the search returned two profiles, having one common allele at each locus and indicating a parent/child relationship (figure 4a and supplementary 2). fauxdis can be a tool to teach the principles of allele and genotype frequency calculations and their consequence in forensic analysis. although there are more sophisticated statistical models that educators can adopt, calculating the random match probability (rmp) is a relatively straight forward demonstration of the principles. rmp is the probability that the dna profile of a random, unrelated person in the population will match the profile generated from a crime scene sample. it can be calculated based on either observed or expected frequencies. genotype frequency can be estimated by direct observation using the counting method (10) as the ratio of the number of times a dna profile is observed in the database to the total number of profiles, e.g. sample db001 (figure 2) has a frequency of 1 in 155 or 0.65%. determination of genotype frequencies by counting does not rely on theoretical assumptions and, while it is a simpler method, it does not take advantage of the power of the genetic approach. theoretical models based on the principles of population genetics can be applied to calculate the expected allele frequencies (11). we need to make two basic assumptions about the population: 1) independence between loci (linkage equilibrium); and 2) independence between alleles (hardy-weinberg equilibrium). linkage equilibrium indicates that the loci are independent and associate randomly and, with a population in hardyweinberg equilibrium, allele frequency can be correlated with genotype frequency. for a heterozygous locus, frequency is calculated by: 2pipj, where pi = the frequency of one allele and pj = the frequency of the other allele. homozygote frequency is calculated by: p 2 + p(1p)θ, where p = allele frequency and θ = 0.01 in a typical population or θ = 0.03 in an isolated population. the theta correction is a measure of the effects of population substructure, or co-ancestry of alleles (12). a table of expected allele frequencies that can be used in calculations of the rmp is available in the literature (13) and online (https://www.promega.com/products/pm/geneticidentity/population-statistics/allele-frequencies/). from a forensic standpoint, having a population in both linkage and hardy-weinberg equilibrium means that each c https://www.promega.com/products/pm/genetic-identity/population-statistics/allele-frequencies/ https://www.promega.com/products/pm/genetic-identity/population-statistics/allele-frequencies/ j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx matching allele is statistically independent evidence. the individual frequencies from each locus can be multiplied to calculate the rmp using the product rule. with this calculation, students can quantify the strength of the dna match they have generated through their crime scene exercises. figure 4 fauxdis partial profile indirect search. a) a partial profile comprising one allele at each locus was used to conduct an indirect search, returning two profiles, indicating a parent/child relationship; b) a partial profile consisting of two alleles at seven str loci was searched in the database. it returned two profiles sharing all alleles at the seven loci and one allele at each of the remaining loci, and indicating a full sibling relationship. a b j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx discussion and conclusion true crime and forensic science have captured the public’s imagination for decades. with the right tools, we can take advantage of this attention and let forensic science be a vehicle for teaching critical thinking skills and the scientific method. in this report, we introduce fauxdis, an interactive online forensic dna profile database (www.https://www.fauxdis.org). the database can become an integral part of mock crime scene exercises that require students to apply critical thinking skills in the analysis of forensic evidence. the fauxdis work flow incorporates instrumentation and protocols analogous to those employed in u.s. operational crime laboratories. the database can be used to simulate both direct and indirect profile searches, demonstrating principles of genetics. it also supports experimentation with partial profiles, which can be useful in simulations of degraded and damaged samples commonly found at a crime scene. further, with a successful database search, random match probabilities can be calculated using either observed or predicted allele frequencies. these experiential exercises teach valuable skills, and the practical experience that students gain may be attractive to potential employers. fauxdis currently contains 151 autosomal profiles. growing the database with additional profiles will increase its utility. we will continue to generate profiles in-house, and will accept profiles from other educators, ensuring that the dna profiles they use in mock crime exercises will be found in the database. we will offer access to the online system (www.https://www.fauxdis.org) in exchange for novel dna profiles. we recognize that many colleges and universities will be limited by the availability of the necessary instrumentation to generate a dna profile. to extend the experiential learning opportunity to as many students as possible, we will also accept single-source samples for in-house analysis. in exchange for a certain number of unique samples, we will generate profiles and deposit them in the database, as if they were collected and submitted to an operational forensic laboratory. fauxdis is a dynamic entity; it can be expanded to accommodate new marker systems in response to advances in forensic science. in the future, additional indices will include y-strs, single nucleotide polymorphisms and massively parallel sequencing data. with this database, we hope to provide a tool for experiential exercises and contribute to a collaborative network of educators. references 1. kraus s, sears s, burke b. is truthiness enough? classroom activities for encouraging evidencebased critical thinking. journal of effective teaching 2013;13:83-93. 2. baranski j, davalos-romero k, blum m, foster a, hall a. fauxdis: a searchable forensic dna database to support experiential learning. j forensic sci educ 2020;2(1). 3. bellin rm, bruno mk, farrow ma. purification and characterization of taq polymerase: a 9-week biochemistry laboratory project for undergraduate students. biochem mol biol educ 2010;38:11-16. 4. nicklas ja, buel e. development of an alubased, real-time pcr method for quantitation of human dna in forensic samples. j forensic sci 2003;48:936-944. 5. comey c, koons b, presley k, smerick j, sobieralski c, stanley db. dna extraction strategies for amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis. j forensic sci 1994;39: 1254-1269. 6. ge j, budowle b. forensic investigation approaches of searching relatives in dna databases. j forensic sci 2021;66:430-443. 7. nfstc. familial searching. https://projects.nfstc.org/fse/13/13-0.html. 8. promega. powerplex 16 technical manual. 9. rogacs a, santiago jg. temperature effects on electrophoresis. anal chem 2013;85:5103-5113. 10. national research council. dna technology in forensic science. national academy of sciences, washington (dc), 1992. 11. national research council. the evaluation of forensic dna evidence, national academy of sciences, washington (dc), 1996. 12. butler j. forensic dna typing, 2nd edition. academic press, 2005. 13. steffen cr, coble md, gettings kb, vallone pm. corrigendum to 'u.s. population data for 29 autosomal str loci' [forensic sci. int. genet. 7 (2013) e82-e83]. forensic sci int genet 2017; 31:e36-e40. http://www.fauxdis.org/ https://projects.nfstc.org/fse/13/13-0.html j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx supplementary figure 1. the powerplex allelic ladder generated using 2800m alleles as benchmarks for each locus. the 2800m genotype is bolded and justified leftsupp. d3s1358 tho1 d21s11 d18s51 pentae allele size (bp) allele size (bp) allele size (bp) allele size (bp) allele size (bp) 12 110 4 152 24 199 8 284 5 375 13 114 5 156 24.2 201 9 288 6 380 14 118 6 160 25 203 10 292 7 385 15 122 7 164 25.2 205 10.2 294 8 390 16 126 8 168 26 207 11 296 9 395 17 130 9 172 27 211 12 300 10 400 18 134 9.3 175 28 215 13 304 11 405 19 138 10 176 28.2 217 13.2 306 12 410 20 142 11 180 29 219 14 308 13 415 13.3 184 29.2 221 15 312 14 420 30 223 16 316 15 425 30.2 225 17 320 16 430 31 227 18 324 17 435 31.2 229 19 328 18 440 32 231 20 332 19 445 32.2 233 21 336 20 450 33 235 22 340 21 455 33.2 237 23 344 22 460 34 239 24 348 23 465 34.2 241 25 352 24 470 35 243 26 356 35.2 245 27 360 36 247 37 251 38 255 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx d5s818 d13s317 d7s820 d16s539 csf1po allele size (bp) allele size (bp) allele size (bp) allele size (bp) allele size (bp) 7 112 7 172 6 211 5 269 6 317 8 116 8 176 7 215 8 273 7 321 9 120 9 180 8 219 9 277 8 325 10 124 10 184 9 223 10 281 9 329 11 128 11 188 10 227 11 285 10 333 12 132 12 192 11 231 12 289 11 337 13 136 13 196 12 235 13 293 12 341 14 140 14 200 13 239 14 297 13 345 15 144 15 204 14 243 15 301 14 349 16 148 15 353 pentad allele locus 2.2 367 3.2 372 5 380 7 390 8 395 9 400 10 405 11 410 12 415 13 420 14 425 15 430 16 435 17 440 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx amel vwa d8s1179 tpox fga allele size (bp) allele size (bp) allele size (bp) allele size (bp) allele size (bp) x 106 10 124 7 204 6 262 16 322 y 112 11 128 8 208 7 266 17 326 12 132 9 212 8 270 18 330 13 136 10 216 9 274 18.2 332 14 140 11 220 10 278 19 334 15 144 12 224 11 282 19.2 336 16 148 13 228 12 286 20 338 17 152 14 232 13 290 20.2 340 18 156 15 236 21 342 19 160 16 240 21.2 344 20 164 17 244 22 346 21 168 18 248 22.2 348 22 172 23 350 23.2 352 24 354 24.2 356 25 358 25.2 360 26 362 27 366 28 370 29 374 30 378 31.2 384 43.2 432 44.2 436 45.2 440 46.2 444 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx supplementary 2 fauxdis dna database worksheet i) direct search the genotypes for three database samples are given in the table below. they can be used to demonstrate both high and moderate stringency searches. locus sample 1 (db001) sample 2 (db0966) sample 3 (db0560) d3s1358 17,17 16,17 16,17 tho1 6, 9 8,9 8,9.3 d21s11 28,30 27,32.2 28,28 d18s51 13.2,15 16,21 15,18 penta e 13,14 14,15 8,13 d5s818 12,12 11,13 12,13 d13s317 11,12 11,12 9,12 d7s820 10,11 9,9 10,13 d16s539 12,13 10,12 11,13 csf1po 9,12 8,8 12,13 penta d 10,13 7,12 9,13 amelogenin x,x x,y x,y vwa 15,17 15,15 16,18 d8s1179 13,13 14,15 11,12 tpox 9,9 8,11 8,11 fga 24,25.2 19.2,23 20,26 d1s1656 13,14 d2s441 10,12 d2s1338 19,23 d10s1248 14,14 d12s391 17,23 d19s433 14.2,14.2 d22s1045 11,16 samples 1 & 2 (high stringency, direct search): enter complete genotypes: will retrieve 1 sample each from the database. sample 1 was run with a 16-locus multiplex. sample 2 was run with a 23-locus multiplex. the database can accommodate any combination of markers found in kits, and displays loci with no data as an empty circle. sample 3 (moderate stringency, direct search): to demonstrate a search with a partial profile, a) enter x,y at amelogenin. sixty-six profiles are retrieved. b) enter 15,17 at d3s1358. the field is narrowed to nine profiles. c) enter 8, 9.3 at tho1. a single profile is returned (db0560). j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx ii) indirect search the genotypes from a family group are listed in the table below. they can be used in various combinations to demonstrate an indirect search. to use the database, select a profile to use for your search. have the students enter only the alleles that are shared between that profile and the associated family profile(s). examples are provided in the following pages. sibling 3 db0002 sibling 2 db0012 sibling 1 db0022 parent 1 db0070 parent 2 db0079 d3 14, 16 15, 16 14, 16 16 14,15 tho1 7 6, 7 7 7 6, 7 d21 28,30 28,30 28, 30 28, 30 30, 31 d18 14,17 14, 22 18, 22 17, 22 14, 18 pentae 16,18 15, 18 16, 18 15, 16 8, 18 d5 13 13 13 13 13 d13 11, 13 11,13 11 11 11, 13 d7 10 10 10 10, 11 10 d16 12, 13 11, 13 12, 13 11, 12 8, 13 csf 11, 12 10, 12 9, 11 9, 12 10, 11 pentad 9 9 na 9 9, 18 amel x x x x x,y vwa 16, 18 14, 18 14, 18 14, 16 17, 18 d8 13 13, 14 na 13 13, 14 tpox 8, 11 8, 11 8 8, 11 8, 11 fga 18.2, 24.2 18.2, 24.2 18.2, 24.2 19.2, 24.2 18.2, 24.2 na – no allele comparison shared loci percent match sib 3/sib 2 7/15 loci 47% sib 3/sib 1 8/13 loci 61% sib 1/sib 2 5/13 loci 38% parent1/parent 2 2/15 loci 13% j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx question 1 to demonstrate a familial match search with a parent dna profile, enter the following partial genotype (parent 2, db0079) and search: d3 tho1 d21 d18 pentae d5 d13 d7 d16 csf pentad 14 7 3 14 15 13 11 10 13 11 9 amel vwa d8 tpox fga x 18 13 8 18.2 two profiles will be retrieved, db0002 (sibling 3) and db0079 (parent 2). the matching str alleles are circled in the table below for reference. the parent and child share one allele at each locus note: at d13, parent 1 has an allele 11, so the 13 allele is the obligate parent 2 allele. at tpox, both parents have an 8,11 so either allele could have come from the parent 2. at fga, parent 1 has a 19.2, 24.2, therefore the 18.2 allele is the obligate parent 2 allele. sibling 3 db0002 parent 2 db0079 d3 14, 16 14,15 tho1 7, 7 6, 7 d21 28,30 30, 31 d18 14,17 14, 18 pentae 16,18 8, 18 d5 13,13 13,13 d13 11, 13 11, 13 d7 10,10 10, 10 d16 12, 13 8, 13 csf 11, 12 10, 11 pentad 9, 9 9, 18 amel x,x x,y vwa 16, 18 17, 18 d8 13,13 13, 14 tpox 8, 11 8, 11 fga 18.2, 24.2 18.2, 24.2 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx question 2 to demonstrate a familial match between a parent and two children, enter the following partial genotype (db0079 parent 2) and search: d3 tho1 d21 d18 pentae d5 d13 d7 d16 csf pentad no entry 7 3 14 15 13 11 10 13 no entry 9 amel vwa d8 tpox fga x 18 13 no entry 18.2 three profiles will be retrieved: sibling 2 (db0012), sibling 3 (db0002), and parent 2. the matching str alleles are circled for reference. sibling 3 db0002 sibling 2 db0012 parent 2 db0079 d3 14, 16 15, 16 tho1 7, 7 6, 7 7 d21 28, 30 28, 30 30 d18 14,17 14, 22 14 pentae 16,18 15, 18 18 d5 13, 13 13, 13 13 d13 11, 13 11,13 11 d7 10, 10 10, 10 10 d16 12, 13 11, 13 13 csf 11, 12 10, 12 pentad 9, 9 9, 9 9 amel x, x x, x x vwa 16, 18 14, 18 18 d8 13, 13 13, 14 13 tpox 8, 11 8, 11 fga 18.2, 24.2 18.2, 24.2 18.2 the siblings share the same allele with each other and the parent at 12/15 str loci. both share one allele with the parent at each locus. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education hallhall.docx question 3. to demonstrate a familial match between full siblings, enter the following partial genotype (db0002 sibling 3) and search: d3 tho1 d21 d18 pentae d5 d13 d7 d16 csf pentad 28,30 13 11,13 10 9 amel vwa d8 tpox fga x 8,11 18.2, 24.2 two profiles will be returned: sibling 3 (db0002) and sibling 2 (db0012). the matching str loci are circled for reference. sibling 3 db0002 sibling 2 db0012 d3 14, 16 15, 16 tho1 7 6, 7 d21 28,30 28,30 d18 14,17 14, 22 pentae 16,18 15, 18 d5 13,13 13,13 d13 11, 13 11,13 d7 10,10 10,10 d16 12, 13 11, 13 csf 11, 12 10, 12 pentad 9,9 9,9 amel x,x x,x vwa 16, 18 14, 18 d8 13,13 13, 14 tpox 8, 11 8, 11 fga 18.2, 24.2 18.2, 24.2 the siblings have the same alleles at 7/15 str loci, and share one allele at each of the remaining loci. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education tran evaluation of a relay-style format for experiments in an undergraduate trace evidence laboratory course cynthia j. kaeser tran, ph.d. 1 *, mary f. lamar, ph.d. 2 , jessica n. carlotti, ms 1 , erika gil winter, bs 1 1department of chemistry, eastern kentucky university, 521 lancaster ave, richmond, ky 40475 2college of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, eastern kentucky university, 521 lancaster ave, richmond, ky 40475 *corresponding author: cindy.tran@eku.edu abstract: trace evidence analysis courses should prepare students with both appropriate laboratory techniques and the collaborative skills which may be beneficial to their future careers. a traditional or nonrelay laboratory format that includes comparison of unknown evidence from a crime scene to known samples from suspects adequately addresses laboratory techniques. however, this approach does not foster peer collaboration or expose students to the use of known libraries. a comparison of the non-relay format with a relay format was undertaken. the relay format is a unique approach for collaborative learning in which one group of students compiles their data into a library of knowns that is passed to another group of students for further expansion and finally to a third set of students for use in their case file analysis. comparison of the methods was achieved using observations from instructors acting as participantobservers and through student reflection questionnaires. the results indicate that passing information from one group of students to the next and the inclusion of case file peer reviews required a shift in student thinking from an individualistic mindset to a collaborative one as students understood that their peers would utilize their results. the library development and case file peer review exposed students to more variety in the presentation of analysis results and forced reflection on the clarity each provided. the relay format also yielded a more relaxed pace through the analyses to encourage deeper analysis of student results and conclusions. keywords: cooperative learning; forensic science education; trace evidence; laboratory course. introduction in a particular case, evidence collected from a crime scene may be processed and analyzed by multiple people. for trace evidence analyses (fibers, tapes, impressions, glass, etc.), the submitted samples of unknown origin are generally compared to known samples from the scene or a suspect for identification purposes. multiple characteristics between the unknown and known samples must be consistent with each other for identification or association of class characteristics. the strength of the comparison is based on the number of compared characteristics and the uniqueness of those characteristics. in many cases, a sample submitted for analysis is compared to a library of samples from known sources. available forensic libraries may include the results of past or current cases (bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives (atf) trace evidence unit reference collections or national integrated ballistic information network (nibin)), manufacturer-provided reference samples (fbi lab fiber library, national automotive paint file (napf), or national forensic tape file (nftf)) (1), or other materials of known sources collected for comparison (international forensic automotive paint data query (pdq) or national center for forensic science ignitable liquids database) (1). with varied sources, libraries have differing constructions and an analyst must determine the most useful information provided for comparison and recognize the limitations that may be posed by relying on the work of others. previously, a trace evidence laboratory course utilized a case file format wherein students were provided evidence from a fictitious crime scene (unknown) as well as from corresponding suspects (knowns) for analysis. the students would have to acquire, analyze, and compare results from the knowns and unknowns summarizing their results in a written case file format. they would have one week for completion of each evidence type. due the tight timeline, students were only able to analyze one or two knowns for each case file. traditional style undergraduate labs operate on predetermined standard procedures that are followed to obtain data which leads to a lack of independent thought and interpretation of results during the lab period (2,3). the limited scientific thinking that occurs during this time affects final report-out activities that are expected of students at the end of a lab since students cannot mailto:cindy.tran@eku.edu j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education tran adequately make connections between the data obtained in lab and the background knowledge that is provided during lecture (4,5). a student’s critical thinking skills should be developed during upper-level laboratory courses which may benefit from a differing teaching approach than those encountered in lower-level laboratory courses (6). to provide students’ experience in developing and utilizing libraries as well as gain experience working collaboratively on a case with other analysts, a relay structure for a trace evidence undergraduate laboratory course was utilized. the relay structure breaks the analysis of a type of evidence into several rotations with each rotation being completed by a different set of students. the relay begins with a complete analysis of items from known sources and students summarizing their results from the week in a library format. that library of known samples is then passed to a second set of students that expand the library to include additional known samples. the expanded library is passed to a third set of students who finally utilize the library as they compare their unknown item from a fictional crime scene to the library entries. the third set of students generates a case file that summarizes the results of the unknown analysis and comparison to known sources. the students who began the evidence library at the start of the relay complete a peer review of the final case file generated. in addition to collaboration through the librarybuilding experience, students also collaborate through helping each other with instrument and microscope operation. students can own their expertise from performing an earlier rotation of a relay when helping those completing later rotations of the relay for a collaborative effort that builds confidence. several chemistry-based laboratory formats that promote collaborative experiments include an inquiry-based approach (7,8), problem-based learning (9), peer-led team learning (10), cooperative group learning (11-15), and constructivism (16) within the chemistry laboratory course. similar to the aims of this laboratory format, the approaches listed above were developed to address observations that students lacked preparation for lab and showed poor understanding of concepts utilized in their lab experiments (12). a common aim across all of these formats is to develop an investigative approach to student thinking that utilizes guiding questions in hope that students will create an open dialogue with their peers regarding the lab (7-8,10-11). these approaches encourage students to become the ‘expert’ on troubleshooting instrument operations, designing a standard operating procedure (sop), or conducting experimental designs where mistakes in the development of these tasks are a learning experience (89,11-12,16-18). through each study, collaborative learning in lab groups/partners was encouraged to result in more independent student actions in the lab coinciding with learning from their peers. students now become accountable to their peers, not only their instructor. the quality of their work will affect the group’s outcome in the lab resulting in increased motivation to learn and problem-solve through lab instruction. this encourages enrichment of the learning experience to utilize laboratory time in an effective problem-solving manner (12,15). a relay-style approach to collaborative student learning in the laboratory was presented for use in the context of a single experiment in an instrumental analysis laboratory course (19). while this presentation was not specific to a trace evidence course, the premise of developing knowledge between students through progressive rotations building to a completed final product was the foundation for developing this study. the transition to relay-style labs aims to improve several aspects of a trace evidence laboratory course. first, this format promotes a collaborative learning approach, encouraging students to bring their best work into their peer collaborations. second, the experience of building their own library and utilizing libraries made by other students (rather than national or instrumentationprovided databases) develops a deeper understanding of the limitations of libraries and reinforces the need to analyze the top library results separately to confirm their comparison results. the combination of these aims yields students with a deeper understanding of the techniques and analysis, providing a stronger foundation of analytical skills required for future forensic scientists. as a previous literature review on the state of forensic science education noted, "there is no published research on laboratory education effectiveness" for forensic chemistry courses, including those in trace evidence (20). this study had students analyzing evidence using both a non-relay and relay format. the purpose of this research was to devise and compare a relay teaching strategy to the non-relay teaching strategy for identifying unknown samples. the type of evidence was different for the relay and non-relay teaching strategies. this study’s research questions addressed how students perceived or utilized libraries with a relay teaching strategy and how having both relay and non-relay teaching strategies in a course affected the students’ evaluation of evidence. methods course description at the authors’ institution, trace evidence lecture and laboratory courses are offered to junior-level forensic science majors with a concentration in forensic chemistry. instrumentation and microscopy courses are pre-requisite requirements providing the students with an understanding for most of the instrumentation utilized in this course. the primary learning objective for the trace evidence laboratory is to provide students with experience j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education tran in evidence-specific analyses common with trace evidence. traditionally, the laboratory covers eight main evidence types: footwear impressions, fire debris, firearms/ballistics, fibers, tapes, glass, documents/inks, and automotive paint (in cases of unforeseen circumstances or university closure that necessitate a missed lab period, automotive paint is removed). each experiment is focused on a specific type of evidence with the procedures for analysis aligned with scientific working group (swg) or organization of scientific area committees for forensic science (osac) guidelines for the evidence type. the majority of students enroll in their forensic science capstone the following semester wherein they will be tasked with collection, analysis, and testimony of pieces of evidence. preparing students for independent laboratory work and case file preparation is a secondary learning objective. this study focuses on the laboratory portion of the course and two teaching strategies (non-relay and relay) were utilized for the pre-covid-19 portion of the two spring 2020 semester sections. one of the instructors was also the lecture instructor and is referred to as lab/lec instructor in the results and discussion. the second instructor worked as a full-time managerial chemist analyzing paint samples and developing matching formulas for car paint and is referred to as lab only instructor in the results and discussion. the lab only instructor is also a previous graduate of the program and took a variation of this course. the graduate teaching assistant for both sections was an undergraduate in this course the previous spring semester. non-relay teaching strategy in previous semesters, students learned the analysis process for each type of evidence through directly comparing known samples to an unknown sample as part of a case study structure. students were usually given only one or two known sources for comparison and were asked to do a direct comparison rather than utilize a library of knowns. students did not utilize results from other groups. thus, students were not asked to narrow down potential sources of the evidence but were primarily focused on the aspect of direct comparison. this one group/student only procedure is referred to as the nonrelay teaching strategy for this study. students are assessed utilizing a case file format summarizing a complete analysis protocol including their observations from the known samples and criteria used to identify their unknown sample. in addition, the case file report includes answers to questions relating to evidence and lab techniques similar to questions they may receive as part of a testimony covering the case. for the spring 2020 semester, this format was used at the start of the semester covering impressions (shoe prints) and fire debris evidence, introducing the students to the process of working with evidence samples from multiple sources and developing a case file to summarize their analysis. furthermore, the non-relay teaching strategy was used with evidence procedures that cannot be completed within a single laboratory period, such as the impression molds’ 24-hour cure or the overnight bake time for the fire debris activated charcoal strip headspace method. relay teaching strategy for the relay teaching strategy summarized in figure 1, three different types of evidence were considered at the same time (spring 2020: fibers, duct tape, and firearms/ballistics; figure 2). with the relay format, groups rotated through each evidence type over four weeks. students in the first two rotations each had one week to build a library of known samples. the first and second rotation groups were responsible for performing a complete analysis of evidence provided from known sources and documenting their results in a digital library. students could choose the format and arrangement of the library but were instructed to include all observations and images recorded for each piece of evidence. a digital copy of the initial library was submitted by the first group and then expanded to a complex library by the second group to include additional entries. the initial and complex libraries were graded and checked before the start of the unknown analysis. figure 1 proposed group rotation schedule. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education tran figure 2 rotation schedule for spring 2020 with smaller section sizes and covid-19 accommodations. the third rotation was to have a two-week time frame for the analysis of an unknown sample and comparison analysis with the known they suspect to be the source. due to the covid-19 pandemic requiring the transition from face-to-face to on-line instruction, data for the unknown had to be provided to the third group. the third rotation group used the library created by the two previous groups to identify the unknown and wrote a case file utilizing the data provided. case files were graded by the instructors and graduate teaching assistant. a single fibers case file was also developed by the lab/lec instructor and graduate teaching assistant for all students to use as the peer case file review. since the initial library development began with the basic analysis of the evidence, the first group for the rotations reviewed the completed case file stating the strengths and weaknesses of the analysis. thus, the first rotation students were able to view the more complex analysis performed in the second rotation and the unknown comparison performed by the third rotation. these peer reviews were a written report evaluated as part of the students’ grades for the lab. observation and self-reflection collection student questionnaires were approved by the authors’ institutional review board before the start of this qualitative study to collect feedback from the students throughout the term. the authors were also approved as participant-observers to record their observations and reflections. for the two spring 2020 sections, six of the nine students provided consent to participate with zero students dropping out during the study. another researcher who is part of the team but did not teach the lab gathered the consent forms and kept them to prevent bias from the instructors and graduate teaching assistant. students were assigned a number in order for the students to remain anonymous. regardless of their decision to participate in the study, students were expected to complete the same workload relating to experiments. students worked in groups for both the non-relay and relay portions of this study, consistent with previous years’ course designs. group membership was changed between the non-relay evidence types. the groups remained the same for the entirety of the relay rotations. groups consisted of two students with one group of three students due to a section having an odd number of students. questionnaires were administered after each of the non-relay evidence experiments and after each rotation of the relay experiments. these questionnaires were given to the students to be completed and returned to the outside researcher (not instructors or graduate teaching assistant) and were graded for completion, not on content of the answers. only the questionnaires submitted by students who provided consent were analyzed for this study. the questions varied for each rotation of the relay, with the initial rotation group not completing their reflections until after the conclusion of the case file peer review. a summary of the questionnaires for the non-relay experiments and for each stage of the relay experiments are shown in table 1. the questions were provided as open response questions with no word limitations. in addition to student feedback, weekly observations were written by the instructors and a graduate teaching assistant. the lab/lec instructor, lab only instructor, and graduate teaching assistant recorded their observations in separate notebooks. these observations included impressions regarding the time constraints students were under, how they approached situations, actions they struggled with completing or comprehending, and what students did well with throughout the lab. the graduate teaching assistant also provided observations comparing their experience as a student with all non-relay lab formatting with their observations of the combination of non-relay and relay evidence lab format. results non-relay teaching strategy for the impressions (shoe prints) evidence, none of the students reported a ten on a 1-10 scale on being confident about identifying their unknown. one student (202014) reported a five, and another student (202016) reported a 7.5 with the remaining four students (202009, 202012, 202015, 202016) reporting an eight. only one of the students (202014) mentioned in their questionnaire that they had to return to a control sample to identify more indentations to assist with their unknown analysis. the fire debris analysis had three students (202009, 202014, 202016) rate their unknown identification a nine on the 1-10 scale. a fourth student (202015) ranked their identification as a seven to eight while a fifth student (202012) ranked their confidence as a seven. only one student (202018) reported a four due to the gas chromatography mass spectrometry (gc-ms) spectrum j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education tran table 1 questions included in each questionnaire used (nr = non-relay case file; r1 = rotation 1 students after completion of case file review; r2 = after rotation 2; r3 = after rotation 3) question nr r1 r2 r3 how many different controls did you analyze? x x x how many characteristics for the controls did you originally classify? x x x please list the characteristics that you used below and explain your choice including method of analysis. x x x after you began the analysis for your unknown, did you have to return to the controls to classify other characteristic(s) to aid in your identification of the unknown? x if you answered yes, list below the additional characteristic(s) that you determined you needed and explain why you may have not considered these with your initial analysis. x identify and explain which control characteristic was the easiest to distinguish between controls. x x x identify and explain which control characteristic was the most difficult to distinguish between controls. x x how many of your control characteristics did you use to identify your unknown? x x how many of your control characteristics did you not use to identify your unknown? x x please list the characteristics that you used below and explain your choice including method of analysis. x which characteristic was the most useful for you to identify your unknown? explain this choice. x what characteristic was the least useful for you as you identified the unknown? x on a scale of 1 to 10, how confident are you that the unknown was correctly identified? (1: pure wild guess; 5: i have a 50-50 feeling; 10 i am confident). explain your ranking. x after reviewing the completed case file, what information from your initial library development was used to identify the unknown? x what information from the continuation of the library development did you find interesting? did you not include this information in your initial library development? if not, why? x upon seeing the completed case file including the complex known library and unknown identification, how did/could that potentially influence your library development with this project or in the future? x what aspect of the initial development of the library was the least useful for you as more controls were added to the library? x x what aspect of the known library was the least useful for you as you identified the unknown? x after you began the analysis for your unknown, did you have to return to the controls to classify other characteristic(s) to aid in your identification of the unknown? x on a scale of 1 to 10, how confident are you that the unknown was correctly identified? (1: pure wild guess; 5: i have a 50-50 feeling; 10 i am confident). explain your ranking. x r2: upon seeing another group’s initial library development, how did/could that potentially influence your library development with this project or in the future? r3: upon seeing this evidence’s library… x x j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education tran “gave the class of the ignitable source and the range of a medium, but i cannot narrow it down any further to a specific source.” one of the six students (202014) did discuss having to return to the known sample to compare the peaks. the graduate teaching assistant reflected upon their experience the previous year in this course having to analyze all the different types of evidence in a non-relay format: as a student in trace evidence lab a casefile was completed each week after finishing a traditional style lab. this was often stressful on students with the course load expected in the program. it was expected of students to analyze 1-2 known exhibits and an unknown to make a comparison between evidence types. often times, the procedure was by the book meaning it was detailed step-by-step and students carried out the lab noting observations and obtaining data. this was conducted in a manner that did not leave time for students to think about the scientific reasoning behind their data until they were out of lab and ready to write a casefile. the pressure mentioned by the graduate teaching assistant during their student days was due to the fact that the majority of the evidence was analyzed for unknowns and knowns in a one lab period except for impressions and fire debris which had one and a half lab periods to account for the additional sample prep time required for those evidence types. observation notebooks from the instructors and graduate teaching assistant all discussed the students having questions about the open-ended aspects of the mixing of the materials to collect their impression evidence. students tended to ask questions and attempted to measure specifically with balances for their materials instead of allowing the observed consistency of the mixture to indicate correctness. because the instrumentation and overall comparison techniques utilized in the non-relay labs were introduced in previous courses, students’ instructions were written to provide fewer details. also, some groups struggled working together as group assignments were made by where the students sat instead of student-formed groups. students may or may not have known their partners before this class and group assignments changed between evidence types. both instructors and the graduate teaching assistant mentioned that the students were more comfortable with the fire debris evidence. while some students did not use the example provided to guide sample preparation, others understood the expectations and utilized the example for proper sample preparation. in addition, this evidence utilizes gc-ms instrumentation which the students had used in their previous instrumentation course. the questionnaires did not indicate any issues with the instrumentation only with the peak interpretation because their unknown was not exactly like their known samples. relay teaching strategy for the complex library questionnaire (second rotation of the relay), one student (202009) on the duct tape evidence discussed: “our group wants to change the presentation of our results for the presentation of our results for the future.” this student also mentioned that they appreciated the way that they were able to compare their exhibits to the previous rotation’s exhibits. student 202015 reflected upon their previous work: after seeing another group’s development, i would work more with my group on what information we deem important enough to include in our library. we all seem to have different ideas of what is specifically important to include, which might mean that we do not all include the same characteristics about our exhibits. this student’s comments also are reflected by the lab only instructor’s observation: “another positive aspect of the relay approach was the students would push each other to success!” for the relay’s case file rotation, only duct tape and firearm evidence types had questionnaires evaluated. all three students submitting firearms questionnaires (202009, 2020215, and 202016) recognized that they did not have enough information to identify their unknown, causing their confidence ranks to be eight (202009), seven (202015), and five (202016). with firearms, the bullet unknowns are characterized by striations and the threshold number may not have been reached, but these students indicated in their questionnaires that they did not revisit the known samples to double check. student 202016 felt that the “analysis left a lot to be desired and felt incomplete…” students with the duct tape evidence were not confident in their unknown analysis with one student (202012) ranking themselves as an eight. another student (202018) assigned a rank of nine but this student identified matching torn ends of the duct tape. a third student (202014) had a confidence of five, claiming exhibit 2 had a missing piece of information for comparison. this student did return to the known samples though they did not mention locating the missing information. the peer review of the case file had all students reviewing a fibers case file that the lab/lec instructor assembled. the peer review timeframe occurred after the university went to an on-line format due to the covid-19 pandemic. fibers was chosen as a common evidence type j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education tran for the case file review as every group had analyzed fibers in one of the previous rotations and the time constraints for the lab/lec instructor with the sudden on-line transition. the student-produced fiber libraries were also provided to each section. two students (202015 and 202016) mentioned organization of the library and case file information was an aspect that they would change with student 202015 stating: i would also make sure that all figures/data are in a clear order. in the case file, certain figures were not in a very good order (like adding information about exhibits 1, and then 5, and then ftir results of 5 and then 1). i would make sure all information is in order, not separated. while this observation assists with clarity this student also “would not include all aspects of the examination.” by excluding some information, the potential of missing important information to identify the unknown while eliminating other possibilities might be missed. discussion and conclusion in spring 2020, an undergraduate trace evidence laboratory course evaluated evidence using two different teaching strategies. the first strategy was a traditional comparison of knowns to an unknown, which had been used in previous iterations of the course. the second strategy was a relay-style rotation, building libraries of known samples to be used in comparison with an unknown sample. in both teaching formats, students were observed to experience some pressure. in the non-relay format, one week was provided for evaluation of knowns and unknowns and completion of the case file. this resulted in a deadline-driven external pressure on the students. with the relay-style, four weeks of rotation provided time for reflection on evidence collection and analysis of unknowns. the relaxed pace also allowed more time for students to critically think about each evidence type and their evaluation of information. the pressure then shifted from external deadlines to the internal pressure of students’ knowing that peers will see and use their work at every step (12,15,19). the lab-only instructor observed this shift, noting “some students seemed nervous or worried about their work influencing their peers. it was not an individual work anymore.” in addition, the lab/lec instructor reflected on the decreased instructor pressure for grading completed case files each week. the relay format provided additional time between case file assignments for feedback to not only be given by the instructor but also to be reviewed and incorporated by the students. the internal pressure of peer collaboration also fostered a growing interdependence in the lab, mimicking a “team” approach common in industrial laboratories. the graduate teaching assistant noticed and reflected about this difference between the two teaching strategies: the only time we interacted with our peers [in a nonrelay only semester] was when we discussed our observations or had questions about next steps… [in the relay-style] many students began asking questions about instrumentation and the reasoning behind results to past lab groups who worked with that evidence type. this allowed students to be an expert on an evidence topic or instrumentation which resulted in the instructors being there to mediate and offer feedback when students needed help connecting lecture content to lab results. student confidence in their lab results was not solely based on the quality of data generated by their peers, but also in their own analysis and in part on the type of unknown evidence being analyzed. for example, result confidence was highest for fire debris when students were previously exposed to a similar type of analysis in the prerequisite instrumentation course. but students were uncomfortable with the lessened detail in the instructions. the heightened confidence in result with previous exposure to analyses and the building of comfort with interpreting instructions lay a groundwork for their capstone experience and future career work, which require these skills. confidence was lowest for evidence types that utilized brand new techniques such as comparison microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (sem) in the firearms experiment. other relay style evidence analysis utilized new instrumentation and lab techniques. in addition, not every relay-style evidence analysis provides a clear result. students had to set aside inherent biases and grapple with the disappointment of not finding a “match” between their unknown and one of the knowns analyzed by previous groups. this is more aligned with a true forensic lab experience where not every case has a firm result in favor of an identification. while students have been previously exposed to instrumentation libraries for fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ftir) spectra and ms spectra in their instrumentation courses, students developed libraries for known samples to be shared with their peers in the relay format. upon reviewing other students’ libraries, students noted organization and completeness as factors in the quality of the library they were given. however, students in the second rotation lacked the confidence to reorganize the initial library when adding additional known evidence samples. the libraries often included more information than was necessary for a basic comparison between the knowns and unknown. student 202015 did not appreciate j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(2) 2021 journal forensic science education tran that this is often the case with libraries when they noted they would have included less information in the library accompanying the case file review. but the additional information can be helpful in considering alternative conclusions for a case file. for instance, students are so focused on trying to prove the similarities between the analysis results, they may overlook characteristics that limit or do not support those conclusions. this leads students to an internal bias that is an ethical issue among forensic scientists. both a traditional non-relay format and a relayformat were included in an undergraduate trace evidence laboratory course in spring 2020. while the non-relay format provided students experience in individual analysis and case file development, the relay format fostered interdependence between student groups and provided several additional advantages as observed by the instructors for this course. the shift from an external pressure from deadlines to an internal pressure of being required to show their work to peers, encouraged students to do their best work. through developing libraries and performing case file reviews, students were exposed to differing approaches for presenting analysis results and reflected on the appropriateness or clarity of each approach. finally, while they still developed case files, the relaxed pace of the relay format provided more time for students to critically evaluate their own analyses so as to avoid inherent bias. future work includes continued collection of student questionnaires for trace evidence laboratory and follow-up questionnaire at the end of the students’ capstone course. acknowledgements the authors would like to thank the students for their participation in 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forensic laboratory education research and needs assessment. j forensic sci educ 2021;3(1). j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education connon crafting an effective virtual classroom in the covid-19 pandemic catherine c. connon, ph.d. 1*, susan a. greenspoon, ph.d. 1,2, tal simmons, ph.d. 1 1department of forensic science, virginia commonwealth university, 1015 floyd ave, box 34018, richmond, va, 23284 2virginia department of forensic science, 700 n 5th st, richmond, va, 23219 *corresponding author: cmconnon@vcu.edu abstract: transforming hands-on laboratory activities to a meaningful virtual experience was truly challenging during the spring and fall semesters of 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic. needless to say, the task was daunting. even under normal circumstances, many instructors are not technological gurus. despite virginia commonwealth university’s fortunate position of having additional technological resources available to its instructors, many of these resources could not be utilized effectively, if at all, given the extreme time constraints to develop virtual courses and/or activities. vcu’s department of forensic science realized that virtual laboratories were not the only option to replace in-person activities. at home lab activities were appropriate for some forensic science courses, like crime scene investigation, but not appropriate for others, like forensic serology, due to safety concerns associated with the use of biohazardous body fluids, difficulty storing and transporting sensitive reagents, as well as challenges associated with the practical aspects of delivering/dispersing take-home laboratory kits. the forensic science department did its best to effectively and creatively adapt all courses for virtual learning in the spring and made additional modifications to accommodate social distancing to allow for in-person laboratory courses with some virtual components for the fall (though all lecture courses were still taught virtually). these included at-home, do-it-yourself crime scenes; virtual labs for forensic serology; a heavy reliance on zoom for a variety of applications aside from online lecture delivery; and anti-cheating strategies for online tests. even once the covid pandemic subsides, some of these modifications will likely remain integrated into these courses because they were so effective. keywords: forensic science, virtual labs, do-it-yourself labs, crime scene investigation, forensic serology introduction like many entities, higher education was hit hard in the spring of 2020 due to the covid-19 global pandemic. colleges and universities were faced with unprecedented challenges to move to a virtual classroom with only one or two-week’s notice, a task that would normally take months of preparation for a single course. armed with few resources, instructors had to get creative and stay motivated to successfully face the challenges at hand: maintain student interest and effectively deliver course content and assessments with the appropriate rigor, all the while thwarting cheating and collusion (or at least be able to detect the latter). this paper discusses several tactics utilized by virginia commonwealth university’s (vcu) department of forensic science to handle coursework in the midst of the pandemic. in the spring of 2020, all vcu courses rapidly switched to a virtual platform in late march. in the fall, all lecture courses continued virtually, while laboratory courses were either all in-person or a hybrid of virtual and in-person. many of the strategies employed by our instructors were successful in maintaining student interest and effectively delivering content and assessments. from do-it-yourself crime scenes to virtual forensic laboratories, our faculty found creative ways to conduct their courses. zoom was a critical platform used for virtual lecture delivery, but we quickly discovered other uses for zoom, including recording lectures, providing remote access to software, software demonstrations, offering a virtual collaborative space, and even allowing for simultaneous instructor presence in two classrooms. not surprisingly, developing virtual activities to replace in-person activities was more challenging for hands-on laboratories than it was for lecture-only courses. similarly, combating cheating on tests and exams delivered online was more challenging than other assessments like traditional homework assignments, written papers, etc. fortunately, many instructors were mailto:cmconnon@vcu.edu j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education connon able to quickly adapt to these challenges before the end of the spring 2020 semester, or at least in time for the fall 2020 semester. in the sections that follow, we expand on our experiences at vcu in the department of forensic science during the spring and fall semester of 2020, including some strategies, challenges, and successes. all in all, it was a success for a most unusual year. do-it-yourself crime scenes at the time vcu announced its lockdown order due to covid-19, the undergraduate course in scientific crime scene investigation had one remaining lab exercise for the semester, which, unfortunately, was the major incident investigation. this was not only scheduled as a day-long exercise in full personal protective equipment (ppe), but made up half the students’ semester grades. with only one week to come up with a suitable at-home substitution, the major crime scene investigation exercise ultimately relied on limited tools available to them – for example, their cell phone’s camera (instead of digital slrs), flour applied with a paint brush and lifted with cellophane tape (instead of fingerprint powders and lifting tape), rulers, tape measures, etc. – rather than the standard crime scene tools they had learned to use earlier in the semester. the exercise was designed to occur in stages, allowing them time to plan and stage the scene. in the end, each student was responsible for undertaking all the activities that the whole csi team would normally accomplish. part i: making a crime scene in the assessment brief, the students’ first task was to create a crime scene in a single room of their living space and really think through the details of the scene ahead of time, so that they knew what the perpetrator did at the scene. they were instructed that this had to be a homicide. it was presumed that they were all at home, or living somewhere with at least one other person, whom they would need to involve in the activity, posing as a victim (if they were truly self-isolated, they were allowed to use a pet or a stuffed animal/doll as a victim substitute). it was stressed that they had to explain to the individual helping them what they intended to do, what would be required on the part of the victim, and to obtain their consent to use them in that context for ca. 60-90 minutes. when they had determined what they wanted to stage (and how it had happened), they were to stage the scene. students were asked to keep it simple so as to not disrupt their living space too much, but in an effort to keep it consistent with what they would have been asked to do in a group exercise on campus, they were instructed that the scene must contain the following elements: 1) deceased individual (pet, doll, stuffed animal) 2) weapon 3) probable dna containing evidence 4) some type of patterned evidence (patent or plastic shoe print, fingerprint, or blood pattern) 5) piece of clothing or trace from perpetrator they also had to compose the first responding officer’s (fro’s) report that they received as a briefing when they arrived at the scene. part ii: documenting your crime scene once their scene was set and the fro’s report written, they were required to fully document their scene correctly via: (1) a series of sequential photographs (using their phone) including evidence quality photographs (eqps) of appropriate evidence (at the very least with some sort of scale – a ruler would suffice – and a label) as well as photographs of the body. they had been taught in previous labs the proper sequence of crime scene photography, from establishing the location, to establishing entrances and exits, four corners, using midrange photographs to establish relationships of evidence to permanent features, etc. a photo log was also required. (2) sketches, including bird’s eye view and two walls (measuring tapes were to be used if available, but if not estimates would have to do). (3) and, of course, contemporaneous notes. although they were not required to formally collect and package the evidence, they were required to provide an evidence log with numbered exhibits, descriptions, and times collected/received. they were required to electronically hand in the fro’s report, their photos, scans of sketches and notes, as well as the photography and evidence logs. part iii: reconstructing the crime scene each student then received all the materials of another student. their assignment then changed to that of assuming the role of another individual in the task force, who was not at the scene, to reconstruct what occurred at the scene. with the new crime scene, they were allowed to formally request (via a form on blackboard) the appropriate lab personnel (the instructor assumed the role of all other lab personnel) to run additional tests on evidence they had received from the scene, the results of which would be provided to them. they then had to produce a narrative reconstructing the crime scene based on the materials they received. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education connon part iv: the trial lastly, the students were provided a virtual expert witness experience. before this activity, they were asked to have available to them: a photograph of a piece of evidence from their scene, their photo log, their evidence log, and their contemporaneous notes and sketches. all were asked the same series of questions based on their activities whilst investigating their own scene. in particular, they were asked if the photograph/evidence in question was taken/collected by them, and if so, what identified it as such. overall, the students rose to the challenge and did a great job – and enjoyed themselves in the process. their individual crime scenes exhibited a lot of creativity with limited means, including appropriate use of hairs, fibers, fake blood (figure 1), the creation of plastic impressions, etc. most students had enticed a relative or friend to play the part of the murder victim and one student had his dog as the murder victim – how he got the husky to lie still for all those photographs was a testament to training – and one used a teddy bear who was “wearing” a towel and had been stabbed to death in the bathtub (figure 2). grading of photographs was, of necessity, lenient, as they couldn’t really control exposure and depth of field well with cell phone cameras. an unexpected problem (instructor lack of forethought was to blame, not the students) was the lack of standardization in the format in which photographs were submitted, ranging from powerpoints with cut and pasted photographs, a link to a google folder, an endless chain of emailed photograph attachments, etc. which posed difficulties in rapidly sharing these with both the ta helping to grade and the student doing the reconstruction. the most common errors related to evidence labeling, evidence and photo logs (not coincidentally the same mistakes that occur frequently with in-person csi exercises), with lack of personal unique identifiers being given to recovered evidence. of course, this came up in the expert testimony portion of the exercise, where they could not prove the identity of photographs or pieces of evidence as having been collected by them. following the success of this platform in the spring 2020 semester, the exchange of scene documentation among the groups was incorporated into the in-person offering of this course in the fall 2020 semester, as it taught them more than reconstructing their own crime scenes. virtual forensic serology lab given all the pros and cons of the various modes of delivery, we opted to try our best at adapting the hands-on serological laboratories to a virtual environment using whatever resources were readily available. the goal was to make virtual activities for each of the serological tests figure 1 three examples of student creativity with blood pattern evidence in the make your own crime scene exercise from spring semester 2020 figure 2 the teddy bear bathtub murder and the murdered huskie from the make your own crime scene exercise from spring semester 2020 that were normally performed in-person and for the student to interactively complete the tests by following the standard operating procedures (sops) provided in the same laboratory manual used for in-person activities. this included luminol, fluorescein, combined phenolphthalein tetramethylbenzidine (ptmb), takayama, and abacard® hematrace (abacus diagnostics, west hills, ca) for blood testing, as well as longwave uv enhancement, alternate light source enhancement (ultralight als), acid phosphatase, sperm slides with kpics® staining, and abacard® p30® (abacus diagnostics) for semen testing. the end result was a sophisticated, interactive virtual laboratory for blood and semen detection/identification operated through none other than microsoft® powerpoint® using complex animations (see figure 3 and 4). aside from the obvious challenges associated with making realistic, interactive lab activities in powerpoint, additional challenges surfaced. first, the size of the powerpoint file was excessively large, which interfered with the ability of the slide show to progress smoothly. to overcome this, the file was partitioned into numerous smaller powerpoints (usually 7-15 slides) that were linked via embedded hyperlinks. given the complexity of the virtual lab (i.e., number of slides), numerous sample options (>20 for each test), and number of serological tests (ten), this resulted in hundreds of small powerpoints strung together via embedded hyperlinks for the final product. in order to avoid confusion regarding which file to open, a single powerpoint file was visible to the students and numerous other peripheral files were hidden. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education connon figure 3 the virtual forensic serology lab a) consisted of a workspace similar to what a student would find in a face-to-face classroom; b) lab exercises were prepared to mimic the in-class experience as much as possible, including interactive questions regarding sample cutting sizes, as shown for the exercise in which slides were prepared for sperm searches the next challenge stemmed from how to keep the powerpoint secure and prevent students from viewing the slides outside of presentation mode. with a little research, this was easy to overcome by saving the desired powerpoint file in slide show mode (.ppsx). with all other files hidden, students could then only open the .ppsx file and only view the virtual lab as intended. this worked for pc users but unfortunately for mac users, all hidden files were visible, so students were instructed to only open the .ppsx file and to ignore the others. delivery of the virtual lab files to the students was another challenge. with a little research coupled with some trial and error, this was readily resolved by providing the students with a zip file on blackboard containing all of the powerpoint files. students simply had to extract the folder, save it on their personal computer, and then open the .ppsx file. from their personal computer, they could complete the virtual lab activities using the sops provided in the same lab manual that would normally have been used for in-person labs. numerous learning outcomes were tied to the virtual labs. following completion of the virtual labs, students should be able to: figure 4 attempts to keep the virtual lab realistic for exercises involving microscopy, such as the confirmatory blood test takayama, utilized a) still images of the microscope stage and offered students a choice regarding magnification; b) real images from actual test samples were also incorporated at each of the specified magnifications 1) describe the mechanism of the serological test for the body fluid being tested. 2) summarize the procedures for the serological tests. 3) describe general precautions for contamination prevention. 4) describe when and how to process controls, including what specifically serves as a control for the serological test. 5) discuss the importance of following a standard operating procedure. formal feedback was solicited from graduate and undergraduate forensic science students that had access to the virtual blood laboratory (feedback is pending from the virtual semen laboratory and not included in this paper). as a reminder, this virtual laboratory was prepared in preparation for having completely virtual serology labs but vcu was able to provide face-to-face learning for the fall semester of 2020 (for labs). the virtual labs were therefore made available as supplemental material to all students (43) enrolled in a forensic serology course. please note that 11 of these students were not taking the laboratory course at all, and this virtual lab was the only a b a b j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education connon figure 5 students’ perception of the effectiveness of the virtual lab with respect to the learning outcomes is reported below. students rated the virtual lab as either highly effective or effective 85-96% of the time for each of the outcomes (n=26) laboratory experience they had access to. twenty-six of the students provided feedback (62% graduate and 38% undergraduate), eight (32%) of which were only enrolled in the lecture course, not the in-person laboratory. overall, 85-96% of all responding students rated the virtual lab as either highly effective or effective at meeting each of the five learning outcomes noted above (see figure 5). when broken down between those that were also enrolled in the in-person laboratory versus those that were not, there was not a substantial difference seen between the two groups (data not shown). twenty-two (85%) of the 26 students that provided feedback also left open ended comments: 41% of these comments were entirely positive; 45% were a mix of positive comments, technical issues encountered and/or things they didn’t like about the virtual lab; and the remaining 14% only reported technical issues. altogether, 86% of the commenting students left one or more positive remarks, which included key words like: amazing, cool, awesome, fun, helpful, informative, beneficial, enjoyed, detailed, etc. these students commented that it is a great tool to visualize the labs if not co-enrolled in a face-to face lab, study/review, and irritate key points, all in a fun environment. several that were co-enrolled in the face-toface laboratory indicated that it was “very similar to” or even “exactly like” their in-person lab experience. some also commented that they liked that the virtual lab would ask questions about the procedure: for example, what cutting size should be used, at what temperature should be the sample incubate, which pipette should be used, how to set the pipette, etc. the comments that mentioned technical errors and/or things they didn’t like about the virtual lab primarily commented that it was slow, that there were too many files, and that the lab would not advance appropriately because a subsequent file would not open. nearly all of these errors were attributed to the students not extracting all the files from the zip file that was downloaded from blackboard and/or compatibility issues using a mac operating system. some mac users had no problems whatsoever, so more information needs to be gathered to identify which mac operating systems and versions of powerpoint will work/not work. students were forewarned to close out other programs, especially other powerpoint presentations to prevent the virtual lab from progressing slowly. this feedback was extremely encouraging and insightful. it was used to improve the virtual semen lab prior to being released to the students (feedback still pending). knowing that these virtual labs are beneficial to those co-enrolled in the face-to-face forensic serology lab, as well as those in lecture only, additional virtual labs are being planned for other serology exercises that are a normal part of the in-person laboratory. zoom: more than an online lecture delivery platform covid-19 skyrocketed the video conferencing platform, zoom, to an unprecedented level. at this point, it would be difficult to find someone that hasn’t heard of zoom. this platform allowed instructors to virtually deliver lectures and reach students via their personal computers, tablets, or even cell phones. however, zoom proved to be more than just an online lecture delivery platform. from recording lectures to remote access to software to providing a collaborative space, zoom proved to be a robust, versatile tool essential to the success of any virtual educational environment. recording lectures whether live or in advance, many options exist for recording lectures. one long standing option has been to use powerpoint embedded with audio files in order to provide narration as students advance through the presentation. this approach is relatively easy, and one of the major advantages is that the instructor can replace select segments of the narration. other screen capture recording softwares, like kaltura, allow for the instructor to record their screen as they are giving their lecture. this seems to be used more for pre-recording lectures, rather than recording live lectures, though the latter can be done. kaltura also includes some editing options prior to finalizing the recording. however, personal experiences with kaltura prior to the covid-19 pandemic left many looking for other options because it was rather clunky and somewhat temperamental. zoom made things a breeze. you need a camera and a microphone. it truly seemed as though somehow the software figured out the rest. lectures could be easily prerecorded or recorded live during synchronous j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education connon lecturing. recording could be paused and later resumed without issue. what was so wonderful was that aside from this dependable platform (assuming dependable internet connection), there were other features that made zoom even more versatile for the virtual classroom. these are described in more detail below. remote control: from software access to virtual troubleshooting zoom’s remote control feature was a true godsend to put it bluntly for two main reasons: it allowed students to have access to software installed on university computers and it allowed for virtual troubleshooting from folks other than the it department. one of vcu’s upper level undergraduate courses in forensic biology normally involves hands-on experience with two different softwares from applied biosystems: sds 7500 software system for analysis of real-time qpcr data and genemapper® id-x (gmidx) for analysis of human dna profiles. the sds 7500 software is available for free download on applied biosystems website, and it is feasible for students to install it on their personal computer but it doesn’t always work due to a variety of reasons (incompatibility with the operating system, etc.). on the other hand, gmidx requires a software license, so students would not be able to have it on their personal computer even if they wanted to. zoom’s remote access feature allowed students to have essentially the same hands on experience using each of these softwares from their own computers as they would normally have in the classroom. it was simple. initiate zoom from the university computer that has the desired software, grant the student remote access, and viola, they can use the software. multiple computers could be set up simultaneously and accessed through independent zoom sessions. we took advantage of this process at least three times during the virtual portion of the spring 2020 semester. it worked great, and the students appreciated the hands-on experience. the remote-control feature also came in handy on numerous occasions when trying to troubleshoot an issue for a student or fellow instructor. we no longer had to rely on an it tech remoting into our computers to assist us. if a peer or colleague knows how to help, both parties can meet via zoom and one can be granted remote access to the computer of the person needing assistance. one example included an in-class (virtual) exercise regarding data analysis and displaying data in tables/charts. students were given a fabricated data set and asked to work in small groups to analyze it and create an appropriate table/figure. when sharing their work with the rest of the class, one of the groups indicated that they wanted to add standard deviations to the bar graphs they created but unfortunately, they couldn’t figure out how to do that. easy enough remote control was granted to the instructor, who then demonstrated how to add in the desired information. even better was the fact that all participants had an up-close view of exactly what was going on because they were watching it from their personal computer or other device. along the same lines is assisting a colleague in need. regardless of our years of teaching experience, we are all at various levels of technological competency. some instructors had never set up an online exam before. rather than relying solely on emailed instructions or phone calls, two instructors could meet on zoom to facilitate one helping the other setup the exam (or troubleshoot another technological issue). it really wasn’t that much different than both individuals being physically huddled around one computer with one helping the other. touring trueallele: mixture deconvolution software the vcu graduate level course emerging molecular applications for forensic biology involves a tour/demonstration of trueallele® casework (cybergenetics, pittsburgh, pa), a probabilistic modeling program that utilizes raw capillary electrophoresis (ce) short tandem repeat (str) data to produce the most likely genotypic explanation for each contributor to a forensic dna mixture. the trueallele® casework (ta) system trials many thousands of different explanations for the dna mixture data and objectively derives dna profiles for the unknown contributors to the mixture. to utilize the system, users undergo a fairly extensive training program and thus, it is not a “plug and play” software program. the virginia department of forensic science (vdfs) currently has four ta workstations all connected to a dedicated collection of servers for data processing and provides live in-person demonstrations of the ta probabilistic modeling software to vcu’s graduate forensic science students. to do so requires some logistics, even in normal, non-pandemic situations, given that the primary workstation used for teaching is located in a small office. even during semesters that do not require social distancing, the graduate level class needed to be split into small groups so that students could not only fit into the small space, but also be able to view the computer screen for the demonstration, specifically the operation of the program and the data output on the computer screen. moreover, students needed to hear the explanations for the process and be able to pose questions in order to better understand the system. an example of a data process during the probabilistic modeling process that would have been explained as part of the process is shown in figure 6. given these demands under normal circumstances, there were concerns as to whether or not conducting this live demonstration via zoom (to adhere to additional constraints encountered because of the pandemic) would provide the same level of instruction and degree of clarity. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education connon figure 6 genotype concordance at a single locus for two independent ta analyses shown in lighter and darker shades of blue. the minor (11%) contributor to a threeperson mixture is displayed which shows a wide distribution of genotype combinations to explain the mixture (x-axis) and the corresponding posterior probabilities of those genotypes on the y-axis those fears were unfounded. the utilization of zoom allowed for sharing the workstation desktop itself, providing all participants with a clear view of the software modules, how they were employed, and the resulting data produced by the ta system. students posed questions in real time and those questions were answered, frequently by opening a new window on the desktop or addressing data that was displayed for all to view. with a software system such as ta that requires extensive training for its operation, teaching remotely may be the most efficient mechanism for educating students on the process. collaborative space in addition to offering a virtual lecture platform and remote access to other participants’ computers, zoom also lent itself as a virtual collaborative space. students could work together in small breakout rooms during class, the instructor could float from room to room to check in on students to see how they were doing, and students could ask for help even when the instructor was not in their breakout room all very similar to how things would operate in a physical classroom. collaborative space was available outside of regular class hours, whether for students to work on a group project, form a study group, or for instructor/student office hours. probably one of the best uses of zoom in this fashion was to offer a simultaneous presence in two classrooms. given the social distancing requirements, many physical classrooms had reduced capacities. for example, many of vcu’s teaching laboratories could normally accommodate 24 students. due to covid restrictions, we had to limit to 12 students. one of our workarounds was to utilize two adjacent classrooms at the same time, with half of the students in one classroom and half in the other. a zoom session would be in progress for both classrooms, with one of the classrooms set up to broadcast the video feed of the instructor talking and giving direction; the adjacent classroom was set up to receive that video feed. after the main set of instructions had been given, the instructor could then move freely between the two classrooms to assist individual students/groups. online testing & combating cheating online testing was unavoidable following the mandate to shift to virtual courses. instructors had two main choices: old-fashioned take home tests/exams and/or those administered through an online platform such as blackboard. many at vcu in the forensic science department opted for the latter for a variety of reasons. for many, this meant a personal crash course in composing and facilitating blackboard exams. for some, online test development and administration went off without a hitch, including expected student performance based on previous semesters and their own abilities. it was a completely different story altogether for others. some instructors noted universal and clearly blatant cheating for entire courses; one such instructor reported that 2/3 of her class earned an a on the first online exam following the campus shut-down in spring 2020, a substantial increase from the usual 5-7% as normally seen in past semesters for that test. the majority of students did not even try to cheat subtly, and instead cut and pasted large swathes of text directly from the powerpoint pdf’s posted on blackboard after each lecture. after considerable personal deliberation, discussion with appropriate colleagues, and explanations to the class, the instructor decided to drop that particular exam from semester grade calculations because it clearly did not reflect their knowledge. those in the class who had cheated were angry with this decision, while those who had completed the exam fairly (including both those who had and had not scored well) were not angry. other instructors experienced limited cheating with online tests, isolated to a few students repeatedly collaborating with one another. detection of this type of cheating was less obvious and the offending students appeared to be somewhat skilled, knowing to change their free response answers just enough to avoid suspicion. ultimately, repeated nearly identical scores and start/submit times for testing, etc. led to these students being found responsible for this honor code violation. from these initial experiences, many of our instructors chose to alter their testing platforms and/or strategies. some made changes towards the end of the spring 2020 semester, while others waited until fall 2020. changes included but were not limited to harsh consequences for cheating clearly spelled out in course syllabi; use of anti-cheating resources for virtual exams j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education connon provided by vcu, namely respondus lockdown browser with webcam monitoring; randomizing the order of the test questions; preventing backtracking to previous questions; compiling multiple versions of the tests; etc. to curtail use of course materials posted on blackboard, one instructor also chose to remove all powerpoint pdf’s 15 minutes before the start of the exam. unfortunately, one of the first experiences the forensic science department had with respondus lockdown browser was not a positive one. despite carefully following all the instructions and providing notification to the students well in advance of the exam time, the exam immediately and fatally crashed for every single student in the class, booting them out of the exam and not letting them re-enter. immediate, frantic attempts to correct the error were futile, and the instructor ultimately emailed out a version of the exam in word and instructed all students to complete and return the exam within two hours. despite the disaster, there were no signs of cheating and grades were as expected. vcu’s it department never could figure out what had caused the crash for the entire course. this situation definitely shied some away from using respondus lockdown browser within the forensic science department, but with time many gave it a chance with positive results. use of the lockdown browser and webcam for monitoring appear to be an efficient deterrent for cheating. no matter what anti-cheating strategies were employed, one of the most frequent student complaints regarding online testing was that their browser unexpectedly closed/became unresponsive due to a loss in internet connection or some of technical issue. there is no denying that this is legitimate compliant, but as time went on, it appears as though students would use this known problem to their advantage for any number of reasons, including, but not limited to, getting a sneak peek at the test questions so that they could more adequately prepare while they were awaiting a resolution from the instructor, which was especially effective if they contacted the instructor at a time in which they weren’t likely to respond right away (e.g., in the middle of the night). instructors should be very careful regarding the settings they employ for online tests, including availability of the test, when students can review their test, etc. conclusions and final remarks everyone knows that the covid-19 pandemic was and continues to be an unprecedented and extremely challenging time. as educators, we are proud to say that we rose to the occasion to put together the best effort that we could for our students. we got creative, crossed new bounds, and stepped outside of our comfort zones. we know that in-person, face-to-face courses are better in the long run, but we have also learned so much that is good. virtual teaching can be done effectively. it doesn’t have to be hard and it doesn’t have to be tricky. it can be an extremely efficient supplemental tool. we can be brought together virtually anywhere at a moment’s notice, much like picking up the phone to make a telephone call. perhaps the most important thing that we have learned is how we can make face-to-face learning even better by supplementing the good things we have discovered and developed in this time of necessary and drastic change. it is doubtful that education will return to how it was precovid, but that is a good thing because it will only get better. j forensic sci educ 2021, (3) 1 2021 journal forensic science education bassindale perceptions of a program approach to virtual laboratory provision for analytical and bioanalytical sciences tom a. bassindale1* robert j. lesuer2 david p. smith1 1department of biosciences and chemistry, sheffield hallam university, sheffield, s1 1wb, united kingdom 2department of chemistry and biochemistry, suny brockport, brockport, new york 14420, united states *corresponding author: t.bassindale@shu.ac.uk abstract: when teaching chemistry and biosciences courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students, laboratory experience is a crucial requirement for skills development. due to covid-19 related closure of laboratories it became critical to replace that experience with virtual delivery. through carefully designed learning experiences it is possible for students to gain skills such as experimental design, problem solving, record keeping and data analysis. here we present a coordinated approach to the design of laboratory classes for a cross discipline postgraduate program. virtual laboratory classes, using freely available web-based simulators, were run in a synchronous manner with pre lab briefing and post lab data analysis sessions. the laboratory scripts were developed using a command prompt design: [do][explore][act] framework, which is intended to provide students with a guided approach to using the simulator while in a remote setting. the intended outcome was to develop student’s record keeping and understanding of the scientific principles of the instrumentation through practical experimentation. student experience of the virtual laboratory provision was surveyed via a mix method approach, with an 81% response rate. satisfaction with the virtual labs was high (68%), with students agreeing the laboratories contained the appropriate balance of challenge and support. the command prompts were thought to be a very useful way to structure a lab script (77% agreement) and many suggested this approach should be kept for future laboratory use. students self-identified the main skills learnt as being laboratory bookkeeping, analyzing data, problem solving and use of equipment. keywords: virtual laboratory, dry lab, laboratory instruction, postgraduate education, active learning introduction when restrictions came into force due to the covid19 pandemic, many universities were unable to deliver physical laboratory experience due to social distancing restraints and had to undergo a rapid transition in order to teach all their subjects remotely (1,2). for those teaching science-based subjects, this provided a particular challenge; how do we deliver an authentic practical experience in an online environment? many professional bodies both require a set number of laboratory hours to be covered to gain accreditation (e.g. rsc (3), csofs (4) and acs (5)) and they are an important aspect to science-based teaching (6). to address the challenge of maintaining the experience and learning outcomes the physical laboratories programs were moved onto an online setting, a consistent approach to delivering online labs was developed (7,8). in this study, a series of course specific simulated practicals were prepared based on core methods relevant to each of the degrees. the purpose of these activities was to gain familiarity with the types of parameters and concepts that influence the efficiency of a given experimental procedure, for example a chromatographic separation or pcr optimization (9). to achieve this a set of practicals using pre-existing open access online simulations were developed (table 1) within a novel delivery framework. through exploration and practical experimentation, we want the students to develop record keeping skills and create their own understanding of scientific principles, essentially following the kolb learning cycle (10). by following a set protocol the answers will often already be known and although this approach allows the student to experience what should happen and see the practical application of their knowledge, it lacks higher level thinking as the outcome is set. through the use of inquiry based learning focusing on iteration within the practical environment, students can be encouraged to “play” with a given scenario, exploring a range of different parameters, j forensic sci educ 2021, (3) 1 2021 journal forensic science education bassindale thinking deeply about the actions and outcomes (11). simulations also allow students to experience a given methodology prior to performing it within a physical laboratory and this approach has been demonstrated to enhance the student learning (12,13). exploration in this setting involves trying out new experiences and ideas in a “safe” way. permission is given to explore parameters and it is the act of exploration that is important, not the outcomes. assessment is then of the process, by documenting the exploration and reflecting on and rationally thinking about the outcomes through the creation of laboratory notebooks. ownership and control of the experience is passed to the student and lets them take the task in their own direction. through iterative simulations the student is acting in an authentic manner experiencing what it is like to become a researcher and problem solve for themselves. framework design the challenge we faced was to facilitate and support the students through the laboratory practical at a distance. lab scripts were structured by use of a sociocultural approach to teaching which recognizes the role of mediation (e.g., peer to peer communication) and the role of a more knowledgeable other (the academic) to facilitate knowledge construction (14). to achieve this series of command prompts were used to structure the lab script and allow students to act in an autonomous manner. in developing the framework for effective mediation of online instrumentation simulations, we sought to provide a mix of directed and exploratory tasks to promote engagement with the simulation and minimize the feelings of confusion often expressed by students working on these types of activities in relative isolation. further, we wished to provide transparency in assessment such that students understood what tasks were assigned to develop an understanding of the content and what tasks were evaluated for grading. [do][explore][act] is derived from the predictobserve-explain approach to presenting scientific demonstrations. the premise of predict-observe-explain is to foster engaged learning skills in what is for many students a passive activity – watching a demonstration. (15). through providing a set of questions and tasks to perform before, during and after the demonstration, students are provided with a framework for identifying key concepts that are being explored and developed. [do][explore][act] attempts to provide an analogous structure for on-line simulations and faces two challenges not common in predict-observe-explain. first, the instructor/mediator is remote – both spatially and temporally – from the student’s learning experience. any mediation or facilitation must occur pre-emptively in the form of properly guided inquiry. second, students tend to struggle with a level of exploration that is appropriate for learning from an online simulation. the [do][explore][act] framework consists of three levels of tasks/commands. in developing the script for an activity, it is useful to align the tasks with the various levels of bloom’s taxonomy for knowledge-based learning and dave’s taxonomy for skills-based tasks (16,17). [do] tasks are appropriate for situations where students are copying or following instructions (dave’s imitation level) or reproducing a scenario (bloom’s remembering level). these tasks are typically related to instructions for proper operation of the simulation (e.g., navigating to a particular website, loading a preconfigured set of parameters) that are necessary to complete the activity but otherwise have minimal pedagogical impact. tasks assigned the [explore] tag expect the student to develop an understanding of some content (bloom) or manipulate (dave) the simulation in order to perform an action. [explore] tasks encourage students to understand the operation of the simulation and might include observing the effect of a parameter slider on the visuals presented in the simulation. the [act] tags address higher order cognitive tasks such as creating a procedure to perform on the simulation that models realworld experiences and is a generic tag for tasks that are meant to be assessed. the actual activity will have [act] tags replaced by actions that are specific to the simulation or activity. for example, the three [act] tags used in these activities are [report], [write] and [plot]. the first two tags require short and long written responses, respectively, while the [plot] tag is used to indicate that a figure needs to be generated. one could envision other tasks such as [calculate] depending on the desired learning outcomes of the activity. given the open-ended nature of many of the practical situations, assessment was based around the ability to keep accurate records of the process rather than reaching a definitive conclusion. here the experience was captured as a summative electronic laboratory notebook held within microsoft onenote as it is both cloud based and cross platform (18,19). electronic lab books have been used as an assessment tool in other situations and have been demonstrated to be preferred to paper based notebooks and enhance good documentation practices and data integrity (20–22). such scientific data recording and reporting systems are central for endorsing reproducibility and transparency practices among the scientific community (20,21). here who guidelines on record keeping (25) were adapted into an assessment grid with students assessed on their ability to keep records in line with good laboratory practices and analysis of observations. within the framework the commands [report], [plot] and [write] were used to specifically identify to the students’ areas where notation was expected. here we report on a cross program virtual laboratory delivery strategy. a framework for effective mediation of online instrumentation simulations was developed to allow j forensic sci educ 2021, (3) 1 2021 journal forensic science education bassindale semi-autonomous completion of the virtual laboratory tasks. the effectiveness of this delivery from the point of view of the student cohort was assessed through likert questionnaires and open text responses. students report that the command structure framework was helpful when navigating the virtual simulations and assisted in the creation of electronic laboratory notebooks. the learning experience was seen to be of value to the student cohort and key skills associated with practical learning (problem solving, data analysis) was noted. methods delivery the virtual labs were designed to replace a set of problem-solving optimization scenarios in which the students undertake multiple iterations of the same experiment. simulations were used to replicate the physical problem-solving laboratory environment that the students would have undertaken. similar approaches have been reported before (7). for example, the pcr and hplc simulators took the place of traditional optimization practicals for the respective techniques. single or multiple simulations used within the virtual labs are listed in table 1. where available pre-lab activities from the digital tools provider learning science (uk) were used to build prior knowledge or built on background knowledge covered in taught sessions. the learning objective was to analyze using appropriate statistics and critically evaluate the outcomes of practical experimental results. we aimed to create an environment in which students could interact with each other and the academic lead in real time. to do this the virtual laboratories were held in real time via video conferencing software (zoom). small group pre-lab tutorials were held in which the academic explained the experimental theory behind the technique in question and performed a briefing on the simulations to be used. areas of importance in the script were highlighted for extra consideration or topics noted for revision prior to the lab (e.g. highlighting relevant equations). on the day of the practical students were admitted to the virtual lab room and welcomed. they were then split into groups in breakout rooms along long course lines. sessions were delivered with an academic member of staff on hand throughout the day. the same academic delivered all the virtual labs to a given cohort of students. interaction was encouraged by use of the chat boxes and screen sharing facilities. the aim of the breakout sessions was to allow peer to peer and tutor interactions within small groups. this process was repeated four times over four weeks for each course. an on-line post lab tutorial was then held at the end of the suite of labs to debrief and support data analysis sessions. students were encouraged to submit data prior to the post lab to facilitate results discussions. table 1 open access simulations as used in the postgraduate bioscience virtual lab program objective simulator unique data generated? pcr optimisation of product yield and purity. electrophoresis (agarose gel) https://sites.google.com/view/drylabs-site-specialedition/home?authuser=0 returns a random set of seven dna bands relative to standards. yes spectroscopy (dna) https://sites.google.com/view/drylabs-site-specialedition/home?authuser=0 simulator generates a260 and a280 with ratio between 1.6 to 2.0 yes pcr [9] http://virtual-pcr.ico2s.org/ fully interactive pcr simulator allows the exploration of buffer and experimental conditions. yes gc-ms analysis gc-ms pesticide analysis https://learn5.open.ac.uk/course/for mat/sciencelab/section.php?name=p est01 environmental analysis, qualitative and quantitative data. yes hplc: day 1 familiarisation hplc simulator 1 http://kabyn.com/hplc5/index.html qualitative and quantitative analysis of standards and urine samples to detect illicit use of testosterone no hplc: day 2 method development hplc simulator 2 http://www.multidlc.org/hplcsim_3_ 3_0/hplcsim.html fully interactive hplc simulator yes purification of target proteins from simulated cellular lysate. abooth protein purification http://www.agbooth.com/pp_java/ fully interactive protein purification simulator. exploration of flpc chromatography methods. yes experience methods used to identify a specific protein from biological materials. spectroscopy (bradford assay) https://sites.google.com/view/drylabs-site-specialedition/home?authuser=0 simulator generates unique standard curves and unknown protein concentrations yes electrophoresis (sds-page / western blotting) https://www.labxchange.org walk through lab simulation covering major experimental steps, in a click and drag manner no https://sites.google.com/view/dry-labs-site-special-edition/home?authuser=0 https://sites.google.com/view/dry-labs-site-special-edition/home?authuser=0 https://sites.google.com/view/dry-labs-site-special-edition/home?authuser=0 https://sites.google.com/view/dry-labs-site-special-edition/home?authuser=0 https://sites.google.com/view/dry-labs-site-special-edition/home?authuser=0 https://sites.google.com/view/dry-labs-site-special-edition/home?authuser=0 http://virtual-pcr.ico2s.org/ https://learn5.open.ac.uk/course/format/sciencelab/section.php?name=pest01 https://learn5.open.ac.uk/course/format/sciencelab/section.php?name=pest01 https://learn5.open.ac.uk/course/format/sciencelab/section.php?name=pest01 http://kabyn.com/hplc5/index.html http://www.multidlc.org/hplcsim_3_3_0/hplcsim.html http://www.multidlc.org/hplcsim_3_3_0/hplcsim.html http://www.agbooth.com/pp_java/ https://sites.google.com/view/dry-labs-site-special-edition/home?authuser=0 https://sites.google.com/view/dry-labs-site-special-edition/home?authuser=0 https://sites.google.com/view/dry-labs-site-special-edition/home?authuser=0 https://www.labxchange.org/ j forensic sci educ 2021, (3) 1 2021 journal forensic science education bassindale evaluation ethics (er31260026) for this study was acquired through the college of health, wellbeing and life sciences ethics committee following the sheffield hallam university research ethics policy. ethical approval was given as no identifiable, confidential, or controversial information would be collected. no gender, age, other educational experience, or other demographic factors were requested or considered within the analysis, primarily to ensure the questionnaire was concise and the length not a barrier to completion. participation in the study was opt in. out of 58 students enrolled in the module 47 opted into the study, a response rate of 81%. participants student participants in the study were enrolled in a one-year msc program. data was collected during the second semester of study with students enrolled on msc analytical chemistry, pharmaceutical analysis, microbiology, cancer biology, biomedical laboratory science and pharmacology & biotechnology. collection of student perceptions data was collected during the second semester of study with students enrolled on a core research and laboratory practice module. an electronic survey was administered to assess students’ experiences of the virtual laboratory provision. the survey consisted of statements on a likert scale and open-ended questions. questions were aimed at determining the students' overall experience of the delivery style, the use of simulations in virtual laboratories, the command prompt structure for lab scripts, perceptions of skills gained and the use of the electronic notebook. the survey was conducted during weeks four and five of the practical experience. results challenge vs support the virtual lab experience was designed to be both academically challenging and appropriately supported. prior learning through previous module content was taken into account when preparing the new challenge being undertaken. sanford’s challenge/support theory is centered around the idea “that for growth and development to occur, a student needs to have the correct balance of challenge and support for their level of readiness (sanford 1962)”. this idea is often expressed as a grid with challenges and support increasing on each of the axes and a list of descriptors or emotions in each quadrant. this matrix has also appeared as the daloz’s mentoring model and as a means of measuring job satisfaction alongside hygiene factors (herzberg model). the theory states that when the level of challenge is balanced by appropriate support, (academic) growth can occur. students were asked to rate on a five-point scale the level of support and challenge they experienced during the virtual labs (figure 1). a mode score of 4 for challenge and 5 for support with means of 3.5 and 4.4 respectively were recorded. the responses indicate that the level of challenge and the support was appropriate for the current state of readiness and that the students gained in terms of real learning and growth. this outcome is supported in open text responses. figure 1 students were asked to rate the level of challenge and support on a five-point scale from 1 low challenge/support to 5 high challenge/support. data is presented as a bubble plot where the blue dot size represents the number of responses. the mode value is shown in red and corresponds to 14 responses. command structure to evaluate perceptions of the command prompts as a means of navigating the virtual laboratory and lab book assessment, students were asked a series of questions relating to structure, assessment and navigation. responses were rated as on a likert scale between 1 (strongly disagree) and 5 (strongly agree). for the three questions asked, the students predominantly agreed with the statements; “command prompts are a good way to structure a lab script” 77%, “command prompts helped me construct my lab book” 73%, and “command prompts helped me work through the virtual lab” 63%. no responses were recorded as “strongly disagree” for any of the three questions, as shown in figure 2. open text responses to the question “what aspects of the virtual lab experience would you like to see kept for future labs?” recorded that students wished for the system to be incorporated into future laboratory experiences: j forensic sci educ 2021, (3) 1 2021 journal forensic science education bassindale “command prompts could be used in other labs in the future.” figure 2 likert scale data responses to student perception of command prompts as a means of navigating the virtual laboratory and lab book assessment. dark red = strongly disagree, red = disagree, grey = neutral, blue = agree, dark blue = strongly agree. experience to gain a broad understanding of student perceptions of delivery, the students were asked to give a three-word response to the question “describe your virtual lab experience?” the data was cleansed before analysis to remove misspellings and consolidate words of a similar meaning e.g. interested and interesting. a ‘word cloud’ was then generated as a visual representation of word frequency (23) with more common words appearing in a larger font (figure 3). responses were positive in nature with words such as “interesting”, “good” and “informative” used to describe the experiences. “challenging” was also highlighted as a key word and echoes the responses to the challenge support matrix: “generally it was a first, and excellent experience” the word “frustrating” was mentioned by a number of students. on deeper investigation of the individual comments this response could be linked to a single effect that occurred during the lab delivery. due to the number of students accessing the pcr simulator, the website crashed under the demand, preventing student access to the simulation during the allotted time: “the pcr simulator is frustrating it kept crashing” “i was not able to complete the lab on a given day website would not allow me on, frustrating.” figure 3 students were asked to give three words that best describe the virtual lab experience, their responses were used to generate the word cloud shown. the larger the word, the more often it appeared as a response. to better understand their perceptions of learning in a virtual classroom, students were asked a series of questions relating to their overall experience and the use of zoom rooms (figure 4). responses were rated as on a likert scale between 1 (strongly disagree) and 5 (strongly agree). the overall enjoyment of the virtual lab experience was rated at 68% as either agree or strongly agree, with only 9% of students stating they disagreed with the statement. the use of breakout rooms as a means of building a student community was rated at 59% agree or strongly agree, with 18% of students stating they disagreed with the statement. figure 4 likert scale responses to (a) perceived enjoyment of the virtual lab experience, perception of the breakout rooms and data analysis skills development. text for each question is shown. dark red = strongly disagree, red = disagree, grey = neutral, blue = agree, dark blue = strongly agree. (b) student experience of using electronic lab books, ranked on a five-point scale from “difficult to work with, prefer paper” to “easy to use, better than paper”. j forensic sci educ 2021, (3) 1 2021 journal forensic science education bassindale open text responses around the use of breakout rooms as a means of support was very positive in reply to the question “in this virtual lab, we worked in a live online environment using break out rooms. do you have any comments about this style of delivery?” the open text responses were in the majority positive (27 out of the 29), with two being neutral. the comments highlighted the ease of interaction with the academic who was present, and the small groups of peers making it feel easier and more comfortable to ask questions. “the breakout rooms are very useful because it splits larger groups down and also having additional general rooms to talk to your supervisor in private is a good idea” “allows for assistance when needed and not distracted by help for other groups” “it was really good because the lecturer was always available and ready to answer any concerns” “very good because it allowed close contact with our tutor and allowed for asking questions without fear of embarrassment” although the use of breakout rooms was not strongly seen as a means of building a sense of course identity, it was seen to be an effective means of support and delivery. skills development of employability skills are a key component of the laboratory experience. alongside the psychomotor skills associated with handling lab equipment students develop skills around experimental planning, problem solving, data analysis, communication and collaborative work. to address the perceived skill acquisition by the student group each respondent was asked the open-ended question “what skills do you think you have developed as a result of the dry labs?” each of the 38 responses to the question were thematically grouped based on the textual content. when a given response covered more than one theme the data was counted against each theme (table 2). prior to the virtual lab 96% of students had never used an electronic lab book. of the 38 responses, 17 stated in the open text question that they had gained experience in note taking. given the nature of the assessment and the strong link to the creation of a detailed lab book the number of comments around improvements in this trait is not surprising. when asked about their preference for written notation over electronic notation 47% stated that they were “easy to use, better than paper” with 40% giving a neutral response. no negative comments were reported regarding the lab books assessment or creation; however, some did ask for further guidance on structuring. “i just wanted more info on how to structure them but the command system did help with this a lot “. with respect to data analysis skills, 39% stated that the virtual lab had increased their abilities. this observation is echoed in the likert data shown in figure 4 with 66% of students agreeing or strongly agreeing that the virtual lab increased these skills. problem solving and critical thinking were also highlighted by the cohort as skills that have been developed. this presumably comes from the iterative nature of the simulations and the open-ended design of the practical day. the virtual labs from the point of view of the students met the key learning objectives of developing critical thinking and record keeping skills. electronic notebooks were generally accepted by the students. table 2 thematic analysis of open text comments in response to the question “what skills do you think you have developed as a result of the dry labs?” theme count example quote lab bookkeeping 17 “improved my lab bookkeeping skills” data analysis 15 “the labs also helped develop my data analysis skills as certain aspects forced me to confront my dislike of using excel.” problem solving /critical thinking 11 “critical evaluation of data” use of equipment 3 “the fact that you can play around without fear of breaking a machine is very good as it helps in the understanding of concepts” student reflections on the virtual lab experience respondents were given the opportunity to comment in general on the virtual lab delivery and experience and what they would like to see retained for future practicals. of the 34 from 47 who took the opportunity to respond, two reported a negative experience such as “i didn't like them at all”. the remaining respondents were positive or offered constructive feedback on the experience. a number of comments reflected on the length of time it took to complete the more in-depth practicals “way too much on the script to fit into the one day” and “first hplc session very easy but the second one was way too long to fit into j forensic sci educ 2021, (3) 1 2021 journal forensic science education bassindale one day”. those undertaking further developments in the delivery of virtual laboratories and the use of the simulations need to be mindful of the increased amount of time it takes a student with developing experience to complete tasks as compared to an experienced academic. overall, a clear theme did emerge from these open text responses. although the students enjoyed and valued the experience of the virtual lab (figure 4a) comments indicated that the student perception was that the virtual laboratory experience was not a complete replacement for the physical lab experience. rather virtual labs and simulations make excellent learning experiences helping prepare the student to tackle a physical laboratory. “they can't replace labs but they might help students make better use of lab time.” “would have been better to do physical labs but understandable in the current situation.” “exciting new experience but as we all know real time analysis has its own significance.” “i think it was good but cannot substitute the real lab” “they should always come before real life experiments.” staff reflections on the virtual lab experience staff running the virtual labs saw many parallels with the experiences in a physical laboratory class. the well organized and prepared students were able to work through the lab scripts with minimum additional support and got results quickly and efficiently. the students who had not come to the lab prepared took longer to complete the labs, requiring much more interaction and support from the academic and their peers whilst also finding the labs harder. the general themes from academic staff and take homes for supporting future classes: • better prepared students do better. some had not done enough pre-lab, for instance research equations required for hplc analysis. the stronger students had them to hand whilst other students spent considerable time during the lab looking them up. • some students require constant reassurance they are on the right track, others are happy to work independently. this does not always correlate to the academic level of the student. discussion and conclusion we have presented here a framework for effective mediation of online biosciences instrumentation simulations. these were developed as a necessity for replacing traditional wet labs during the covid-19 pandemic, allowing students to develop their laboratory skills remotely. the structure we developed was designed to replicate our traditional laboratory module, with a pre lab tutorial, lab and post lab tutorial structure, all of which were facilitated synchronously through zoom. synchronous delivery with collaborative learning has also been successfully reported elsewhere (7,24). students appreciated and enjoyed the experience of using these virtual labs in place of physical laboratories with 68% agreeing that they enjoyed experience. they reported the challenge and support of the simulators was correct for their level of study. the use of the [do][explore][act] command prompts in lab scripts has been evaluated here for the first time, and they were positively received. when surveyed, 79% of students agreed that they were a useful way to structure scripts. some students suggested this approach should be kept for future wet laboratory use. almost all students were new to electronic lab books, as were most staff. the general feeling was that they were better than paper with few negative responses although staff and students did note issues with inserting tables and data into the lab books. the template used for recording results will need refinement for future iterations to avoid such issues. we will also look at whether other available platforms may be more user friendly (18). virtual lab simulations can link the scientific theory and laboratory practice in the same way physical labs do, in some cases more so because you can perform more iterations in one day than in a physical lab. the skills that students reported they developed: data analysis, problem solving, understanding how a piece of equipment works and record keeping align closely with the learning objectives for our lab module. we have some recommendations to academics wishing to (or requiring) to run virtual labs in future. much of this is achieved through good staff guidance: • ensure a pre-lab briefing is used, so students come prepared to the lab. • do not underestimate the time it could take a student. what takes an academic two hours could be a full day for some students. • not all students appreciated that a simulation or experiment can give open responses, they have been schooled in the idea of a correct answer to their experiments. • using the command prompts tells students what and when they are expected to perform an action or record observations into their lab record. j forensic sci educ 2021, (3) 1 2021 journal forensic science education bassindale • have a separate tutorial before the lab sessions to get students used to the electronic lab book platform. for the future, when laboratories are completely open and we can run our program as originally designed we will keep virtual labs at all levels. they may be interspersed with the wet labs and used prior to key labs as a learning experience. the use of command prompts has also started to be incorporated into lower level labs and it is anticipated that they will be used more as we review the undergraduate program. acknowledgements peter klappa for help and support with the bradford assay, dna concentration and agarose gel simulators. gail haddock, sarah hayward-small, robert bradshaw at sheffield hallam university for support in running the labs #drylabsrealscience – an online collaboration network for life sciences education. references 1. holme ta. introduction to the journal of chemical education special issue on insights gained while teaching chemistry in the time of covid-19. j chem educ 2020;97:2375–7. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c01087 2. office for students. gravity assist: propelling higher education towards a brighter 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https://doi.org/10.1101/415042 https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.820 https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.28.4.548 https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.3730650308 https://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.103.3.010 j forensic sci educ 2021, (3) 1 2021 journal forensic science education bassindale application. j chem educ 2017;94:656–61. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00622 19. guerrero s, lópez-cortés a, garcía-cárdenas jm, saa p, indacochea a, armendáriz-castillo i, et al. a quick guide for using microsoft onenote as an electronic laboratory notebook. plos comput biol 2019;15:e1006918. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006918. 20. iqbal sa, wallach jd, khoury mj, schully sd, ioannidis jpa. reproducible research practices and transparency across the biomedical literature. plos biol 2016;14:e1002333. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002333 21. collins fs, tabak la. policy: nih plans to enhance reproducibility. nat news 2014;505:612. https://doi.org/10.1038/505612a. 22. kanza s, willoughby c, gibbins n, whitby r, frey jg, erjavec j, et al. electronic lab notebooks: can they replace paper? j cheminformatics 2017;9:31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13321-017-0221-3. 23. atenstaedt r. word cloud analysis of the bjgp. br j gen pract 2012;62:148. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp12x630142 24. connon c, simmons t, greenspoon s. crafting an effective virtual classroom in the covid-19 pandemic. j forensic sci educ 2020;2. 25. tdr | handbook: good laboratory practice. who https://www.who.int/tdr/publications/trainingguideline-publications/good-laboratory-practicehandbook-ver1/en/ (accessed march 5, 2021). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00622 methods results discussion and conclusion j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education defrancesco extraction and analysis of eugenol from cloves james v. defrancesco, phd 1 * 1 loyola university chicago, forensic science program and department of chemistry/biochemistry, flanner hall, rm 012, 1068 w. sheridan rd., chicago, il 60660 *corresponding author: jdefrancesco@luc.edu abstract: this paper describes a laboratory procedure for the extraction and identification of eugenol from cloves (syzygium aromaticum l.). the purpose is to instruct students in the isolation and identification of a medicinally relevant compound from a plant via simple solvent extraction. the analytical tools employed to identify eugenol and other naturally occurring chemical components in the cloves extract include color tests, thin layer chromatography (tlc), infrared spectrophotometry (ir), and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (gc-ms). in addition to eugenol, the cloves extract contains acetyl eugenol which can be distinguished from eugenol by several test methods. triethylamine is used as a reagent at two different stages of testing. in the tlc analysis, triethylamine is used to basify the mobile phase which facilitates the separation of eugenol from acetyl eugenol. the student will learn the concept of method development by optimizing separation parameters in the tlc experiments. additionally, the student will learn concepts such as differential migration, interparticle forces, pka, and surface basicity. in the gc-ms analysis, triethylamine is used with acetic anhydride to promote the quantitative conversion of eugenol into acetyl eugenol by removing acetic acid from the product side of the chemical equation. this provides an opportunity for instruction of concepts such as drug derivatization, chemical equilibria, and le chatelier’s principle. several other terpenes common to plant extracts can also be identified by gc-ms. the laboratory-based pedagogy is designed to be progressively complex to accommodate various educational levels from high school to post-secondary. keywords: cloves, drug chemistry, eugenol, medicinal plants, gc-ms introduction the medicinal benefits of cloves have been recognized for thousands of years (1,2). the main constituent, eugenol, has been used as a topical anesthetic, adjunct component in dental applications, and recently studied for numerous other medicinal qualities (3-10). traditionally, eugenol is isolated in the essential oil of cloves which is produced via steam distillation of the dried flowering bud of the tree syzygium aromaticum l., which is in the evergreen family. the analytical profile of the essential oil reveals a secondary constituent of similar chemical structure with purported medical benefits, acetyl eugenol, also known as eugenol acetate (11-13), along with numerous other minor components such as terpenes, which are common to many essential oils derived from plants (14, see figure 1). figure 1 chemical structures for eugenol, acetyl eugenol, alpha-caryophyllene, beta-caryophyllene, and caryophyllene oxide the steam distillation method for producing the essential oil from cloves prescribed in many organic chemistry laboratory textbooks is fairly involved and requires specialized glassware and heating devices (15, 16). several recent and novel alternatives to steam distillation include use of a microwave oven (17) and an espresso machine (18). in the same spirit of efficiency, this new procedure employs a simple solvent extraction to isolate eugenol followed by a multi-modal chemical analysis. the presence of acetyl eugenol in the extract gives the investigator an opportunity to separate and mailto:jdefrancesco@luc.edu j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education defrancesco identify the two main components by use of tlc, ft-ir, and gc-ms. this allows the student to learn chemical concepts such as acid/base chemistry, pka, derivatization, and le chatelier’s principle of chemical equilibrium. a unique feature of this experiment is the dual use of triethylamine (tea). in the tlc analysis, tea is used to basify the mobile phase and thus affect the separation of eugenol from acetyl eugenol. in the gc-ms analysis, tea is used to promote the quantitative conversion of eugenol into acetyl eugenol with acetic anhydride by removing acetic acid from the product side of the chemical equation (figure 2-3). in the absence of tea, the conversion of eugenol to acetyl eugenol is incomplete. the extent of conversion is governed by le chatelier’s principle of chemical equilibrium. figure 2 partial conversion of eugenol to acetyl eugenol via derivatization with acetic anhydride (an equilibrium process) however, upon addition of tea, the conversion from eugenol to acetyl eugenol proceeds rapidly and quantitatively. this is due to the acid-base reaction of the by-product of esterification, acetic acid, with tea. figure 3 quantitative conversion of eugenol to acetyl eugenol via derivatization with acetic anhydride and triethylamine methods materials: cloves were purchased from a local supermarket as the dried flowering bud and ground to a 20-mesh powder with a coffee bean grinder to maximize surface area and increase extraction efficiency (figure 4). isopropanol, ethyl acetate, hexane, and chloroform were purchased from emd millipore. figure 4 images of dried clove bud and ground cloves extraction: 0.20 to 0.60g of ground cloves (20 mesh) and 3.0 ml of ipa were placed in a 6 ml glass culture tube and the tube was inverted several times for adequate mixing. a clear supernatant liquid was obtained by filtering the extract through a tightly packed cotton-plug in a pasteur pipet. alternatively, a clear supernatant liquid can be obtained by decanting the extract into a disposable syringe and filtering through a 0.45-micron syringe filter or via centrifugation of the extract followed by decantation of the clear liquid. the same procedure was followed when extracting with chloroform. alcoholic solutions of eugenol and acetyl eugenol standards were prepared for color testing, tlc, and gcms. a concentration of 100 mg/ml was used for color testing and tlc analysis, whereas the concentration was reduced to 1 to 10 mg/ml for analysis by gc-ms. the standards are more convenient to work with in diluted form for several reasons. color testing responses of the pure liquids are too intense and not representative of the lower concentrations of analytes found in most plant extracts. spotting of the analytes on tlc plates using standard solutions gives a more appropriate analyte loading than the pure liquids, which would surely overload the capacity of the tlc plate. likewise, analysis by gc-ms requires analytes in a highly diluted form to avoid overloading of the gc column. eugenol and acetyl eugenol standards were purchased from tci chemicals. tlc: flexible, plastic-backed tlc plates were purchased from emd millipore (20 x 20 cm, silica gel, 200 mcm thickness, 60-angstrom pore size, f254). spots were visualized under a 254 nm uv light. plates are also available with a thin aluminum backing. these flexible plates are convenient for teaching and research purposes due to their ability to be cut to any size with a sharp scissors, or preferably a paper trimmer, and stored in a laboratory notebook. the analyte solutions were spotted with micropipettes that were prepared by heating and stretching glass capillary tubes on a bunsen burner and cutting each to a useful length. the smaller diameter of micropipettes allows for a controlled loading of solution onto the tlc plate, which produces small, concentrated spots at the origin. this is important since longitudinal j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education defrancesco diffusion causes spots to enlarge as they travel up the tlc plate via capillary action in the mobile phase. color test reagents: color test reagents were prepared from sulfuric acid, formaldehyde, selenious acid, and ferric chloride, all purchased from fisher chemicals. marquis reagent was prepared by mixing 10 ml of formaldehyde (40% by volume) in 90 ml of concentrated sulfuric acid (19). mecke reagent was prepared by mixing 1 g of selenious acid in 100 ml of concentrated sulfuric acid (20). ferric chloride reagent was prepared by mixing 10 g of anhydrous ferric chloride (which can be substituted with 16.5 g of the hexahydrate) in 100 ml of di water (19). alternatively, color test reagents can be purchased as kits. color testing was performed by placing a few drops of the test reagent into a white porcelain test well, followed by addition of one drop of sample solution into the well. in this order of addition, placing the test reagent in the well first is important to ensure that an initial negative response is obtained prior to addition of the sample, which indicates an uncontaminated well. the practice serves as a negative control for the experiment. chemical supplies can be sourced from various vendors; however, it should be noted that analytical grade items produce the best results. ir: infrared spectra were acquired on a perkin-elmer spectrum 100 series fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer fitted with a universal attenuated total reflectance sampling accessory containing a znse crystal. spectra were recorded in % transmittance and scanned from 4000 to 650 cm -1 for four scans per spectrum at a resolution of 2 cm -1 . spectra of eugenol and acetyl eugenol standards were obtained neat, whereas the spectrum for the alcoholic cloves extract was obtained for the residue by placing several drops of the extract onto the atr window and allowing the solvent to evaporate. gc-ms: total ion chromatograms and mass spectra were obtained on an agilent 7890a/5975c fitted with a hp-5 column (30 m long x 0.320 mm diameter x 0.250 mcm film thickness), a helium carrier gas flow of 1.3 ml/min (constant flow mode), inlet temperature of 275 deg c, ms transfer line temperature of 280 deg c, oven program of 60-320 deg c at a 30 deg/min ramp with a 2 minute hold and solvent delay at 60 deg c and a 3 minute hold at 320 deg c. the inlet split was 50:1. the quadrupole was set to scan 40-550 daltons. the ms source temperature was 230 deg c and the ms quadrupole temperature was 150 deg c. derivatization: 0.20 mg of ground cloves was extracted with 4.0 ml of chloroform and filtered as described earlier. the derivation was conducted in two stages. first, 1-2 drops of acetic anhydride was added to each of two 1 ml aliquots of the extract. next, 1-2 drops of triethylamine was added to only one aliquot to facilitate quantitative conversion of eugenol into acetyl eugenol. acetic anhydride and triethylamine were purchased from aldrich chemicals and chloroform was purchased from bdh. dichloromethane can be substituted for chloroform. hazards and safety precautions several of the color test reagents contain strong acids, hence appropriate personal protective equipment is required. all organic solvents and reagents should be handled in a fume hood. these materials should be stored, used, and disposed of in an appropriate manner. results color tests: the observed color changes of the alcoholic cloves extract, eugenol, and acetyl eugenol solutions are noted in table 1. marquis and mecke are reagents in the “sulfuric acid series” of color tests. in the marquis test, all three turned a red color. in the mecke test, all three turned an initial and brief green that immediately turned to black. it is not surprising that the three samples respond similarly in the sulfuric acid tests. the strongly acidic conditions unmask reactive groups to give a common and responsive product that contains a substituted catechol moiety. a similar effect is seen in the ecstasy family of drugs in which the unmasking of a 3,4methylenedioxy group produces a catechol. the ferric chloride test proved to be more discriminating. in the ferric chloride test, the cloves extract and eugenol standard turned light green, whereas acetyl eugenol standard showed no response. the positive response for the cloves extract was due to the presence of eugenol. this ability of ferric chloride to distinguish a phenol from an aryl ether or ester is found in the opiate class of drugs, namely in the differentiation of morphine from heroin. morphine and heroin are indistinguishable in any of the sulfuric acid series of tests. however, in the ferric chloride test, morphine responds with a color change (blue), whereas heroin has no response. in both the eugenol/acetyl eugenol and morphine/heroin examples, ferric chloride is a more discriminating test due to the milder chemical conditions. table 1 color test results for alcoholic cloves extract, eugenol, and acetyl eugenol tlc: the tlc results show an increasing, yet identical response factor (rf) for the single spot observed in the three samples (cloves extract, eugenol, and acetyl sample marquis mecke fecl3 cloves extract red green to black light green eugenol red green to black light green acetyl eugenol red green to black nr j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education defrancesco eugenol) as the proportion of ethyl acetate in the mobile phase is increased. rf = distance traveled by spot/ distance traveled by mobile phase (1) however, when the mobile phase was modified with 10% triethylamine (by volume), two spots were resolved from the cloves extract. a comparison of the rf values of the spots indicates a positive identification of eugenol and acetyl eugenol as components in the cloves extract (figure 5 and table 2). further confirmation of the component identifications was performed by combining tlc separation with color testing. this was done by dropping a small amount of color test reagent onto the resolved spots of the tlc plate and observing the color change. figure 5 tlc plates developed with hexane, ethyl acetate, and trimethylamine (ext = alcoholic cloves extract, eug = eugenol, ace = acetyl eugenol). it is interesting to note that throughout the tlc experiment, lighter intensity spots that appear at lower rf values in the cloves extract give color test responses that do not match the standards. (caution: tlc plates exposed to corrosive agents such as strong acids should be discarded in a responsible manner following a color change observation and not stored in a laboratory notebook.) table 2 rf values for cloves extract, eugenol, and acetyl eugenol in various tlc systems containing hexane, ethyl acetate, and triethylamine measured as volume ratios. ir: ir spectra of the alcoholic cloves extract residue and neat standards of eugenol and acetyl eugenol are displayed in figure 6. the cloves residue appears to be an additive spectrum of the two main components, eugenol and acetyl eugenol. this confirms the tlc result that the alcoholic cloves extract contains mainly eugenol and acetyl eugenol, from an ir spectroscopic perspective. the most distinguishing feature in the spectrum of the extract is the band at 1766 cm -1 , which corresponds to the acetate ester moiety in acetyl eugenol (absent in eugenol). it should be noted that there is a slight red shift for this carbonyl band of about four wavenumbers in the extract compared to the acetyl eugenol standard (1762 cm -1 in acetyl eugenol). this is most likely due to some hydrogen bonding from eugenol present in the extract. in controlled testing, this assertion was confirmed by observing a similar three-wavenumber red shift of the band in a series of binary eugenol/acetyl eugenol mixtures from zero to 100 % by weight (unpublished results from a separate manuscript in preparation). figure 6 ir spectra of cloves extract (residue), acetyl eugenol, and eugenol gc-ms: a total ion chromatogram of the alcoholic cloves extract is shown in figure 7 and mass spectra are shown in figure 8-12. all five of the main chemical components are resolved on a hp-5 phase column. similar chromatographic results were obtained on a lower polarity hp-1 column (unpublished results, not shown). hexane/ethyl acetate (v/v) tea/ethyl acetate (v/v) (80/20) (50/50) (10/90) (0/100) (10/90) cloves extract 0.32 0.58 0.66 0.64 0.58, 0.67 eugenol 0.32 0.58 0.66 0.64 0.58 acetyl eugenol 0.32 0.58 0.66 0.64 0.67 figure 7 gc-ms total ion chromatogram of alcohol extract on hp-5 phase column j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education defrancesco figure 8 mass spectrum of eugenol in alcohol extract (rt=5.972 min) figure 9 mass spectrum of acetyl eugenol in alcohol extract (rt = 6.696 min) . figure 10 mass spectrum of beta-caryophyllene in alcohol extract (rt = 6.306 min) figure 11 mass spectrum of alpha-caryophyllene in alcohol extract (rt = 6.457 min) 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 1200000 1400000 1600000 1800000 m/z--> abundance average of 5.963 to 5.975 min.: jvd031219003.d\data.ms 164.1 149.1 103.1 77.1 131.191.1 121.1 55.1 65.1 41.2 4 0 5 0 6 0 7 0 8 0 9 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 1 3 0 1 4 0 1 5 0 1 6 0 1 7 0 1 8 0 1 9 0 2 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 5 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 5 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 5 5 0 0 0 m / z --> a b u n d a n c e a v e ra g e o f 6 .4 5 3 to 6 .4 5 8 m in .: jv d 0 3 1 2 1 9 0 0 3 .d \ d a ta .m s 9 3 .1 8 0 .1 1 2 1 .1 1 4 7 .1 4 1 .2 1 0 7 .1 6 7 .2 5 3 .1 2 0 4 .2 1 6 1 .2 1 8 9 .21 3 3 .1 1 7 5 .2 4 0 5 0 6 0 7 0 8 0 9 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 1 3 0 1 4 0 1 5 0 1 6 0 1 7 0 1 8 0 1 9 0 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 5 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 5 0 0 5 0 0 0 5 5 0 0 6 0 0 0 6 5 0 0 7 0 0 0 7 5 0 0 m / z--> a b u n d a n c e a v e ra g e o f 7 .0 1 2 to 7 .0 1 2 m in .: jv d 0 3 1 2 1 9 0 0 3 .d \ d a ta .m s 7 9 .1 4 1 .2 9 3 .1 1 0 7 .1 5 5 .1 1 2 1 .1 1 4 9 .1 1 3 5 .1 1 7 7 .1 1 6 4 .1 2 0 5 .11 9 1 .1 2 2 0 .1 4 0 5 0 6 0 7 0 8 0 9 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 1 3 0 1 4 0 1 5 0 1 6 0 1 7 0 1 8 0 1 9 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 m / z > a b u n d a n c e a v e r a g e o f 6 . 6 8 6 t o 6 . 6 9 7 m i n . : j v d 0 3 1 2 1 9 0 0 3 . d \ d a t a . m s 1 6 4 . 1 1 4 9 . 1 1 3 1 . 19 1 . 1 4 3 . 1 7 7 . 1 1 0 4 . 1 2 0 6 . 1 6 3 . 1 1 1 7 . 1 1 7 7 . 1 1 9 1 . 3 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education defrancesco figure 12 mass spectrum of caryophyllene oxide in alcohol extract (rt = 7.012 min). however, when the analysis was conducted on a more polar hp-17 column, resolution of the five components degraded (figure 13). caryophyllene oxide was only marginally resolved as a shoulder on the acetyl eugenol peak and alpha-caryophyllene disappeared completely. upon closer inspection of the eugenol peak purity, several fragments appeared that belong to alpha-caryophyllene and not eugenol, namely m/z 93, 147, and 204. subsequent testing of the extract by evaporation of the solvent followed by re-extraction of the resulting residue with hexane, then back washing of the hexane solution with several volumes of 1n naoh to remove eugenol revealed a pure mass spectrum for alpha-caryophyllene at the same retention time as eugenol. obviously, the preferred gc column phases for this analysis are hp-1 and hp-5 (0% and 5% phenyl, respectively), whereas the hp-17 column phase (50% phenyl) is too polar. the effect of adding acetic anhydride to a chloroform extract of cloves over a 24-hour period is shown in figure 14. in the absence of triethylamine, the peak ratio of eugenol/acetyl eugenol remains nearly unchanged. an extended time analysis showed moderate, but steady decline of this ratio after several days. this is indicative of the unfavorable kinetics of this conversion in the presence of only acetic anhydride. however, the addition of triethylamine to the mixture has an immediate and drastic impact on the ratio. after only 16 hours, the conversion of eugenol to acetyl eugenol was nearly complete. figure 13 gc-ms total ion chromatogram of alcoholic extract on hp-17 phase column figure 14 peak area ratios of eugenol to acetyl eugenol for chloroform extract + acetic anhydride and chloroform extract + acetic anhydride + triethylamine, over 134 hours discussion and conclusion the experimental design described in this work provides an effective means to extract drug components from plant material followed by a chemical analysis that uses a progressively advancing series of analytical techniques. basic tests such as color testing and tlc 4 0 5 0 6 0 7 0 8 0 9 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 1 3 0 1 4 0 1 5 0 1 6 0 1 7 0 1 8 0 1 9 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 0 1 7 0 0 0 0 1 8 0 0 0 0 m / z > a b u n d a n c e a v e r a g e o f 6 . 3 0 1 t o 6 . 3 0 7 m i n . : j v d 0 3 1 2 1 9 0 0 3 . d \ d a t a . m s 9 3 . 1 1 3 3 . 1 7 9 . 1 4 1 . 2 1 0 5 . 1 1 2 0 . 1 1 6 1 . 2 5 5 . 2 1 4 7 . 1 1 8 9 . 2 1 7 5 . 2 2 0 4 . 2 6 . 2 0 6 . 4 0 6 . 6 0 6 . 8 0 7 . 0 0 7 . 2 0 7 . 4 0 7 . 6 0 7 . 8 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 5 0 0 0 0 0 t i m e > a b u n d a n c e t i c : g l g 0 3 1 2 1 9 0 0 3 . d \ d a t a . m s 6 . 6 8 3 6 . 8 9 4 7 . 7 3 1 acetyl eugenol eugenol (coeluted with alpha-caryophyllene) beta-caryophyllene caryophyllene oxide j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education defrancesco allow for the experiment to be meaningful to modestly resourced laboratories, whereas more advanced techniques such as ir and gc-ms are appropriate for the college undergraduate and graduate levels. the order in which the techniques are employed follows a pedagogy that dovetails various chemical concepts with analytical concepts. the use of triethylamine in the tlc analysis causes eugenol to separate from acetyl eugenol to the extent that each can be identified based on the rf values (table 2). the mechanism by which triethylamine affects separation is unclear. it is either by an increase in solvent polarity or by introduction of an acid-base interaction. the solvent polarity effect can be ruled out by replacing triethylamine with an even more polar solvent such as isopropanol. in a tlc experiment using a mobile phase of 10/90 isopropanol to ethyl acetate by volume, there is no separation of eugenol from acetyl eugenol in the cloves extract (rf of 0.74 for both, unpublished results). as for the acid-base interaction, it can occur in several ways. triethylamine can cause deprotonation of eugenol to form the phenoxide which bears a full negative charge and thus has a significantly stronger interaction with the siloxy sites on the silica gel surface than the phenol (eugenol) or the acetate ester (acetyl eugenol). it is also possible that triethylamine creates a more basic silica gel surface, which in turn creates a stronger interaction with the acidic phenol than the neutral acetate ester. the literature pka values of eugenol and triethylamine (actually, the ammonium salt of triethylamine) are 10.00 and 10.77 (21), respectively (table 3). this slight difference of 0.77 pka units is enough to support a mechanism by which the majority of eugenol is deprotonated in the presence of triethylamine base. the use of triethylamine in the gc analysis, in combination with acetic anhydride, causes a rapid conversion of eugenol to acetyl eugenol. the mechanism of this accelerated conversion can occur in two ways: either by removal of acetic acid from the product side of the acetylation reaction, thus tilting the equilibrium in favor of product formation in a classic le chatelier manner or by deprotonating eugenol to form eugenol phenoxide which is a more powerful nucleophile for attacking the electrophilic acetic anhydride. triethylamine is a sufficiently strong base to produce the eugenol phenoxide and can act as a proton sponge for acetic acid. controlled testing of the cloves extract with a base that is too weak to deprotonate eugenol, but strong enough to react with acetic acid, should resolve the issue. in fact, when triethylamine is replaced with pyridine (pka of pyridine hcl = 5.25) in a chloroform extract of cloves in the presence of acetic anhydride, the same accelerated conversion of eugenol to acetyl eugenol is observed (table 3, figure 15). if the mechanism proceeded via deprotonation of eugenol, pyridine should have no effect on the velocity of the acetylation reaction. thus, these experiments support the mechanism by which a base such as triethylamine or pyridine accelerates the conversion of eugenol to acetyl eugenol by removing acetic acid from the product side of the equilibrium. of course, the fact that both triethylamine and pyridine are tertiary bases is no coincidence. if a secondary or primary amine is used in place of a tertiary amine, the rate and extent of acetylation would be diminished due to the reactivity of these amines with acetic anhydride to form amides. amide formation will out compete esterification from both a thermodynamic and kinetic perspective. table 3 pka values for acetic acid, pyridine, eugenol, and triethylamine figure 15 peak area ratios of eugenol to acetyl eugenol for chloroform extract + acetic anhydride and chloroform extract + acetic anhydride + pyridine, over 94 hours compared to prior methods of producing essential oil of cloves via steam distillation, this new experiment presents a simpler extraction method that takes a more expansive approach to the chemical analysis. the experiment exploits the unique combination of chemical components in the extract to investigate chemical concepts of acidity, functional group transformation, and chemical kinetics. the analytical testing scheme provides a comprehensive acid base pka acetic acid acetate (anion) 4.76 pyridine-h+ pyridine base 5.25 eugenol eugenol (anion) 10.00 triethylamine-h+ triethylamine base 10.77 j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education defrancesco and orthogonal analysis of the main chemical components. the analytical methods used are appropriately selective and specific to distinguish eugenol from acetyl eugenol. furthermore, the progressive experimental design presents an opportunity for collaboration between secondary, post-secondary, and postgraduate institutions. despite the comprehensive scope of testing, the analytical approach is focused mainly on qualitative analysis. future work will focus on quantitative analysis of the chemical components identified in this work by chromatographic and spectroscopic means. student learning outcomes the analysis of chemical components in plants is fundamental to the field of forensic drug analysis. the list of controlled substances at the federal and state levels is replete with examples of drugs that are directly or indirectly derived from plants. the most widely abused drug in all of human history, ethanol, is the result of the action of microflora on macroflora, namely yeast on grain or other vegetative organic matter. therefore, regardless of the legal status of an organic compound, chemical analysis is chemical analysis. this paper is structured so that experimentation is conducted in a tiered fashion and at several cognitive levels. the laboratory-based pedagogy is designed to be progressively complex to accommodate various educational levels from high school to post-secondary. the sequence of experiments provides a pedagogical roadmap of discovery for the student that can be tailored to match the expertise of the student and educator, as well as the resources of the institution. for example, solvent extraction, color testing, and tlc are relatively affordable laboratory techniques that provide a great deal of chemical information, whereas instrumental analysis by ir and gc-ms requires advanced expertise and resourcing. nonetheless, the importance of chemical concepts can be appreciated regardless of the resources available for experimentation. the student will learn concepts of method development, differential migration, interparticle forces, pka, and surface basicity in the tlc experiments. the use of triethylamine with acetic anhydride in the gc-ms analysis teaches the concepts of drug derivatization, chemical equilibria, and le chatelier’s principle. from an analytical perspective, the student will learn the concepts of selectivity and specificity and how to evaluate the merits and limitations of the various analytical tools of identification. color changes produced in the marquis, mecke, and fecl3 tests are examples of analyte specificity. that is, a specific chemical structure must be present to produce the observed color change. separation of compounds by tlc is an example of analyte selectivity. that is, differential migration of components observed in the chromatographic process produces a selective bias of the distance traveled of one compound compared to another that is based on the strength of interparticle forces. the progression from tlc to gc teaches the student that analyte selectivity can be enhanced by increasing the number of theoretical plates. the progression from a color test response to a mass spectrum or ir spectrum teaches the student how analyte specificity can be increased. that is, spectral data contain far more information about a certain chemical structure than a color test response. the progression of testing can be easily connected to the testing categories set forth in the swgdrug guidelines which are grouped by the level of selectivity (22). acknowledgements the author would like to thank the many students in drug chemistry and forensic toxicology at loyola university chicago throughout the years who indulged this interest in analyzing medicinal plants. the structure of these experiments was refines over numerous iterations in various laboratory sections. references 1. chevallier, a. the encyclopedia of medicinal plants. new york, usa: dk publishing, 1996. 2. cortés-rojas, df, fernandes de souza, cr, oliveira, wp. clove (syzygium aromaticum): a precious spice. asian pac j trop biomed 2014; 4(2) 90-96. doi:10.1016/s2221-1691(14)60215-x. 3. jirovetz, l, buchbauer, g, stoilova, i, stoyanova, a, krastanov, a, schmidt, e. chemical composition and antioxidant properties of clove leaf essential oil. j agric food chem 2006; 54(17):6303-6307. doi: 10.1021/jf060608c. 4. uddin ma, shahinuzzaman m, rana ms, yaakob, z. study of chemical composition and medicinal properties of volatile oil from clove buds (eugenia caryophyllus). int j pharm sci res 2017; 8(2): 89599. doi: 10.13040/ijpsr.0975-8232.8(2).895-99. 5. ding, y, gu, z, wang, y, wang, s, chen, h, zhang, h, et al. clove extract functions as a natural fatty acid synthesis inhibitor and prevents obesity in a mouse model. food funct 2017; 8:2847. 6. liu, h, schmitz, jc, wei, j, cao, s, beumer, jh, strychor, s, et al. clove extract inhibits tumor growth and promotes cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. oncol res 2014; 21(5)247-259. doi:10.3727/096504014x13946388748910. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education defrancesco 7. dibazar, pd, fateh, s, daneshmandi, s. clove (syzygium aromaticum) ingredients affect lymphocyte subtypes expansion and cytokine profile responses, an in vitro evaluation. j food drug anal 2014; 22:448-454. doi: 10.1016/j.jfda.2014.04.005. 8. marya, cm, satija, g, avinash, j, nagpal, r, kapoor, r, ahmad, a. in vitro inhibitory effect of clove essential oil and its two active principles on tooth decalcification by apple juice. int j dent 2012; article id 759618:6. doi:10.1155/2012/759618. 9. hyldgaard, m, mygind, t, meyer, rl. essential oils in food preservation: mode of action, synergies, and interactions with food matrix components. front microbiol 2012 jan;3:12. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2012.00012. 10. bartonkova, i, dvorak, z. essential oils of culinary herbs and spices display agonist and antagonist activities at human aryl hydrocarbon receptor ahr. food chem toxicol 2018 jan;111:374-384. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2017.11.049. 11. srivastava, kc and malhotra, n. acetyl eugenol, a component of oil of cloves (syzygium aromaticum l.) inhibits aggregation and alters arachidonic acid metabolism in human blood platelets. prostaglandins, leukot essent fatty acids 1991 jan;42:1:73-81. doi:10.1016/0952-3278(91)90070-l. 12. vanin, ab, orlando, t, piazza, sp, puton, bms, cansian, rl, oliveira, d, et al. antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of clove essential oil and eugenyl acetate produced by enzymatic esterification. appl biochem biotechnol 2014; 174:1286-1298. doi: 10.1007/s12010-014-1113-x. 13. musthafa, ks and voravuthikunchai, sp. antivirulence potential of eugenyl acetate against pathogenic bacteria of medical importance. antonie van leeuwenhoek 2015;107:703-710. doi: 10.1007/s10482-014-0364-4. 14. sohilait, hj, chemical composition of the essential oils in eugenia caryophylata, thunb from amboina island. sci j chem 2015;3:6:95-99. doi: 10.11648/j.sjc.20150306.13. 15. pavia, dl, lampman, gm, kriz, gs. introduction to organic laboratory techniques, a contemporary approach; experiment 19a oil of cloves or allspice. w.b. saunders company 1976;151. 16. ntamila, ms, hassanali, a. isolation of oil of clove and separation of eugenol and acetyl eugenol. j chem educ 1976;53:4:263. 17. crouse, bj, vernon, el, hubbard, ba, kim, s, box, mc, gallardo-williams, mt. microwave extraction of eugenol from cloves: a greener undergraduate experiment for the organic chemistry lab. world j chem educ 2019;7:1:21-25.doi: 10.12691. 18. just, j, bunton, gl, deans, bj, murray, nl, bissember, ac, smith, ja. extraction of eugenol from cloves using an unmodified household espresso machine: an alternative to traditional steamdistillation. j chem educ 2016;93:1:213-216. doi:10.1021/ acs.jchemed.5b0047. 19. moffat, ac. clarke’s isolation and identification of drugs. 2nd ed. london, england: the pharmaceutical press 1986;139. 20. gonzalez, ta, vance, m, helpern, m, umberger, cj. legal medicine pathology and toxicology. 2nd ed. new york, usa: appleton century crofts 1954;1211-1213. 21. rappoport, z. crc handbook of tables for organic compound identification. 3rd ed. cleveland, usa: crc press 1964;432-439. 22. scientific working group for the analysis of seized drugs (swgdrug) recommendations, methods of analysis, version 8.0, 2019-june-13, pp 15, https://www.swgdrug.org. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education fortney cold case review & analysis: constructivist learning in forensic science through collaboration with law enforcement agencies amber l. fortney, m.s. 1 *; caitlin e. porterfield, m.s. 1 ; wayne d. lord, ph.d. 1 ; mark r. mccoy, ed.d. 1 ; john p. mabry, j.d. 1 ; r. craig gravel, m.a. 1 ; special agent francia b. thompson, b.a. 2 ; det. sgt. michael huff (retired) 3 1 w. roger webb forensic science institute – university of central oklahoma, 100 north university drive, edmond, ok 73034 2 oklahoma state bureau of investigation 3 tulsa county sheriff’s office cold case task force *corresponding author: afortney@uco.edu abstract: despite technological advancements and improved methodologies in forensic science and investigative practices, cold cases are a growing problem in the united states. although there has been a surge in interest in solving cold cases due to advancements in technology, there has been very little research conducted on cold case investigation methodology. many agencies lack the personnel and resources to devote adequate attention to cold cases. federal dollars spent on cold case resolution in recent years focused only on those cases that could benefit due to improvements in dna analysis techniques. the literature demonstrates that advances in other forensic disciplines can provide answers in unsolved crimes. in addition to inherent contributions to investigative invigoration and cold case resolution, collegiate cold case collaborations serve as a template for experiential and transformative illumination of unintended perceptual biases, investigative myopathy, and cognition fatigue. such endeavors also provide practical insights into the sentinel importance of collaborator diversity, informed creativity, and objective analytics in both actively evolving and cold case investigations. this paper discusses the development of best practices guidelines for a cold case program in a collegiate setting through a case study of a cold case review and analysis course. the template for this cold case academic/law enforcement initiative is adaptable to other programs and projects in which case review is instrumental, such as the innocence project and the child death review board. keywords: cold case investigation, forensic science, constructivist learning, experiential learning, methodology . introduction due to the autonomous nature of law enforcement agencies across the united states, and even throughout the world, there is no standard definition for the term “cold case”. each agency sets its own parameters for designating a case cold. for the purposes of this article, the term “cold case” will be defined as “any case whose probative investigative leads have been exhausted” as set forth by the national institute of justice (nij) (1). despite technological advancements and improved methodologies in forensic science and investigative practices, cold cases are a growing problem in the united states. according to data from the federal bureau of investigation’s (fbi) uniform crime reports, homicide clearance rates have declined from more than 90% in 1960 to a current rate of approximately 60% (see figure 1). it is estimated that more than 300,000 homicides have gone unsolved in the united states since 1965 (2). figure 1 homicide clearance rates (3,4) j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education fortney from 2005 to 2015, the national institute of justice awarded nearly $80 million in funding to agencies under the “solving cold cases with dna” grant program. this led to the formation of cold case task forces in many jurisdictions during that time (3). since then a lack of funding and the demands of active caseloads have resulted in a reduction of the resources and attention devoted to cold cases. meanwhile the number of unsolved cases continues to grow. this is unlikely to change unless new approaches to dealing with the cold case problem are implemented. the methodology employed by cold case investigators begins with a comprehensive review of case file documents, followed by consultation with investigators who previously worked the case. investigators work to identify and locate persons germane to the investigation and develop new leads to follow. evidence must be administratively assessed to determine its suitability for additional analysis. a thorough yet concise summary of the case is composed to assist with further investigation (5, 6). the cold case investigator’s work does not stop there but proceeds with standard police work. however, a study of cold case units in texas found that more than half of a cold case investigator’s time is usually spent reviewing case files and assessing evidence for further analysis (7). these are tasks for which many law enforcement agencies use volunteers, often retired homicide detectives. forensic science students may be especially suited to these tasks because of their education. in fact, forensic science students possess many of the traits considered essential for cold case investigators: strong communication and interpersonal skills, strong research skills, patience, creativity, persistence, a high level of motivation, enthusiasm for the job, and current training about modern criminalistics technologies (6). as a requirement for graduation, students in the forensic science program at the university of central oklahoma (uco) are required to complete a capstone experience for assessment of student learning outcomes of their specific discipline and achievement of critical thinking and communication skills. a university cold case program offers students the opportunity to apply the cumulative knowledge and skills gained throughout their years of study to real world criminal investigations while providing a beneficial service to the community by assisting law enforcement agencies in their investigation of unsolved crimes. learning theory the review and analysis of cold cases represents a powerful instructional approach in forensic science and criminal justice. this strategy facilitates the learning process through the application of knowledge to illstructured problems in real-world, authentic contexts. the development of cold case review courses in higher education is supported by the constructivist learning theory and the situated cognitive theory particularly in regard to the application of problem-based learning, communities of practice, socio-culturalism, and authentic activities. constructivist theory – problem-based learning a constructivist learning environment is a heuristic approach to learning that emphasizes higher order thinking skills. this instructional theory assumes that knowledge is constructed by the learner and values personal inquiry, divergent thinking, and multiple perspectives. learning is self-directed and learners are provided opportunities to manipulate, interpret, experiment with, and revise knowledge (8). the learning process is mediated through authentic, meaningful problems that link concepts and content with individual experience (8, 9). these problems are complex and illdefined (10) with no prescribed solution paths, multiple variables, no definitive constraints, and goals that are vague or unclear (9). a constructivist learning environment also offers no general principles for predicting outcomes and presents uncertainty about which concepts, rules, and principles to apply. learners are also required to make judgments and defend their decisions (10). the cold case review and analysis course at the uco forensic science institute utilizes a constructivist approach to develop learning experiences that are contextualized and active. learning is self-regulated and mediated through authentic, complex, ill-structured problems. students are tasked with reviewing actual cold case files and utilizing conceptual, structural, and experiential knowledge to generate investigative leads. the review of a cold case has multiple solutions paths and requires students to make judgments about which forensic concepts to apply, what information is relevant to the case, and what could be a potential investigative lead. learners are required to use high level cognitive skills, decision-making, and to provide evidence to support claims. this approach values personal inquiry and divergent thinking. situated cognition theory – communities of practice, socio-culturalism, authentic activities situated cognition theory suggests that cognition is inherently tied to the social and cultural contexts in which it occurs (11). according to this theory, “interactive and collaborative instructional contexts provide individuals with opportunity for perspective taking and reflective thinking that may lead to higher levels of cognitive, social, and moral development” (12). situated cognition theory supports the use of instructional strategies and j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education fortney learning approaches that encourage students to think critically, collaborate with peers, and incorporate diverse perspectives in authentic activities (13). communities of practice are rooted in the situated cognition theory. communities of practice involve groups of individuals organized around shared interests and collective learning (14). emphasis is on experience, interaction, shared knowledge, and innovation (15, 16). learning is accomplished through active participation in the social practices of the community (15). communities of practice provide members with a sense of “joint enterprise and identity” that is manifested in cooperative efforts toward sharing and expanding knowledge, critical systems thinking, and problem solving. the approach recognizes that learning is not finite, but a continuous process of gaining new knowledge and defining relationships within each new context (14). situated cognition theory can be applied instructionally in the classroom through the use of authentic activities. authentic activities contextualize the learning process using practical, ill-defined problems embedded in real-life contexts (17), collaborative group work, and the “use of language to communicate and internalize learning”. learning occurs within a social environment and encourages students to “develop, share, and implement creative solutions to complex problems” (11). methods a number of jurisdictions across the united states have enlisted the help of college students in reviewing cold case homicides, noting the advantages offered by a fresh set of eyes paired with enthusiasm for the work. we reached out to ten university cold case programs to inquire as to written protocol and procedure utilized by students in conducting case file review and analysis. the majority of respondents advised that they have no written protocol, relying instead on principles of journalism or direction from the partnering investigative agency for guidance (see table 1). dr. bryan byers, professor of criminal justice and criminology at ball state university, published an article describing the written protocol used by his students to review case files, conduct research, interview subjects, and create reports and public service announcements for partnering agencies (18). table 1 protocol for university cold case programs protocol for case file review n course for college credit college project student club formal written protocol 1 1 apply principles of journalism 2 2 rely on investigative agency 2 1 1 no response to inquiry 5 2 3 resources for the development of best practices guidelines as demonstrated by the efforts to collect written protocol and procedures from other university cold case programs, these programs take a variety of forms, and there appears to be a lack of formal protocol and procedures for case file review. this research sought to understand the needs of law enforcement agencies investigating cold case crimes in order to develop best practices guidelines for a cold case program in a collegiate setting. it was determined that the creation of written protocol and procedures would require an amalgamation and synthesis of information from a variety of sources. we consulted experts in cold case investigations at regional, state, and local agencies, sought advisement from the faculty of the university of central oklahoma (uco) forensic science institute, and tested a variety of methods with students in a cold case review & analysis course over the span of a year. cold case review and analysis course in 2018, the forensic science institute entered into a partnership with the tulsa county sheriff’s office cold case task force to work the agency’s 31 unsolved homicide investigations. the groundwork for the partnership was laid through careful consideration of the benefits, requirements, and restrictions for each party by a committee of faculty members acting as advisors. through the partnership, the cold case review & analysis course began as a seminar for graduate students in the fall semester of 2018 and was opened up to include senior capstone students the following semester. the uco forensic science institute offers a multidisciplinary j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education fortney program which requires students to pair a bachelor’s degree in forensic science with a concurrent degree in another discipline which will best prepare them for employment in their chosen field. areas of discipline for students enrolled in the cold case review and analysis course included forensic molecular biology, forensic chemistry, digital forensics, forensic psychology, criminal justice, and funeral service. the lead author was both a student and a teaching assistant in the class, using the time spent reviewing case files and working with other students to test and revise a systematic process for the review of case files as well as a standardized set of reports for conveying findings to the investigative agency. results through our experience with students in the cold case review and analysis course, it has become clear that a thorough review of case files can best be accomplished through a systematic approach. in reviewing a case file, the reviewer is essentially looking at bits of information and attempting to recreate a big picture of what occurred and who was involved. similar to the tasks associated with processing a crime scene, a systematic process for case file review and analysis is needed to ensure thoroughness and minimize the potential for any meaningful bits of information being overlooked. it is also essential to properly document where each piece of information was found in the case file to allow the investigative agency to efficiently locate and verify the information in the event that it is later needed for legal matters. a variety of tools are needed to assist the reviewer in deriving meaning from the bits of information gleaned from the case file. lastly, the information and its probative value should be succinctly and effectively reported to the investigative agency. while each person may approach a case from a different perspective and have preferred means of organizing material, the spreadsheets and templates devised through this research provide the foundation for ensuring that a diligent and comprehensive review and analysis are achieved. with the objective of providing a time-saving service to the investigative agency, it is believed that a standardized set of reports are the best way to convey information about the case file and make recommendations for further analysis and investigation. table 2 represents an outline of the reports generated by the students for the investigative agency. table 2 reports generated by students for the investigative agency report templates solvability factors report narrative h e a d in g s a n d c a te g o r ie s o f in fo r m a ti o n type of crime questions and recommendations regarding the evidence recent activity questions and recommendations regarding persons case linkage other questions and recommendations types of evidence information discovered not in the case file status of evidence viable investigative avenues persons critical to the investigation table 3 represents an outline of the spreadsheets generated by the students during the case analysis and presented to the investigative agency along with the reports. although the spreadsheets and report templates provide a standardized format for the organization of case data and presentation of analytic findings, students collaboratively apply critical thinking and their cumulative academic knowledge in their particular discipline to derive insights from case information and subsequently provide forensic and investigative leads to investigators. each student’s communication skills are honed and demonstrated in composing narrative analytic summaries and presenting their findings to the investigative agency. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education fortney table 3 spreadsheets generated by students for the investigative agency spreadsheets timeline evidence persons h e a d in g s a n d c a te g o r ie s o f in fo r m a ti o n date/time item description name description item origin description location source document source document source document analyses conducted relationships additional notes dates of all analyses contact info recommendations for further analysis questions and new information a summary of best practices and guidelines: administrative considerations in proposing a partnership with a law enforcement agency, issues of confidentiality and security will need to be addressed between school administrators and all stakeholders on the criminal justice side of the table, to include the sheriff or chief of police, the cold case task force leader, and the prosecutor. the cases on which the students will be working are criminal investigations, subject to all of the same legal requirements of active investigations. to avoid compromising the case, sensitive information related to the investigation must be kept out of the public domain, and the chain of custody for all items of evidence must be maintained. at the same time, faculty should be attentive to the fact that students are not professional investigators or seasoned experts. despite the time and effort invested in learning and evaluation, they do not yet have the training and experience necessary to fully prepare them to testify. to ensure that students are shielded from the possibility of being called to testify if, and when, the case is brought to trial, agreements between the university and the collaborating law enforcement agency should be explicit in communicating that students are to be considered case file reviewers, researchers, and analysts. they are not permitted to handle or examine items of physical evidence, interview witnesses, or engage in any other activities that would make their work-product discoverable. it is emphatically recommended that a memorandum of understanding (mou) be devised, explicitly laying out the requirements, responsibilities, and concerns of both parties to the agreement. the mou should define the parties, purpose, and mission of the collaboration and outline the organizational structure and the process by which its goals will be achieved. it should also address the means by which the requirements of confidentiality and protections will be imposed. during the selection process, prospective students should be informed of the sensitive nature of the materials they will be reviewing and the absolute requirement that they maintain confidentiality of the case files. each student in the course is required to sign a confidentiality agreement, pledging to adhere to its requirements and acknowledging that they understand the legal ramifications they would face for any failure to comply. signed copies of each student’s confidentiality agreement should be kept by the university and provided to the collaborating law enforcement agency. to ensure physical security, case files should be stored in a locked room to which there is limited access, and a log should be kept, indicating when case files are removed from, and returned to, storage and by whom. it is also necessary to take into consideration the need for confidentiality when selecting a classroom for the course. students should be able to discuss aspects of the investigation and collaborate with classmates on reports without risk of being overheard by persons in adjoining areas. they should be able to utilize visual aids such as whiteboards and projectors without putting sensitive information on display to others in the building. of even greater importance is a secure network of computers and printers on which students can conduct their work. course structure in addition to his/her duties as a mentor and student performance evaluator, the instructor for the course will act as a facilitator and liaison between the students and the law enforcement agency. the instructor should be able to guide and instruct the students and answer questions they may have about the ins and outs of homicide investigations. it would also be advantageous for the instructor to have a network of professional colleagues in the investigative and cold case fields, allowing for the procurement of guest speakers. an individual with a background in homicide investigations, as well as experience in the classroom, would be an ideal selection. selecting students from multiple forensic science disciplines would be advantageous in assembling a wellrounded group for the course each semester. no less important is that students selected for the course are those who have demonstrated a strong work ethic, a sense of responsibility, an adeptness for critical thinking, a firm understanding of the curriculum in prior coursework, and an enthusiastic interest in criminal investigations. the desired outcome for this course is that students will provide informative reports to the investigating agency to assist them in furthering the investigation. at the same j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education fortney time, students should benefit from the process by experiencing the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills gained through previous coursework. for these reasons, students should be evaluated on their performance in several areas: participation and teamwork, proficiency in performing the tasks associated with case file review and analysis, effective report writing, and the presentation of findings to the investigating agency. case management although the full potential for solvability of a case cannot be assessed until the case file review has been completed, an initial triage can be conducted through a review of the initial incident report, the crime scene report with sketches and diagrams, and the medical examiner’s report. priority should be given to those cases in which physical evidence was recovered at the scene that has the potential to lead to the identification of the perpetrator and chain of custody was established through proper documentation of the scene. weight should also be given to cases in which a suspect was identified in the incident report or witnesses were present who may be able to identify the suspect. it should be understood that this initial triage is only for the selection and assignment of case files for the students to review. solvability factors should be reassessed after the case file review is complete and provided to the investigative agency in a set of final reports. this will allow the investigative agency to triage the cases for further investigation. systematic process for review before the students take custody of the case file, it should be inspected by the law enforcement agency to ensure that no items of physical evidence are included. the documents should then be arranged in chronological order and separated into sections by document type (e.g. incident report, crime scene report, supplementary investigative report, property receipts, autopsy report, etc.). this is done to facilitate the locating of the document again when it is referenced in a cold case review report. an evaluation of completeness should be conducted to determine if anything appears to be missing from the case file. if the original case file was provided to students, a working copy should be made and the original expediently returned to the agency. the primary objective in reviewing the case file is to identify evidence that can be analyzed using modern forensic techniques to aid investigators in furthering the investigation. in order to determine what analysis should be conducted on an item of evidence, the origin of the item must be known, and the context of its origin must be understood. this will allow the reviewer to evaluate what forensic probative value may be offered by the results of further analysis. in order to understand the potential forensic value of the evidence, a comprehensive reading of the case file is required. in conducting the review, it is expedient to also gather data regarding persons, places, and events. the organization and comparison of these bits of information may reveal leads for investigators to follow and conflicts between two or more accounts that require investigative follow-up. furthermore, an objective and robust understanding of the crime cannot be achieved without the integration and interpretation of such meaningful bits of information gleaned from the case file. a systematic approach is recommended to facilitate and standardize the process of reading each case file document and recording significant data regarding evidence, forensic analysis, timeline events, and persons of significance to the investigation. students in the cold case review & analysis course are provided with a set of spreadsheets designed to aid in the organization of this material. data compiled through this process can then be used to compose reports for submission to the investigative agency. the flowchart depicted in figure 2 summarizes the process students are to use for case file review and analysis. figure 2 cold case review & analysis flowchart standardized reports for the investigative agency presenting the review team’s findings to the investigating agency should begin with documenting those findings in written reports. one purpose of the cold case review & analysis course is to reduce the demands of time and energy on investigators so that their efforts can be devoted to investigative activities. a series of standardized reports, allowing for slight variation to accommodate unique aspects of a case, is the best way to accomplish this j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education fortney objective. this is partially predicated on the fact that law enforcement agencies routinely utilize standardized forms and reports to ensure clarity, thoroughness, and compliance with legal requirements. once the investigators become familiar with the format of the reports authored by the review team, they will be able to effectively and efficiently grasp the content of the reports, quickly find desired information, and reference the reports to locate the specific case file source documents. students in the course are provided a series of written report templates, devised through consultation with the partnering agency, as well as through individual trial and error. reports should include a reference citation for each item of significant information by citing the case file document in which the information is found. this may be done through in-text citation for narrative summaries or as a reference column in tables or spreadsheets. forensic and investigative advances due to the increased focus on cold cases brought about by “solving cold cases with dna”, investigators came to realize that, even in the absence of biological evidence, cold cases can often benefit from a second look. the intense focus of resources can reveal things that were previously overlooked. simply taking another look with a fresh set of eyes can often shed new light on an investigation (5, 6, 19). perhaps more importantly, advancements in dna analysis have been accompanied by additional developments in other forensic areas as well as in the investigative arena (see figure 3). figure 3 advances in forensic science and investigative technologies in addition to better methods for developing dna profiles, codis has become more robust, increasing the likelihood of a cold hit, and scientists have developed additional applications for other types of dna analysis, such as dna phenotyping and forensic genealogy (20, 21, 22). next generation identification (ngi) which replaces the integrated automated fingerprint identification system (iafis) became fully operational in 2014, with a more powerful fingerprint-matching algorithm and expanded search parameters (23, 24). although solving cold cases using dna gets more attention from the press, ngi has led to the resolution of many cold cases through the resubmission of prints recovered decades ago (25, 26, 27). these and other developments have the potential to alleviate the cold case problem but only if someone takes the initiative to apply them. forensic science students receive education and training in modern forensic methods and technologies. cold cases have been shown to benefit from advances in both forensic science and investigative techniques. although seasoned investigators bring a wealth of experience to the table as members of cold case units, they are often less aware than are students of innovations that could develop new leads in dormant investigations. a chapter of the best practices and guidelines manual is dedicated to advancements in forensic and investigative technologies and methods and their applicability to cold case investigations. glossaries additional chapters included in the best practices and guidelines manual provide a series of glossaries for students in a cold case review and analysis course. in addition to a chapter on forensic and investigative advances, there is a chapter providing resources and tools for researching persons, places, and objects related to the investigation. other chapters included are a glossary of disciplines of forensic science and an overview of evidence in criminal investigations. discussion and conclusion the cold case review and analysis course at the forensic science institute applies situated cognition theory through its emphasis on experience, collaboration, interaction, and critical thinking. in the course, students from various forensic science specializations “engage in discussions from their diverse disciplinary and experiential perspectives and collaborate on investigations of their selected cases” (28). students in the course build a community of practice by constructing a unified identity with social justice, critical praxis, and forensic science at its core. the course design encourages the application of shared knowledge and diverse perspectives to develop innovative approaches to complex cases and find solutions to ill-defined problems. learning in the course is a continuous process that incorporates authentic activities – students analyze case information, apply knowledge, and identify new relationships in case materials. course administrators support and guide the learning process through scaffolding. scaffolding strategies include providing tools and resources, helping students navigate problems, and facilitating group discussions. the course involves social interaction and collaboration in authentic contexts. while the in-person interactions with class participants is the typical learning environment, during the recent j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education fortney covid-19 quarantine we learned that the review of cold case files and the collaboration between law enforcement and students in this class adapted nicely to the virtual learning environment. using a variety of synchronous and asynchronous tools and modifying methods of facilitation the course seamlessly progressed in the virtual learning environment. when the course was forced into the virtual environment, extra care was taken to protect sensitive documents and photographs. the success of conducting this class using alternative approaches online lends promise to the possibility of expanding the law enforcement jurisdictions that can participate in the cold case review process. the ability to file share, meet synchronously, and have collaborative team spaces to communicate and work offer an excellent way to facilitate this course. the best practices and guidelines manual developed through this research effort is intended for use by institutions of higher learning with a focus on educating students for careers in the field of forensic science. application of the provided guidelines will assist instructors in implementing an upper level course for students to engage in the review and analysis of case files pertaining to unsolved crimes designated as cold cases by the collaborating law enforcement agency. such a course is ideally suited to graduate students and as an in-house practicum for seniors, as these students have completed the coursework necessary to prepare them for such an endeavor and should have greater levels of maturity and responsibility than students at an earlier level in their education. the protocol developed by the authors to establish this cold case academic/law enforcement initiative may be provided upon request to anyone interested in developing such a course. educators considering establishing a cold case program should keep in mind that its purposes should be twofold – providing a meaningful experiential learning opportunity for students of their institution while performing a needed service for law enforcement agencies within the community. remember that our purpose, as forensic scientists, is to seek truth and serve justice. acknowledgements the authors express gratitude to the tulsa county sheriff’s office, the tulsa county district attorney, the oklahoma state bureau of investigation, oklahoma county cold case detective mike burke, the university of central oklahoma, and the uco forensic science institute for their support, participation, and contributions to this research. references 1. heurich c. cold cases: resources for agencies, resolution for families. national institute of justice journal no. 260, 2008. retrieved from https://nij.gov/journals/260/pages/cold-caseresources.aspx 2. murder accountability project. clearance rates: uniform crime report for homicides: 1965-2017. murder accountability project, 2019. retrieved from http://www.murderdata.org/p/blogpage.html 3. national institute of justice. cold case investigations and forensic dna. national institute of justice, 2019. retrieved june 1, 2019 from https://www.nij.gov/topics/lawenforcement/investigations/coldcase/pages/welcome.aspx 4. federal bureau of investigation. crime in the united states, 2017. u.s. department of justice, 2018. retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-theu.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017 5. spraggs d. how to … open a cold case. police magazine, 2003. retrieved from http://www.policemag.com/channel/technology/articl es/2003/05/how-to-open-a-cold-case.aspx 6. turner r, kosa r. cold case squads: leaving no stone unturned. bureau of justice assistance bulletin, 2003. rockville, md: bja clearinghouse. 7. reyes nc. cold case investigation units. texas law enforcement management and administrative statistics program bulletin, 2009;16(1):1-10. 8. hannafin m, land s, oliver k. open learning environments. in cm reigeluth (ed.), instructionaldesign theories and models: a new paradigm of instructional theory. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates, inc., 1999:115-140. 9. ge x, chen ch, davis ka. scaffolding novice instructional designers’ problem-solving processes using question prompts in a web-based learning environment. j educ comput res 2005;33(2):219248. 10. jonassen dh. instructional design models for wellstructured and ill-structured problem-solving learning outcomes. educ technol res dev 1997;45(1):65-94. 11. polly d, allman b, casto a, norwood j. sociocultural perspectives of learning. in r. e. west (ed.), foundations of learning and instructional design technology. pressbooks, 2017. retrieved from https://lidtfoundations.pressbooks.com/chapter/socioc ultural-learning/ j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (2) © 2020 journal forensic science education fortney 12. american psychological association work group. learner-centered principles, 1997:6. 13. brown js, collins a, duguid p. situated cognition and the culture of learning. educ res 1989;18(1):3242. 14. smith mk. jean lave, etienne wenger and communities of practice. the encyclopedia of informal education, 2009. retrieved from www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_ practice.htm 15. chang j, jacobs r. the relationships among participants’ characteristics, perceptions, nature of involvement, and outcomes in strategic community of practice programs. hum resour dev q 2012; 23(3):341-362. 16. wenger-trayner e, wenger-trayner b. introduction to communities of practice, 2015. retrieved from http://wengertrayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/ 17. reeves tc, herrington j, oliver r. authentic activities and online learning. res devel high educat 2002;25:562-567. 18. byers bd, dubois s. teaching about cold cases experientially: creating meaningful learning experiences and products. j crim just educ 2017; 28(3):368-392. 19. davis rc, jensen cj, kitchens ke. cold-case investigations: an analysis of current practices and factors associated with successful outcomes. santa monica, ca: rand corporation, 2011. 20. national institute of justice. using dna to solve cold cases: special report. ncj 194197, july 2002. retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/194197.pdf 21. greytak em, moore c, armentrout sl. genetic genealogy for cold cases and active investigations. forensic sci int 2019;299:103-113. 22. kayser m, forensic dna phenotyping: predicting human appearance from crime scene material for investigative purposes. forensic sci int:genet 2015; 18:33-48. 23. criminal justice information services. ngi officially replaces iafis – yields more search options and investigative leads, and increased identification accuracy. federal bureau of investigation, 2014. retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/cjislink/ngi-officially-replaces-iafis-yields-more-searchoptions-and-investigative-leads-and-increasedidentification-accuracy 24. criminal justice information services. next generation identification. federal bureau of investigation. retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/fingerprints-andother-biometrics/ngi 25. peterson z. fingerprint on beer can helps solve nearly three-decade-old cold case. times free press, 2017 mar 23. retrieved from https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/201 7/mar/23/mpleads-guilty-28-year-old-cold-casekilling/419116/ 26. stokes j. technical note: next generation identification – a powerful tool in cold case investigations. forensic sci inter 2019;299:74-79. 27. winkley l. single fingerprint helps crack decadesold cold case. the san diego union-tribune, 2018 jul 12. retrieved from https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/publicsafety/sd-me-hayden-cold-case-20180712-story.html 28. johnson pc. cold case justice initiative. syracuse university college of law, 2020. retrieved from http://law.syr.edu/academics/clinicalexperiential/experiential-courses/cold-case-justiceinitiative/ continuing education at professional association meetings continuing professional education is important for practitioners and academic forensic scientists alike. the american academy of forensic sciences (aafs) conference that convenes each february in the united states is an excellent opportunity to keep up with the latest research developments, learn about and experience the newest instruments and technology from vendors, network with forensic scientist colleagues and old friends, meet students seeking to enter the field, and get feedback on your work or project prior to submitting it for publication. representative members from the council of forensic science educators (cofse) are offering a workshop, “investigating publishing: how to disseminate your work,” at the 75th annual aafs scientific conference in orlando, florida. we invite you to join us if you are new to science publishing or want to learn more about different options for publishing and promoting your work. if traveling to aafs is not possible, there are multiple regional annual conference options including the mid-atlantic association of forensic scientists (maafs) to be held in pikesville, maryland, the southwestern association of forensic scientists (swafs) to be held in spring, texas, and the northeastern association of forensic scientists (neafs) to be held in groton, connecticut. for our members outside of the united states, there are also many conference venues at which you can attend and present your work including the international association of forensic sciences meeting to be held in sydney, australia. following your conference experience, we invite your submission for publication on forensic education work to the journal of forensic science education. kelly m. elkins, ph.d. lawrence quarino, ph.d., gke-abc adrienne brundage, ph.d. tri-editors-in-chief journal of forensic science education j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education henson using mammalian skulls to enhance undergraduate research on skeletal trauma in a forensic anthropology course. kristy henson 1 * 1 fairmont state university, department of natural sciences, forensic science, 1201 locust avenue, fairmont, west virginia, 26554. *corresponding author: kristy.henson@fairmontstate.edu abstract: hands-on activities are favored learning techniques in stem fields. in forensic anthropology courses, some of the content is hands-on but frequently is passive. students typically observe bones, trauma, and post mortem intervals but rarely have the opportunity for active techniques such as reconstruction. it is unwarranted to demolish human remains to teach skeletal reconstruction, and digital reconstruction is challenging due to 3d technology’s steep learning curve, but this information is important for students wishing to pursue careers in skeletal identification. the purpose of this pilot project was to incorporate other mammalian skeletons in place of humans and create an in-class research project relevant to forensic anthropology. three deer skulls were acquired from local hunters. the specimens were thawed, skinned, flensed, and skeletonized using dermestid beetles. skulls were inflicted with random trauma and presented to the students. in groups of two, students reconstructed their skull and identified all skeletal trauma, then presented a research poster to the class. students answered survey questions at the end of the semester to assess their learning experience with 100% feeling they were more competent in the field of forensic anthropology. pre and post exams showed that 50% of the students demonstrated a 7% grade increase. keywords: forensic anthropology, dermestid beetles, laboratory activity, forensic science, hands-on learning . introduction forensic anthropology is a science of precision and responsibility (1). forensic anthropology courses focus on concepts such as advanced osteology and skeletal trauma. students in these courses learn techniques such as osteology, osteometric analysis, identifying characteristics such as age, sex, ancestry, and height, anthroposcopic analysis, 3d scanning and other conservation techniques (2-4). in the classroom or laboratory environment, institutions provide plastic casts, antique teaching skeletons, and photographs for students’ learning. a limitation of this approach is that the majority of these resources offer passive hands-on learning. students observe and touch, but do not alter. due to a combination of insufficient school funding and a passive learning approach, students may end up lacking the necessary undergraduate research experience or hands-on learning experiences essential in courses such as forensic anthropology or osteology. according to wei and wooden (5), the best approach to engage students is to introduce them to real work that scientists do, but to do so in the classroom. this concept informed the approach described in this paper. students in the present study observed their instructor in her area of expertise using dermestid beetles to prepare skeletal materials. the purpose of this project was to give forensic anthropology students a half-semester skeletal reconstruction project to advance their abilities to determine skeletal trauma and reconstruct skeletons for future conservation and analysis while equipping instructors with the knowledge to reproduce this experience. materials and methods: our small forensic anthropology course (n = 6) was split into groups of two, and each group was given a trauma-inflicted skull to reconstruct. to complete this project the students were required to apply everything they learned throughout the semester in order to analyze and reconstruct the skull. as it would be inappropriate to damage authentic human materials, we relied on donated deer heads that were exposed to dermestid beetles. each skull underwent trauma with a different tool. students analyzed the bones and trauma inflicted on each bone; then they reconstructed the skull. the students presented their final project in the form of a scientific research poster. students also participated in a small survey to assess learning and their overall evaluation of the project. dermestid beetle care and set-up: this project began with the purchase of a dermestid beetles #1 starter kit from skulltaxidermy.com. beetles were placed in a twenty-gallon aquarium with a thin-layer j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education henson of cotton batting, a cup of dry dog food, and a mesh lid. room temperature was monitored and maintained at approximately 21˚c. in hotter temperatures, beetles will fly and lower temperatures cause beetles to hibernate. thus temperature maintenance is of paramount importance. the lights were left off and only turned on as needed, and beetles were left undisturbed except when watered weekly. figure 1 flensed material in beetle tank with paper towels removed. for this forensic anthropology project i used three white-tailed deer (odocoileus virginianus) skulls. the deer skulls were donated to the forensic science program by local hunters during deer season. the heads remained frozen until needed, at which point the deer heads were thawed in a refrigerator on a dissecting tray. once thawed, to prepare the skulls i 1) carefully skinned and flensed to limit scrape marks on the bones, 2) removed eyes and tongues, 3) removed brains using high-pressure water, 4) patted specimens dry with paper towels, 5) placed specimens in the beetle tank, and 6) covered the skulls with a dry paper towel (figure 1). colony size dependent, it takes between two and three weeks for the beetles to completely clean one skull. once a skull was completely defleshed, it was removed from the beetle tank and immediately placed into a bucket of warm soapy water with a cap-full of ammonia. this process kills any residual beetles and removes some oils (degreases) from the bone. (it is important to kill the beetles as they will destroy anything if freed.) bones were left to soak for one week then removed and set out to air dry. leaving the skulls in the water for too long will break down the cartilage, and the bones will naturally disarticulate along suture lines. j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education henson figure 2 three deer skulls after being cleaned and degreased. they were placed in their own dissecting tray with a thin foam lining. this lining was used during the trauma-inflicting process to help cushion and protect small bone fragments. once the deer skulls were skeletonized, they were placed into their own dissection tray (figure 2). i randomly selected three tools to inflict trauma on each deer skull. prior to starting this project we covered blunt force trauma, sharp force trauma, and projectile trauma in lecture. the tools i used to inflict trauma in this project were a handsaw, a ball-peen hammer, and a crowbar. i had intended to inflict a bullet wound on one skull but was concerned i would lose pieces because i would have to take the skull home and inflict the trauma outside. (it is likely quite difficult to discharge a firearm on many college campuses.) i inflicted a random number of blows on each skull with the appropriate tool until sufficient bony damage was present (figure 3). skeletal trauma can be more or less advanced depending on the area of focus and course level. to account for small bone fragments, the skulls were damaged in their respective dissecting trays (figure 3). figure 3 the deer skull inflicted with blunt force trauma caused by the ball-peen hammer. all small skeletal fragments are present in the dissecting tray. as you can see, there was a random number of blows in different areas of the skull. j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education henson student groups and skull assignments were randomly assigned using rook cards. students matched their card to their partner’s card and card located with the skull. once student groups obtained their skull, each group conducted a standard osteological analysis. this consisted of age (fawn, young, adult), sex of the deer, and a skeletal inventory of all damaged bones. students differentiated between skeletal weathering, scrape marks from flensing, and trauma i inflicted on the skulls. prior to beginning their reconstruction, students learned about museum preparation techniques and commonly used techniques to repair bones with wire and glue. for this project students used elmer’s school glue because it dries clear and is commonly used to repair skeletons. due to the course level, i informed the students to focus on the external skeletal morphology and not internal morphology. once the skulls were articulated, they determined the number of blows, type of trauma (blunt, sharp, projectile), and potential type of tool used (figure 4). to complete this project students were given four three-hour laboratory classes and expected to come into lab outside of class as needed. students were given a confidential survey to complete on blackboard about their experience. at the end of the semester each group was required to present a research poster to the class. this project was 45 cfr 46.101(b)(1) exempt. figure 4 a deer skull rearticulated after being subjected to sharp force trauma. red arrows indicate blade marks. results this specific forensic anthropology course was a 300-level, undergraduate, forensic science, majorsonly, elective course. students enrolled in this course have completed introductory biology, genetics, and forensic biology. half of the class had previously taken human osteology. students were able to reconstruct the external bones of the deer skulls. they had difficulty when they encountered bones that are not present in modern humans, but were able to refer to a labeled skull for assistance. as the internal skull morphology was not required for this activity, a higher-level course should require internal skeletal structures also be repaired. the students expressed hesitance when they were assigned a deer skull, because they learned specifically about human materials all semester. spending time explaining homology and giving the students a labeled deer-skull key (6) assisted in emphasizing why this experience was relevant and helped the students understand why they were working on deer skulls. students likewise struggled when encountering small bone fragments and lacked patience when articulating bones. the students were adamant about holding the bones together until they dried instead of attaching them and setting them down to dry or creating a brace. by insisting on manual bracing while the adhesive dried, they lost a lot of laboratory time and increased their out-of-class time to complete the project. during the skeletal analysis, students were challenged not just while reconstructing small pieces of bone but also while differentiating between weathering and other trauma. this can be corrected j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education henson with more exposure to hands-on skeletal material exhibiting a variety of weathering and/or trauma. all three groups were able to reconstruct the external morphology including small fragments. in the groups, students were able to properly identify fractured bones, number of blows, and differentiate between the intentional traumatic tool marks and the unintentional flensing marks. after articulating the damaged bone, the students wrote a lab report and submitted a scientific research poster documenting their analysis. incorporating inclass undergraduate research projects helps the students realize they are engaged in real science and that these projects have the potential to be presented at small regional scientific meetings. students are also able to appreciate the relevance while gaining actual experience in the field and related skills. student survey results stated that 83% of students enjoyed the project and 16.6% neither enjoyed nor disliked the project. student comments about the reconstruction project were positive, stating they enjoyed the project and felt the hands-on approach helped them understand skeletal trauma. the entire class (100%) believed this project increased their knowledge in forensic anthropology and made them feel more competent in the subject (table 1). table 1 survey results based on anonymous student feedback (n=6). survey questions n=6 i enjoyed this project 33.3% strongly agree 50% agree 16.6% neither agree or disagree i feel i gained more from this project compared to other lab activities. 16.6% strongly agree 66.6% agree 16.6% neither agree or disagree i learned from this project. 66.6% strongly agree 33.3% agree this project increased my forensic anthropology knowledge. 33.3% strongly agree 66.6% agree this project made me feel more competent in the field of forensic anthropology. 16.6% strongly agree 83.3% agree i enjoyed the hands-on aspect of this project. 66.6% strongly agree 16.6% agree 16.6 neither agree or disagree students were also asked about the ethical reasons for not using authentic human remains. results suggested that 100% of students understood why real remains were not used. furthermore, 16.6% of students wanted to reconstruct while 50% did not agree or disagree, and 33.3% did not want to practice on a human skull. finally, 50% of students would not want to practice on real skeletal remains while the other 50% neither agreed nor disagreed. pre and post exams were used to evaluate if the laboratory activity increased test scores. these exam results were not obtained in the ideal situation as the post-exam was part of the students’ final exam and may have altered the students’ normal performance. on average there was an increase of 1.2% from the pre-exam to the post-exam. half of the class had an increase in score for the post-exam while the other half saw a decrease. the highest increase was 8% and the lowest was -10%. discussion/conclusion this course had a very small sample size, but based on student feedback and overall classroom energy it was a good laboratory activity. the activity is relatively simple to set up if an instructor has access to dermestid beetles, and the activity can be adjusted or can incorporate different types of trauma on different bones. when i offer forensic j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education henson anthropology again in spring 2022, i plan to repeat this lab activity. one potential way to improve the student experience would be incorporating long bones into this project, and they are easier to flense and skeletonize when compared to skulls. when using long bones it is easier to observe trauma because these bones are less likely to shatter compared to bones of the skull. students can observe and reconstruct various types of long bone breaks as well as compare and contrast tools to create trauma. to make this a more advanced activity, this lab can be enhanced to analyze velocity, tools, shatter patterns, etc. importantly, students take an active role in determining what variables to manipulate and to what magnitude. for example, students may diversify weapon selection or modify a given tool (e.g., hammer type, size, and amount of force). they can also examine various forms of cut marks and saw markings (e.g., manual versus automated, striation pattern, blade thickness). other than in-class activities, undergraduate research opportunities are also available, worthwhile, and represent practical learning opportunities unto themselves. based on student feedback, the reconstruction activity allowed students to feel as if they enhanced their knowledge, and all students felt they were more competent in the field of forensic anthropology. even though the majority of students stated that they enjoyed the project and felt that they learned, pre and post exam scores do not reflect this. this may be explained by a difference in test format versus the lab experience. the test consisted of photographs of human skulls that underwent different trauma and the students had to analyze the skull, similar to this lab experience. perhaps the difference in species or lack of tactile manipulation diminished test improvement. with respect to the post-test, there were two confounding variables as well: the final exam was computer-based whereas the pre-test had been paper, and the final exam was proctored. half of the class had a score increase of 7%. these scores were consistent with the passing grade received on the lab assignment and level of effort they were observed putting into the reconstruction assignment. two students had a slight decrease in exam scores (-2%). these students also invested significant effort, but this did not carry over to their exam scores. one outlier’s score saw a decrease of 10%. this student was not observed exercsing considerable effort and this was reflected in the partner’s survey. again, these results should not be viewed as significant as the pre and post-test were under different circumstances. generally, it appeared that students who invested the greatest effort in lab enjoyed greater improvements on the examination. when evaluating the effectiveness of this lab activity in the future, better attention will be paid to controlling extraneous variables. the format for pre and post testing will be identical (e.g., paper or computer-based), the testing will be administered by the same faculty, and the post test will be weighted no differently than the pre-test. other intervening variables are more challenging to manage. for example, the testing on human remains versus animal materials being utilized in lab may be a valid approach because, occupationally, students will be responsible for examining human remains. similarly, although the students are manipulating threedimensional specimens in lab and were tested using photographs, there may be instances when they have access to only specimen photographs. these represent challenges students will face in the field. in conclusion, vertebrate laboratory activities using dermestid beetles are inexpensive and easy to organize. this project offers hands-on reconstruction of remains which is not possible with most laboratory activities. it enhances the lab activities and allows students to actively participate. students found the activity very gratifying, and this showed as the students invested considerable outof-class effort. survey results also indicated that students felt they learned a lot and were more competent in the field. this could not be confirmed with pre and post exam results, but student scores on the project were favorable. acknowledgments this research was made possible by nasa west virginia space grant consortium, training grant #nnx15ai01h. i would like to thank the local hunters for their specimen donations and the hard work of the beetles. in addition, i appreciate dr. greg popovich’s assistance in the development of this manuscript. references 1. iscan m. concepts in teaching forensic anthropology. med anthropol newsletter 1981; 12:10-12. 2. bass w. human osteology: a laboratory and field manual of the human skeleton. springfield, mo: missouri archaeological society, 1971. 3. buikstra j, ubelaker d. standards for data collection from human skeletal remains. j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education henson arkansas archaeological survey research series no. 44, 1994. 4. naples v, breed d, miller j. a skeleton tells its own story: forensic analyses of skeletal elements for the science classroom laboratory. am biol teacher 2010;72:162-171. 5. wei c, woodin t. undergraduate research experiences in biology: alternatives to the life sci education 2017;10:111-230. . 6. elbroch m. animal skulls: a guide to north american species. mechanicsburg, pa: stackpole books, 2006. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4 2022 journal forensic science education 61-article text-455-1-6-20220628.docx an objective and statistical approach to microscopic human hair comparison: a laboratory exercise for the forensic science undergraduate and graduate student emma redman1, casey rech1, isabel sandone1, victoria echternach1, lawrence quarino1* 1department of chemical, physical, and forensic sciences, cedar crest college, 100 college drive, allentown, pa 18104 *corresponding author: laquarin@cedarcrest.edu abstract: the following introduces a new approach to teaching microscopic hair examination in an academic instructional laboratory for forensic science undergraduate and graduate students. in the exercise, students are asked to determine the likelihood ratio of test hairs to assess the probability of encountering a hair with similar characteristics. instead of relying on qualitative subjective assessment of morphological characteristics, students use two quantitative and objective parameters, namely diameter and color to characterize test hairs. with the use of software measurement tools, the diameter of each hair was measured in 3 locations along the hair shaft toward the middle of the hair and five rgb (red/green/blue) values were recorded at different points in the cortex approximately 3 um from the edge of the hair. values are compared to a constructed hair database created from collected hairs vacuumed from heavily trafficked areas such as dining halls and lecture halls to determine a random match probability. a 95% upper bound confidence interval was determined from each random match probability and the reciprocal of this value was used to calculate a likelihood ratio which ranged from approximately 100 to 400 for randomly collected hairs. it is hoped that an important learning outcome of this exercise is that forensic science students will develop an awareness of the importance of providing statistical meaning to forensic science inclusions thus reducing the potential for scientific information to be misconstrued. this approach differs from most academic laboratory exercises of this nature which focus exclusively on matching unknowns to a closed set of standards. keywords: microscopic hair comparison, likelihood ratios, rgb color format, diameter introduction many full service forensic science laboratories have scaled back trace evidence services. reasons for this include slower analysis time leading to longer throughout of cases, a lack of requests for trace evidence examinations, a lack of individualism potential, and difficulty in hiring personnel with expertise in trace evidence examinations. in the age of forensic dna analysis where a biological sample essentially can be linked to an individual with near certainty, it is not surprising that many district attorney offices devalue results of many trace evidence examinations which typically does not determine the unique source of the evidence. the situation with forensic microscopic hair examination is even direr considering that the reliability of such examinations is often called into question by the legal and scientific community. although hair examination has been accepted in us courts for decades, it has been described by legal scholars as “snake oil” (1) and many cases have been reported where forensic hair examination is alleged to have contributed to false convictions (2,3,4). criticisms such as these led the federal bureau of investigation (fbi) in conjunction with the united states department of justice and national association of criminal defense lawyers to undertake a systematic review of past fbi laboratory casework involving forensic hair examination. the results of this investigation were staggering. in the years prior to 2000, the study revealed that fbi trace evidence scientists routinely provided erroneous statements regarding hair examinations in laboratory reports and in testimony (5). concerns about the reliability of microscopic hair examination have caused many forensic laboratories to remove forensic microscopic hair examination from their trace evidence services. the questions of reliability stem largely from the subjective nature of microscopic hair examination. the subjective determination whether two hairs could have originated from the same source involves the comparison of many phenotypic and morphological characteristics such as the medulla, cuticle, cortical fusi, and pigment granules. subjective analysis should not be synonymous with unreliability and many studies have demonstrated the reliability of microscopic hair comparison. strauss, for instance, reported no false inclusions or exclusions occurred in 4,900 comparisons (6). this study seemed to confirm the earlier work of j forensic sci educ 2022, 4 2022 journal forensic science education 61-article text-455-1-6-20220628.docx gaudette and keeping which found that out of 366,630 pairwise comparisons only nine pairs of hair were indistinguishable (7). a more recent study provided similar comparative date (8). in 2002, houck and budowle found that mitochondrial dna only excluded 9% of positive microscopic hair comparisons (9). although it appears that the forensic community has reached a consensus that microscopic hair examination cannot be used to uniquely identify an individual, it is still nonetheless reasonable to conclude that accurate and reliable comparative analysis of hair morphology is possible (if for no other reason than for exclusion purposes or identifying possible hair matches that may be resolved by dna) but requires years of experience to achieve the level of expertise required. how then can an academic program provide laboratory instruction to college and graduate forensic science students in this type of comparison that will emphasize a scientific approach and not be based on training and experience? the answer may lie in limiting hair characteristics to those that can be measured quantitatively and not assessing on the ability to match an unknown to a closed set of standards which by current practice might be pointless. with quantitative data, the possibility of understanding the meaning and significance that two hairs are microscopically indistinguishable exists if there is a larger population of hair to compare it to. if hair similarity can be assessed statistically, it likely removes the notion of the determination of a unique origin. this laboratory exercise attempts to do this using two parameters that can provide quantitative data, namely diameter and color which can be recorded digitally with most imaging software programs. this exercise, which currently is being offered as part of an undergraduate trace evidence course in a bachelor of science in forensic science program, utilizes the rgb (red/green/blue) color format which has been shown to be helpful in differentiating brown caucasian hairs from different individuals (10). the meaning of hair similarity between hairs taken from different people can then be assessed through comparison of test hairs to a database of hairs having diameter and color measurement values. having determined the frequency of a diameter and color combination (random match probability), an upper bound 95% confidence interval can be generated which then can be converted into a likelihood ratio assessing the rarity of the hair characteristics tested. this is similar to the approach applied in reporting population frequency of dna haplotype matches. methods development of hair database a trace evidence vacuum (figure 1) was used to vacuum common areas around campus such as dining halls, lounges and lecture halls. collection canisters were emptied and presumed hairs were removed and mounted onto microscope slides with large cover slips with dpx mounting media (nd 1.521; sigma aldrich prod. no.44581). all non-human hairs and fibers were discarded (based on microscopic characteristics and morphology), and each human hair was examined at 200x using an olympus bx53 polarizing light microscope with cellsens® image capture software (olympus, center valley pa) under kohler illumination and standardized lighting conditions (figure 2). an image was captured of the middle portion of each of the hairs and the line measurement tool on the software was used to take the diameter across the hair in five locations. the software also allows for color to be measured quantitatively using the red-green-blue (rgb) color system which provides numerical color values for each color. to account for the variability and uncertainty of rgb values across the cortex of a human hair, measurements were taken approximately 3 μm from the edge of the hair at 5 locations in the middle of the shaft of the hair (figure 3). figure 1: top is a trace evidence vacuum; bottom is collection filter showing collected material on filter. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4 2022 journal forensic science education 61-article text-455-1-6-20220628.docx figure 2: olympus bx53 polarizing light microscope with computer monitor. figure 3: image capture of hair magnified at 200x showing measurement tool across the diameter of hair. rgb values are recorded at the point of the mouse cursor (not shown). rgb values are shown in lower right hand corner of screen; numerical values for red, green, and blue are recorded respectively. for each hair, mean and standard deviation values were generated for diameter and each color value. the mean standard deviation value of all the hairs combined in the database (n=250) was calculated and used to create a ± “bin” around the mean of each parameter for every hair. figure 4 displays bins for 50 selected hairs for green color value. the generation of bins made comparisons of test hairs to the database possible. the data base was compiled in microsoft excel® with no special software used. figure 4: part of green color database showing bins for individual hairs. green color values are listed on y axis, hair identification number is the x axis. test hair comparison to database and statistical analysis after institutional review board approval, four test hairs (blond, light brown, dark brown, and red in color respectively) were collected from subjects and five replicate measurements of diameter and rgb values were recorded. the mean value for each parameter was generated and compared to the database to determine the frequency of the diameter and each color value of each test hair (essentially if the mean value for any parameter fell within a bin it was considered “similar”). a random match probability for each test hair was generated by multiplying the frequency of occurrence of the diameter and the three color values in the database (pairwise correlation analysis of each of the color databases was previously performed showing no relationship between colors). an upper bound 95% confidence interval was generated from the random match probability using: equation 1: p+1.96[p(1-p)/n]/2 where p is the random match probability and n is the number of hairs in the database. the reciprocal of the upper bound confidence interval value was taken as the likelihood ratio. all calculations were performed manually. likelihood ratios were used in this exercise because they (and by extension bayesian statistics) are commonplace in forensic dna profiling and their use has been suggested for many types of forensic evidence including trace evidence (11). the generation of a likelihood ratio involves the ratio of probabilities of competing hypotheses. in this exercise, hypothesis #1 (numerator) is considered the prosecutor’s hypothesis and is given the value of 1 because the prosecutor is believed to be offering the evidence as proof that the hair is from a particular source to the exclusion of all others. conversely, hypothesis #2 (denominator) is considered the defense j forensic sci educ 2022, 4 2022 journal forensic science education 61-article text-455-1-6-20220628.docx attorney’s hypothesis which states that the hair came from some other source than the alleged source. in this exercise, the probability of the defense attorney’s hypothesis is the frequency of the hair characteristics in the generated database (denoted as the random match probability). results when compared to the database, the frequency of occurrence of the mean diameter of the four test hairs ranged from 0.100-0.188 mm. the frequency of mean color values of the four test hairs ranged from 0.152-0.232 (red), 0.132-0.308 (green), and 0.112-0.352 (blue) respectively. multiplying the frequency of the diameter by the frequency of each color value produced random match probabilities in the 10-3 to 10-4 range. with the upper bound confidence intervals, all probabilities were in the 10-3 range. subsequent calculation of the likelihood ratio for each hair produced the following results: 336 for the blond hair, 216 for the lighter of the brown hairs, 164 for red hair and 106 for the darker of the brown hairs. discussion and conclusion the fundamental educational benefit of this exercise is that forensic science students will develop an awareness of the importance of providing meaning to forensic science inclusions. even for those who believe that microscopic hair comparison can never justify statements about identity, the often used phrase “consistent with,” “could be the source of,” or “cannot be excluded” is also problematic. the now defunct national commission on forensic science recognized the danger of such language because it allows jurors who hear such testimony to simply make their own interpretation on what “consistent with” means (12). it is not unreasonable to believe that without proper context, a strong possibility exists that at least some jurors will believe that the proposed source of the evidence is more likely than not. some believe that the complexity involved in forensic hair comparison make the possibility of developing a statistical framework likely impossible (13). it is not analogous to forensic dna profiling because science has an understanding of how mendelian genetics works. genetic variability is understood and can be quantitated. conversely, at least to this point, the extent of variability of human head hair is not known and perhaps is unknowable. the exercise presented does not suggest that this approach is transferrable to everyday forensic science practice. given the extent of the variability of hair, 250 head hairs (assumed head hairs) in a database taken from one geographical area may not be enough for extrapolation to a larger population. even still, given the likelihood ratios obtained from the test hairs will demonstrate to students that false inclusions are possible. being able to somehow quantitate that likelihood is vital for a deeper understanding of the meaning of evidence particularly within the framework of testing conducted. this exercise only used two variables which were measureable. if more parameters were used, the statistical likelihood of an inclusion would surely be higher. students also need to be made aware that evidence in investigations is often cumulative and a statistical likelihood in one case may have different meaning than in another case. the exercise could be expanded to include a comparison of test hairs to a set of hair exemplars using the methodology described. mean and standard deviation could be calculated for test and exemplar hairs (data from exemplar hairs from each set can be grouped together) and comparisons made between test hairs and sets of exemplar hair based on the data. an inclusion between test hair and set of exemplars occurs when + standard deviation values around a mean overlap between test hair and an exemplar(s) set at all four parameters. at this point, the likelihood ratio (lr) of the inclusion could be determined from the database and students should be instructed to provide the following conclusion: given the available information, the probability of these hair comparison results is lr times greater if the prosecution’s proposition is true than if the defendant’s proposition is true. the authors piloted this exercise with exemplars from five individuals all with the same shade of blond hair. the correct outcome was achieved. in order to perform this exercise, a microscope with imaging software with rgb (or other color format) capability and measuring tools needs to be available. also, a database of hairs with rgb and diameter values needs to be created ideally in a program that is searchable. once established, however, the database can be used repeatedly. acknowledgements this work was performed as part of an incoming firstyear student science research program at cedar crest college called aspire. the authors in particularly wish to thank dr. elizabeth meade, president of cedar crest college, and brianna gregory who served as a student mentor to the participants. references 1. smith cas, goodman pd. forensic hair comparison analysis: nineteenth century science or twentieth century snake oil? col hum rts lr 1996;27:227. 2. laporte gm. wrongful convictions and dna exonerations: understanding the role of forensic science. national institute of justice journal 2017. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4 2022 journal forensic science education 61-article text-455-1-6-20220628.docx https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/wrongful convictions-and-dna-exonerations understanding-role-forensic-science. accessed: december 30, 2021 3. forensic failures: three men, three hairs, three wrongful convictions. locard’s lab. https://locardslab.com/2016/03/03/forensic-fails three-men-three-hairs-three-wrongfulconvictions/. accessed: december 30. 2021 4. giannelli pc. wrongful convictions and forensic science: the need to regulate crime labs. nclr 2007;86(1):163-285. 5. fbi testimony on microscopic hair analysis contained errors in at least 90 percent of cases in ongoing review. fbi news 2015. https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi testimony-on-microscopic-hair-analysis-contained errors-in-at-least-90-percent-of-cases-in-ongoing review. accessed: december 30, 2021 6. strauss mat. forensic characterization of human hair. the microscope 1983;31:15-29. 7. gaudette bd,keeping ed. an attempt at determining probabilities in human scalp hair comparison. j forensic sci 1974;19:599-606. 8. wickenheiser ra, hepworth dg. further evaluation of probabilities in human scalp hair comparisons. j forensic sci 1990;35:1323-1329. 9. houck mm, budowle b. correlation of microscopic and mitochondrial dna analysis of hairs. j forensic sci 2002;45:964-967. 10. mills m, bonetti j, brettell ta, quarino l. differentiation of human hair by colour and diameter using light microscopy, digital imaging and statistical analysis. j microsc 2017;270:27-40. 11. buzzini p, curran jm. interpreting trace evidence. in: handbook of trace evidence analysis. desiderio vj, taylor ce, nic daeid n (eds), wiley and sons, 2020, pp. 421-454. 12. national commission of forensic science. inconsistent language. national institute of standards and technology 2015. https://www.justice.gov/archives/ncfs/file/47784/. accessed: december 30, 2021 13. watkins t, bisbing re, houck m, betty b. the science of forensic hair comparisons and the admissibility of hair comparison evidence: frye and daubert considered. modern microscopy. the mccrone group. https://www.mccrone.com/mm/the-science-of forensic-hair-comparisons-and-the-admissibility-of hair-comparison-evidence-frye-and-daubert considered/. accessed: december 30, 2021 https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/wrongfulhttps://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/wrongfulhttps://locardslab.com/2016/03/03/forensic-fails-%09%09three-men-three-hairs-three-wrongful-%09convictions/ https://locardslab.com/2016/03/03/forensic-fails-%09%09three-men-three-hairs-three-wrongful-%09convictions/ https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbihttps://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbihttps://www.justice.gov/archives/ncfs/file/47784/ https://www.mccrone.com/mm/the-science-ofhttps://www.mccrone.com/mm/the-science-ofj forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (1) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins case studies and methods for teaching professional ethics for forensic science students kelly m. elkins1* and ibiwunmi fambegbe1 1chemistry department, forensic science program, towson university, 8000 york road, towson, md 21252, *corresponding author: kmelkins@towson.edu abstract: professional ethics education is an important and integral component of forensic science education and is included in the forensic science education programs accreditation commission (fepac) undergraduate and graduate program standards. ethics is often confused with morals and values. this paper compares and contrasts ethics and morals and discusses approaches to teaching ethics with an emphasis on the case study method. a review of ethics resources for instructors and classroom teaching methods are discussed. several case studies covering a wide range of ethical issues encountered in forensic science are included. keywords: forensic science, ethics, morals, case studies, teaching methods . introduction ethics education is an important and integral component of forensic science education and is included in the forensic science education programs accreditation commission (fepac) undergraduate and graduate program standards (1). ethics education is held as highly as exposure to forensic science disciplines, evidence analysis, law, quality assurance, testimony, and forensic science practice (1). like the law, ethics education must be taught and coursework must include ethics modules. the forensic specialties accreditation board (fsab) accredits organizations that certify forensic scientists to ensure that the organizations meet or exceed their minimum standards which includes ethics standards (2,3). certified professionals agree to uphold defined ethical and professional standards set forth by the conformity assessment body (cab) (2). each organization also must have defined policies in the case that a certified individual breaches the ethics or professional standards (2). professional ethics versus morals professional ethics, morals and values are often mistaken for each other because each categorizes “right” and “wrong” or “good” and “bad” behavior. professional ethics comprise professional norms and standards that can be defined by a code of conduct (4) whereas morals can differ from professional ethics. synonyms for ethical include fair, good, conscientious, respected, reputable, scrupulous, unassailable, unimpeachable, and incorruptible. morals or values can be governed by a culturally-conditioned, religious, or societal contract. an individual’s moral standing can be described using the terms good, virtuous, righteous, upright, proper, just, noble, respectable, decent, high-minded, right-minded, upstanding, principled, clean-living, chaste, pure, blameless and sinless. the law dictates unacceptable or incorrect behavior and defines penalties for disregard or noncompliance. moral and ethical individuals are considered to have integrity, be trustworthy and be lawabiding as demonstrated by the choices they make. however, there are actions that are not considered illegal but may be unethical (5). a cab will have policies for dealing with breaches of its defined code of ethics or professional standards (3). ethics resources for instructors there are many resources available to forensic educators teaching ethics courses and modules. these include peer-reviewed journal articles, textbooks, youtube videos, interactive videos, handbooks and web resources (8-20) as well as the links cultivated by the american chemical society (acs) committee on ethics (ethx). many of the sources include case studies for teaching and learning. online courses such as the collaborative institutional training initiative (citi) biomedical research courses are invaluable for training new researchers on research ethics and working with human subjects and specimens (6). the office of research integrity (ori) of the u.s. department of health and human service (hhs) created “the lab: avoiding research misconduct,” an interactive role play video with j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (1) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins feedback on each selected action in the skit (7). lockheed martin has created a set of case training videos called “voicing our values” that frame values and ethics issues (20). an instructor can choose to use one or more of these resources to teach the professional ethic concepts integral to their course. teaching methods instructors employ many methods to teach ethics including lectures, presentations, videos, online courses, case studies, clickers, polling apps, mock cases, reading assignments, writing assignments, skits, discussions, and student presentations. presentations, case studies and clickers were used to teach ethics to american chemical society (acs) members and meeting attendees at several national and regional venues. (disclosure: km elkins is an acs member and has attended these sessions.) the case study method makes use of an instance when the topic under consideration or a related offense has occurred and promotes active learning. real scenarios have been found to make learning more concrete (9) and disclose implications and actions resulting from unethical behavior (11). since there been many cases in which ethical breaches have been found to occur, evaluating these in a systematic manner in comparison to ethical standard and codes of conduct can help students to recognize ethical breaches when they occur (9,11). table 1 ethical issue response items from a 2019 national survey to acs members issue accountability (institutional transparency, systems for reporting concerns) assignment of credit (authorship, inventorship, blame) conflict of interest (competing self-interests, biased research design or interpretation) data integrity (fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, reproducibility, misuse of statistics) data ownership (employee/employer claims, data reuse, open access) employment (job availability, searching, opportunity for advancement, compensation, visas) environmental stewardship (sustainability, contamination, animal care, dual use research of concern) intellectual property (record-keeping, patents, trade secrets, copyright, confidentiality) peer review (anonymity, personal or professional bias) regulation (review boards, risk assessment, labeling, pricing) research funding (grants, investment capital, r&d spending) respect (discrimination, harassment, teamwork, supervisor/supervisee relationship) safety and health (workplace hazards, employee training, auditing) the acs committee on ethics surveyed the acs members in 2019 on ethical challenges they may encounter or have encountered in their careers (21). (disclosure: km elkins is a member of the committee and contributed to writing the survey questions and responses.) categories of ethical issues that were included as response items in the national survey are listed in table 1. case studies since case studies have been demonstrated to be an excellent method to teach ethics, we identified relevant case studies for use in teaching ethics in forensic courses. using the categories of ethical issues used in the acs survey, we report case study examples of each category. most cases involve forensic science or forensic scientists. in many cases, more than one ethical issue was breached but we predominantly highlight one case each to exemplify the issue. accountability: it is the responsibility of employees and their supervisors to complete their assigned tasks to fulfill the goals of the institution. in public forensic labs, this also means being accountable to citizens and taxpayers. in addition, it is the responsibility of the institution to have a fair system for reporting concerns. the austin, tx crime lab was shut down because reviews of the lab showed that the lab director failed to adopt nationally recognized testing guidelines which would allow them to calculate more accurate dna match statistics. prosecutors became suspicious about the lab’s performance when lab supervisor diana morales contradicted herself during her testimony in a sexual assault case. in the testimony, she arbitrarily multiplied a small sample size by 30. in addition, she had been in charge of a freezer that contained hundreds of dna samples and had failed for six days, which put the samples at risk. an audit also revealed that former employees had made several complaints about morales, as well as the lab’s general testing procedures for several years but that those complaints had been dismissed (22). in this case, the lab’s system for complaints, remediation and training to industry standards was not adequate (23). assignment of credit: it is important to acknowledge publicly and fully the origins of scientific ideas and contributions in presentations, patents and published documents. in the initial submission of a paper to an international medical journal, the authors listed were associated with two different research j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (1) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins institutions and a corporate sponsor. following external review, a revision was requested. while the initial submission included an extensive description of the individual authors’ contributions, the author list was amended in the revised manuscript “to comply with the requested revisions and with the international committee of medical journal editors’ definition of authorship.” authors from the second of the two research institutions were moved from the author line to the acknowledgements leaving only the authors from the first research institution, a husband and wife team, and the sponsor. after further revision, the paper was accepted for publication. upon inquiry by one of the senior authors from the second institution about the paper’s progress in the review process, it became clear that they were not aware that they were no longer listed as authors or that the paper was accepted. upon investigation, it was discovered that the second research institution had received government funding for the project. the journal placed the publication of the paper on hold until the author dispute was settled (24). in this case, there were no legal ramifications per se, but, in some cases, one could be sued or fined for not giving proper credit. journals have clarified rules for authorship in recent years. guidelines can be found on journal websites and in their instructions for authors. conflict of interest: conflict of interest cases usually involve a person who has two relationships that may compete with each other for their loyalty. for example, scientists may be loyal to their job (23,25), family (25), lab or country. forensic scientists face potential context bias when they know the expected outcome and their interpretation is favorable to the law enforcement agencies that houses their lab (25,26). attorneys can also face context bias. as an example, in orange county, california, scientists lead the research but the lab is managed jointly by the county, sheriff’s department, and the district attorney’s office (23). selected 1980s orange county murder cases are being revisited as there is suspicion that crime lab workers “tailored their testimony to benefit the prosecution.” also in orange county, the office of the district attorney operates their own unregulated dna database separate from the lab filled with profiles of offenders “in exchange for favorable plea deals” (23). separately in new york city, robert shaler, former forensics director at the new york city medical examiner’s office, said, “i’ve never had a police officer tell me what to write” (23). he continued, “but i have friends where police told them to rewrite reports in a different way” (23). implementing case managers could help limit context bias by minimizing the lab scientist’s exposure to irrelevant information (25). what is irrelevant will vary by discipline and case (25). separating the lab from law enforcement agencies and attorneys could also reduce bias (23,25). data integrity: when data is falsified, changed or manipulated, whether accidentally or maliciously, its integrity has been compromised. unfortunately, this is a common ethical breach in the forensics field. for example, annie dookhan, a forensic scientist who worked in the massachusetts state police hinton lab as a chemist deliberately manipulated drug test results by not testing drug samples (yet claimed she had and falsified records) and tainted drug evidence by mixing evidence so it would test positive for drugs when it was originally clean (2730). in addition, she forged initials of colleagues on drug testing paperwork turning negative results into positives for narcotics (27-30). this compromised thousands of criminal cases and led massachusetts to drop over 21,000 cases (27-30). she was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice and sentenced to prison (27-30). in a similar case, kamalkant shah, a lab technician at the new jersey state police “dry labbed” or faked his results in 7827 cases (31-33). data ownership: to use data from publications or reports for research, permission and access is needed. in addition, it is unethical to steal data and publish under one’s name. in a case, author a reported that an article recently published in a journal by author b was stolen and should not have been published. author a had previously submitted the article to two other publishers two years prior. as evidence, author a provided pdfs of the previously submitted manuscripts as proof of ownership. the manuscripts were compared to the one author b had submitted and, upon evaluation, were found to be very similar. author b was contacted and explained the article had been given by the phd advisor, who was deceased. in addition, author b was a reviewer listed on the website of the second publisher author a had submitted the manuscript to but the publisher could not determine if author b had access to the submission. faced with the evidence, author b agreed to retract the paper. author a asked that since the article had been peerreviewed and accepted, the journal would publish it with author a on the byline. as copyright is j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (1) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins transferred by the authors and the revisions were presumably made by author b, the authorship could not be directly transferred (34). while this case study is similar to the case study on assignment of credit, this case addresses theft and attempting to gain ownership of another scientist’s data without their permission. environmental stewardship: dual use research of concern (durc) refers to research that can be judiciously foreseen to provide useful knowledge and information or can be misused to pose a significant threat to physical and psychological public health and safety, agricultural crops and other plants, animals, the environment, or infrastructure integral to national security. drugs, drug delivery, biological agents and nuclear energy are classic examples of durc that can be used in creating terror agents. the chemical weapon mustard gas developed by chemist fritz haber was used in warfare in world war i in 1917 (35-36). soldiers in ypres, belgium exposed to the agent reported smelling a peppery smell and inflamed eyes; later they developed severe blisters, sores and began coughing up blood (35). in addition to its effects on soldiers, the gas contaminated their equipment and the environment and caused tens of thousands of war casualties (35). it was later found to have use as an anti-cancer agent and spurned the new field of chemotherapy (36). yale university doctors louis goodman and alfred gilman noticed that soldiers that had been exposed to the gas had a low number of white blood cells in their blood and hypothesized that the chemical could be used to treat leukemia and lymphoma cancers (36). in 1942, they began their tests on a man with severe tumors in the lymph nodes (36). the treatment reduced the size and pain for his tumors (36). durc research may be considered unethical if the “bad” outweighs the “good”. publication of such research is evaluated by special committees such as the nih durc committee and the national science advisory board for biosecurity (nsabb). intellectual property: intellectual property is an achievement of production or invention as a result of creativity or research, to which a person can apply for a patent, copyright, or trademark or publish the results in a research paper or report. once the contribution becomes a patent, copyright, or trademark, no other company or individual is allowed to make use of it without permission or payment. published research should be cited when used as a basis for future studies and the authors should be credited. if the information is confidential, the information about the product or the research cannot be given out freely to other companies or used by an employee for their own purpose outside of the company. in forensics, casework data is confidential for some time until it is conveyed publically in court or other proceedings. there are circumstances and procedures for sharing confidential data related to cases so that it is used appropriately. forensic databases may contain fingerprint or dna data that needs to be secure and confidential. additionally, specialized reagents for dna typing may be considered proprietary. this first case exemplifies proprietary information in dna forensics. for decades, there were two primary commercial suppliers of forensic dna short tandem repeat (str) multiplex kits: applied biosystems and promega corporation. str kits on the market have different configurations of the str markers. when str dna typing was first introduced in u.s. courts, the methods were not admitted as the str primer sequences and validation data was not published. in response, promega published the primer sequences in their str dna typing kits (37) and obtained many patents for their multiplex str amplification technology. in contrast, applied biosystems resisted publishing their primer sequences stating that they are proprietary but both companies published their validation studies and several independent validations were published (38). under protected court order, applied biosystems has revealed their primer sequences in at least 16 cases (38). this second case exemplifies proprietary information and intellectual property in which ethics standards were not followed. lanxess, a specialty chemicals company in germany, accused a former chemical engineer of stealing trade secrets and sharing it with an associate in china. the product was yet to be released to the public and the former employee and his associate planned on building a reactor in china, where they would make a chemical to compete with what lanxess planned to produce. theft of the trade secrets of the product is unethical and a crime. a court in germany heard the case and convicted the former employee of civil theft charges and ordered pay to lanxess of about $200,000 (39). peer review: peer review is integral to review of reports and evaluating research papers in all science, including forensic science. issues of falsifying peer review to get the work done faster have been noted (19). joseph kopera was a firearms examiner with the maryland state police from 1991-2007. police have j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (1) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins discovered that “in at least some of his lab documents, kopera forged the initials of a coworker who ostensibly reviewed his work.” this discovery has prompted a review of thousands of his other cases. when a sample of 32 cases were evaluated, forged initials were found six times (40). the discovery of the forged initials led attorneys to question his credibility. regulation: accreditation is an indicator of quality for forensic labs. accreditation review can uncover laboratory errors, issues with testing and analysis procedures, and inadequate staff training. on the other hand, it can demonstrate that a lab has met accreditation requirements. in 2015, the mayor of washington, d.c. ordered a crime lab audit by the american national standards institute (ansi) asq national accreditation board (nab) after the u.s. attorney’s office said it had discovered numerous errors the lab’s dna analyses (41). following the audit, the crime lab was ordered to immediately suspend all dna casework (41). the nab concluded that the lab’s procedures were “insufficient and inadequate.” (41). the audit had criticized the lab’s practices and said they were not in compliance with fbi standards (42). it also ordered the “revalidation of test procedures, new interpretation guidelines for dna mixture cases, additional training and competency testing of staff” because the dna analysis conclusions were deemed “questionable” (42). research funding: research is important in the forensics field as in other sciences. research has led to new innovations and ideas that have improved the quality of the techniques, methods and instrumentation now used in forensic labs. funding is crucial to labs achieving research goals. when the government awards a grant for the purpose of research on a topic, it is expected to be used for that purpose. actual results and data are expected and fabricating or falsifying data to fit the purpose of the grant or the research is unethical and illegal. in 2005, university of vermont (uvm) researcher eric poehlman admitted to fabricating and falsifying data over a ten-year period on 15 federal grants worth $2.9 million. the case was investigated by the u.s. hhs ori and the u.s. department of justice (doj) launched a civil and criminal fraud investigation. he was the “first researcher sentenced to prison for misconduct” and served a year and a day in federal prison, two years’ probation, and agreed to pay $180,000 to uvm and $16,000 to cover the whistleblower’s attorney fees. in addition, he was barred for life from receiving federal research funding. he claimed that he manipulated data because he felt pressure to maintain grant funding to support himself and his research staff (43-44). misconduct can upset public confidence in research results, lead to reduced funding for future projects and highlight inadequacies of peer-review in science. respect: at work, respect is important because most work is now done by teams. racial and sexual discrimination are illegal. a retaliation and harassment complaint was filed by donald mikko, a former firearms branch director of the u.s. army criminal investigation laboratory (usacil) against the lab’s officials. he cooperated with investigations of misconduct and racial discrimination at the lab and resigned after over twenty years of employment. at the time, the civilian director of usacil was chemist larry chelko who oversaw “seven internal investigations and eight complaints filed against lab managers within a four-year period, including claims of racial bias, sexual harassment, fraud and assault” and has since retired. one of the cases centered on a.d. bell, a temporary employee who is black. usacil lawyer lisa kreeger testified that she overheard a manager make a racist remark about bell. bell was later passed over for a permanent position. mikko backed kreeger and said his boss didn’t hire bell on account of his race. several other racism concerns were also brought up by other employees (45-46). theft: theft is both unethical and illegal. in a case, sonja farak, a forensic chemist and drug addict working in massachusetts crime labs at hinton and amherst, stole drugs from the labs and consumed them on a nearly daily basis while analyzing evidence for eight years (47). she initially used methamphetamine purchased drug standards and later used cocaine base, amphetamines, and lsd evidence at the bench where she tested samples and in a lab bathroom (47). she even made crack cocaine from cocaine samples from cases for her use (47). her actions compromised the drug testing of several cases and led to the shutdown of the amherst lab (47). she pleaded guilty in 2014 was sentenced to 18 months in prison for drug possession and evidence tampering (47). over 7,500 cases with over 11,000 convictions that she worked on were dismissed (48). j forensic sci educ 2020, 2 (1) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins safety and health: lab accreditation mandates employee training and workplace safety; these actions are verified by investigations and audits. an audit is carried out to evaluate the lab’s performance, standard operating procedures (sop) and equipment function. laboratory safety breaches can expose scientists to “potentially deadly diseases and infections.” eighty-two incidents were reported and more than 40 incidents were investigated by the uk health and safety executive at hospitals, private companies and public health england (phe) from june 2015-july 2017 (49). potentially lethal bacteria and fungi were found to have been handled without proper protection (49). students were found to be working with live meningitis instead of a heatkilled version by accident (49). a scientist working with shigella at a phe lab became ill while another contracted salmonella while working in a private lab (46). both shigella and salmonella are foodborne pathogens that have been used as biological threat agents in forensic cases (49). credentials: misrepresentation of credentials and certifications on one’s cv or during testimony in court is another common ethical breach in the forensics field. joseph kopera served as the head of the maryland state police crime lab firearms unit (50). in this role, he collected and then analyzed bullets, shell casings, weapons and other forensic evidence (50). prior to that position, he worked for 21 years in the baltimore police department's crime laboratory (50). after nine years, he was promoted to supervisor of the firearms and tool marks unit and also supervised the integrated ballistics identification system (50). kopera worked on criminal cases in maryland's 24 jurisdictions as well as in delaware, pennsylvania and virginia and at the federal level (50). he lied when he testified on several witness stands that he had a degree from the rochester institute of technology in photo science or aerospace engineering or a mechanical engineering degree from the university of maryland, all of which he did not earn (50). he also forged transcripts from the university of maryland to prove his qualifications (50). when presented with this knowledge by state public defenders working with the innocence project, the analysis of every bullet and every weapon that had passed through kopera's crime laboratory was called into question (50). in another case, annie dookhan, an employee of a massachusetts forensics lab, was found to have lied about her credentials: she claimed to have earned a master’s degree in chemistry from university of massachusetts and a doctorate from harvard (28, 51). being dishonest about receiving certifications from an organization or misrepresenting a certificate and embellishment is unethical and illegal constituting perjury punishable by the courts. translating case studies to the classroom while instructors can introduce ethics topics and case studies through lecture, additional methods can follow or supplant lecture to translate case studies to the classroom. following presentation of a case, students could be asked questions for discussion. credit can be assigned for participation. alternatively, students can be assigned to present a case with a critique about which ethical standards were breached. clicker questions can be embedded in the lecture and the instructor can show graphs of anonymous student responses. student could be asked to research and present a case in the form of an oral presentation or a skit. conclusion ethics education is as essential for students of forensic science as instrument training, sample handling and quality assurance. all of this content must be taught by the instructor so that the student can learn it. the case studies exemplify ethical issues that have faced forensics labs in the chemical profession. the use of case studies has been demonstrated to be an effective method of ethics education. ethical breaches have led to considerable cost and retesting. although the cases represent a very small number of forensic cases over the years, it is our hope that, with education, the instances of ethical breaches in forensic labs by forensic examiners and managers decrease. acknowledgements the authors 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(accessed jan 24, 2020). j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education stuart an inquiry driven interdisciplinary approach to teaching bone decomposition in the high school classroom parker e. stuart, ph.d.1* kelsey d. stuart, ed.s.2 and melinda k. mcpherson, ph.d.3 1school of natural sciences 300 wc morris science hall, university of central missouri, warrensburg, mo, 64093; 2division of math & science, 201 w 16th st, state fair community college, sedalia, mo 65301; and 3physical and biological science department, bsc 248, columbia college, columbia, mo 65216, *corresponding author: pstuart@ucmo.edu abstract: in this inquiry-based lab, students are provided with the opportunity to apply their knowledge of physiology, forensic science, and chemistry to aid in the decomposition of a simulated body. the students are provided a chicken bone (“body”) and are tasked with trying to develop the best method to dispose of the body. throughout the course of the lab, students will research, design, and conduct a series of experiments which culminate with a gallery walk where students present their experiments and the class decides which method is the best way to dispose of a body. all the materials for the lab are readily available for teachers in high school and college classrooms. this real-world problem engages the students to think about the roles of chemicals, insects, and the environment in the decomposition of biological matter. the method of disposal, experimental design, and testing procedures makes this lab extraordinarily relevant to the lives of students, which is supported by students’ reactions to the lab. students reported that the lab was like being in a television episode in the classroom; it aided them in understanding the interdisciplinary nature of forensic science, and how to design an experiment without a specific outcome. the lab also emphasizes an area of forensic science which is in need of effective laboratory activities especially at the high school level. keywords: decomposition, active learning, high school, interdisciplinary, scientific phenomena . introduction the application of scientific concepts learned in the classroom to real world situations can be challenging for many students. the next generation science standards (ngss) (1) were developed in part to address this concern, as well as to provide a national document centered on best practices in science classrooms. having students address real world problems in the classroom also increases engagement (2) and has the potential to introduce students to the interdisciplinary nature of science. this multidisciplinary approach has multiple benefits, such as increasing higher order and critical thinking skills, improving communication, and fostering student creativity (3). this, in turn, leads to deeper conceptual understanding and the ability to apply information, versus simple rote memorization or step by step cookbook labs. utilizing an interdisciplinary approach does have drawbacks. students can find it challenging to connect specific aspects of science without explicit instructional guidance. many educators are specialized in a specific discipline of science, facilitating student learning in this multifaceted approach puts more pressure on the instructor to be well versed in how the various aspects of science, and possibly industry, complement one another. one method that educators can use to increase student engagement with the material is centering a lesson or unit around a phenomenon (4). a phenomenon is a natural event that students can use their scientific knowledge to explain. the phenomenon does not need to be flashy but should include a hook to garner student interest. the benefit of using a phenomenon is that it aids in student application of science knowledge and can motivate them to explain a concept. an added benefit of using a phenomenon is that many events are interdisciplinary, and students can draw upon their entire science knowledge, versus a single discipline, to explain them. this inquiry-driven laboratory activity was developed with the aim of addressing these issues. our aim was to create an activity that focused on student interest, students planning and conducting investigations collaboratively, generating data, and investigating the effects of different methods of disposal on body decomposition. the questions and experiments developed by the students lend themselves implicitly to the interdisciplinary aspects of science, because students must synthesize ideas from multiple disciplines to answer their questions. the central phenomenon of the project is, “how would the students dispose of a body?” this phenomenon is flashy, and it gets students' attention because a multitude of crime dramas revolve around body disposal to get away with a crime. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education stuart activity description the activity is the culmination of a unit of instruction about entomology, anthropology, and autopsy. the unit would take approximately 15 50-minute class sessions, with the lab taking three of the 15 class sessions. the students begin the unit by reading excerpts from the book death’s acre: inside the legendary forensic lab (5) and dead men do tell tales (6). these readings introduce the students to the scientific practices utilized by medical examiners to help identify bodies and the science of bone decomposition. students then spend the next class periods exploring entomology and anthropology. once an understanding of these concepts is developed, students watch a documentary over the university of tennessee’s forensic anthropology center, i.e., the “body farm (7).” next, the classroom is transformed into a research facility where students are tasked with designing their own experiments to break down bone tissue. the students are divided into groups to begin discussing possible questions or methods to investigate how to dispose of a body simulated with chicken bones. the activity is studentdriven, which means students may propose a variety of questions or scenarios dependent on the individual class. to aid in the creation of a proposed research question, students are guided by a worksheet (see https://tinyurl.com/bodydecomp). this also allows the teacher to center student thinking on testable hypotheses based upon materials that are readily available, and to dissuade students from using dangerous materials and methods in their classrooms as students can get creative in how they want to dispose of their “bodies.” the student groups then begin designing and conducting experiments that revolve around their specific research question. the total time investment will vary based on the experiment, with some experiments taking longer than others. for example, a group that wants to investigate how strong acids break down bones will take less time than a group wanting to drown their “body” in the pond water. the instructor should encourage the students to revise and elaborate on their proposed questions and materials to help generate usable data to make comparisons between controls and experimental conditions. one possible revision of the research question pertaining to acid decomposition is to compare the speed of decomposition or amount of the body that was disposed (broken down). materials and methods materials for the activity the materials for the proposed research questions will vary for the individual class and developed hypotheses. table 1 includes the materials that were used for our student questions. all materials are readily available through school chemical supplies or a local market, but it is important to check the availability of some materials or guide students away from materials that are construed to be too hazardous. it is also beneficial to modify the guided worksheet to reflect the materials available, so students do not propose research questions and experiments that they are unable to conduct. table 1 suggested material list from student questions ● acidwe used 8m hcl ● beakers ● blankets cut into small pieces ● bleach ● blender ● buckets with lids ● chicken leg bones we used chicken thighs with as much of muscle and connective tissue removed as possible ● environmental materials – leaves, snow, rainwater, etc. ● fire ● glass containers with lids ● household cleaners ● lye ● markers ● plastic bags grocery sacks and trash bags ● ruler ● scale ● shovel/trowelone of our groups buried their bones on school grounds ● soda ● soil ● watersaltwater, pond water ● ziploc bags hazards and safety precautions general safety precautions for laboratory activities in a high school setting will provide protection from the majority of chemicals used in the students’ proposed investigations. the specific designs of student experiments could lead to the use of potentially hazardous materials i.e., lye, bleach. students should use proper ppe when handling these materials such as safety goggles, lab coat, and gloves. all hazardous materials should be kept under a vent hood. teachers should monitor student groups to ensure that proper safety measures are being followed, especially in groups using strong acids or bases. care must be taken not to combine household cleaners to avoid the creation of dangerous gases i.e., bleach and ammonia. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education stuart teacher setup & additional notes before the lab, the instructor must acquire enough chicken bones for the class. it is recommended to provide at least two bones for each group, plus extra. the bones should be stripped of meat and cartilage as best as possible, wrapped in saran wrap, and then stored in an air-tight container in the freezer. the bones should be taken out of the freezer a few days prior to the day of the lab to thaw. the setup of the lab will vary greatly depending on the students’ experimental design. we suggest that students design their lab in one class period and the teacher should set the lab up for the next class period. a summary of some questions from our class can be seen in table 2. table 2 student generated research questions and materials needed example research question materials needed -how does water affect the rate of decomposition? -how do plastic trash bags and blankets affect the rate of decomposition after drowning? -how does incineration affect the decomposition of a body? -how do dismemberment and acid affect the decomposition rate what are some factors that cause adiopocere in a body? 2chicken bones, bucket with lid, water, ziploc bags 3 chicken bones, plastic, blanket, pond water 2 chicken bones, blowtorch 6 chicken bones, hydrochloric acid, blender 4 chicken bones with fat, lye, glass container during the day of experiment planning, it is helpful to have all materials, aside from harsh chemicals, available for students. you should have msds sheets for all chemicals available for reference, which helps students to hypothesize the effect of treatments on bone decomposition. remember to advise students against mixing harsh chemicals to avoid hazardous reactions. you should also advise students to use glass containers if they are using harsh chemicals which may break down plastic containers. some experiments are fragrant; therefore having a vent hood available is helpful to keep smells at bay. some of the experiments will take longer than others to yield visible results. our students took anywhere between one class period to two months to see results. the quickest experiment involved burning the body, while some of the acid and pond water reactions took much longer. students used qualitative analysis to see monitor the progress of their experiments at multiple points during the duration of their experiments. we suggest two-week intervals to gauge the progress of the decomposition if students used chemical means to dispose of their “body.” qualitative and quantitative analyses are possible, such as color, mass, and volumetric changes, but more advanced analyses can require equipment that is usually unavailable in a high school classroom. however, networking with local agencies could allow for more sophisticated analysis or having local agents visit the classroom to demonstrate the equipment and analyses. results the complex bone matrix serves as the target of the students’ research. collagen, a fibrous protein, and hydroxyapatite, or bone mineral, comprise the bulk of dry bone mass. small amounts of other materials like inorganic salts and proteins are also present. living bone contains a significant amount of water as well. the success of proposed pathways of degradation will be dictated by how the proposed research questions correlate with the integrity of the matrix. experimental observations will be a result of how the study design impacts the bony structure and assessment of such may be impacted by resource availability. depending on laboratory supplies and instrumentation, experimental designs can be qualitative or quantitative, and range from visual examination to quite technically detailed assessments of molecular and cellular structure. table 3 builds from the exemplar student generated research questions outlined in table 2 to aid the instructor through in the interpretation of potential experimental results. in general, the degradation pathways will result in both qualitative and quantitative data, which students must interpret to address their research questions. the instructor may need to guide students in their evaluations based on their academic background and knowledge of chemistry, physiology, and microscopy. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education stuart table 3 expected experimental results and basic interpretation of observations hypothesis focus variables to examine expected results interpretation of results deterioration in aqueous solution (e.g., water, soda, boiling water) -visual color and texture changes -mass and volume change -length of time submerged decomposition of remaining soft tissue; change in bone color bones do not chemically breakdown through this process well decomposition in acidic solution (hcl, h2so4) -visual color and textural changes -changes in mass -microscopic evaluation of “body” with dissection or light microscope -bones becomes porous and pitted initially, erosion at edges -intermediate stages present softer, gelatinous, viscous material -dark discoloration -steady decrease in mass -final stages present material that is amorphous and translucent effective at very low ph’s because the calcium apatite is more soluble decomposition in a basic solution -visual color and textural changes -changes in mass -microscopic evaluation of “body” with dissection or light microscope -specimen may appear whiter over time -soft tissue and marrow absent or dissolved -bone may be crumbly texture alkaline hydrolysis breaks up proteins by cleaving disulfide bonds adding lime (cao) or slaked lime (caoh) would raise ph and accelerate collagen loss effects of fire or a high temperature environment -visual color and textural changes -changes in mass -microscopic evaluation of “body” with dissection or light microscope -bone may appear gray, brown, black discoloration is a function of oxygen availability histological structure is preserved at high temperatures (800-1200oc) student reactions our students were incredibly interested in this lab and came up with innovative bone treatments. they thought the lab was “very enjoyable, a lot of fun, and very interesting. it was like tv, but in our classroom!” they appreciated they could work their way through the scientific process and that they had the leeway to design their own experiment. one student stated, “this lab helped me understand how you would go about setting up an experiment given a general goal. within our teams, we decided exactly our plan, and then we got to follow through and see if our plan would work. the aspect of being able to set up our own experiment instead of hearing a lecture over how to set up an experiment made this lab so much more worthwhile.” the students also thought the lab helped them synthesize areas of science, and said, “i believe that this lab helped to create a well-rounded understanding of not only bone decomposition, but also how chemistry, biology, and forensics work together.” in fact, students from years past still remember this lab! our students both enjoyed and learned much from this lab. they were not only interested in the decomposition of their own bones but were excited to know the results of other groups’ experiments. we highly recommend doing a gallery walk or presentations at the end of this lab so students may learn from one another. students will be motivated to develop a robust hypothesis to test if a gallery walk is used as a summative assessment since the class can potentially vote on which method developed in the class was the best at disposing of a body. discussion and conclusion there is a multitude of research and activities at the post-secondary level (8–11), but the same cannot be said for high school classrooms. resources for the high school classroom are centered on relatively few texts (12,13), some peer-reviewed activities (14,15), curriculum repository websites (16), and pinterest boards of activities. many of these sources, especially pinterest boards, do not align with current national science standards. this activity j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education stuart addresses this gap by giving secondary educators an activity framed by national standards that can easily be implemented in classrooms using readily available materials. students can generate very creative ways to dispose of their “bodies” but limitations can arise with the availability of materials and access to equipment needed for quantitative analysis. some veteran teachers may have networked with local agencies in their community while novice teacher may struggle to make connections. we encourage any high school teachers to reach out to local labs, law enforcement agencies, local colleges and universities with forensic science programs to aid in the use of equipment. many of these agencies are more than willing to provide outreach opportunities into local high schools. one recommendation for modifying this activity is how to present the phenomenon itself, disposing of a body. we framed the phenomenon in the context of disposing of a body to get away with murder but in some districts this may not be the most appropriate way to present the activity. high school teachers should use caution and consider the multiple stakeholders in their district and how to best frame the activity when presenting it to their students. additionally, this lab activity meets several of the calls from botch-jones et al. (17) needs assessment of current forensic science education laboratory activities. first, this activity aligns with national science education standards (1,4) using a phenomenon, in this case, the disposal of a body. this phenomenon will garner the attention of the students and help facilitate a student-centered approach to learning. second, the activity uses common materials that are found in many high school classrooms, and the “bodies” can be purchased from the grocery store. it is not necessary to purchase expensive equipment if the instructor uses qualitative data generated from the students’ designed experiments but limitations can occur with quantitative analysis due to availability of equipment. this can potentially be remedied if a strong network can be established with local agencies. lastly, many of our students proposed experiments that involve chemistry which botch-jones and her colleagues emphasized as an area that needs effective laboratory activities. references 1. national research council. guide to implementing the next generation science standards. washington (dc): national academies press (us); 2015. 2. king d, ritchie sm. learning science through realworld contexts. in: fraser bj, tobin k, mcrobbie cj, editors. second in. handb sci educ, dordrecht: springer netherlands; 2012, p. 69–79. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9041-7_6. 3. jones c. interdisciplinary approach advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies 2009;7:7. 4. achieve. using phenomena in ngss-designed lessons and units 2016. 5. bass b, bass w. death’s acre: inside the legendary forensic lab-the body farmwhere the dead do tell tales. penguin; 2004. 6. maples w, browning m. dead men do tell tales: the strange and fascinating cases of a forensic anthropologist. broadway books; 2010. 7. secrets of the body farm. national geographic; 2002. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiibphc7lfo 8. oller ar. medium velocity spatter creation by mousetraps in a forensic science laboratory. am biol teach 2006;68:159–61. 9. cresswell sl, loughlin wa. an interdisciplinary guided inquiry laboratory for first year undergraduate forensic science students. j chem educ 2015;92:1730–5. 10. thompson t. choose your own murder: non-linear narratives enhance student understanding in forensic science education. forensic sci int synergy 2020;2:82–5. 11. shukla rk. a new systematic approach of teaching and learning of forensic science for interdisciplinary students: a step towards renovating the forensic education system. forensic sci int synergy 2021;3:100146. 12. brown r, davenport j. forensic science: advanced investigations. cengage learning; 2012. 13. barbara t. forensic science for high school. third edition. kendall hunt publishing; 2015. 14. funkhouser j, deslich bj. integrating forensic science. sci teach 2000;67:32–5. 15. ravgiala rr, weisburd s, sleeper r, martinez a, rozkiewicz d, whitesides gm, et al. using paperbased diagnostics with high school students to model forensic investigation and colorimetric analysis. j chem educ 2014;91:107–11. 16. tomm t. the science spot 1999. https://sciencespot.net/pages/classforsci.html (feb 21, 2022). 17. botch-jones s, thrasher rr, miller b, hess j, wagner j. a review of existing forensic laboratory education research and needs assessment: existing forensic laboratory education research and needs assessment. j forensic sci educ 2021;3. j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education starling cognitive miscues call for investigative precautions sarah j. starling1*, katherine ramsland1 1department of social science, desales university, 2755 station avenue, center valley, pa 18034, *corresponding author: sarah.starling@desales.edu abstract: after a lifetime of observing the world around us and making decisions based on these observations, we gain the sense that we are skilled at seeing all the important details in our environment. the truth, however, is that a gap exists between what we are exposed to and what we notice. another gap exists between what we notice and what we can later recall. biases might also direct our attention or influence the weight we give to any piece of information. these limitations can cause us to miss important items and impair our ability to draw accurate conclusions. although we may not notice these miscues in our everyday lives, they can become problematic, especially for investigators who rely on observation. this difficulty is exacerbated when there is not effective communication between investigators. we present the case of the “pizza bomber” as an example. this case demonstrates issues with observation, attentional limitations, memory, the distortions of bias, and failed communication. we highlight several errors that occurred, identify their probable causes, and show their consequences. while these limitations and biases are natural, we offer suggestions to mitigate their negative impact. keywords: attentional biases, cognitive biases, criminal investigation the general problems we face perceptual limitations and cognitive errors can negatively impact our ability to make logical decisions about future actions. critical gaps occur between what we are exposed to, what we notice, and what we later recall. such disparities exist across multiple levels of sensation (basic vision and hearing), perception (how we interpret sensations), and cognition (attention, memory, and decision making). we cannot see everything at once, and even if we could, our attentional abilities are too limited to allocate detailed attention to everything we see. biases might also direct our attention or the weight we give to any piece of information. although these errors might not significantly impact our everyday decisions, they can become problematic, especially for investigators who rely on observation to develop leads and form effective hypotheses. before focusing on a specific case example, we should first consider some glitches we face at the level of attention. to properly encode information about an event into long-term memory, we must first notice it. attention refers to the way in which we allocate resources to some tasks while not allocating resources elsewhere. by definition, this means we cannot attend to everything. without proper attention we can even fail to see what is right in front of us, an error called inattentional blindness. simons and chabris had participants watch a short video in which two teams of three individuals passed basketballs back and forth. the viewer’s task was to count the number of times the ball was passed between players on a specific team. surprisingly, 46% of viewers failed to notice an actor in a gorilla suit walk across the screen (1). although the gorilla was in their line of sight, because they did not actively pay attention to that stimulus they were, in effect, blind to its appearance. we also see this type of error in the everyday occurrence of driving accidents. because drivers are expecting to see other cars on the road, they can fail to notice a motorcyclist or bicyclist in the lane they are turning into. even in a static image, we are less likely to notice the presence of a motorcycle than of a taxi (2). we also experience memory limitations. even if we successfully attend to an object or event, there is no guarantee that we will accurately recall it later. change blindness occurs when we fail to notice an alteration in an object that we have previously observed. after watching a short film, viewers may fail to notice changes to objects in a scene, an actor’s clothing, or even the identity of the actor himself (3). although this attentional failure is robust in everyday experience, our brains do not alert us, so we believe we will spot any changes. that is, we considerably overestimate our observational ability (4). this error is understandable given that odd situations, like a gorilla walking across a tv screen or a sudden change in a person’s attire, are rare. our brains have developed in a world where predictable events support our belief that we can trust our attentional system. one of the basic findings in cognitive psychology is the speed-accuracy tradeoff. we can be either slow and accurate or fast and error-prone. any short-cut we take in our thinking processes or any method we use to speed up a task puts us at higher risk for making mistakes. given the j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education starling extensive time that we would need to properly attend to all items in our environment, it makes sense that we would find other ways speed up the process. in their work, kahneman and taversky described two systems for making judgments. system 1 is automatic and quick, whereas system 2 is more effortful and thus slower. while engaging system 1, we employ mental shorts, called heuristics, for making rapid judgments (5). although helpful, they can lead to errors. the availability heuristic, for example, tells us that things that easily come to mind are more common than are things that take effort to recall (6). this works well when estimating how likely it is that it will snow in minnesota this winter, but such quick judgments can overestimate the likelihood of uncommon events (7). for example, our exaggerated fear of shark attacks and airplane crashes (when we should really worry about heart disease) might be partly due to media attention, which stimulates our memory of similar past events. a range of cognitive biases can cause erroneous interpretations and impact our actions. for example, the confirmation bias describes our tendency to seek out, and selectively attend to, data that supports our initial hypothesis. if we believe that small dogs are mean, we are more likely to notice when a small dog is unfriendly and a large dog is nice. if later asked to recall past experiences, we are more likely to remember events that align with our expectations. we see this error in the forensic confirmation bias, a problem impacting multiple levels of criminal investigation. this bias refers more generally to the ways in which “an individual’s preexisting beliefs, expectations, motives, and situational context influence the collection, perception, and interpretation of evidence during a criminal case” (8). kassin et al. further highlight ways in which the forensic confirmation bias might negatively impact both data collection and interpretation. the very context in which physical evidence is presented to an investigator (e.g. prior knowledge of a confession) might influence the interpretation of evidence. this can lead to inaccurate narratives and false leads. on august 28, 2003, a bizarre case with unexpected twists began to unfold. four jurisdictions entered competing but overlapping investigations involving a bank heist, three deaths and a potential hit. from first responders to experienced detectives, investigative miscues had serious consequences and might have caused a man’s unnecessary death. even today, these miscues hinder a definitive interpretation of the incident. this case demonstrates issues with observation, attentional limitations, memory, and the distortions of bias. its complexity offers an opportunity to see how these issues affected the course of the investigation. while cognitive miscues are natural, some of these were avoidable, suggesting that law enforcement officers can benefit from focused training in the quirks of mental processing. the case of the “pizza bomber” brian wells worked for mama mia’s pizza-ria in erie, pennsylvania, as a deliveryman. his life showed no red flags for dangerous criminal behavior. yet at the age of 46, he entered a branch of the pnc bank at summit towne center carrying a cane and wearing a white t-shirt that covered an odd bulge over his chest. he walked up to a teller and showed her a note that said, "gather employees with access codes to vault and work fast to fill bag with $250,000. you have only 15 minutes." lifting his shirt, he revealed that he was wearing a large device attached to a metal collar around his neck––a bomb. he offered a note that listed a series of strictly timed tasks to collect keys that would delay the detonation and eventually defuse it. the note also said that wells was under surveillance and any contact with authorities would result in detonation. the teller gave wells $8,702 and said that no one could enter the safe at this time to retrieve more. wells appeared to accept this. a surveillance videotape shows that he sucked on a lollipop and strolled out of the bank with the bag of money. he got into his geo metro and left the scene. bank officials called the police (9). pennsylvania state troopers soon spotted his car in a parking lot. wells was standing next to it, with the alleged bomb still attached. the troopers cuffed him and made him sit on the pavement while they called a bomb squad. fbi special agent jerry clark (9, 10) arrived at the scene to talk to wells. the bank robber said that three black men had put the bomb on him and told him to get the money. he insisted the bomb was going to explode. he seemed scared. the officers at the scene got behind their cars, just in case, while others blocked off roads to local traffic. the minutes ticked by. wells asked for help to find a key to the collar (11). wells asked an officer to phone his boss. at 3:18 p.m. the device began to beep. in seconds, the bomb detonated, blowing a hole into wells’ chest and killing him. three minutes later, the bomb squad arrived, thwarted by the roadblocks (12). inside the geo, officers found maps, handwritten instructions for wells – the “bomb hostage” – and the cane he had carried, which had been fashioned into a gun. the instructions and maps were complex, like a scavenger hunt, sending wells looking for keys and locks, with fatal consequences if he failed. the bomb was homemade but built with professional tools. the triple-band metal collar had four keyholes and a combination lock on an iron box that held two pipe bombs and a timer. any attempt to disarm it would have set it off. wells had been doomed from the moment the collar went on him (11). a search of wells’ house turned up nothing to connect him to the bomb. the “collar bomber” investigation, which spanned seven years and involved a bizarre group of culprits, called on personnel from the local erie police department, the j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education starling pennsylvania state troopers, the fbi and the atf. reporters conducted their own investigation, as did documentary maker trey borzillieri, who carried on a correspondence with a woman who became a key suspect, marjorie diehl-armstrong. the main question, once the suspects were identified, centered on the level at which wells was involved: conspirator or unwilling victim? holes in the story allow pointing the finger both at him, and away. how the incidents have been interpreted display numerous points of cognitive bias and errors of reasoning. we described some above, and we add others below. as law enforcement gathered the facts, they reconstructed the incident, shifting their interpretation as new information came to light. it began with a delivery order placed at 2 p.m. for two pizzas. wells agreed to take the pizzas to an isolated location just off peach street. shortly afterward, he entered the bank, armed. footprints and tire treads would later prove his presence at the delivery location. reporters looking for leads spotted an area resident, a fifty-nine-year-old handyman, bill rothstein. initially, he seemed peripheral (9, 10). police followed up the lead about the black men, but came up with nothing. they tried to interview robert pinetti, who worked with wells, but he put them off. on august 31, three days after the bank robbery, pinetti died from a fatal drug combination. he had called for help but had then refused assistance. whether his death was an accident, suicide or homicide could not be determined, but officials considered it suspicious (12). they never found the dealer who had given him the lethal “hot shot” (10). whatever pinetti might have revealed died with him. three weeks passed. on september 20, 2003, bill rothstein called 9-1-1 to report that he had a body in a freezer in his home at 8645 peach street. in custody, he told officers that he had agreed to let his former fiancé, marjorie diehl-armstrong, store the body of her boyfriend, jim roden, in his freezer. she had killed roden in her home over money. reluctantly, rothstein said, he had helped her to clean up the scene, including dumping debris and taking the corpse to his house. however, being implicated in this criminal act had bothered him, he claimed, and he could not go through with marjorie’s request that he grind up the body to prevent it from being found. preparing to end his life, rothstein had written a suicide note. oddly, he had added, “this has nothing to do with the wells case” (13). he would later say that he wrote this line because he did not want police to get sidetracked on an irrelevant item. rothstein cut a deal for a minor charge and got out on bail. no one at the time seemed to think that keeping a body on ice for a month suggested a different story (9). this would become one of the early case errors, along with perceptions of rothstein as a compliant accomplice and concerned citizen. police arrested diehl-armstrong on september 21. she denied his accusations and said that rothstein had killed roden in a jealous fit. despite the odd mention of wells in the suicide note, the federal collar bomber task force initially paid no attention to these small-town arrests over a domestic homicide. police supervisors believed rothstein’s story, assuming that a man with a body in a freezer would not have called for a pizza delivery so close to his house that could eventually attract police attention. rothstein seemed too intelligent to make such a mistake. they also appreciated his willingness to show them the roden crime scene and explain how the shooting had happened. they thought he was sincere and therefore honest (12). these assumptions would shortchange the investigation. if they believed that rothstein was smart, they should have been alert to calculated manipulation. once he was cleared, rothstein retrieved a blue van that had disappeared from his house the day after the bombing – possibly the same van seen by a witness at one of the “collar bomb” scavenger hunt sites, with rothstein driving. atf agent jason wick admitted, “we missed things” (12). only later did investigators rethink their sense of rothstein and compare his handwriting to writing on the ransom notes that wells had carried. they saw similarities. on september 24, when further questioned about the wells case, rothstein admitted that he might have used the payphone from which the final call to wells had come. still, investigators thought he was tangential to the case. they lost their chance to extract more information when rothstein died in july 2004 from cancer. the perception of rothstein’s minor role changed in january 2005, after diehl-armstrong had pleaded guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder in the roden homicide. her sentence was 7 to 20 years. later, when clark and wick interviewed her in prison, she indicated that roden’s death was linked to the collar bombing. officials thought this statement was part of her incoherent ramblings and dismissed it. still, they had discovered her grudge against pnc bank for letting her father empty her safety deposit box. they wanted more details, and she agreed to talk, as long as they moved her closer to erie. diehl-armstrong was a character (10, 12). a highly intelligent class valedictorian with a master’s degree and an encyclopedic memory, she was also a paranoid hoarder with bipolar disorder and a past homicide rap. in 1984, she had shot her boyfriend, robert thomas, in what she had claimed was self-defense. ruled mentally incompetent several times due to her uncontrolled manic rambling, a jury had acquitted her (14). special agent clark had supervised her probation for carrying a firearm. then in 1988, her husband had died in a strange accident. no one had questioned it. when she gave her more detailed statement about the bank heist, diehl-armstrong said she was not involved in the collar bombing, but she had known about it and had been within a mile of the bank when the robbery occurred. (a witness had seen her driving on august 28 the wrong way down a highway near one of the scavenger hunt sites.) j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education starling diehl-armstrong added that wells had agreed to participate, although he had been forced to wear the bomb and had not known until too late that it was real. rothstein was the mastermind, she said, and the bomb’s inventor. independent of her, investigators had turned up information that diehl-armstrong had been seeking a hit man to murder her father (15). she had told at least four other people about the bomb plot, claiming she had killed roden to keep his mouth shut and that she had measured wells for the collar. in addition, although rothstein had feigned distress over storing roden’s body, he had harbored a fugitive child molester, floyd stockton, for two years. stockton had left just before the botched heist. also, rothstein had put his house up for sale for $250,000 – the amount that wells had demanded at the bank. the agents caught up with stockton, who said that rothstein and diehl-armstrong had devised the bank robbery together. a witness dropped another name, kenneth barnes, an incarcerated crack dealer and a fishing buddy of diehlarmstrong’s. when contacted in august 2005, in return for a reduced sentence, barnes said that diehl-armstrong had needed cash to pay for a hit on her father. barnes had agreed to act as a lookout. at the pre-robbery meeting, barnes said that wells, pinetti, stockton, diehl-armstrong and rothstein had been present. (later, he would inexplicably change his statement to exclude wells.) barnes said that on august 28, he had watched wells through binoculars with diehl-armstrong. she adamantly denied this account, but in 2006, she showed agents where she had been on the day of the incident, which further incriminated her. witness reports placed her and rothstein together at the phone booth associated with the heist. other witness reports placed rothstein driving a blue van near one of the sites on the ransom map, and one witness had nearly crashed into wells the day before the bank heist as wells drove out from rothstein’s property (12). indictments implicated rothstein, barnes, wells, and diehl-armstrong. stockton made a deal for immunity (15). the official report held that wells had believed that the bomb would be fake. when he gave the cover story about black men placing the bomb on him rather than claiming he was forced, this lie added behavioral evidence to support his guilt. so did his nonchalant exit from the bank. some thought that perhaps he knew about the planned robbery but had not agreed to wear the bomb, real or fake (and one conspirator stated this). the fbi surmised that wells had been set up, perhaps to eliminate him after he got the money. in 2008, barnes pleaded guilty to conspiracy and agreed to testify against diehl-armstrong. however, she was once again found incompetent. as she stabilized enough to go to trial, she was diagnosed with cancer. the trial date was set for 2010 (10). prosecutor marshall piccinini called the crime participants a cast of "twisted, intellectually bright, dysfunctional individuals who outsmarted themselves" (11). with snitch accounts, circumstantial evidence, physical evidence, and diehl-armstrong’s selfincriminating statements, piccinini used barnes to paint diehl-armstrong as the mastermind. wells, barnes said, had been promised part of the money. apparently, he was in debt to crack dealers and had a relationship with a crackaddicted prostitute, jessica hoopsick, so he had agreed to participate. he had thought the bomb was fake. diehlarmstrong had double-crossed him (16). when diehl-amstrong took the stand on october 26, 2010, she claimed that she had never met wells. her insultlaced, two-day diatribe was unconvincing. the jury convicted her of armed bank robbery, conspiracy and using a destructive device in a violent crime. she received life sentences (17). in 2017, diehl-armstrong died. hoopsick, who initially had refused to talk about wells, told borzillieri that she had set wells up for a fee and he had not known about his designated part in the robbery. she claimed that he was innocent. however, her timeline contradicted established facts and other witness statements. she seemed to want to clear wells because he was likely the father of her child. there are holes in the story and some investigators did not believe that an erratic, garrulous, mentally ill woman as diehl-armstrong could have planned such an elaborate scheme. perhaps she launched it so she could pay a hit-man, but a convincing case has been made that rothstein was the mastermind (11). maybe he wanted to please diehl-armstrong, a woman he once had loved, or maybe he hoped to raise his status before he died from a nobody to a somebody by devising a puzzle that would keep cops guessing for years. even after the conclusion of this case, many questions remain unanswered. where things went wrong we see several examples of investigative errors in the pizza bomber case. the first of these is the lack of attention to the blue minivan. while doing a drive-through of the scavenger hunt, pa state trooper lamont king described seeing a blue minivan driving towards the second drop-off point. after pausing, the van backed up and drove away. king surmised that the driver was responsible for dropping off the notes, clearly an important clue. yet, the team turned its attention elsewhere. according to king, “we did our preliminary investigation and just referred it right back to the fbi, but the van was never mentioned again” (12). years later, when shown a video of a blue astrovan parked at rothstein’s house, king identified it as the van he had seen at the drop-off point. it is unclear why this lead was not prioritized. perhaps this is an example of a large-scale case of inattentional blindness. although the existence of the minivan was figuratively “in their line of sight,” the investigators failed to focus on it, losing the lead. everyone was busy j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education starling allocating attentional resources elsewhere. it is also possible that the wealth of bizarre facts, such as a body in a freezer and a deadly scavenger hunt, eclipsed attention to the more mundane minivan. because the brain’s attentional resources are limited, inevitable attention to the fantastic elements would decrease attention to the minivan. even if the minivan had been properly attended to, there is no guarantee it would remain in memory as a salient detail. this initial attentional loss might have been compounded by the fact that bizarre material is better remembered than more ordinary information, a memory bias known as the bizarreness effect. for example, we are more successful at recalling nouns presented in a bizarre sentence than those presented in a common sentence (18). because the information does not make sense we must allocate more effort to understand it. this additional effort requires a greater depth of processing, which is itself associated with better recall memory (19). this bizarreness effect, however, emerges only when we attempt to recall both bizarre and common information at the same time (20), such as considering both a minivan and a collar bomb. looking back for leads, the unusual features of the case (e.g. collar bomb) might have directed attention away from the mundane (e.g.. minivan) and reduced recall memory of the minivan. there is, however, an alternative explanation for this lack of follow up. one problem was that there is some debate about the original eyewitness testimony. in fact, it has been argued that the van was originally reported as being white, not blue (21). let’s assume for now that the van color was actually be blue, but the witness said it was white. in that case, this would be an example of the kind of eyewitness testimony error that elizabeth loftus has studied, and provided expert testimony about, for over four decades (22). obviously any initial misinformation coming to the police will be detrimental to their further investigation. similar to the possible inattentional blindness in the case of the van, investigators appeared to have experienced an inattentional deafness to diehl-armstrong’s claim that “rothstein should be charged with the murder of brian wells” (12). even coming from a witness of questionable credibility, this is a noteworthy statement. however, jason wick from the atf stated that “erie pd was doing their thing with jim roden, we were doing our thing in a direction other than mr. rothstein. and we didn’t pay much attention to it really; we knew it was going on, but we were focusing on other avenues at that time” (12). this attentional failure might have arisen from tunnel vision. as illustrated by wick’s statement, the atf was already focused on another line of investigation and, as such, these agents were invested in information that aligned with their hypotheses. findley explains that once investigators are set on a particular conclusion their tunnel vision might cause them to “focus on a particular conclusion and then filter all evidence in a case through the lens provided by that conclusion” (23). this error often arises from a confirmation bias. rothstein had been cleared as a suspect early in the case, despite a profile from the fbi’s behavioral analysis unit that matched him more than diehl-armstrong. the profilers believed that the caper had been not a bank robbery but a highly choreographed game, observed by the perpetrator, who took pleasure in the commotion he had launched. he enjoyed making others do what he wanted them to do. he would be "comfortable around a wide variety of power tools and shop machines." he was "a frugal person who saves scraps of sundry materials in order to reuse them in various projects." and he was "the type of person who takes pride in building a variety of things." (24). yet, the investigators were focused elsewhere. similarly, because diehl-armstrong’s claim did not align with their investigative hypothesis, they were likely to undervalue or entirely discount her statement in favor of data that supported their opinions. in addition, the power of story made its mark. as strange as his claims were, rothstein controlled the story narrative. when he reported roden’s murder, he completed the plan on his own terms. he made the call to police and added the line about wells in his alleged suicide note, to focus police on the collar bomber case in a context of his creation. if he played it right, rothstein would seem like a victim, too, not a perpetrator – even to the point of minimizing the fact that roden’s body had been in his freezer for a month. by going to the police first, he set up the story. he did pass a polygraph, but the fact that he nearly fell asleep should have alerted agents to the possibility of drugs or self-hypnosis techniques. their bias in his favor, due to his supposed cooperation, enabled their inattentional blindness. these events are critical because the order and organization of a narrative structure influences both memory for details (25) and how plausible a story will sound (26). diehl-armstrong was under arrest for the murder of her boyfriend (the second time this has happened) and she offered a one-liner. rothstein, however, spun a complex, detailed story about roden’s death. our tendency to more easily believe and remember stories than simple facts – the story bias – could have undermined diehl-armstrong’s claims. this tendency to believe rothstein’s narrative, and then look for details to corroborate it, is another example of how a confirmation bias can derail an investigation. however, the investigators were not the only ones to fall into this cognitive trap. documentary maker trey borzillieri did something similar. he had been seeking a crime like that of the west memphis three, who were featured on hbo documentaries as victims of a system gone wrong. borzillieri had come across the wells case and thought it looked similarly twisted: law enforcement had made a hasty, unfair judgment about wells. borzillieri j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education starling builds a case to show that wells was innocent, saying he merely went to make a pizza delivery and was forced into the scheme. yet borzillieri participates in the same error. he says they accepted rothstein’s story at face value, so they made mistakes. similarly, he accepts jessica hoopsick’s narrative at face value and aligns his documentary to the theory that supports her. he also states that diehl-armstrong had a vested interest in saying wells was a co-conspirator, because by law it meant she could not get the death penalty. therefore, he thinks hoopsick’s story about wells’ innocence had more credibility. however, borzillieri fails to acknowledge hoopsick’s vested interest: she wanted the father of her child (wells) to be innocent. since she gave borzillieri an exclusive interview, he might have felt beholden to her. thus, he has several layers of bias that potentially distort his view. at least twice, valuable information was provided to local police but not passed to the fbi. in the first instance, inmate kelly makela shared written notes about conversations with diehl-armstrong. during a discussion about roden’s death, an officer mentioned that makela’s notes included information that was possibly relevant to the pizza bomber case. no one told the fbi. second, barnes’ claims were not passed along about diehl-armstrong attempting to hire him to kill her father. inter-group cooperation issues might have influenced these oversights. as wick said, “i mean there’s always that feud between the federal government and state and local at time. it’s unfortunate, but it does happen” (12). these errors might also be pinned on tunnel vision. in both cases, interviewers focused on a different question, so information relevant to the pizza bomber case received no attention. alternatively, the oversights could have resulted from linkage blindness. at the same time that the fbi viewed the heist as being more than a bank robbery, they failed to see how a smalltown murder case might be related. because each agency had its own jurisdiction and responsibilities, the investigators tended to think only within their own boundaries. overcoming our biases if the miscues from heuristics and biases cause us to make errors, why do we keep making these mistakes? perhaps we are hardwired to follow short-cuts whenever possible. our brains do prefer the path of least resistance, and some cognitive biases might have evolved to help us better navigate our world. one examples of these is negative outgroup stereotypes. in general, we tend to form positive opinions about our own group, yet we distrust others (the outgroup). this bias might have developed because the risk of assuming outgroup members will not harm you outweighs the effort you put into protecting yourself against attack (27). our tendency to see connections that don’t really exist (a problem in several heuristics) follows from how our brain is designed, at a neural level, to look for patterns and associations (28). so, where do we go from here? there is great interest in the fields of psychology, forensic science, and even business in trying to “debias” or help us overcome our tendency to slant information to support a belief. in fact, lilienfeld and colleagues suggest that “a plausible case can be made that debiasing people against errors in thinking could be among psychology’s most enduring legacies to the promotion of human welfare” (29). a common assumption is that expertise in one’s field can help overcome these errors. unfortunately, this is not the case. one study used an ambiguous mock crime scene to examine the success of experienced crime scene investigators and student novices at finding crime-related traces (30). prior information provided to participants suggested that this was a murder or a suicide, or no context was given. although novices were more confident overall in their initial impressions of the crime type, the context influenced both experts and novices. because of the assumption that a crime had occurred, both groups found more traces in the murder context. surprisingly, the novices were more likely than the experts to find two important crime-related traces. this suggests that expertise alone is insufficient to overcome context biases at a crime scene. in the business world, debiasing is often described in two broad ways. the first approach has to do with changing the thinking process of the decision-maker, and the second seeks ways to change the environment in which the decision is made (31). to change the decision-maker involves bias awareness through training about the range of biases (as this article has just provided). although knowledge alone will not prevent errors, until we acknowledge our biases we cannot address them. one problem, however, is that many forensic science experts show a blind spot bias. kukucka et al.’s survey of forensic science examiners found that even if experts acknowledge the problem of bias, they tend to see it in other domains or examiners, not in themselves. this was a more significant problem for examiners without bias training, which indicates that training provides some benefit (32). for more concrete action, we should “consider the opposite”. by carefully asking ourselves how our initial interpretation or judgment could be in error, our attention is naturally drawn to evidence not previously considered (33). this could be particularly helpful in cases of tunnel vision, which arises from a threshold diagnosis (quick judgment before gathering the facts) or confirmation bias. a strategy that causes an individual to specifically look for disconfirming evidence might help to curb the tendency to adhere to expectations. several studies have also demonstrated that training can implement a more analytic than heuristic approach to dealing with probability-based problems. the degree to which this applies to new j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education starling situations, however, may depend on such factors as time delay (34) and the training method (35). to take up the second challenge––change the environment––an important step would be to include an effective process for inter-group cooperation. a less territorial approach to information gathering, and a willingness to view the whole picture could lessen the occurrence of linkage blindness. also, add a blind review of the facts. keeping opinions about what a piece of evidence should demonstrate from the person reviewing the evidence can reduce confirmation bias. to be fair, the pizza bomber case was unique. obviously, no one can prepare for every eventuality, but a more educated awareness of biases, more practice dealing with surprising (and distracting) clues, and more effective procedures for inter-group cooperation might help to avoid miscues that can undermine investigations. references 1. simons dj, chabris cf. gorillas in our midst: sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events. perception 1998;28:1059-74. 2. pammer k, sabadas s, lentern s. allocating attention to detect motorcycles: the role of inattentional blindness. hum factors 2018;60:5-19. 3. levin, dt, simons dj. failure to detect changes to attended objects in motion pictures. psychon bull rev 1997;4:501-6. 4. levin dt, momen n, drivdahl sb, simons dj. change blindness blindness: the metacognitive error of overestimating change-detection ability. vis cogn 2000;7:397-412. 5. kahneman, d. thinking, fast and slow. new york: farrar, straus and giroux, 2011. 6. tversky a, kahneman d. availability: a heuristic for judging frequency and probability. cogn psychol 1973;5:207-232. 7. lichtenstein s, slovic p, fischhoff b, 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decision making. malden:blackwell publishing 2016;924-51. 32. kukucka j, kassin sm, zapf pa, dror ie. cognitive bias and blindness: a global survey of forensic science examiners. j appl res mem cogn 2017;6:452-9. 33. larrick rp. debiasing. in: koehler dj, harvey n (eds), blackwell handbook of judgment and decision making. malden:blackwell publishing 2004;316-37. 34. fong gt, nisbett re. immediate and delayed transfer of training effects in statistical reasoning. j exp psychol gen 1991;120:34-45. 35. neilens hl, handley sj, newstead se. effects of training and instruction on analytic and belief-based reasoning processes. think reason 2009;15:37-68. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2019 journal forensic science education stamper towards understanding how to instruct students in dichotomous identification keys in a mixed stem forensic science education environment. trevor stamper1* ph.d., lauren m. weidner1† ph.d., gregory nigoghosian1m.s., nastasha johnson2, cong wang3†† ph.d., and chantal levesque-bristol3 ph.d. 1 department of entomology, purdue university, west lafayette, in 47907, usa; *corresponding author: stampert@purdue.edu 2 university libraries and school of information science, purdue university, west lafayette, in 47907, usa 3center for instructional excellence, purdue university, west lafayette, in 47907, usa †present address: school of mathematical and natural sciences, arizona state university, 4701 w thunderbird rd, glendale, az 85306, usa ††present address: department of ecology and evolutionary biology, yale university, oml 301, 165 prospect st., new haven, ct 06511 abstract: morphological assessment is a traditional approach to specimen identification in many forensic subdisciplines. a dichotomous key guides the user through taxa determination for a specimen by providing a series of choice nodes that center around morphological differences. each nodal choice leads to either a new set of dichotomous choices or a taxa decision. in a forensic analysis course, we evaluated student’s ability to utilize a dichotomous key down to species for a limited set of taxa, by reviewing their nodal decisions along with their confidence level using a likert scale (1-5). along with individual decision recording, students conducted a post-decision group comparison, following a think-pair-share active learning model. if student answers were not the same, they re-evaluated their specimen until a mutual evidence-based decision was reached. students displayed high decision confidence but low accuracy. we observed a higher initial accuracy from students enrolled in stem majors when compared to non-stem majors. from these data we aim to improve student training in the use of dichotomous keys for species identification, with a continued approach that can be then used to provide guidelines for how forensic scientists should approach dichotomous key training. keywords: insect identification, entomology, classification, key character . introduction in science, the ability to quickly identify a specimen with accuracy and precision is a challenge. identification keys are a central cataloging and naming tool for diverse groups of organisms, such as: animals (e.g.—1), plants (e.g.—2), and even pollen grains (e.g.—3). identification keys hold a lot in common with decision trees, guiding the individual to a final decision based on criteria and decisions. such keys are not limited to just extant species data, having been used to connect fossils with living groups (4). further, identification keys are applicable to even nonbiological groups, such as soil types (5, 6), minerals (7, http://www.minsocam.org/msa/collectors_corner/id/miner al_id_keyi1.htm), and anthropological artifacts (e.g.— http://www.projectilepoints.net). forensically, identification keys are utilized in many ways, such as: fingerprints (8), skeletal osteology (9), entomological evidence (10), and even presumptive drug testing (11). exposure and training in using identification keys in forensic science is an important curricular consideration when teaching students scientific analysis. this is especially true considering forensic science straddles stem and non-stem as it strives to bring together academic and practitioner viewpoints. furthermore, the use of identification keys is something that is best learned by doing, since it involves direct observation skills that require practice to perfect. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2019 journal forensic science education stamper figure 1: example single-access (1a) and multi-access (1b) key for four fly species. each species displays different character states, denoted by either size or color differences in the schematics above (species 1-4; species is abbreviated as sp.). both keys allow for species-level diagnosis, but do so in different ways. the single-access key provides a structured set of pre-constructed decisions (denoted in couplets: 1a+1b, 2a+2b, 3a+3b) that guide the user through the identification. the multi-access key provides the same data, but in an unconstructed format, with no guidance through the process of identification. in the multi-access format, the user can begin from any character and move to others as they wish. there are two types of identification keys: single-access keys (figure 1.a) and multi-access keys (figure 1.b; 12). in the single-access key model, the reviewer is confronted with a fixed set of identification steps, in a fixed sequential order. each step in this process is called a node, and presents the reviewer with a set of choices. this set of choices is called a couplet, and the outcome of that choice leads to the next set of decisions. at some point the choice will lead to some final categorization of the reviewed item (12). decisions are either dichotomous (two outcomes possible) or polytomous (multiple outcomes possible), although the dichotomous option is more often seen. the dichotomous decision set-up is so common that these types of keys are colloquially known as dichotomous keys even though the decision system is not always dichotomous in nature. multi-access keys operate in a very different format from single-access keys with the same end result. in this model, the reviewer can approach identification from any step, and follow the next steps in any sequence until a final decision is reached. multi-access keys are often digital, interactive keys, such as a lucid key (lucidcentral.org). since our work does not involve multi-access keys, we will not elaborate further on this concept. identification keys are often tied to the taxonomy (arrangement methods) of the groups being studied. systematic designation systems, such as the modern biological classification system (bcs; 13) or the soil taxonomy system (sts; 5) present an all-inclusive tiered system, whereby all lower classification levels fall under a higher order tier. for example, under the modern bcs the major taxonomic categories (taxon) are: life>domain>kingdom>phylum>class>order>family>genus>species mammals and diptera (flies) are both classified together under the kingdom animalia, but belong to different phyla (chordata vs. arthropoda). therefore, if we were presented with an identification key that keyed to the level of kingdom only, both homo sapiens (a mammal) and phormia regina (a dipteran) would key out together at that level. good identification keys include couplets that are diagnostic. a diagnostic couplet is one wherein you can distinguish a single taxon from all others. not all nodes can be diagnostic. for example, in figure 1a, node one is nondiagnostic, whereas nodes two and tree are diagnostic, since they result in the smallest-level distinction available on the key (species-level, in this case). keys are diagnostic to the smallest level of category they are designed to distinguish. this is true even when the identification key being used features a visual component, since those visual keys work off of an underlying written description, and often include written descriptions of the key distinguishing characters in the couplet with the visual component. taxon diagnosis requires a broad understanding of the taxa in question. a great deal of exclusive vocabulary can surround the very precise work of taxon diagnosis, especially since taxonomists do not always agree on the importance of features to produce a taxonomy. authoritative works such as the international zoological code of nomenclature (http://iczn.org/code) aims to stabilize the naming and revision of animal names. at the most basic level of the key, if the feature(s) of the couplet is unable to diagnostically distinguish the taxa, then it is not a fully diagnostic key. proper use of identification keys is integral to proper decision making and can have far reaching impacts. for example, the misidentification of a long-horned beetle species in canada as a native instead of non-native species http://iczn.org/code) j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2019 journal forensic science education stamper resulted in a major pest outbreak of this species almost a decade later (14). likewise, in forensics, the misidentification of a specific drug in a nik (www.forensicsource.com) presumptive test could prevent the tester from understanding they have probable cause to further their investigation. for example, it is important to be able to correctly discriminate between morphine, which may be prescribed, and heroin, which is an illicit drug. there is a common understanding (especially among groups such as entomologists) that the use of identification keys requires training and practice in order to become proficient at the use of these tools. accurate use of identification keys requires training and practice. the first time a person uses a key the results are likely to be poor (14). anecdotally, undergraduate students in advanced entomology courses that include training on identification keys consistently have error rates as high as 50% even after a full semester of practice (14). an alternative to using identification keys is relying upon specimen visual gestalt, or “sight id,” for identification. in this type of situation, visual ques are assessed simultaneously without a defined key or methodology. unknown specimens are compared to known assemblages, and from this comparison, identifications are made. we could find no discussion on the relative success of such endeavors, but this is generally seen as a common decision-making system among many biological systematics groups. there are potential problems with this gestalt approach: 1) without the formal dichotomous keys to guide the user, the decision can be biased by user preferences or knowledge limitations (15), 2) there is a lack of confidence in the results, due to no standard being followed (16). in recent decades, there has been increasing emphasis on stem education and student performance in preparation for stem careers (17). this emphasis on stem education should not erase the interdisciplinary research and learning that happens in undergraduate education. interdisciplinary research and interdisciplinary instruction opportunities have been a cornerstone of immersive and intensive experiences for undergraduate students (18). interdisciplinary instruction and research realize that there are differing skill sets of stem and nonstem majors. a degree from a stem field, as defined by the u.s. department of homeland security (19), is a degree that contains engineering, biological sciences, mathematics, technology, physical sciences, or a related field. as defined, emphasis on the stem disciplines may leave out training in dozens of other majors and disciplines that are equally valuable and necessary for the workforce. forensic science, classified as a stem discipline under these criteria, nevertheless contains elements of nonstem education that are vital to producing a good forensic scientist. in this way, a more balanced interdisciplinary approach is needed, and these are indeed highlighted in the forensic science education program accreditation commission standards 4.1a (revised 2019; http://fepacedu.org) when they include topics such as: courtroom testimony, introduction to law, quality assurance, ethics, professional practice, and evidence identification, collection, and processing. the value of the interdisciplinary instructional and research opportunities has proven invaluable to student success in the educational, research, and lab settings (18). stem majors are often well-suited for “concrete tasks” with emphasis on tangible objectives with “right answers”. non-stem majors tend to be more suited on the holistic and non-tangible aspects of project management (20). successful interdisciplinary teamwork combines the strengths of both sets of cognitive and educational attributes for more comprehensive and productive projects and assignments (21). furthermore, employers recruit with interdisciplinarity in mind, focused on: technical aptitude, interpersonal skills, and team playing (22). interdisciplinary teamwork is productive, efficient, and accurate. springer, stanne, and donovan (23) conducted a meta-analysis of the effects of small group learning on undergraduates and found positive correlations between small team learning in stem and achievement, persistence, and attitudes. they found that students in small groups performed better than those who were not exposed to group learning (23). in our study, we investigated the performance of small teams (pairs) in a stem course when pairs are constructed as stem only, non-stem only, and interdisciplinary (stem + nonstem) teams. we explore whether interdisciplinarity also matters in introductory forensic science stem courses. in our study, sought to understand how well students successfully followed visual dichotomous keys to the correct identification, with the goal of figuring out how to alter the labs to improve student performance. we hypothesized that 1) students would improve their ability to correctly identify a specimen to species when exposed to the same keys two weeks in a row, 2) when paired with another individual and had to agree on a final identification together, after having worked on that identification first by themselves, 3) students would improve from their initial success rate once paired with another student and required to compare their answers, 4) student self-evaluation of confidence in decisions would help guide them in identifying mistakes. we exposed undergraduate students taking a forensic analysis course to basic insect anatomy and visual species identification using a publicly available online key for forensically important flies (24). over two lab sessions, students completed identifications for multiple specimens of either adult flies using an online key (24), larval flies using an in-house key (see supplemental s1), or adult carrion beetles (25). in lab one, paired students individually recorded their nodal decisions, rated their confidence in those decisions, and then compared those decisions with their partner, with an option to correct if they found differences. in lab two, individual students http://www.forensicsource.com/ http://fepac-edu.org/ http://fepac-edu.org/ j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2019 journal forensic science education stamper recorded their nodal decisions, rated their confidence in those decisions, but did not compare results with a partner. methods confidence calibration calibration refers to the degree to which learners’ judgments about their own learning or decisions match the level of learning or decision accuracy they actually manifest (e.g., 26). thus, students’ calibration is a key factor on their self-regulation of learning (e.g., 27). for example, when students are overconfident they are likely to fail using better study strategies or allocate the necessary time to improve performance (e.g., 28). on the other hand, when students are under-confident, they might allocate unnecessary time and effort to learn items that had already been mastered (29). calibration is particularly important as it is significantly related to academic performance (28). the level of confidence in one’s own answer or decision is also related to the likelihood of correcting that answer or decision. interestingly, and somewhat counterintuitively, high confidence errors are more likely to be corrected than errors made with low confidence (29, 30, 31, 32). this effect – hypercorrection of high-confidence errors – is particularly striking because most theories posit that high confidence responses are the ones learners believe most strongly or that have a stronger activation in memory (33) and therefore should be less likely to be updated than low confidence responses. however, to our knowledge, no one has looked at: 1) the relationship between confidence and willingness to change a correct response to a wrong response or 2) effects of confidence in collaborative decision making. moreover, the effects of confidence in real world classroom activities has also been highly disregarded (for an exception, see 34). in our studies we accounted for gender and researched the relationship between this variable and both calibration [or confidence level] and likelihood of response change after collaboration. lundeberg, fox, & puncochar (35) reported that undergraduate students are in general overconfident in their exam responses but when they are incorrect, male students are more overconfident than female students. regarding academic performance, students with higher academic performance tend to be lees overconfident than student with poorer academic performance (27). experiment 1 subjects data were collected from undergraduate students enrolled in entm 22820: forensic analysis during spring 2016 (n = 101) and spring 2017 (n=114). these data came from student participation in regular laboratory activities. this course is open to all disciplines as a part of the core curriculum of the university procedure & materials during a 110-minute laboratory class, an individual student was asked to identify eight forensically important specimens. four of the specimens consisted of forensically important blow flies (diptera: calliphoridae) and four specimens consisted of forensically important beetles (coleoptera). each student was to find a partner and work individually within their pair and compare their answers at the end. prior to the laboratory class, each student had to label a lateral image of a blow fly, including four directional terms (anterior, posterior, dorsal, and ventral) along with eleven characters found on a blow fly (leg, wing, anterior spiracle, calypters, basicosta, palps, antennae, aristae, meron, halteres and gena). these characters were found with the use of a blow fly dichotomous pictorial key (24). in the 2017 collection period, care was taken in class to ensure students completely filled out their identification worksheets, especially to provide confidence ratings, which were not always recorded in experiment 1. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2019 journal forensic science education stamper blow fly specimens each student identified the four blow fly specimens alone with the use of a leica ez4 hd stereomicroscope, using the cutter & dahlem (24) blow fly key. each specimen contained an identifier associated with a key, which gave no indication of species. students were instructed to begin under the heading entitled “identification of calliphoridae species”. the cutter & dahlem (24) key is a dichotomous pictorial key, allowing each student to focus on a particular trait and decide between one of two options, i.e. is a character absent or present? as the student selected their choice it brought them to another node, where they again repeated their choice selection on a new character. this continued until they reached an end point, which in this key would be a species identification. each student decision was recorded and students assigned a confidence level (1-5) as shown in figure 2. a value of 1 indicated a low confidence in their decision, while a 5 indicated a high confidence in their decision. along with their decision criteria each student recorded the specimen number and their own identification. after each person within a pair completed the identification by themselves, they compared their answers to their partner (also recording this information on their worksheet). if both partner’s identifications matched they recorded the species name under “final identification of sample”, if the specimens did not match they reanalyzed their decision table to see where they differed. they then reanalyzed the specimen to see if they reached an identification they both agreed upon and recorded their final answer on the appropriate line. beetle specimens students were provided with a “forensic insect identification cards” pictorial flipbook (25) and four unknown beetle specimens. as with the blow flies, each beetle contained an identifier associated with a key, which gave no indication of species. each student recorded the specimen set and sample number of each beetle. they then looked through the flip book until they found the beetle that they thought was the specimen they had. they had to write a justification as to why they chose that beetle species and record the length of each beetle. after each person in a pair completed the identification by themselves, they compared their answers to their partner (also recording this information on their worksheet). data alignment and analysis nodal decisions the cutter & dahlem (24) and the internal larval key (s1) dichotomous keys are organized so that, when starting at the beginning of the key, decisions either direct to the next node or provide species identification. student nodal decisions were recorded in numbered format according to the next position the key sent them to, until they reach the identification that was recorded as “id”. some students began their identification at a key to families of diptera before reaching the key to species of calliphoridae (24), which added multiple steps to the identification process and therefore made it more difficult for them. these students’ responses were recorded but not used in the analysis. the identification of beetles did not use a dichotomous key, but instead a set of forensic insect identification cards (25), therefore it was not possible to record their nodal decisions, but their initial and final identification was recorded using a format similar to figure 1. confidence along with their nodal decisions students were asked to rate their confidence at each decision they made on a scale from 1 (not confident at all) to 5 (very confident). this was recorded using the same numbered scale from 15. if a student did not rate their confidence at any step, a period was recorded into the spread sheet to show that information was not available, and they were dropped from the analysis. data analysis performance data were analyzed, in terms of accuracy, for each individual student and also for the pair. performance and confidence differences between majors (stem vs. non-stem) were also analyzed. only data from students who worked in pairs and completed all the confidence ratings were included in the analyses. differences in performance between the two keys were analyzed using paired samples t-tests. differences in performance and confidence depending on majors were analyzed using independent samples t-tests. pairs constitution and performance was subject to descriptive analysis. performance in lab 1 and lab 2 was compared using paired samples t-tests. finally, the average accuracy of students’ decision in each node in the key for fly identification (in the adult stage for both laboratories, and in the larvae stage for laboratory 2) was calculated. this nodal accuracy was subjected to a descriptive analysis, by species. for all the tests performed, the assumptions for constant variance and normality were checked with preliminary diagnostic analyses. whenever the equal variance assumption was violated, a welch’s t-test was performed instead of the standard t-test. likewise, whenever the normality assumption was violated, a nonparametric test was performed to compare the group differences. wilcoxon sign-rank test was used in place of paired t-test, and mann whitney wilcoxon test was chosen as an alternative to independent samples t-test. all performance data are presented in terms of proportions (where 1 would equal 100% accuracy) and all confidence data are presented in terms of averages of values from the 1-5 scale used. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2019 journal forensic science education stamper results laboratory 1 a total of 32 students’ data were analyzed in 2016 (stem =12, non-stem = 20), and this was increased to one hundred students in 2017 (stem =36, non-stem = 64). regarding performance in species identification (see table 1 for the full data on performance and confidence for spring 2016 and 2017, lab 1), students’ initial accuracy did not differ from their final accuracy, i.e., after discussing with the partner. this pattern occurred for both the flies identification (2016: m = .39 vs. m = .41; 2017: m = .36 vs. m = .37, for initial and final accuracy, respectively), 2016: t(31) = 0.37, p = .712, d = .06, 2017: t(99) = 0.52, p = .604, d = 0.03; and for beetles identification (2016: m = .96 vs. m = .94; 2017: m = .84 vs. m = .83, for initial and final accuracy, respectively), 2016: wilcoxon sign-rank z = -0.41, p = .679, 2017: t(99) = -0.89, p = .374, d = -0.03. the comparison between the accuracy for each one of the keys showed significantly higher accuracy for the beetles identification than for the flies identification, both for the initial identification, 2016: wilcoxon sign-rank z = 4.77, p < .001; 2017: t(99) = 11.61, p <.001, d = 1.74, and for the final identification, 2016: wilcoxon sign-rank z = 4.83, p < .001; 2017: t(99) = 11.28, p <.001, d = 1.62. differences between majors were also analyzed (see table 2). overall, no significant effects emerged. both stem and non-stem majors showed similar initial accuracy when identifying flies (2016: m = .46 vs. m = .35; 2017: m = .37 vs. m = .35, for stem and non-stem majors, respectively), 2016: t(30) = 1.11, p = .277, d =.41; 2017: t(98) = 0.30, p = .766, d = 0.06, and when identifying beetles (2016: m = .96 vs. m = .96; 2017: m = .89 vs. m = .80, for stem and non-stem majors, respectively), 2016: mann whitney wilcoxon z = -0.12, p = .902; 2017: welch’s t(96.56) = 1.61, p = .110, d = 0.31. the same pattern was obtained for the final accuracy for flies identification (2016: m = .0.42 vs. m = .40; 2017: m = .35 vs. m = .37, for stem and non-stem majors, respectively), 2016: t(30) = 0.17, p = .868, d = 0.06; 2017: t(98) = -0.30, p = .767, d = 0.06. for the final accuracy for beetles identification, a numerical advantage for nonstem students emerged for 2016, while a numerical advantage for stem students emerged for 2017 (2016: m = .83 vs. m = 1.00; 2017: m = .89 vs. m = .79, for stem and non-stem majors, respectively). however, neither reached significance, 2016: mann whitney wilcoxon z = -1.86, p = .063; 2017: welch’s t(97.27) = 1.87, p = .064, j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2019 journal forensic science education stamper d= 0.36. average confidence1 ratings in flies’ identifications also did not differ between majors (2016: m = 4.39 vs. m = 4.23; 2017: m = 3.93 vs. m = 3.75, for stem and non-stem majors, respectively), 2016: t(30) = 0.759, p = .454, d = 0.28; 2017: t(98) = 1.40, p = .164, d = 0.30. pair performance (i.e., final accuracy), depending on their constitution was also analyzed. in 2016, there was a total of 16 pairs, eight of which were constituted by one stem major and one non-stem major (mixed pairs), six of which were constituted by two non-stem majors (non-stem pairs), and by two stem majors (stem pairs). in 2017 there was a total of 50 pairs, 16 of which were constituted by one stem major and one non-stem major (mixed pairs), 24 of which were constituted by two non-stem majors (non-stem pairs), and ten by two stem majors (stem pairs). given the low number of pairs in 2016, no statistical analyses were performed, although a description of the data is depicted in table 3. for 2017, independent samples t-tests were performed on final accuracy for fly identifications and on final accuracy for beetle identifications. regarding final accuracy on flies identification, mixed pairs performed better than non-stem pairs (m = .45 vs. m = .29, respectively), although the differences did not reach significance, t(38) = 1.82, p = .076, d = 0.59. mixed pairs and stem pairs did not differ greatly (m = .45 vs. m = .40, respectively), despite a numerical advantage for mixed pairs, t(24) = 0.54, p = .594, d = 0.22. this pattern of results was the same for beetle identifications. mixed pairs performed better than non-stem pairs (m = .92 vs. m = .71, respectively), welch’s t(36.82) = 2.17, p = .037, d = 0.66. mixed pairs and stem pairs did not statistically differ (m = .92 vs. m = .85, respectively), despite a numerical advantage for mixed pairs, t(24) = 0.78, p = .440, d = 0.31. 1 average confidence was calculated by averaging each nodal confidence rating for each one of the species identified. laboratory 2 a total of 57 and 84 students’ data were analyzed for 2016 and 2017, respectively. regarding performance (see table1), students were equally accurate when identifying adult flies (2016: m = .45; 2017: m = .45) and larval fly stages (2016: m = .51; 2017: m = .43), 2016: t(56) = 1.48, p = .145, d = 0.24; 2017: t(83) = -0.53, p = .599, d = 0.06. however, students were significantly less confident in their accuracy when identifying adult flies (2016: m = 4.15; 2017: m = 3.94) than when identifying larval fly stages (2016: m = 4.29; 2017: m = 4.11), 2016: t(56) = 2.90, p = .005, d = 0.26; 2017: t(83) = 3.86, p <.001, d = 0.29. similarly, to what happened in lab 1, no significant major differences were obtained, although it should be mentioned that of the 50 students who reported their major, only 11 were stem majors in 2016. comparison between laboratory 1 and laboratory 2 accuracy in adult flies’ identification was compared between laboratories (lab 1 vs. lab 2; see table 4). a total of 108 students’ data (2016: n = 32; 2017: n = 76) were analyzed, using a paired samples t-test. initial students’ classifications were not significantly different between lab 1 and lab 2 in 2016 (m lab1 = 0.39, m lab 2 = 0.41, t(31) = 0.21, p = .840, d = 0.05), whereas initial students’ classifications were more accurate in lab 2 than in lab 1 in 2017(m lab 1 = .37 vs. m lab 2 = .45, t(75) = 2.31, p = .024, d = 0.34. regarding the comparison between final students’ classifications in lab 1 and individual classification in lab 2, no significant differences were found in 2016 (m lab1 = 0.41, m lab 2 = 0.41, t(31) = 0.00, p = 1.00, d = 0.00) and 2017 (m lab 1 = .37 vs. m lab 2 = .45, t(75) = 1.96, p = .054, d = 0.30), although a numerical advantage for lab 2 emerged in 2017. there were no significant differences between confidence ratings in lab 1 and lab 2 in 2016 (m = 4.29 vs. m = 4.15, respectively), t(31) = 1.04, p = .307, d = 0.25. while in 2017, there were significant differences j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2019 journal forensic science education stamper between confidence ratings in lab 1 and lab 2, with students being less confident in lab 1 (m = 3.80) than in lab 2 (m = 3.96), t(75) = 3.07, p = .003, d = 0.28. discussion and conclusion it is generally thought that students begin poorly but improve upon repeated use of dichotomous keys. our findings support this claim. when compared individually, there appear to be no difference in the initial to final accuracy within a single identification event, regardless of whether a key is used (in the case of flies) or a gestalt visual identification system (beetles; table 1). individual student accuracy does increase with repeated exposure to the key, as shown here by increases in initial accuracy in lab 2 over initial and final accuracy in lab 1 (table 1). stem and non-stem students perform equally well with initial decision accuracy for both flies and beetles, but stem students increase accuracy over non-stem in final accuracy (table 2). however, when students are classified into stem/stem, stem/non-stem (mixed) and non-stem/non-stem pairings, we see significant gains in the mixed pairings over either of the pure pairings (table 3). this supports the earlier research of springer et al. (23) where stem teams outperformed non-stem teams, and builds off it, indicating that mixed teams perform even better. interestingly, we find no difference in gender, amongst these gains, and no relationship between individual student confidence and success (results not reported). the results are potentially profound—mixing stem non-stem students seems to produce the best gains when practicing this type of skill. the gains are statistically significant, and require little effort on the part of the educator to put into practice. organizing student groups to maximize stem / non-stem relationships should be relatively easy in a modern school setting, where majors are knowable and databased. we hypothesize that these increased results are based upon student interactions, and the unique perspectives they bring to the classroom. however, this requires further research to verify. there is a potential confounding problem between the 2016 and 2017 data. in 2016 we discovered that students did not always record their nodal decisions, something that confounds our ability to investigate how students influence each other’s decision-making capabilities. in 2017 tas were instructed to specifically work with students to ensure they were properly filling out their nodel decisions prior to comparison—as the lab was intended to be completed. because of this, only 32 student’s data from 2016 was usable by our analysis, compared to 100 students data for 2017. this means that for laboratory 1 only 31.68% of 2016 samples were evaluated, with the remaining being removed due to incomplete data or not working in pairs, but in 2017 this increased to an 87.72% acceptance rate. it is possible that this injected some sort of bias or other issue into the evaluation. because of this, we recommend that further studies should be undertaken to confirm these results. from a forensics viewpoint, this seems to indicate that introductory courses might not be best served by being “majors only” but rather can be organized for the largest learning gains by being diverse in nature. further work should be carried out to verify that this type of learning trend continues when student populations are mixed, both for dichotomous keys and the other areas of forensic science referenced in the introduction of this article (e.g.— nik kit testing, anthropology, etc.). acknowledgements the authors wish to thank gregory dahlem and regina cutter for producing their online visual key. such work allows for basic instruction in these essential tools of the naturalist. further, ts thanks all his students who took the entm 22820 course, and also the student and graduate student teaching assistants who ensured uniformity amongst lab sections. without their work, this analysis would not be possible. references 1. castro-valderrama, u., carvalho, g. s., peck, d. c., valdez-carrasco, j. m., & napoles, j. r. (2019). two new species of the spittlebug genus ocoaxo fennah (hemiptera: cercopidae) from mexico, and keys for the groups, group three, and first subgroup. neotropical entomology, 48(2), 260-268. doi:10.1007/s13744-018-0629-0 2. contico, f. p., & fleischmann, a. (2016). the first record of the boreal bog species drosera rotundifolia (droseraceae) from the philippines, and a key to the philippine sundews. blumea, 61(1), 24-28. doi:10.3767/000651916x691330 3. lacourse, t., beer, k. w., & hoffman, e. h. (2018). identification of conifer stomata in pollen samples from western north america (vol 232, pg 140, 2016). review of palaeobotany and palynology, 258, 265265. doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2018.07.003 j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(1) © 2019 journal forensic science education stamper 4. gillung, j. p., & winterton, s. l. 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(1994). highly confident but wrong: gender differences and similarities in confidence judgments. journal of educational psychology, 86,114-121. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins what is the cure for limited dna? a forensic science course focused on ngs kelly m. elkins and cynthia b. zeller chemistry department, forensic science program, towson university, 8000 york road, towson, md 21252, corresponding authors: kmelkins@towson.edu, czeller@towson.edu abstract: course-based undergraduate research (cure) courses can increase the number and diversity of undergraduate students involved in research projects compared to one-to-one traditional student-faculty research experiences or research internships. next generation sequencing (ngs) is an emerging method for performing dna typing for forensic applications. we report upon our development and implementation of a forensic biology cure course that introduces and employs advanced sequencing methods, including ngs to answer forensic questions, to students. keywords: forensic science, cure, undergraduate research, teaching methods, diversity, student engagement introduction several institutions with forensic science programs accredited by the forensic science education programs accreditation commission (fepac) offer courses with content on the theory and practice of modern forensic dna analysis with a focus on short tandem repeat (str) analysis (1). traditional str analysis employs capillary electrophoresis (ce) to separate autosomal dna (adna) str amplicons following polymerase chain reaction (pcr) amplification of the targeted regions. in cases in which the only recoverable dna is of very low quantity, the samples are referred to as low template (lt) or trace and an str profile may be unobtainable. solutions to the problem of lt dna include reanalyzing the sample multiple times and reporting the consensus profile or concentrating the sample to obtain the best profile possible. alternatively, more sensitive methods for dna typing can be used. massively parallel sequencing (mps) or next generation sequencing (ngs) offers a solution to the low template problem. also pcr-based, ngs is more sensitive than traditional dna typing methods. additionally, more loci are targeted and shorter amplicons are produced with ngs dna typing kits for forensic use. for example, using the verogen forenseqtm signature prep kit, up to 58 strs, the amelogenin locus, and 172 single nucleotide polymorphisms (snps) are amplified in the same reaction mixture and up to 96 samples can be sequenced simultaneously (2). the snps offer additional loci for discrimination as well as phenotypic estimation of hair color, eye color and skin tone and biogeographical ancestry (bga) estimation. forensic labs have begun to adopt phenotype and bga estimation to missing persons casework and to aid in identifying human remains in mass disaster and historical archeology cases (3). the first criminal case employing ngs data leading to a conviction in sexual assault case in the netherlands was reported in 2019 (4). cure is an acronym for course-based undergraduate research experience (5). cure courses may exhibit one or more of the cure elements: research activities, discovery, relevance, collaboration, and iteration (5). the elements align to the four highest levels of the revised bloom’s taxonomy hierarchy of learning which includes the skills remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create (6). traditional courses have been criticized for not drawing and developing sufficient talent to sustain the bioscience workforce pipeline (7,8). clickers are one approach that has been used to promote active learning in classrooms (8,9). cure courses represent another approach to active learning and aim to better align how science is taught to how it is done in the workforce. in cure courses, some or all student instruction on course content is delivered in the form of a research project which students conduct in small groups (10-15). cure courses have been shown to be able to engage more students and a more diverse student population in research than traditional mentor-mentee models and have been shown to have a significant effect on students' intentions to pursue researchrelated careers (16). depending upon the structure of the cure course, students develop the research question and methodology to be used, collect and analyze data and report upon the results. at towson university (tu), we developed a cure focused on introducing students to research while simultaneously teaching them about advanced sequencing methods including ngs and how they can be used to j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins answer ancestry and relatedness questions for human remains samples, determining compatible dna extraction and direct pcr approaches for various samples, investigating the effects of sampling and dna source from different bones, and investigating the effectiveness of dna enrichment tools. tu is a large, public university with a carnegie classification of doctoral/ professional university (dpu). tu offers fepac-accredited undergraduate and graduate degree programs focused on forensic science. with a master of science in forensic science (msfs) degree program enrolling 50-60 students and approximately 150 declared forensic chemistry majors seeking a bachelor of science degree serviced primarily by four full-time forensic faculty and a program director, we do not currently have the capacity to offer traditional one-on-one studentfaculty research experiences to all of our undergraduate majors and our graduate students who are required to conduct research in accordance with our fepac accreditation. in addition, the majority of our students are “non-traditional” in the traditional sense meaning that they are older, reside off-campus and work nearly full-time. their commuting, class, and work schedules make it difficult to impossible for them to undertake a research project. our undergraduate forensic chemistry majors are required to complete a capstone experience which can be an internship, undergraduate research or a capstone course focused on research, writing and preparation skills. however, the faculty feel strongly that practicing being a scientist in a research lab is the ultimate capstone. thus, in addition to providing students an opportunity to learn and practice ngs in a regular class setting, an additional goal of the cure course is to engage more undergraduate students and a more diverse group of students in research. in this paper, we report upon the design of a cure course focused on ngs including the research projects, student population, class meeting time, assignments, grading, survey results, lessons learned, changes made for the second iteration of the course, and conclusion. cure courses and experiences have been offered to general chemistry (13), cell biology (10), molecular biology (11), bioinformatics (12), and organismal biology students (14), among others (15). one of us developed and incorporated shorter research-based experiences in our biochemistry lab and criminalistics ii courses many years ago (17,18) and others have reported cures at recent conference symposia (19). to our knowledge, this is the first, full-length report of a cure course for forensic science students. overview of cure course design next generation sequencing in forensic science (3 credits) was taught twice as a special topics course: once each in the spring 2019 and 2020 15-week semesters. in 2019, we scheduled the class around other courses requiring the same lab space and other courses enrolled by upper-level students and held class for 100 minutes each on wednesday and thursday mornings. we designed the course to introduce advanced sequencing techniques including next generation sequencing to our undergraduate and graduate forensic science students. the goals of our cure course are shown in table 1. the students study traditional short tandem repeat (str) dna typing methods using capillary electrophoresis (ce) in other courses; the goals of our cure course included introducing forensic science students to ngs, working with human remains and difficult, low template samples, and improving their report writing and delivery skills. the student learning objectives of the course are listed in table 2. they focus on the selection, implementation and reporting of dna typing results. table 1 course goals goal 1 the fundamental goal of this course is to introduce next generation sequencing using the forenseqtm signature prep kit to enhance forensic methodology knowledge, skills, and marketability of students pursuing careers as forensic scientists in forensic laboratories. goal 2 an emphasis is placed on applying concepts of autosomal dna typing to the analysis of human remains and forensic type samples in the law enforcement setting. goal 3 students will learn and exercise problemsolving and troubleshooting skills and to be persistent in the laboratory goal 4 students will integrate human identification concepts and analyze human remains and other samples using next generation sequencing and report the results in a paper suitable for publication in a forensic journal and in poster and oral presentations suitable for a forensic meeting. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins table 2 student leaning objectives 1. describe dna sequencing methods 2. select the appropriate dna sequencing tool for a problem 3. summarize process of dna-based human identification 4. design a project to analyze human remains samples and samples from collection devices 5. design a project and provide rationale and hypotheses 6. judge efficiency of sampling techniques and decide which to use 7. employ dna extraction, quantitation and library preparation techniques and troubleshoot as necessary 8. generate sequence data 9. create graphs and charts to summarize data 10 assemble data and results into a research paper suitable for publication in a forensic journal 11. prepare and present oral and poster presentations 12. reflect on the research project experience research projects and sample acquisition the research in our labs is diverse and includes investigating modifications to improve dna extraction (20), determine the optimal dna extraction method for difficult samples (21), testing methods to eliminate dna contamination, determining the optimal dna recovery region of long bones (22), developing pcr melt assays to genotype mitochondrial and phenotypic snps (and using sanger sequencing to confirm the results) (23), assaying dna methylation variation in body fluids using pcr melt assays (24) and pyrosequencing, and applying whole genome amplification to improve dna typing for degraded and low template samples. a team of investigators from the tu department of biological sciences was awarded a u.s. national science foundation (nsf) grant in 2013 that funded the purchase of an illumina miseq instrument. we were awarded grants in 2018 and 2019 from the tu fisher college of science and mathematics endowment fund that enabled us to upgrade the instrument to a verogen miseq fgx for forensic applications, obtain the universal analysis software (uas) for performing sequencing and analysis, and participate in a three-day intensive training course. this work was performed under the auspices of, and supported in part by, a howard hughes medical institute inclusive excellence grant to tu. the authors were part of the second cohort of faculty recruited and accepted into the program by competitive application to incorporate cure experiences into regular courses toward the goals of a structural change throughout tu. unlike the faculty in cohort 1 who were all members of the department of biological sciences, we are members of the chemistry department. like several of the biologists in cohort 1, our formal training is in biochemistry and molecular biology. with the hhmi program, we participated in 50 hours of professional development during the academic year. the fcsm grants also supplied initial sequencing reagents and consumables for training and teaching purposes. dna standards and human blood and saliva were purchased from commercial suppliers including lee biosolutions (maryland heights, mo), origene (rockville, md) and promega (madison, wi). because of the new capabilities of our lab, we were able to develop a new collaboration with maryland department of transportation (mdot) highway administration anthropologist dr. julie schablitsky and dr. dana kollmann, a tu forensic anthropology professor and former crime scene investigator. maryland is an old state and the cutting of new roads for development has unearthed unmarked human remains. relatedly, dr. kollmann is frequently asked to analyze teeth and bones excavated from several historic sites including those in maryland and virginia. the ngs approach we adopted enables determination of familial relationships and sex typing, differentiation of monozygotic twins, and bga and phenotype prediction. currently mdot and dr. kollmann’s labs send out their samples for dna typing to several labs across the country. dr. kollmann had also obtained modern bone samples from a body donation facility for teaching purposes. the collaboration provided us with unique samples that our students could incorporate into the cure projects. other items we had acquired included dna collection devices supplied by companies that were interested in our performance evaluations of their devices, a whole genome amplification kit, and modern teeth we obtained from the university of maryland dental school (baltimore, md). due to the time constraints of the course as well as the lengthy institutional review board (irb) process, we decided to provide students with options for samples that did not required irb approval. cure implementation when we developed and taught the course for the first time, we front-loaded the course with traditional lectures comprising core content; we flipped the timeline in the second iteration and front-loaded the course with lab work. the final timeline is shown in figure 1. the lecture content included the history of sequencing and the evolution from first to third (or fourth) generation sequencing, applications of strs and snps for forensic dna typing, history and practice of forensic dna typing of strs and snps using ce, dna typing issues and troubleshooting, and practice of using ngs to sequence forensically relevant samples. these lectures were j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins followed by lectures on dna extraction, dna quantitation, library preparation, creating a sequencing run in the instrument software, instrument maintenance, performing a sequencing run, data analysis using the manufacturer’s software and open-source tools, how the software works, and laboratory details and helpful tips for best sequencing performance. we also scheduled the students to watch pre-recorded forensic ngs seminars by other scientists from a list we provided and planned journal club discussions of ngs papers from the literature. the two journal club sessions focused on the developmental validation of the forenseq signature prep kit and results (2) and analysis of human bone and teeth samples remains using ngs and this kit (25). students earned points by reporting on the seminars in short summaries and participation in journal club. the pre-recorded seminars were assigned on days when the faculty were traveling to conferences and were away from campus. the students were provided class time to work in groups to develop their research questions, chart the samples they identified that they would need to answer the questions they asked and list the graphs and charts they planned to create from the data. owing to the course focus on ngs, the students were asked to make their research questions tractable with ngs. they were told to choose samples that they could obtain or that our team had previously collected. they were informed which ngs sequencing kits and instrumentation were available. they were given the opportunity to decide which pcr primer set to use but were required to justify their choice. we provided feedback on all of the proposals. the students were able to revise the proposals prior to submitting them for grading. halfway through the course, the students were given a take-home essay mid-term exam that assessed their understanding of the material. the remainder of the sessions were focused on collecting and preparing samples for dna extraction, performing dna extraction, quantifying the extracted dna using quantitative pcr, performing library preparation steps, sequencing the samples, analyzing the results, preparing graphs and tables, and preparing written, poster and oral reports. the group submitted reports were graded using rubrics. the groups were not graded on the data obtained but their critical analysis and interpretation of the data and communication of the results. in lieu of a final exam, students presented their oral and poster presentations during the last week of the course and anonymously responded to surveys and reflection questions we prepared. students presented their posters at a multi-department cure poster session. the individual assessments included the pre-recorded seminar summaries, journal club participation, mid-term exam and end-of-semester survey responses. the remainder of the assessments were group work. responding to the surveys was voluntary and students were told that they were not required to answer any question and their grades would not be affected. the course has been renamed and approved by the tu department and university curriculum committees as frsc 422/622 advanced sequencing methods and will continue to be offered annually under the new course numbers. figure 1 chromosomal course mapping of cure weekly timeline. the bands for the lecture, lab and graded activities are denoted with the green, blue and red bands, respectively. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins student population and groups for projects our spring 2019 class was enrolled by 8 graduate students and 2 undergraduate students. the demographics of the course were as follows: 90% female, 10% male, 80% caucasian, and 20% african-american. all of the students had at least limited undergraduate or graduate research experience. both undergraduates had conducted undergraduate research and all of the graduate students had defended project proposals for their research projects the previous spring. the students self-selected into groups focusing on one of four projects based upon their interests and the available samples. the result was two groups of two students and two groups of three students. course outcomes and student work table 3 lists the project titles of the four 2019 projects. the students evaluated body fluid collection devices, whole genome amplification (wga), and modern and historic bone and teeth human remains samples. the students sought to determine if they could obtain str and snp dna profiles from the extracted dna, if wga pretreatment improved ngs profile success, which collection device performed best with different dna extraction methods, if consensus profiles could be obtained with lt samples, and if ancestry and phenotype characteristics could be predicted using ngs. table 3 titles of group project reports in spring 2019 group 1 comparison study of dna profiles: historical and modern bones using ngs and ce group 2 taking a bite out of forensic profiling: the utilization of next generation sequencing on three different ages of teeth group 3 evaluation of swabsqueezer, easicollect+tm, and fta card performance using next generation sequencing group 4 evaluation of whole genome amplification using capillary electrophoresis and next-generation sequencing methods overall, the students performed all of the laboratory work with interest and care and produced high quality reports. we encountered some issues implementing the library preparation steps in a class setting. for example, the bead purification steps need to be performed quickly on a few samples at a time and novices in groups performed the steps relatively slowly. better outcomes were obtained when one, more experienced student performed these steps independently. based upon their previous lab experiences working with purchased body fluid and standard samples, the students expected higher quality sequence data from the samples and found the sequencing data to be frustrating to analyze. but overall, the data reflected the expectations of the faculty for standard dna and degraded and low template samples. all of the groups’ lab work led to dna sequence data and all students gained experience with ngs data analysis. the groups working with human remains samples obtained partial profiles for most of the samples and were able to predict the phenotype and ancestry for the modern bone and teeth samples and some of the historic bone and teeth samples and reported the results to our community partners. full profiles from 3.0 mm punches of dried blood were obtained using the swabsqueezer, easicollect+tm and fta card collection devices. dna was extracted using the manual qiaamp dna investigator kit and ez1 dna investigator kit using the biorobot ez1 and “tip-dance” protocol for fta cards (qiagen, germantown, md) using the manufacturer’s protocols. the students captured a strength of ngs in detecting loci with sequence variations (table 4). table 4 sequence variation (red) detected using ngs reported by collection device project group for a blood sample punched from the swabsqueezer device locus allele reads sequence d2s1338 20 492 tgcctgcctgcctgcctgcc tgccttccttccttccttcct tccttccttccttccttcctt ccttccttccttccttcc 490 tgcctgcctgcctgcctgcc tgcctgccttccttccttcct tccttccttccttccttcctt ccttccttccttccttcc wga treatment improved dna profile success as shown in the venn diagram comparison of recovery of alleles for a dna standard using ngs before wga but after one minute of sonication at 18% and post-wga using the repli-g kit (qiagen, germantown, md) using the manufacturer’s instructions (figure 2). figure 2 venn diagram comparison from uas of typed str loci for a degraded sample (1) and following wga (102) using forenseqtm j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins student presentations the student groups prepared and presented their oral presentations to forensic faculty, the forensic program director and director of the forensic laboratory section at the baltimore police department in 2019 and a crime scene technician for baltimore police department with a background in dna typing in 2020. the presentations were well received by all parties. the four student groups also presented posters in the cure poster session held outside of the regular class time on the last friday of the semester in may 2019. two student groups presented the poster presentations at the 2019 mid-atlantic regional meeting (marm) of the american chemical society (acs) in catonsville, maryland on june 1, 2019. surveys and student feedback there are several “off-the-shelf” assessment instruments that faculty could use to assess their cures; several are tabulated in a paper by shortlidge and brownell (26). student attitudes and reflections about the course were assessed using the student assessment of learning gains (salg) survey (27), laboratory course assessment survey (lcas) (28), and project ownership survey (pos) (29) instruments and open-ended questions we created that were more closely aligned with our cure. the salg, pos and lcas instruments were adopted by the hhmi leadership team to evaluate the grant outcomes. these published tools have been demonstrated to be valid and reliable. we used them to evaluate student outcomes and improve our teaching. as suggested by ohland et al., faculty can incorporate selfand peer evaluations, and analyze them to improve their courses (30). we conducted the surveys during the final exam week of the course. the students were provided a microsoft word document to edit on a computer and instructed not to change the font. a sign in sheet was placed in the chemistry department office. upon completing the survey and printing the forms, the students turned in the surveys to the office anonymously and signed the sheet. all students were given full credit for the survey points when the surveys were returned. lessons learned the lessons learned about student perception from our open-ended survey questions were apparent during class. we asked the ten students (8 grad / 2 ugrad and all female) in the first iteration of the course about their thoughts on several aspects of the course design. on the topic of ideal class size, all of the students felt that the ideal enrollment for the course should be twelve students and four students suggested six as an ideal number. separately, we asked how many students should be the maximum number of students. the majority of the students indicated that the maximum number of students for the course should be eight although a couple felt 15-16 was acceptable. regarding optimal group size, a strong majority indicated two students while a few felt groups of three were acceptable. while the class met for approximately four hours a week in 2019, the majority of the students responded that more class time was needed and one student responded that 10-12 hours a week were needed. four students found four hours acceptable and the majority of students felt that 5-6 hours were needed. the student who felt that 10-12 hours were needed may have been conflating class time with masters research time since the ngs projects were heavily scaffolded on samples procured for student research projects in the first iteration. all of the students indicated that there were not enough lab hours but that there were sufficient lecture hours. all of the students reported that the number of assessments was about right but one felt there could be an additional assignment before the midterm. all of the students reported they understood ngs after the course. after one iteration of working with the forenseq kit for library preparation and the miseq fgx for sequencing, seven of the students reported confidence with the procedure and three said they would need more runs or help with the protocol. our population was students pursuing forensic degrees but when asked if they would prefer a general ngs research or forenseq-focused course, the results were split evenly. the majority of students felt the best feature of the course was the hand-on experience with the forensic library preparation kit and sequencing instrument although one of the students found the data interpretation portion to be the best part and two students responded that the research report and presentation were the best part. ngs is also being used to analyze mitochondrial dna in the forensic setting. when asked if mitochondrial dna analysis be added to the course, almost all of the students responded that it should be a separate course. the majority of students responded that their least favorite part of the course was the time they needed to put in out of class time. other responses include having the take-home midterm over spring break, the group project, having three students in a group, too few hours for analysis, the course structure (perceived lack thereof), and the undergraduates did not like working with the graduate students. one student did not like having the faculty coteach the course. the majority of students felt more time should be allocated to the lab and group work while a few felt the course should allocate more time to theory. changes for second iteration based on the survey results and student feedback we received, we instituted several changes for the second j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins iteration of the course. the first change was to the course meeting times and contact hours. in 2020, after scheduling around existing courses and the students’ schedules, we were able to arrange class time on monday and wednesday afternoons totaling six hours a week. students indicated in their feedback last year that they disliked when class ran over or they had to spend a lot of time out of class. the second change was to the schedule. based upon the feedback we received from the students last spring, we reorganized the schedule to begin the laboratory portion of the course earlier as reflected in figure 1. after presenting introductory lecture material about forensics, applications of forensic analysis, the history of sequencing and different approaches to next generation sequencing, we engaged the students in a discussion of their interests during the first week. we were able to do this, in part, because of the extra class time we scheduled. during the second week of the course, the students drafted their research proposals and submitted them for feedback. by the end of the third week of the course, all students had clear project plans and approved projects. upon considering their interests, three groups were formed with students self-selecting based upon their interests from the three projects that had the highest interest. the groups consisted of two graduate students, one graduate student and one undergraduate student and two undergraduates. based on the feedback from the 2019 cohort, there were no groups of three. we immediately led the students through the steps leading to sequencing. we employed signposting and the just in time (jit) teaching approach and taught prelab content just before the laboratory sessions and data analysis content when the students had data to analyze. adding additional class time and scheduling a longer day (four hour) for lab activities enabled us to complete sample prep and library prep activities during class time and the students were ready to begin sequencing during the week before spring break. students were also able to perform multiple iterations of some steps including pipetting, making dilutions, preparing master mixes, and performing pcr, purification and normalization steps and able to redo steps to correct errors or recheck analyses. the third change was to the prerequisites. we removed the minimum gpa requirement. in the spring of 2020, the course composition was all female including three graduate students and three undergraduate students with 33% identifying as african american and 67% as caucasian. the graduate students had all completed frsc 620 forensic dna analysis and had completed or were coenrolled in frsc 621 advanced dna analysis. the undergraduate students were all seniors majoring in chemistry and had completed general biology. most of the students had also completed frsc 420 forensic body fluid analysis, biol 309 genetics, and biol 409 cellular and molecular biology. because of these changes, we were able to attract a more diverse group in terms of more students who had not had the opportunity to conduct a research project and minority demographics. while three of the students had previous research experience, this was the first research experience for two undergraduates and one graduate student. we were able to meet one of the goals of the hhmi grant: to get more students, including students from minority groups, involved in research. the fourth change we made was to the due date for the midterm exam. while the students still received the midterm exam prior to spring break, they were given two weeks instead of one to complete the exam so they did not have to work on it over break. the fifth change was that we included more intentional mentoring. in 2019, we guided the students toward the final paper including graphs and charts by making suggestions for graphics and pointing the students to journal articles that included different and novel approaches to analyzing similar data. we established an intermediate deadline by which the paper draft was due. each paper was read by peers and the faculty and the groups were provided suggestions for improvement. however, all of the deadlines for the final paper, oral presentation and poster presentation arrived within the last week of the course. also based upon student feedback, in spring 2020, we carefully planned the schedule to guide the students through the process of creating graphs and charts and writing the paper over a month time frame, but we added weekly deadlines using our course management system with a small amount of associated points for achieving the intermediate goals. students were able to upload their work for a grade and we were able to provide feedback on their work electronically. the paper, poster and final presentation deadlines were set so that one major product was due each week in the final three weeks of the course, thus avoiding the due date traffic jam that we encountered last spring. we were accommodating in regards to network and internet complications and making deadlines around other courses. we added concrete lessons on how to create the perfect poster and oral presentation tips. arguably the two biggest changes that occurred during the spring 2020 iteration were not planned. after we loaded the students dna samples for sequencing, the instrument failed mid-run. although we immediately identified the problem and received a quote to repair the instrument, another challenge presented itself. the sars-cov-2 (covid-19) virus caused our campus leadership to close the university campus for all but essential functions and ordered all face-to-face classes online. these events impeded travel and fast instrument repair and forced us to implement our plan b solution. with the instrument down and other campuses in our region also closed, we were not able to sequence the samples the students prepared in class during the semester. our students installed a vpn application that enabled them to access our ngs data server off-campus. with their accounts to login to the software, they were able to access all of the data our j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins research students and 2019 class had collected. we provided the students with the sample details for all of the previously sequenced samples and asked them to develop a new “project” based upon the existing data. because we were all working remotely from our homes, the students each chose a new project and worked individually to produce their papers, posters and oral presentations. nist scientists provided several advanced webinars that we offered to our students as additional learning opportunities. a final change was to the assignments and grading. the graduate students were required to write an 8-10 page review-style research paper on a ngs-related topic of their choosing. a student enrolled in spring 2019 suggested that we add an additional assignment prior to the midterm. this change was supported by our department curriculum committee. further differentiation of the undergraduate and graduate courses was required for the new graduate course to be approved and formally be adopted into the curriculum and catalog. finally, we offered a separate course in spring 2020 focused on advanced sequencing, including ngs, of mtdna which was enrolled by one graduate student in a pilot iteration. discussion both times, the cure course met our student learning goals. we facilitated the students being able to uncover science and be a part of research advancing science rather than feed the student expectation that the faculty will cover the science for them in a lecture. throughout the course, we used signposting to convey transparently progress and completion of tasks in traditional labs and incorporated into the course. we showed feedback loops demonstrating repeats through experiment when we had to prepare samples again or repeat a step. upon seeing the ngs results in 2019, the students were (understandably) deflated. for many of them, it was the first time in their college experience that their experiments resulted in incomplete or poor data. upon seeing their reaction, we immediately pivoted to our second journal club paper (25) discussion which highlighted another lab’s challenges with similar samples and data. the students struggled but we, the faculty, were there to assure and lead them; in education this is referred to as the zone of proximal development. the class employed a student-centered approach model and we functioned as mentors or the guides-on the side rather than the sage(s)-on-the-stage. the students produced very high quality presentations of their research in oral, poster and written form as assessed by the course faculty, program director, and external evaluator. two of the student posters were presented at the mid-atlantic regional meeting (marm) of the american chemical society in may 2019. although the results of our surveys were student perceptions from a small population, we made several changes in 2020 that improved the course. in 2020, we added additional class time to achieve the learning goals. we limited our lectures during the first half of the semester to essential background and theory and the rest of our lectures were short pre-lab type lectures before laboratory and analysis steps. the student-centered approach was most apparent when we only saw our students virtually. we developed a framework to help them to achieve the course goals and guided them through course materials and instituted intermediate deadlines to complete the course products. we created and provided instructions for how to create graphs and charts and download the data that were available to view (and re-view) asynchronously. the students reported upon the data, were provided feedback and closed the loop with the revisions they made prior to submitting their final products. the most important trait for faculty teaching cure courses is flexibility. the demands of unpredictable lab work require the faculty to be flexible and be able to pivot and readjust. the course also offers many opportunities for the faculty to model how they respond to failures or issues in laboratory procedures. while we co-taught our cure course, other faculty employ graduate assistants or undergraduate learning assistants to help with the demands of the course. the change to remote teaching mid-semester in spring 2020 required patience and understanding from our students and us as we all learned to teach and learn using the new online medium. the students in the course represented our student population in forensic courses which is majority female and our master of science in forensic science program which is approximately 95% female. as many of our 2019 students were second year graduate students and senior undergraduate students, the majority had been able to find a research experience. we were inclusive in encouraging students from diverse backgrounds to enroll in the course and served three students (50% of the 2020 class and 18.75% overall) who had not been able to conduct research thus meeting our goal of introducing more students to research. the course and its content has impacted our continuing students in an unexpected way. several students have developed master’s research projects incorporating ngs data, studies of dna recovery and profiles of human remains, and studies of ngs thresholds that would not have been possible without the new capability and what they learned in the course. at least three of our former students interviewed for jobs based in part upon their ngs experience. the cure course was an elective for our graduate and undergraduate students. upon adoption by the undergraduate and graduate programs, we expect the enrollment and number of students we reach will increase. conclusion this cure course offered tu students an opportunity to learn the theory and practice of ngs technology as it is j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins currently being applied to forensic science and exposure to research in a regular course setting. although the number of students the courses have reached so far has been small, the students reported that they enjoyed the experience and a couple were offered positions based upon their ngs experience in the course. as faculty, we are pleased that it is making the students marketable. the cure approach proved successful for students to learn ngs and how to conduct research. the course has been added to the curriculum as a required course for all of our majors in the dna track in our master of science in forensic science and bachelor of science in forensic chemistry programs. students in other fepac-accredited forensic programs would also benefit from instruction on mps / ngs in a cure format and our aim is that other faculty will find the framework convenient to employ or adopt to teach ngs at their institutions. acknowledgements the authors thank julie schablitsky and dana kollmann for providing human remains samples for investigation by the class. the authors thank laura gough (lg), matt hemm (mh), rommel miranda, michelle snyder, chris oufiero, vanessa beauchamp, larry wimmers, and barry margulies for constructive discussions on designing and implementing cure courses and providing ideas for assessment and improvement and mark profili, rana dellarocco and ashley cowan for viewing and evaluating the student presentations. we thank the students in the spring 2019 and spring 2020 cure courses for their patience, cooperation and input: allison bender, laél bullock, paige bowie, tess chart, heather critchfield, zoë garcia, karissa gorr, brianna hutson, brianna kiesel, adam klavens, alicia kreiman, cassie o’hern, kayla nichols, kelsey ritter-gordy, julie travers, and ellyn zeidman. ge health sciences and fast forward forensics donated dna collection devices tested in this study. funding support from the towson university fisher college of science and mathematics endowment fund (to kme and cbz) and howard hughes medical institute inclusive excellence grant (to lg and mh) is acknowledged and without which this project would not have been possible. references 1. elkins km. curriculum and course materials for a forensic dna biology course. biochem mol biol educ 2014;42(1):15-28. 2. jäger ac, alvarez ml, davis cp, guzmán e, han y, way l, walichiewicz p, silva d, pham n, caves g, bruand j, schlesinger f, pond sjk, varlaro j, stephens km, holt cl. developmental validation of the miseq fgx forensic genomics system for targeted next generation sequencing in forensic dna 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longman 2001. 7. thompson c, sanchez j, smith m, costello j, madabushi a, schuh-nuhfer n, miranda r, gaines b, kennedy k, tangrea m, rivers d. improving undergraduate life science education for the biosciences workforce: overcoming the disconnect between educators and industry. cbe life sci educ 2018;17(3):es12,1-8. 8. thorp hh. drop the chalk. science 2020; 367(6476):345. 9. solomon ed, repice md, mutambuki jm, leonard da, cohen ca, luo j, frey rf. a mixed-methods investigation of clicker implementation styles in stem. cbe life sci educ 2018;17(2):ar30:1-16. 10. wright r, boggs j. learning cell biology as a team: a project-based approach to upper-division cell biology. cell biol educ 2002;1(4):145-153. 11. knight jd, fulop rm, márquez-magaña l, tanner kd. investigative cases and student outcomes in an upper-division cell and molecular biology laboratory course at a minority-serving institution. cbe life sci educ 2008;7(4):382–93. 12. shaffer cd, alvarez cj, bednarski ae, dunbar d, goodman al, et al. a course-based research experience: how benefits change with increased investment in instructional time. cbe life sci educ 2014;13(1):111–130. 13. pagano jk, jaworski l, lopatto d, waterman r. an inorganic chemistry laboratory course as research. j chem educ 2018;95(9):1520-25. 14. oufierio ce. the organismal form and function labcourse: a new c.u.r.e. for a lack of authentic research experiences in organismal biology. integr comp biol 2019;1(1):obz021,1-14. j forensic sci educ 2020, 2(2) © 2020 journal forensic science education elkins 15. course-based undergraduate research experience network https://serc.carleton.edu/curenet/collection.html (accessed april 8, 2020). 16. corwin la, runyon c, ghanem e, sandy m, clark g, palmer gc, reichler s, rodenbusch se, dolan el. effects of discovery, iteration, and collaboration in laboratory courses on undergraduates’ research career intentions fully mediated by student ownership. cbe life sci educ 2018;17(2):ar20,1-11. 17. elkins km. designing pcr primer multiplexes in the forensic laboratory. j chem educ 2011;88:1422–27. 18. elkins km. an in silico dna cloning experiment for the biochemistry laboratory. biochem mol biol educ 2011;39(3):211-15. 19. coticone s, van houten lb. including course-based undergraduate research experiences (cures) in advanced forensic science curriculum as an active learning and diverse strategy for student learning. acs sci meetings 2020. doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/scimeetings.0c01585 20. eychner em, lebo rj, elkins km. comparison of proteases in dna extraction via quantitative polymerase chain reaction. anal biochem. 2015;478:128-30. 21. eychner am, schott km, elkins km. assessing dna recovery from chewing gum. med sci law 2017;57(1):7-11. 22. klavens a, kollmann dd, elkins km, zeller cb. comparison of dna yield and str profiles from the diaphysis, mid-diaphysis, and metaphysis regions of femur and tibia long bones. j forensic sci 2020, in review. 23. elkins km. forensic dna biology: a laboratory manual. waltham, ma: elsevier academic press, 2013. 24. zeidman ea., zeller cb. development of a singletube assay for the simultaneous detection of blood, semen, and saliva utilizing dna methylation and screenclust® high-resolution melt software. 2019 aafs criminalistics poster b44, fsf emerging forensic scientist award recipient. 25. kulstein g, hadrys t, wiegand p. as solid as a rock comparison of ceand mps-based analyses of the petrosal bone as a source of dna for forensic identification of challenging cranial bones. int j legal med 2018;132:13-24. 26. shortlidge ee, brownell se. how to assess your cure: a practical guide for instructors of coursebased undergraduate research experiences. j microbiol biol educ 2016;17(3):399-408. 27. seymour e, wiese d, hunter a-b, daffinrud s. student assessment of learning gains (salg) cat. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=1 0.1.1.527.1784&rep=rep1&type=pdf (accessed april 8, 2020). 28. corwin la, runyon c, robinson a, dolan el. the laboratory course assessment survey: a tool to measure three dimensions of research-course design. cbe life sci educ 2015;14(4):ar37,1-11. 29. hanauer di, dolan el. the project ownership survey: measuring differences in scientific inquiry experiences. cbe life sci educ 2014;13(1):149–58. 30. ohland mw, loughry ml, woehr dj, bullard lg, felder rm, finelli cj, layton ra, pomeranz hr, schmucker dg. the comprehensive assessment of team member effectiveness: development of a behaviorally anchored rating scale for selfand peer evaluation. acad manag learn educ 2012;11(4):60930. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education zangari personal identification and ethical values francesca zangari, forensic odontologist, ravenna, italy, francescazangari65@gmail.com abstract: in the biomedical context, the dead human body is an invaluable resource for research and teaching. in many if not most countries around the world, medical and dental students learn anatomy by dissecting a human body, and questions of ethics have become a focus of attention in many of them. the autopsy is another time when medical and dental students face a dead body, in diagnosing the cause of death and in personal identification procedures. not everyone maintains that the rights of the personality also apply to the dead, some argue that a human corpse is a thing in the legal sense. the question is if and how you can harm a dead person. especially in mass disasters, forensic pathologists and odontologists are mostly faced with remains that barely retain the appearance of a human body. these tragic events are aggravated by the need to act quickly in search of identities and trapped in repetitive and highly technical gestures, which risk cancelling the emotional component. a dignified handling of corpses should be central in daily practice of forensic medicine and forensic staff should always have in mind the ethical dimension of human corpses in spite of their regular confrontation with the dead. key words autopsy, personal identification, human dignity, ethics for the dead, respect for the dead commentary in the role of forensic dentist, i have asked myself several times if dignity extends not only to living persons but also to their dead bodies, and how to define what the dignity of a living person implies. in the biomedical context, the dead human body is an invaluable resource for research and teaching. since 1220 in montpellier, the human cadaver dissection had been used for the teaching of anatomy. vesalius, a student in montpellier then in italy, wrote the first book on human anatomy (1). the italian interest in anatomy and physiology originates in the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries with the cadaveric dissections and studies conducted by mondino de liuzzi, leonardo da vinci and giovan battista morgagni (2). while time spent on anatomical education in medical school curricula has been diminishing over the last decades, the recognized role of anatomical dissection has expanded. it is not only a mean of learning the structure and function of the human body, but also an opportunity for the acquisition of professional competencies such as team work, patient–doctor interaction, medical epistemology, self-awareness and an understanding of medical ethics (3-11). one of the objectives of modern medical education is to empower medical students to become humanistic clinicians. human anatomy plays a crucial role in this mission by using cadavers to cause reflections on death, dying, illness, and the role of medical practitioners in humanistic care. the gross anatomy course has a significant educational impact on medical students by consolidating their knowledge and skills on human bodies, internalising their attitude towards death and providing them the first opportunity to appreciate patients as whole persons. (12-15). in the anatomy laboratory students palpate, probe, cut, explore, discuss, and evaluate bodies, as they will do as doctors. the student-donor relationship can be considered a model for the clinician-patient relationship or as a way to learn professional detachment, but it’s noteworthy that it is not devoid of important ethical and emotional implications. (3,9,11,16) (figure 1). figure 1 dead human body: a model for research and teaching. a great deal of literature emphasises the respect for the dead during personal identification practice. it doesn’t matter if you are in front of a body donor or an unclaimed the dead human body is an invaluable resource for research and teaching a model for the clinician-patient relationship a way to learn professional detachment first opportunity to appreciate patients as whole persons student-donor relationship mailto:francescazangari65@gmail.com j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education zangari body, all bodies should be treated with dignity and respect. however, even today there are those who consider the human corpse simply a thing in the legal sense (16-20). a complete autopsy is an external and internal examination of the body after death using surgical techniques. the primary purpose of an autopsy is to answer any questions the family or physician may have about the illness, cause of death, and/or any co-existing conditions. establishing a cause of death can be a source of comfort to families. the question is if and how you can harm a dead person. the ethical relationship between human identification and corpses is realised in the awareness that the recognition of human rights also concerns the dead. and the dead have the right to have a name and an identity. first, a name and an identity will allow owned religious beliefs to be respected. in addition, identification allows surviving family members to complete the grieving process, to solve legal, business and personal affairs, and to continue with their lives (figure 2). figure 2 flowchart showing the right to have an identity. especially in mass disasters, both manmade and natural (i.e. earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, acts of terrorism, bombings, wars, motor vehicle and train accidents, aviation and navy disasters) forensic pathologists and odontologists are mostly faced with disfigured or mutilated bodies, with fragmented, comingled, burned or decomposed remains that barely retain the appearance of a human body. in these tragic events a race against time begins. these tragic events are burdened by the need to act quickly in search of survivors and identities of the remains. in this context, the forensic team finds themselves often trapped in mechanical, repetitive and highly technical gestures, which require concentration. these conditions, even if necessary, risk cancelling the profound meaning of their intervention and neglecting the emotional component. a dignified handling of corpses should be central in daily practice of forensic medicine. thus, forensic staff should be trained and regularly retrained in the ethical dimension of human corpses in spite of their usual confrontation with the dead. it’d be helpful to take some time to stop and reflect on the significance of the remains, before starting autoptic and identification activities, and it’s strongly recommended to get the opportunity for periodic ethical education practices (figure 3). figure 3 ethical dimensions of identification activities. we are in the era of virtual autopsy and a new approach to anatomy with computers is going to be used in the future among medical students (21,22). virtual autopsy has advantages and disadvantages: the acquisition and storage of always available digital images versus the high cost of the technology; reduced infectious risk of the operator versus the lack of histopathological samples for toxicological and microbiological analysis (figure 4). this kind of autopsy, compared to classical which can never be repeated, allows access to data from the corpse with a non-invasive or minimally invasive, nondestructive approach, allowing for better acceptance by certain religious or cultural communities, and certainly desirable in particular cases such as those involving children. even if we take and manage only images, we should never forget that they belong to a person. in whatever way and by whatever means the examination is carried out, the approach to the human corpse, or to the fragments of what was once a human body, must always take place with a respectful attitude, bearing in mind that those human remains belong to an interrupted life, to a world of broken emotional ties. the dead have the right to have a name and an identity this will allow own religious beliefs to be respected this will allow surviving family members to complete the grieving process to solve legal, business and personal affairs to continue with their lives take some time to stop and reflect on the significance of the remains strongly recommended periodic ethical education practices a dignified handling of corpses is central in daily practice of forensic medicine j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education zangari figure 4 virtual autopsy: advantages and disadvantages. author’s note part of the context of this communication was presented at the 1 st biennial symposium of the association forensic odontology for human rights (afohr) on “rescue, rights, and dignity of the dead”, held on 23-24 september 2021. references 1. bonnel f. the teaching of anatomy in montpellier university during viii centuries (1220–2020). sur radiol anat 2020;41(10): 1119–28. doi.org/10.1007/s00276-019-02289-6. 2. frati p, frati a, salvati m, marinozzi s, frati r, angeletti lr, et al. neuroanatomy and cadaver dissection in italy: history, medicolegal issues, and neurosurgical perspectives. j neurosurg 2006; 105(5):789–96. doi: 10.3171/jns.2006.105.5.789. 3. ghosh sk. paying respect to human cadavers: we owe this to the first teacher in anatomy. ann anat 2017;211:129-34. doi.org/10.1016/j.aanat.2017.02.004. 4. caplan i, decamp m. of discomfort and disagreement: unclaimed bodies in anatomy laboratories at united states medical schools. anat sci educ 2019;12(4):360–9. doi.org/10.1002/ase.1853. 5. champney th. a bioethos for bodies: respecting a priceless resource. anat sci educ 2019;12(4):432-4. doi.org//10.1002/ase.1855. 6. boscolo-berto r, porzionato a, stecco c, macchi v, de caro r. body donation in italy: lights and shadows of law no. 10/2020. clin anat 2020;33(6):950-9. doi: 10.1002/ca.23623. 7. hildebrandt s. thoughts on practical core elements of an ethical anatomical education. clin anat 2016;29(1) 37–45. doi.org/10.1002/ca.22645. 8. hildebrandt s. the role of history and ethics of anatomy in medical education. anat sci educ 2019;12(4): 425-31. doi.org/10.1002/ase.1852. 9. ghosh sk. the practice of ethics in the context of human dissection: setting standards for future physicians. ann anat 2020;232:151577. doi.org/10.1016/j.aanat.2020.151577. 10. wilkinson tm. respect for the dead and the ethics of anatomy. clin anat 2014;27(3):286–90. doi.org/ 10.1002/ca.22263. 11. guo k, luo t, zhou l-h, xu d, zhong g, wang h, et al. cultivation of humanistic values in medical education through anatomy pedagogy and gratitude ceremony for body donors. bmc medical education 2020;20(1):440-9. doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02292-1. 12. chang h-j, kim hj, rhyu ij, lee y-m, uhm cs. emotional experiences of medical students during cadaver dissection and the role of memorial ceremonies: a qualitative study. bmc medical education 2018;18(1):255-61. doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1358-0. 13. sasi a, hedge r, dayak s, vaz m. life after death – the dead shall teach the living: a qualitative study on the motivations and expectations of body donors, their families, and religious scholars in the south indian city of bangalore. asian bioethics rev 2020;12(2): 149–72. doi: 10.1007/s41649-020-00117-3. advantages digital images always available reduced infectious risk for operator disadvantages high costs lack of samples for analyzes https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=boscolo-berto+r&cauthor_id=32427400 https://doi.org/10.1002/ase.1852 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=sasi%20a%5bauthor%5d&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=33717335 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc7747233/ https://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2fs41649-020-00117-3 j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education zangari 14. smith cf, alderton dl, clifford km, wells g. a good death – can the concept be applied to anatomy? anat sci educ 2020;13(5):657-63. doi.org/10.1002/ase.1969. 15. souza ad, kotian sr, pandey ak, rao p, kalthur sg. cadaver as a first teacher: a module to learn the ethics and values of cadaveric dissection. j taibah univ med sci 2020;15(2):94-101. doi: 10.1016/j.jtumed.2020.03.002. 16. dees rh. primum non nocere mortuis: bioethics and the lives of the dead. j med philos 2019;44(6):732-55. doi.org/ 10.1093/jmp/jhz024. 17. hofmeister u, navarro s. a psychosocial approach in humanitarian forensic action. the latin american perspective. forensic sci int 2017; 280:35–43. doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.08.027. 18. hutchinson ef, kramer b, billings bk, brits dm, pather n. the law, ethics and body donation: a tale of two bequeathal programs. anat sci educ 2019;13(4):512–9. doi.org/10.1002/ase.1922. 19. lynch mj. the autopsy: legal and ethical principles. pathol 2002;34(1):67-70. doi.org/10.1080/00313020120105660. 20. schwarz c-s, münch n, müller-salo j, kramer s, walz c, germerott t. the dignity of the human corpse in forensic medicine. int j leg med 2021;135(5):2073-79. doi.org/10.1007/s00414-021-02534-x. 21. cirielli v, cima l, bortolotti f, narayanasamy m, scarpelli mp, danzi o, et al. virtual autopsy as a screening test before traditional autopsy: the verona experience on 25 cases. j pathol inform 2018;9:28. doi:10.4103/jpi.jpi_23_18. 22. nuzzolese e. virdentopsy: virtual dental autopsy and remote forensic odontology evaluation. dent j, 2021;9:102. doi: 10.3390/dj9090102. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education krishnamurthy strategies for teaching an online forensic science course during the pandemic nirmala krishnamurthy1* 1department of chemistry, indian institute of science education and research, karakambadi road, mangalam, tirupati 517507, andhra pradesh, india *corresponding author: nirmala@labs.iisertirupati.ac.in abstract: a significant consequence of the pandemic in higher education has been the switch to an online mode of teaching. this work highlights the various strategies adopted to teach an online introductory forensic science course at the indian institute of science education and research (iiser) tirupati during the pandemic. in addition, it also provides information on students’ perspectives on the effectiveness of these methodologies adopted to teach forensic science as a subject. a combination of methods including live synchronous classes, asynchronous pre-recorded videos followed by active discussion in class, usage of canvas as a learning management system, continuous assessment with individual and group activities were adopted as strategies to teach this online course. survey results indicate that our students felt that the learning resources (such as live recording of classes and pre-recorded videos), interactive polls, chats, discussion forums, group projects and presentations helped them as they navigated through the online course. furthermore, students also felt that online quizzes on canvas and remotely proctored exams were effective in testing their knowledge and understanding of the subject. overall, students enjoyed the forensic case study discussions, the interactive style of teaching and the various pedagogical strategies employed in the course. this report on our experience will hopefully guide educators in designing strategies to enhance student learning experience in forensic science. keywords: forensic science, online learning, synchronous, asynchronous, learning management system introduction the covid-19 pandemic resulted in the enforcement of strict social distancing and lockdowns in several parts of the world. consequently, colleges and universities had to face the unprecedented challenge of moving from face-toface teaching to an online mode of education (1, 2). in india, with the spread of the pandemic in spring of 2020, higher educational institutions had to make an overnight transition to online teaching. while the first wave abated by fall of 2020, india was in the grip of a devastating second wave during spring 2021. as a result, several educational institutions across the country had to continue online classes throughout 2021. the indian institute of science education and research (iiser) tirupati is an institute of national importance established by the government of india (3, 4). the institute offers a bachelor of science-master of science (bs-ms) five-year dual degree program in the basic sciences. students in this program take two years of mandatory core courses in physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics along with the associated laboratory courses. this is followed by two years of various elective courses in their preferred field. the final year involves intensive research work on a thesis topic culminating in a bs-ms dual degree. at iiser tirupati, an introductory forensic science course is offered as an elective by the chemistry department as part of our undergraduate curriculum. this course covers various topics in forensic science such as crime scene investigation, time of death, blood and dna analysis, ballistics, narcotics, toxicology etc. it is offered in the fall semester and is lecture-based with no laboratory component involved at this point of time. the course is open for third or fourth year students of the dual degree program at iiser tirupati and is a popular choice of elective among the students of various majors. in india, over the last two years, the pandemic has necessitated a transition from the traditional pedagogical methods of teaching to an online mode which has created several challenges. as a result, it is imperative that educators introduce effective pedagogical strategies for systematic teaching in this virtual mode. the goal of this work is to provide detailed documentation and insights into the various strategies that i adopted to teach an online forensics science course at iiser tirupati. a combination of methods including live synchronous classes, asynchronous pre-recorded videos followed by active discussion in class, usage of canvas as a learning management system, continuous assessment with individual and group activities were adopted as strategies to teach this online course. in addition, this work also delves into students’ perspectives of the effectiveness of j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education krishnamurthy these strategies in their learning and the various challenges encountered along the way. this work will hopefully provide information in designing effective teaching strategies and methodologies as we move beyond the pandemic. methods general course information this study was conducted in an elective forensic science course (chm315) for thirdand fourth-year students enrolled in the bs-ms program at iiser tirupati during fall 2021. the course covered a variety of forensic science topics such as crime scene investigation, time of death, elemental and compound analysis, law and forensics, blood analysis, dna fingerprinting, wildlife forensics, ballistics, narcotics, fibre analysis and toxicology. the lectures on these topics were also interspersed with several case studies related to the topic of discussion for the week. strategies adopted in the online forensic science course in order to overcome the challenges faced in online learning, i employed three different strategies to effectively teach and communicate in this forensic science course. these included the following: a. teaching methodology comprising live synchronous and asynchronous modes b. use of a learning management system (canvas) c. individual and group assessments in addition, to determine the perceived effectiveness of the above methods adopted in this course, data corresponding to student perspectives was collected by conducting an online survey for all the students registered in the course (appendix a). the survey was sent out through a google form to all the registered students of the class and was open for responses for two weeks. the survey was anonymous, voluntary and the students did not receive any points for participation. out of 80 students registered in the course, 63 students (79%) responded to the survey (51% female, 41% male, 8% preferred not to say). the survey consisted of closed, open-ended and likert scale questions and data analysis was performed on excel software. this work was declared to be of exempt status by the ethics board and the office of the dean of research and development at iiser tirupati. results and discussion a. teaching methodology comprising live synchronous and asynchronous modes an effective teaching methodology is paramount to the success of any forensic science course (5, 6). for the online course in forensic science at iiser, i used a combination of synchronous and asynchronous teaching methods to communicate the material. this is a 4-credit course that involves 3 lecture hours per week. two of these lectures were taught live in a synchronous fashion, while the remaining lecture hour was taught in an asynchronous fashion with short videos (that were pre-recorded) provided to the students. the students were then expected to watch these videos, participate in online discussion forums and complete any required activity for the week. synchronous mode of teaching synchronous mode involves course materials to be taught live via remote instruction through a video conferencing tool. for the online forensic science course, this was done during regular class hours twice a week via a video conferencing tool, google meet, gmeet (7). in order to encourage interaction and foster active participation amongst the students, the live lectures were interspersed with q&a sessions, open discussion and online polls using mentimeter (8). the students also had the ability to ask questions and discuss during class on the live chat session on gmeet. the effectiveness of these methods is exemplified in the results of student survey in which 89% felt that the classes were interactive and encouraged active discussion (figure 1a). all of these live class sessions were recorded and made available to the students through their learning management system (lms). this implied that even if the students lost connectivity during live class and missed out on a crucial piece of information, they could still listen to these live recordings and learn the class material. in addition, they could go back and listen to these live recordings if needed as they prepared for their assessments and online exams. the effectiveness of providing this resource is evidenced by the fact that in our student survey, 88% agreed or strongly agreed that these recorded lectures helped them catch up with the class material that they had missed due to interruption in their connections (figure 1b). a significant majority of surveyed students also agreed or strongly agreed (80%) that these recording were extremely helpful in their preparation for assessments and online exams as it provided them an opportunity to “follow” the lecture multiple times (figure 1b). overall, the students perceived these synchronous lectures as interactive sessions that encouraged active discussion. in addition, recordings of these live sessions were j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education krishnamurthy perceived to be helpful in catching up on class material and in preparation for their online assessments. a b figure 1 student responses on live synchronized mode of teaching, n= 63. a) pie chart depicting the distribution of students who felt that the synchronous classes were interactive and encouraged active discussion; b) student responses about perceived effectiveness of recordings of live synchronous lectures asynchronous mode of teaching previous work has shown that flipped classroom and the use of pre-recorded videos can be an effective strategy in undergraduate education in various sciences and engineering (9, 10). as a result, i decided to employ this asynchronous mode as a part of my teaching strategy for this online forensic science course during the pandemic. i recorded short (~15 minutes) videos on various topics in forensic science such as criminal liability, mapping a crime scene, presumptive and confirmatory tests for blood and analysis etc. these recordings were done in a lucid manner to ensure ease of understanding from the student’s perspective and were posted on the learning management system prior to the scheduled class. the students were asked to watch the pre-recorded videos (98% of students indicated they watched these recordings) and come prepared for further discussions and analysis. students engaged in class discussions to clarify any lingering questions on this material. in addition, students were expected to participate in an online quiz (conducted on the learning management system) on the content of the pre-recorded videos to assess their understanding of the learning material. overall, a flipped class style technique of pre-recording videos followed by quizzes and discussions was deployed to ensure an effective teaching methodology for this online forensic science course. the success of this technique is borne by the student survey results in which 91% of students agreed or strongly agreed that the pre-recorded videos were clear and easy to follow (figure 2a). in addition, 86% of students felt that the quizzes conducted on this pre-recorded material was helpful in testing their understanding of the topic under discussion (figure 2a). overall, a majority of the class (86%) felt that this method of watching pre-recorded videos followed by active discussion and quizzes was an effective learning strategy for this forensic science course (figure 2b). b. use of a learning management system (canvas) a learning management system (lms) can be used as an effective tool of communication for online education (11, 12). for the forensic science course at iiser, i utilized canvas as the lms in order to provide an efficient and organized system to deliver all content related to the course (13). on canvas, the course was organized into various modules such as introduction to forensics, legal aspects in forensics, crime scene investigations, time of death, blood and blood spatter analysis, dna fingerprinting, toxicology etc. all class material pertinent to that particular module including links to recorded live classes, pre-recorded videos, powerpoint slides, reference material and class notes were posted on these modules providing access to all class information. this ensured that the course content was well organized which in turn would make it efficient and easy to use at the student’s end. lack of in-person communication is a hindrance to effective learning in an online mode. as a result, it becomes necessary for an instructor to maintain a constant j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education krishnamurthy line of communication with the students. during synchronous classes, the students had the opportunity to directly ask questions or engage in communication either a b figure 2 student responses on asynchronized mode of teaching, n=63. a) student responses on the perceived effectiveness of the pre-recorded videos in their learning; b) pie chart depicting the distribution of students who felt that the flipped class technique was an effective learning strategy with me or their peers through the chat box feature of gmeet. however, in order to continue this line of communication beyond the classroom, i utilized canvas as a tool to encourage further interaction with the students. important information or announcement pertaining to assignments, quizzes and other reminders were posted on the announcements tab on canvas and this immediately alerted the students ensuring constant communication. as part of the continuous assessment, students could also participate in online moderated quizzes conducted each week on the canvas platform. in addition, i utilized the discussion forum on the canvas platform to encourage interaction amongst the students on various forensic case studies. i would ask the students to read the literature on a well-known forensic case such as the o.j. simpson trial or the aarushi talwar murder case. then, in order to moderate the discussion on the forum, i provided the students with a couple of discussion points and questions pertaining to the case under study. this provided a launch pad for their interactions and encouraged them to express their thoughts, reply to other students’ suggestions and questions and kept the conversation going beyond the classroom. overall, i used canvas as a tool for communication with my students in the online mode and the effectiveness of this methodology is reflected in the student survey results discussed below. a majority of surveyed students agreed or strongly agreed that canvas as an lms was easy to use (86%) and well organized (92%) (figure 3). in addition, 76% of the students agreed or strongly agreed that analyzing case studies on the discussion forum on canvas was interactive thus providing a great platform for effective communication beyond the classroom (figure 3). figure 3 student perceptions on the use of canvas as an effective learning tool, n=63 j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education krishnamurthy c. individual and group assessments previous work has shown that there are several challenges to designing an effective assessment pattern for online courses (14, 15). this is exacerbated by the fact that students feel less prepared to participate in assignments and assessments when face-to-face teaching is limited (16). as a result, it is imperative to find an efficient strategy for assessment of student performance in an online course. the assessment model for this forensic science course involved continuous monitoring of student performance all through the semester. students were expected to participate in both individual and group work assessments. the individual assessments included weekly quizzes, mid-semester and end-semester exams while the group assessment involved participation in either a group presentation or a group project. while mid-semester and end-semester exams were part of the assessment of the lecture-based course, the weekly quizzes, presentations and projects were specifically designed for this online course. individual assessments for the individual assessments, the students were expected to participate in online quizzes and exams spread through the semester. the online quizzes were conducted on an almost weekly basis on canvas and included quizzes on the pre-recorded videos or on material taught during the live lectures. in addition, the students had to take a midsemester and end-semester exam organized by the institute on an online platform called codetantra (17). this is a comprehensive ai assisted assessment platform with live remote human proctoring which helped minimize any malpractice issues with online exams. the platform also enabled the instructor to grade the questions and provide feedback to the students. one of the major challenge to effective online learning in a developing nation like india is the lack of an uninterrupted access to wi-fi and broadband connectivity. this issue is especially exacerbated during live, timed online exams and assessments. in fact, 67% of our surveyed students reported that issue with internet connectivity was the major challenge while taking proctored online exams. however, despite this, a majority of the students agreed or strongly agreed that the online quizzes (86%) and proctored exams (76%) were effective in testing their learning and understanding of the course material (figure 4a and 4b). group assessments previous research has shown that small group work in science promotes favorable attitudes towards learning (18, 19). in order to encourage team learning, the students in this forensic science course were asked to participate in a b figure 4 pie charts depicting student perception on the effectiveness of assessments in their learning/understanding of course material, n=63. a) student responses on the perceived effectiveness of the online quizzes in their learning; b) student responses on the perceived effectiveness of the online exams in their learning either a group presentation or group project (2-3 members per team). of the students who responded in the survey, 52% worked on the presentation while 48% participated in the group project. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education krishnamurthy in the group presentation, students had to choose a forensic case study based on topics related to course content (see appendix b for the complete list). the students were then expected to research the case study and give a twenty-minute powerpoint presentation describing the background of the forensic case, the crime layout, the events after the crime, detailed forensic evidence, steps undertaken to finding the suspect, trial in a court of law and the role of media. the group project, on the other hand, involved a doit-yourself crime scene in which the students had to set up and document a crime scene. the crime scene (homicide) was staged in either their home or in the dorm room complete with a weapon of choice, several forensic evidences and the deceased individual (pillow, soft toy, dummy etc.). the students were then asked to document the scene with sequential photographs, a sketch of the crime scene with mapping details and a note with a list of evidences collected and packaged. they also had to record a short video with a crime scene walkthrough and evidence collection. the students clearly displayed a high degree of creativity and enjoyed the challenge and experience of working as part of a team. the student survey results indicated that a majority of the students agreed or strongly agreed that it was clear what was expected to be done in the group work (presentation: 82% and project: 77%) (figure 5a and 5b). the students also enjoyed working with their peers both for the group presentation (70%) and group project (81%). a majority of the students who chose the project also agreed/strongly agreed that the idea behind the project was interesting (84%) and helped in their understanding of analyzing a crime scene (87%) (figure 5b). general student comments about the course as part of the survey, students were also asked closed and open ended questions in which they shared their background in forensic science and the experiences in the course (appendix a). survey results showed that many of the students who registered for this introductory level course in forensic science had no previous experience or familiarity in forensic sciences. only 35% of the respondents of this survey mentioned that they were familiar with the basics in forensic science techniques and reported they had gained this mainly through movies, crime series and books. as a result, it was essential that the course should kindle an interest in the area of forensic sciences and this was done through the various pedagogical approaches described herein. as part of the survey, students were asked on what was the most enjoyable part of the course. perusal of this open ended question in the survey reveals that 40% of students found discussions about the various forensic case studies as the most enjoyab a b figure 5 student responses on group assessments, n=63 a) student responses on the perceived effectiveness of group presentations in their learning; b) student responses on the perceived effectiveness of group projects in their learning -le part of the course. 38% of students mentioned that they enjoyed the interactive course style and the various pedagogical methods adopted to teach this online course. the remaining 22% of students mentioned that they enjoyed specific topics such as crime scene investigations, forensic aspects in law, blood analysis etc. interestingly, at j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education krishnamurthy the end of the semester, 95% of students surveyed mentioned that the course stimulated their interest in the field of forensic science. in addition, 76% indicated that they would be willing to attend an advanced course in forensics if offered at iiser tirupati. the main suggestion for change from the students was to include some handson experience in forensic science techniques and to restore the face-to-face experience in the future. conclusion teaching an online class, especially during the pandemic, has been a daunting task for educators all over the globe. this work shows the strategies that were successfully adopted to teach a forensics science course online to students in india during the pandemic. a combination of live classes, pre-recorded videos, usage of a lms interspersed with online chats, discussion forums and group work was adopted to teach this course. while live classes and lms have been previously used to navigate through online forensic science courses (11), this work provides a unique student perspective on the effectiveness of these strategies. our students at iiser tirupati felt that the various learning resources provided to them such as videos (both recorded live and pre-recorded), interactive polls, chats, discussion forums, group projects and presentations helped them as they navigated learning in this online forensic science course. in addition, they felt that the online quizzes and exams were effective in testing their understanding of the subject. overall, a majority of the students felt that the class stimulated their interest in the subject and they enjoyed the interactive style and the pedagogical methods deployed in this course. this study is limited by sample size and the number of survey respondents from the forensic science course at iiser tirupati. as this is a voluntary, anonymous student survey, it only indicates student perceptions on the effectiveness of the various strategies deployed in the course and is not indicative of any other larger scenario. overall, this work highlights the importance of understanding student perceptions and gaining insights into their opinions and concerns. over the last two years, the pandemic has brought major changes to the field of higher education and there is a distinct possibility that online and hybrid courses are here to stay. this study provides information on the various strategies that could be effectively deployed in the teaching of online forensic science courses. in addition, these techniques can also be used to supplement a face-to-face learning in order to make it more effective. as a result, it is necessary for forensic science educators to learn to be flexible and adapt to provide an enriching learning experience to students in an ever-changing scenario. acknowledgements i would like to thank the students of the forensic science course from iiser tirupati who participated in this survey. my thanks also go to dr. rajesh viswanathan, iiser tirupati, for his feedback on the manuscript and dr. roderick bates from nanyang technological university, singapore, for helpful discussions. references 1. world health organization. coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic. https://www.who.int/healthtopics/coronavirus/ (accessed 2022-22-06). 2. sun l, tang y, zuo w. coronavirus pushed education online. nat mater 2020;19(6):687. 3. khare a. iisers: new initiative towards excellence in science. curr sci 2016;110(5):763-765. 4. krishnan ms, brakaspathy r, arunan e. chemical education in india: addressing current challenges and optimizing opportunities. j chem educ 2016;93: 1731-1736. 5. shukla rk. a new systematic approach of teaching and learning of forensic science for interdisciplinary students: a step towards renovating the forensic education system. forensic sci int:synergy 2021;3: 100146. 6. coticone s, garcia c, van houten lb. pivoting remote: techniques for teaching forensic science utilizing virtual student-led case studies in a blend flex mode. j forensic sci educ 2021;3(2). 7. google meet (gmeet: premium video meetings). https://apps.google.com/meet/ (accessed 2022-22-06). 8. mentimeter (interactive presentation software) https://www.mentimeter.com/ (accessed 2022-22-06). 9. fautch jm. the flipped classroom for teaching organic chemistry in small classes: is it effective? chem educ res pract 2015;16:179. 10. freeman s, eddy sl, mcdonough m, smith mk, okoroafor n, jordt h, wenderoth mp. active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. proc natl acad sci usa 2014;111: 8410-8415. 11. londino-smolar g. remotely teaching a large enrollment introduction to forensic science course. j forensic sci educ 2020;2(2). 12. londino-smolar g, hansel c. let’s solve it: designing an interactive online forensic science lab. jhetp 2021;21:73-88. 13. canvas (canvas by instructure). https://canvas.instructure.com/. (accessed 2022-2206). 14. krishnamurthy n. teaching freshmen chemistry in india during the covid-19 pandemic: student https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus/ https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus/ https://apps.google.com/meet/ https://www.mentimeter.com/ https://canvas.instructure.com/ j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education krishnamurthy perspectives and challenges. j chem educ 2021; 98(12): 3884. 15. connon cc, greenspoon sa, simmons t. crafting an effective virtual classroom in the covid-19 pandemic. j forensic sci educ 2020;2(2). 16. jackson a. the expectation gap: students’ experience of learning during covid-19 and their expectations for next year. https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-expectation-gapstudents-experience-of-learning-during-covid-19and-their-expectations-for-next-year/. (accessed 2022-22-06). 17. codetantra. https://www.codetantra.com/ (accessed 2022-22-06). 18. taylor a. top 10 reasons students dislike working in small groups…and why i do it anyway. biochem mol biol educ 2011;39(3):219-20. 19. springer l, stanne me, donovan ss. effects of smallgroup learning on undergraduates in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology: a metaanalysis. rev educ res 1999;69(1):21-51. appendix a student survey questions 1. what was your knowledge of forensic science at the beginning of the course? • no previous experience /familiarity with the subject • familiar with some of the basics of the subject • have experience with advanced material in the subject. 2. if you answered that you are familiar with the forensic sciences (either with the basics or the advanced level) please explain from where have you gained this information? as part of this course, you were expected to attend live synchronous lectures twice a week. likert scale: strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree 3. questions on live lectures a. the classes were interactive and encouraged active discussion. b. recorded videos of live lectures helped me catch up on things i did not understand during class. c. recorded videos of live lectures helped me in preparation for assessments and exams. as part of this course, you were expected to watch short pre-recorded videos posted on canvas. you were then expected to participate in in-class discussions and short online quizzes based on the pre-recorded material. 4. did you watch the full versions of the pre-recorded videos posted on canvas from start to finish? yes/no likert scale: strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree 5. questions on pre-recorded videos a. pre-recorded videos posted on canvas were easy to follow and understand. b. short in-class quizzes on pre-recorded videos were helpful in testing my understanding of the material discussed. c. i believe the flipped class model (watching prerecorded videos followed by in-class discussion of material) is an effective learning strategy. 6. learning management system a. the learning management system for the course (canvas) was easy to use and efficient. b. the content was well organized on canvas through various modules. c. the discussion forum on canvas was interactive and helpful in analyzing case studies. 7. assessments a. graded quizzes were effective in testing my learning/understanding of the course material. b. on-line exams were effective in testing my learning/understanding of the course material. 8. what challenges did you face while taking online exams? • issues with internet connectivity • issues with scanning and uploading the exam on the exam portal • issues with maintaining time/following instructions in an online setting • distractions at home/living space group work: the course was designed to accommodate one of two group activities: a group presentation or a group project. 9. which one did you choose to work on for the course? please check one. • group presentation • group project if you chose presentation, please answer q10. if you chose project, please answer q11. https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-expectation-gap-students-experience-of-learning-during-covid-19-and-their-expectations-for-next-year/ https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-expectation-gap-students-experience-of-learning-during-covid-19-and-their-expectations-for-next-year/ https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-expectation-gap-students-experience-of-learning-during-covid-19-and-their-expectations-for-next-year/ https://www.codetantra.com/ j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(1) 2022 journal forensic science education krishnamurthy likert scale: strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree 10. questions on group work: presentation a. it was clear what was required to be done in the group presentation. b. i enjoyed working as part of a group. 11. questions on group work: project a. the idea behind the group project was innovative and interesting. b. the project helped my understanding of analyzing a crime scene. c. it was clear what was required to be done in the group project. d. i enjoyed working as part of a group. 12. overall, do you believe that the course stimulated your interest in the subject. yes/no 13. would you be interested to participate/register for a second semester of a course in forensic science focused on advanced topics? yes/no open ended questions 14. what was the most enjoyable aspect of the course? 15. what additional features/changes would you suggest be incorporated in the future for this course? 16. gender: • male • female • prefer not to say appendix b list of forensic case studies for the group presentation 1. murder of pradyuman thakur 2. sheena bora murder 3. murder of krystal beslanowitch 4. the lindbergh kidnapping 5. lynette white case 6. joseph kappen: the saturday night strangler 7. neeraj grover murder 8. the green river killer 9. pamela shelley murder case 10. jeffrey macdonald case 11. richard rogers: the last call killer 12. casey anthony case 13. richard ramirez: the night stalker 14. golden state killer j forensic sci educ 2021, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education henson pseudo-clandestine grave identification and excavation laboratory project kristy henson 1 *, alyssa pettry 1 1 forensic science program, fairmont state university, 1201 locust ave, fairmont, wv 26554 *corresponding author: kristy.henson@fairmontstate.edu abstract: when students envision crime scenes and forensic science, they immediately want to find a body and catch a murderer. this laboratory activity goes over how to prepare and execute a mock skeletal excavation that can be applied to most forensic science courses at the university or high school level. throughout this multi-day, multi-part project, students completed a basic ground survey to locate a clandestine grave, secured a crime scene, excavated a burial, and analyzed a set of skeletal remains. this activity aims to give students hands-on experience using real forensic field and lab techniques. the materials and setup for this activity are usually readily available in any science lab. the project is relatively easy to set up and adjust for difficulty. students who participated in this activity enjoyed the hands-on aspect of the project and felt more confident in their ability to find and excavate a clandestine grave. keywords: mock burial, clandestine grave, forensic anthropology, taphonomy, laboratory activity, bioarchaeology introduction this paper introduces a multi-component forensics laboratory activity/final project in which students locate and excavate a clandestine grave. detailed instruction and student feedback offered herein will help other forensic science educators implement this hands-on activity in their forensic courses. when searching google scholar and our university’s library database for undergraduate forensic laboratory activities, phrases such as “mock burial for taphonomy,” “forensic anthropology,” or “bioarchaeology” yielded no teaching materials. likewise, “skeletal excavation” or “clandestine grave laboratory activity” provided no relevant results. there are a few newspaper or university articles highlighting courses that discuss mock graves (1), but no instruction or information for educators is provided. this does not mean that universities do not offer such an activity; instead, there is a need to share such laboratory experiences or instructions so that they are available for educators to use. genuine, hands-on historical bioarchaeology and archaeology excavation experiences through national and international field schools (2) are available but these opportunities are not accessible to all students for myriad reasons. for example, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to obtain these experiences because excavations are expensive and tend to be outside of the normal academic year when student aid is unavailable (3). this activity can be adjusted from a high school to a college audience, depending on the course level and student experience needed. this excavation activity can be used in introduction to forensics, forensic biology, forensic anthropology, forensic taphonomy, or any other relevant courses. the course in which we incorporated this project was fors 3225 forensic taphonomy, a junior/senior-level course with prerequisites of introduction to forensic science and forensic biology. we have also used this laboratory activity in forensic anthropology as well as during a high-school forensics summer camp. materials and methods you will need access to an outdoor space with little to no foot traffic. this outdoor space should allow you to be able to dig and destroy the grass/vegetation during this project. our university has access to 9 acres of woods and open green space with a small hiking trail. we contacted our security and physical plant before carrying out this project. we were given free rein regarding the space because no one was maintaining the space during that semester. after receiving permission from the university, we went to a random location off of the hiking trail and buried a disarticulated plastic teaching skeleton one month before the final project. the location was marked using google maps by pulling up the current location on the gps location on my phone. this gps information was submitted to our campus police and the physical plant. this project was a multi-day activity (two days in the field and one day in the lab) because our labs are only four hours long and more time is needed to complete the full project. this was a rain or shine activity, increasing mailto:kristy.henson@fairmontstate.edu j forensic sci educ 2021, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education henson the realism of the final project. this final project was treated like an actual body search. day 1 each group was given a field kit. the students signed out the field kit and were responsible for seeing that their field kit returned to the lab with all of the equipment inside. we also brought a standard archaeological sifting screen (1/4” wire screen), three plastic 5-gal buckets, a rake, a shovel, four fence stakes, and flags. field kits contained the following: 1. trowels x 2 2. gloves x 2 (nitrile and leather) 3. handheld broom 4. tape measure (100m) 5. north arrow 6. scale 7. dust pan 8. string, scissors, tape 9. small brushes 10. sharpie 11. collection bags 12. soil bags 13. crime scene tape 14. small stakes 15. composition notebook 16. camera students received an aerial map of the trail with marked quadrants (figure 1). students were split into groups of two and assigned a quadrant. the students used basic ground surveying techniques to identify potential evidence and note changes in the soil to identify potential clandestine graves. evidence and potential graves were marked using marker flags. students were responsible for keeping all logs/notes, rough sketches, and photographs in their lab notebooks which were collected at the end of the project. figure 1 area map students received with the quadrants marked. once students finished the ground surveys we regrouped and walked through each marker as a team. we worked through each piece of potential evidence and the potential graves. students worked as a group and eliminated all spots that mimicked a potential grave (e.g., locations with disturbed soil or a different color/texture soil compared to the surrounding soil). this cohort was able to identify the correct placement of the potential grave and then secured the scene. to keep the experience realistic, we never confirmed that this was the placement of the grave, but instead insisted on their ability to combine everything they have learned during their degree to continue or discontinue with the location. the students placed stakes and crime scene tape in a 20’ x 20’ area noting the location of the potential grave and crime scene. after taping off the scene the students completed a ground survey, took photographs, marked evidence, sketched the location, and bagged evidence. this was all we had time for during the designated lab time. we kept the crime scene tape up and returned to the scene during our next meeting. day 2 we returned to the site with the field kits, sifting screen, plastic 5-gal buckets, rake, shovel, and footprint impression kits. students recorded any changes that occurred during the 48 hours they were away, and then they marked the outline of the potential grave with string and began excavation. students first removed the topsoil and sod, taking their time to identify and find the ground surface (paleosurface in archaeological context) in which the skeleton was placed. after the top soil was removed, impressions were taken (footprints, shovel, etc). student teams rotated through the various excavation tasks. one group shoveled, one group troweled, one group sieved, and the third group was on bucket duty moving the soil from the excavation to the sieving group. students tend to want only to trowel, so it is always important to have students complete all of the excavation activities to gain broader experience. when major landmarks were met, we stopped the group and quizzed them on the next steps. when the vegetation was removed yielding no physical evidence, we paused the activity and asked the students to point out what they observed. this brought in concepts of the harris matrix (stratigraphic layers) (5), munsell soil charts (6), insect presence, color/texture of the soil, and the outline of the potential grave. once this was completed, students recorded their rough sketches, photographs, and notes (figure 2). j forensic sci educ 2021, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education henson figure 2 students record the site after removing the vegetation and exposing the soil. the yellow arrow indicates north. students were instructed to excavate the grave only and expose the skeleton in situ while maintaining consistent layers and avoiding deep penetration of the soil so they did not lose evidence. once the bone was visible, students ceased using trowels and moved to brushes, picks, and gloved hands to protect the integrity of the skeleton. once the skeleton was fully exposed in situ, students completed measurements (depth and grave size), sketched, and photographed. the skeleton was then extracted. students packaged the skeleton in paper evidence bags and all other visible evidence was collected, including soil samples. soil samples were taken of the grave cut, at the abdominopelvic region, and outside of the grave. soil samples can be used to determine the chemical properties of the soil, pathogen presence, soil microbe presence, and finally as class evidence. once the skeleton and all evidence were removed, students continued excavating to identify the grave cut and looked for remaining pieces of evidence. the grave cut shows potential shovel imprints, how deep the grave initially was, and any evidence that may be placed under the individual. students photographed and recorded the data. when finished we filled in the hole and cleaned up the scene. all evidence and materials were returned to the lab for the third part of this activity. day 3 the final part of this project was processing the evidence and attempting to identify the individual. this lab component consisted of the following: ● performing a complete skeletal inventory ● recording basic osteometric and demographic information on the skeleton (7) ● sorting through evidence and sending it to the appropriate lab section ● determining if the skeletal information ‘matched’ any of the missing person’s details once the project was complete the students submitted a case report analysis of their fieldwork and lab results along with their rough sketches, photographs, and notes from the crime scene. we used a simple rubric to grade the students at the end of the semester (table 1). table 1 a very simple grading rubric that can easily be adapted and expanded to grade this project. item points possible 100% 50% 0% participat ion 20 punctual, patient, active in all activities late to the field, had to be told to be engage in activities skipped class, did not participa te rough sketches 20 complete d measurem ents and drawings in the field, sketched relevant materials, measurem ents and legends present did not complete sketches in the field, missing some measuremen ts, missing some legends did not complete any sketches photos with figure legends 20 north arrow present, descriptiv e legend, photos make sense missing north arrow, missing some description, photos are cut or unusable did not take own photos or did not submit photos case report 40 detailed descriptio ns of the activity, no errors, logical, easy to follow some grammatical errors, report is not easy to read, poorly described did not submit or only a few sentence s long the students were given a short five question survey on their experience one year after the project. j forensic sci educ 2021, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education henson hazards and safety precautions students should wear appropriate field clothing (long pants. shirts, hats, and closed-toed shoes). depending on the location and time of year, students should be encouraged to use insect repellent and sunscreen, and to inspect one another for ticks. also, ensure students pay attention when walking through high grasses and on uneven terrain as they can be bitten by animals or fall and get injured. also, it is ill advised to use real human skeletal material to carry out this project for ethical reasons. bury a plastic skeleton or animal bones and swap out the bones for real human skeletal material during the laboratory analysis if necessary. we continued using the fake skeleton during the laboratory section. results this activity allowed students to apply all of the information they learned throughout the semester and call on materials learned in their previous courses (e.g., forensic biology, trace analysis, and introduction to forensic science). the average grade for this project was 90.25% (n = 8). full grade distribution in table 2. points were commonly deducted for photos without the north arrow present, completing partial rough sketches in the field, and case reports had some grammatical errors. participation was high and inflated the scores, decreasing the score for the student who received a d. due to these observations we adjusted the rubric in table 1. table 2 grade distribution of the final project. item grade max value 100 min value 65 average 90.25 st. deviation 11 letter distribution a 90-100%: 5 b 80-89%: 2 c 70-79%: 0 d 60-69%: 1 f 0-59%: 0 students were asked five open-ended questions about their experience with the final project. six out of eight (75%) students responded. all of the students who responded remembered the final class project with one student replying “yes, i remember the final project! i talk about it all the time.” students were also asked about their favorite and least favorite parts of the excavation project. overall, 100% of the students that responded stated that their favorite part was finding the body and excavating. the least favorite part varied, with 50% of the students stating that it was navigating the terrain, 33.3% stated it was the instructor not confirming the location of the body, and 16.7% said it was doing the ground search but they stated “i understand that it was to simulate a real-life scenario.” the final questions in the survey asked if students 1) felt the activity increased their confidence in locating and excavating a clandestine grave and 2) increased their confidence in forensic taphonomy. one hundred percent of students stated they felt this activity increased their confidence in locating and finding a clandestine grave. one student commented, “i feel like this class as a whole helped my confidence to excavate graves. overall, by being able to be hands-on helped me learn what to look for and made me feel better as a whole about the topic.” one hundred percent of students also stated they felt more confident in forensic taphonomy. students stated the following: “it increased my confidence because i wasn’t just cramming and forgetting knowledge like i usually do for classes;” “being able to work as a team made us all more alert and aware of what to look for. i really enjoyed the project and feel like it helped pull the whole class and everything we learned during the semester together.” based on grades and survey results i believe students enjoyed the hands-on aspect of this project and felt it was relevant. discussion and conclusion this final project consisted of three days of hands-on, real-life experience finding and excavating a clandestine grave through simulation. overall, students excelled on this project with the average grade being an a. students enjoyed the immersive and applied feeling of this activity. set up and preparation for the project should be done in advance as it takes a few hours out of your day to hike and bury a skeleton. depending upon terrain and soil type (e.g., dense clay) with respect to the physical capabilities of the instructor, the burial may require assistance or delegation. this paper reports upon a small class (n = 8); a larger class or multiple sections will require multiple burials to give all students the same experience. this project can easily be adjusted to be more or less advanced. for example, we have scaled down this activity to use it during a middle school summer camp within a 1.5-hour time block and reused the same hole for each group. in this instance, we used a flat, grassy area beside a parking lot to improve accessibility and time efficiency. moreover, the activity can be tailored in difficulty based upon the amount of struggle the students are permitted to encounter before rendering assistance with instructor guidance. students can get professional training from various institutions such as the university of tennessee knoxville, dita academy, and western carolina university, but again this leads us back to the feasibility of students being able to afford these courses (3) and j forensic sci educ 2021, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education henson receive college credit. the mock grave excavation activity is practically free of cost if you have access to a fake skeleton. the excavation kits can become expensive but are not required. small gardening tools and paper lunch bags can easily be substituted for excavation trowels and paper evidence bags. limitations for this project include set-up time and if students are unable to participate due to the terrain. philips and gilchrist (7) mention protocols and inclusion activities for persons with disabilities. the activity can also be adjusted for difficulty by assigning groups to the field or lab. this project lacked a control group, thus there is no comparison of learning outcomes with an alternative activity. nevertheless, alternatives to actual excavation are seemingly limited. according to larson et al (8), there is a need for more scientific methodology in forensic investigation of clandestine graves. we believe that exposing students to hands-on excavation techniques early in their careers allows for a better-trained graduate and forensic investigator. acknowledgments we would like to thank dr. greg popovich, fairmont state university, and the students who participated in this course. references 1. rowan today. “csi rowan: unearthing and identifying ‘human remains’ is the final test for forensic anthropology students” https://today.rowan.edu/news/2022/04/csirowan.html (accessed july 23, 2022). 2. archaeological institute of america. https://www.archaeological.org/programs/professiona ls/fieldwork/afob/ (accessed july 23, 2022). 3. heath-stout l, hannigan e. affording archaeology: how field school costs promote exclusivity. adv in arch practice 2020;8(2):123-133. 4. langley n, jantz lm, ousley sd, jantz rl, milner g. data collection procedures for forensic skeletal material 2.0. knoxville, tn, 2016. 5. about the matrix. http://harrismatrix.com/about-thematrix/ (accessed august 3, 2022). 6. munsell color. https://munsell.com/color-blog/brown-soil-colorchart-archaeology/ (accessed august 3, 2022). 7. philips t, gilchrist r. inclusive, accessible, archaeology: enabling persons with disabilities. the oxford handbook of public archaeology. oxford, england: oxford university press, 2012. 8. larson d, vass av, wise m. advanced scientific methods and procedures in the forensic investigation of clandestine graves. j contemporary crim justice 2011;27(2): 149-182. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education bankston forensic science information seeking behaviors: a survey of forensic science professionals. sarah bankston, m.s.1*; laura sare, m.s.1; samantha j. sawyer, m.s.2; and jeffery k. tomberlin, ph.d.2 1university libraries, texas a&m university, college station, tx 77843 2department of entomology, texas a&m university, college station, tx 77843 *corresponding author: sbankston@tamu.edu abstract: anecdotal frustrations expressed by former forensic science students indicated a potential need to improve education on information seeking research strategies to better prepare students for the workforce. this study describes the findings from a survey of forensic science professionals from eleven disciplines evaluating how they search for information related to their occupation. over 300 individuals responded to the survey, with work experience ranging from less than a year to over fifty years. open response questions created to gain insight into information seeking behavior were coded and analyzed. while few of the forensic science professionals surveyed (14%) search for research material daily, many (80%) need to find information on a monthly or weekly basis. the results indicate a need for guidance on easier methods to find information and ways to alleviate frustrations in acquiring information. librarians, forensic science educators, and forensic science professionals can form partnerships that meet forensic scientist information needs from the classroom and into the workforce. keywords: forensic science, information literacy, lifelong learning, open access to information, scholarly information introduction the forensic sciences rely heavily on published literature for implementation and application of techniques in criminal investigations. however, access to such materials can be quite challenging given budgetary restrictions, restricted linkages with necessary resources, and/or simply keeping up with advancements as they are made. such limitations can impact the ability of the forensic scientist to maintain flexibility and growth necessary to advance with the sciences. historically, these resources have been gleaned from forensic science journals accessed through contracts with the publisher. however, with the development of the internet and open access journals, the diversity of resources available has increased substantially. determining what information resources are appropriate, or not, can significantly impact evidence interpretation and application. this study was developed to identify frustrations in information seeking that previously had been voiced anecdotally by former students, now forensic science professionals (fsp), to the researchers. the survey was designed to generate data to determine if a need for education on research strategies and information access existed. the data provided would be used for developing education modules that could be used by fsp that focus on their research needs, in addition to informing librarians and forensic science educators of potential areas for curriculum development. the research questions were: 1) how are fsp accessing information and what are the barriers that they are experiencing? and, 2) are there educational opportunities to facilitate research strategies of fsp? this study describes the findings from a survey of members of a forensic science professional organization, consisting of eleven disciplines, on how they search for information related to their occupation. the researchers anticipate this study will serve as a starting point for a larger discussion about the information needs of the forensic science community and will provide ideas for the forensic science community to improve education about access to information resources. several national reports have focused on the information needs of the forensic science community. the 2009 national academies of science report “strengthening forensic science in the united states: a path forward,” noted that “forensic science practitioners require continuing professional development and training. scientific advances in forensic science techniques and research in the forensic science disciplines are of interest to practitioners who must be aware of these new developments. forensic science practitioners also may need to complete additional training for certification purposes or may desire to learn new skills as part of their career development” (1:218). the national institute of justice (nij) recognizes that forensic scientists, “must rely j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education bankston on new technologies and scientific innovations to more effectively identify, gather and process evidence related to criminal activity” (2). this professional development and training, such as keeping up with new technologies and innovations, is encompassed in concept of lifelong learning. lifelong learning is defined as: “…‘the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competence, within a personal, civic, social and/or employment-related perspective.’ lifelong learning is therefore about acquiring and updating all kinds of abilities, interests, knowledge and qualifications from the pre-school years to postretirement. it promotes the development of knowledge and competences that will enable each citizen to adapt to the knowledge-based society and actively participate in all spheres of social and economic life, taking more control of his or her future plus valuing all forms of learning, including: formal learning, such as a degree course followed at university; non-formal learning, such as vocational skills acquired at the workplace…” (3:270) the 2015 national commission on forensic science (ncfs) report stated credible scientific literature should be used in forensic practice and that “the open, peer-reviewed literature is what endures and forms a foundation for further advancements” (4:2). the ncfs also developed criteria to help evaluate the scientific validity of information (4:3). two of the suggested criteria specifically address journal literature that is searchable via “free, publicly available search engines” or “databases that are available through academic libraries and other services” (4:3). given this, knowing how to efficiently and effectively search these resources, as well as understanding routes for accessing the journal literature, are important issues. in the literature, one of the first known attempts to address the issue of accessing forensic science literature was teitelbaum (5) who noted that, “because there is no central repository for forensic science information, and because of the sheer number of disciplines under the forensic science umbrella, forensic scientists are often unable to locate material that is relevant to their needs.” (5:2) he goes on to outline six particularly useful sources and effective searching for each of these sources. two workshops held at the american academy of forensic sciences (aafs) conference in 2016 and 2017 also addressed this issue. the initial workshop (6) focused on educating participants on methods for using the internet to locate such valuable resources, while the second workshop (7) emphasized scientific diversity and its interpretation in the court of law, as well as ways to search for and access scientific and legal information. in both cases, these workshops invoked the need for methods to provide forensic science practitioners a means to streamline and increase efficiency for finding and obtaining relevant literature. other literature on improving information access includes a paper by knoll (8) that is from the publishing side of forensic sciences and provides a useful introduction to open access publishing from the forensic psychiatry perspective. since so little has been written about information seeking in the forensic science discipline, a broader search for information seeking behavior in the literature results in studies that either explore information seeking behavior in general, use specific methodologies, or only study novice learners, not experts in their field. some exceptions include pontis and blandford (9) who focused on how science academics manage and explore information when asked to identify the current and upcoming authority figures in the field. tangential to forensic sciences, makri, blandford, and cox (10) explored how lawyers performed information searches using a “think-aloud” study, but the focus of the article was on the methodologies used rather than the outcomes of the interviews. dinet, chevalier, and tricot (11) provide a useful overview of methodologies to consider when studying information seeking and palmquist and kim (12) also provide a methodological overview but from the library science perspective. tenopir et. al wrote on scholarly reading patterns of university research faculty that was broken out by broad discipline but focused mostly on the format and amount read by faculty (13). the key lifelong learning strategy for this research study is partnerships between public authorities, education service providers, the business sector, associations, etc. (3:273). to explore ways to employ this strategy, specifically for forensic science professionals, the researchers created a survey as the first stage of an investigation of forensic science professionals’ information search strategies. the objectives of this survey were to discover how forensic scientists find and access information in their specific fields, in order to tease out strengths that could be shared throughout the forensic science community as a whole and identify knowledge gaps in search strategies that could be improved upon and brought to the community through learning modules. to inform the development of learning modules, questions such as the relevance of field or time in that field were used to determine if specific fields or stages in career would especially benefit from such modules. the focus of this study was to confirm if frustrations or barriers in information seeking practices of forensic scientists existed in order to identify educational opportunities on information seeking to support lifelong learning. methods a survey was created in qualtrics®, comprised of thirteen fixed-choice and open response questions. this survey was structured to provide feedback for the researchers to determine what education modules, if any, would benefit fsp’s access to information in the course of j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education bankston their job or research. because the forensic sciences are multidisciplinary the researchers, in addition to wanting to know where and how respondents conducted research, also wanted to see if experience or field was a factor in information seeking obstacles. an institutional review board study protocol was submitted and approved at the researchers’ institution. in february 2017 the researchers conducted a workshop at the aafs where they conducted a pilot test of the survey instrument. the final survey was sent to aafs on august 18, 2017 and widely distributed via the aafs listserv (table 1). the survey was open for responses until november 8, 2017. at the time of the survey, the aafs had 6692 members (14). the aafs member list was determined to be a good sample population due to its large membership and multiple disciplines. there was a total of 547 surveys started, with 375 completed and included in the dataset analyzed here. surveys in which respondents did not answer at least half the questions were not included because these did not provide enough information for an analysis. of the competed surveys, if a respondent skipped a question, the response was coded as no answer. this is a response rate of 5.60% and is low, but the researchers were not using the survey results to make generalizations about the forensic science community. rather, this survey was structured to gather evidence to see if the frustrations in information seeking they had heard from fsp that were former students occur among others in the forensic science community and if there were some educational opportunities that could be developed from the data. the survey instrument included open response and multiple-choice questions. multiple choice response analysis was provided by qualtrics®. all responses were downloaded to an excel spreadsheet. open response questions were post-coded using grounded theory methods. creswell explains grounded theory is “a qualitative strategy of inquiry in which the researcher derives a general, abstract theory of process, action, or interaction grounded in the views of participants in a study.” (15:13 & 229). the open-ended questions were coded (by sentences or phrases) by the two researchers who conducted the qualitative research portion of the study. the two researchers coded independently using an open coding process and met to review codes and come to agreement on the final codes used. these codes were determined throughout the coding process, and not from pre-assumed categories, to follow glaser and strauss’ (16) grounded theory method to analyze the data with no preconceived hypothesis. words and phrases that described topics of importance were noted, coded, and listed in an excel spreadsheet. the initial codes were collapsed into broader categories using the constant comparative method, a process in which data, “are broken down into manageable pieces.” (17:7). conceptually similar data were grouped together under a related heading and with further analysis developed into two major themes discussed later in this study. table 1 questions and response types included in survey question response option q1. what is your highest level of education attained? multiple choice q2. what is your field and how long have you been in it? open response q3. do you have any formal affiliations that allow you to free access to scholarly information (such as an agreement with a university)? multiple choice – binomial q4. how do you access articles you cannot get freely online? open response q5. how often do you search for scholarly articles? multiple choice q6. what search engines/databases do you regularly use to find information, and for what type of question? open response q7. how do you find what is published on a given topic? open response q8. how do you get the literature you need? open response q9. how often do you locate articles you would like to use but cannot access? multiple choice q10. think back to the last time you needed to find information for your work. what did you need information on? can you describe the process you used to locate the information you needed? open response q11. how do you currently document the literature you use for training, quality assurance, and accreditation purposes? open response q12. does anything frustrate you about looking for information for your work? open response q13. which of these items would you include in your definition of a scholarly article? multiple choice responses to question 2, regarding field and time in field underwent two separate analyses. field responses were coded into categories using the section descriptions on the aafs website and time in field responses were grouped into multi-year ranges. analysis comprised of j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education bankston determining the total number of individuals that responded with corresponding coding to determine percentiles. for question 6, any response recorded (even if multiple items were reported in one response) was tallied in order to observe frequency of response. for example, if a response was “google, bing and google scholar,” all three responses were tallied for analysis as opposed to coding as “search engines.” responses were then grouped by type of resource. given the data collected were non-normally distributed and violated the assumptions of parametric statistical tests, a nonparametric test was used. a kruskalwallis test was performed in r 3.5.1 “feather spray” in the base package (r core team 2018) to determine if particular responses could be attributed to a field, time spent practicing in the field, or both. the dunn post hoc test was used following significant (p < 0.05) results of the kruskal-wallis test to determine what was driving the significant result. for the questions that were open response, the coded data (based on methods outlined above) were used to determine if the responses were field, or time spent in field, specific, as these can give insight to who is encountering issues in obtaining literature and who is overcoming them. all responses noted as “not specified” were excluded from statistical analyses. results all but one of the forensic science professionals who responded had college degrees, and of those, 81% indicated an advanced degree. data in response to this question were highly variable; when the survey was first distributed, there were a few comments about the lack of a professional degree (md/dvm) option. it was decided to add this category as an option for those who had not yet taken the survey (q1). respondents were asked their forensic field in an open response format (q2), and given the breadth of answers, the framework of aafs section titles was used to map responses. respondents were largely mapped to the pathology/biology (25%) and general fields (19%) followed by toxicology (15%), criminalistics (12%), and anthropology (10%). time in field varied, and no group exceeded 17% of the total response population. however, individuals with less than 1 year and those with over 50 years in the field each represented less than 1% of the response population (table 2). table 2 number (n = 375) of responses for field and time in field (q2)* field number of responses percentage of total responses pathology/biology 92 24.53% general 71 18.93% toxicology 55 14.67% criminalistics 44 11.73% anthropology 39 10.40% engineering & applied sciences 18 4.80% odontology 18 4.80% questioned documents 10 2.67% not specified 9 2.40% psychiatry & behavioral science 8 2.13% jurisprudence 6 1.60% digital & multimedia sciences 3 0.80% no answer 2 0.53% time in field (years) number of responses percentage of total responses <1 2 0.53% 1-4 32 8.53% 5-9 49 13.07% 10-14 65 17.33% 15-19 50 13.33% 20-29 56 14.93% 30-39 47 12.53% 40-49 32 8.53% 50+ 3 0.80% not specified 37 9.87% no answer 2 0.53% *field was coded using aafs sections and categorizing responses using the descriptions provided for each major group and time was grouped in ranges by year. when asked if respondents had any affiliations that allowed them free access to scholarly articles (q3), majority responded yes (58%). those who answered no (42%) were then asked how they accessed articles that were not freely available as an open-ended question (q4). when more than one access method was indicated, each method was coded (figure 1). the most frequent methods of access were through colleagues (34% of responses) or paying for the article, subscription, or a professional membership that granted access (26% of responses). nine percent of respondents indicated that they would not be able to access an article that was not freely available. responses with unclear meaning, such as “journal,” were coded as not specified, but these only comprised 5% of the total responses. j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education bankston figure 1 accessing scholarly articles when not freely available and no institutional affiliation only 6% of the forensic science professionals surveyed indicated that they never had to search for scholarly articles (q5). while 14% of respondents search for scholarly articles daily, most need to find this type of material on a monthly (43%) or weekly (37%) basis. for those positions and disciplines that need to do research, a majority said they often could not access articles they identified as potentially useful and would like to use due to paywalls. those that did not have problems accessing articles were usually affiliated with a university. participants were also asked what search engines or databases they used regularly, and to indicate the types of questions they were trying to answer in the search (q6). only 33% of respondents answered both parts of the question, creating a limitation on information gathered in this question. while useful information was gathered about resources utilized, the responses could not be connected to particular types of research needs or examined in relation to time in field. respondents most often regularly used google, google scholar, pubmed/medline, subscription databases, journal websites (such as the afte journal and journal of forensic sciences), professional associations, and university or public libraries (figure 2). when a specific subscription citation/article database was mentioned by name, it was coded as subscription databases versus a generic response such as ‘library search engine.’ ambiguous responses such as ‘library search engine’ were coded as university or public libraries. any mention of a professional association, whether specific or generic, was coded as professional associations. any mention of a journal website, whether specific or generic, was coded as journal websites. because of the frequency of responses of both google and google scholar, these were broken out from the larger code categories to have their own category. similarly, pubmed/medline were combined since the medline is the database behind pubmed web interface, and given the response frequency of this resource, it too was broken out from the larger code categories. these seven resources comprised 84% of the total responses. the remaining 16% of responses included specific federal agency websites, or websites such as academica.edu, wikipedia, youtube, and linkedin. figure 2 frequently used search engines or databases to determine information search strategies and starting points, participants were asked how they find what is published on a topic in an open response question (q7). responses were coded, and the most frequent response was search engines (31%) such as google, followed by journals (13%) and databases (13%). when the meaning was unclear, such as “most of the time” or “keywords,” responses were coded as not specified (14%). this question also generated unexpected responses such as email alerts, news sites, newsletters, and rss feeds, though none of these responses exceeded 1% of total responses (figure 3). figure 3 how respondents find what is published on a given topic the ways in which respondents acquire the literature they need are incredibly varied (q8). while there was no clear majority response, the most frequent way respondents obtain literature is by an online method (37%), through colleagues (11%), with others using university libraries (8%), other types of libraries (5%), and subscriptions (5%). j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education bankston online was listed both as a vague response (14% of respondents just answered “online”) because no specific resource was mentioned (figure 4) and also combined with electronic format answers such as pdf, databases, google, etc. responses were coded not specified (4%) when the meaning was unclear, such as “research” or “computer.” results from question 8 are also discussed in the kruskal-wallis analysis at the end of this section. figure 4 how respondents obtain literature when asked how often they were unable to access articles they would like to use (q9), 25% of respondents indicated they never ran into access issues. of those who never run into access issues, 48% responded earlier in the survey that they have a formal affiliation that allows for free access to scholarly information such as working at a university. the majority of respondents experience some type of access issue on a daily (4%), weekly (25%), or monthly (46%) basis. respondents were asked to describe the process they use to locate information by recalling the last time they needed to find information for their work (q10). while it was thought that this scenario-based question might uncover information seeking methods not yet revealed, it turned out the responses only served to further reinforce findings in the previous questions. further analysis of the question did provide how fsp are using scientific research to inform their work. by far the most sought-after type of information was articles at 74%. nine percent of those who responded ‘articles’ specified “free articles.” textbooks and books were 20% of the responses, and materials like standards, data, specs, and conference proceedings were 6% combined. of those respondents who included their research need as part of their answer, the most common response was to get current (18%), followed by methods (12%), court preparation (8%), and case investigation (8%) (figure 5). figure 5 reasons for seeking information determining how fsp document literature could be important for identifying future educational opportunities related to best practices for creating and managing a database of references for a lab or individual. respondents were queried on how they document literature for quality assurance, accreditation, and training purposes (q11). the majority responded that they used citations or some sort of reference management software (23%). others used shared departmental folders or spreadsheets (13%), training/lab manuals and sops (11%), or saved physical or electronic copies of articles (11%). nine percent of the responses were not specific enough to properly code, 6% responded that they do not document literature for these purposes, and 7% responded that such documentation was not applicable to their job. when asked if there were any frustrations when searching for information for their work (q12), the majority of the responses related to problems accessing information (24%). other frustrations included a combination of access and funding (13%), issues related to the search itself (8%), funding alone (8%), or the time it took to search (3%). however, 21% of the responses indicated no frustrations involved with their work, though 65% of those respondents indicated earlier in the survey that they have some sort of formal affiliation with an institution that grants access to scholarly information confirming access is not the only frustration respondents experience (figure 6). figure 6 frustrations with searching for information j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education bankston participants were given a list of information types and asked which they would consider a scholarly article to help the researchers understand if/how information terminology used in libraries is understood by forensic science practitioners (q13). one objective of this survey was to gather data for education modules being developed by the researchers and this question was used to gauge what language might be most effective or already commonly in use by fsp. every respondent selected the answer, “peerreviewed journal,” and 21% selected only this option. the most popular response was a combination of peer-reviewed journal, conference paper, and books (28%). after these two, the most numerous response was the combination of peer-reviewed journal and books (14%) (figure 7). figure 7 sources included in respondents' definition of a scholarly article; pr – peer-reviewed article; cp – conference paper; b – books; tp – trade publication; w – website; ns – not sure the kruskal-wallis (kw) analysis was conducted to determine if the time fsp spent in their field, or their field had any relationship to information seeking behaviors. this analysis was to inform the researchers of any unique populations within the survey sample that could be targeted with the planned education modules. the kw analysis indicated that, per the survey population, how frequently an individual searches for scholarly articles (q5) and [potentially] locates information (q7) and documents literature (q11) was driven by the length of time individuals were in any given field, while how someone finds information (q6) is field specific. however, ways of accessing literature (q8) were driven by time spent in that given field and potentially their specific field (supplemental table 1). the dunn post-hoc test indicated several general patterns from significant results indicated in the kw test. first, individuals who spent over 40 years in their given field indicated they searched for literature more often than individuals who spent 30 years or less. most fields relied on google or google scholar for their preferred search engines; however, fields in pathology/biology and toxicology used pubmed significantly more than fields comprising other aafs sections. finally, individuals who spent less than 5, 20-30, or over 50+ years in their respective fields relied on independent means to search for literature (e.g., searches in databases) where individuals who spent 5-10 or 30-50 years in a given field utilized a library or library service (e.g., university library/interlibrary loan/ librarian). discussion and conclusion the survey confirmed the researchers’ primary research question that there are barriers encountered with accessing information for some survey respondents. most fsp in this survey did not experience access barriers, but 42% reported they did not have affiliations that would make accessing scholarly information easier. this combined with a majority of fsp needing to conduct research on a weekly or monthly basis, and those needing to find information having access issues on a weekly and monthly basis, shows that some fsp could benefit from some basic information literacy research strategies. while fsp in this survey demonstrated their resourcefulness and found ways to access what they need despite time and access barriers, these barriers do exist. understanding the difficulties in information seeking encountered by fsp is useful for forensic science educators as they develop their curricula. forensic science educators can partner with librarians at their university library to integrate literature searching and evaluation skills into their assignments and courses. however, awareness of the complexity of the information landscape for fsp is important for addressing larger barriers to information access that might not occur to students until they are in their first professional position. from the qualitative data coding results, two themes were identified. the first theme is a need for guidance on easier ways to find information resources and particularly, for fsp without university affiliations, how to find gain access to these resources. the second theme is frustration in acquiring information. this theme arose from statements related to encountering paywalls, lack of funds to purchase information resources, and the time spent searching for and selecting information. these themes point to a need for practical solutions. while not the most frequent response, some fsp expressed frustration in how widespread forensic information can be, noting that there is too much information to search through or that there is not a central location to search for all information. however, a one-stop search solution that involves a single portal for access is not probable given the variety of disciplines, platforms, and sources of information used in the forensic sciences. while a one-size-fits-all search is unlikely, a more effective solution would be the development of a national library network for forensic sciences. a national library for forensic sciences would be instrumental in acquiring, making accessible, and distributing forensic science j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education bankston literature, which would alleviate both the need for easier ways to find information resources as well as the frustrations with acquiring the information once found. looking at the literature, both the national library of medicine (nlm) and the national agricultural library (nal) provide models that could be used to develop a national library for the forensic sciences, or at the very least networking models for opening up access to literature for practitioners. additionally, the library could develop interfaces for discovery and access, and training materials to help practitioners learn how to search for relevant literature more effectively. a logical agency to take on this role would be the national criminal justice reference service (ncjrs), which already hosts a virtual library. there would need to be government mandates for the ncjrs to take on this purpose but stepping into this role is not limited to a national library; a large, multi-disciplined, forensic science organization could also serve this function of coordinating training and access to literature. the nlm has a long history of supporting medical libraries throughout the country via grant funding to provide practitioners better access to biomedical literature. they developed the national network of libraries of medicine (nnlm) which is a network of libraries sectioned into regions in order to more effectively work with practitioners in their areas (18). similarly, nal has worked to make agriculture literature available to practitioners through the development of the united states agricultural information network (usain) and the agriculture network information center (agnic) (19, 20), both of which leverage partner libraries and librarians across the country to identify, preserve, and provide access to agriculture information. these models for distributed information access to practitioners provided by nlm and nal can be explored for feasibility in developing a national library network for forensic sciences. libraries and librarians can also help fsp by providing acquisitions expertise. given that the information access problem does not appear isolated, city or county crime labs or criminal justice state agencies could work with local libraries to license resources, or work with the state library to see if they could become part of a library consortium with access to scholarly databases. acquisitions librarians have worked with consortia models for a long time and could help labs and agencies understand potential models for licensing materials. the center for research libraries is an example of a long-running international consortium (21). if the consortia model is not feasible, fsp, through membership with a local public library, could have access to databases where articles can be accessed directly, or requested via interlibrary loan. academic libraries based in public universities are also good resources for subject specific research help as well as accessing specialized science databases. most public academic libraries have ways for non-university patrons to use computers in the library. in the absence of a national library for forensic sciences or a national strategy for providing access to forensics literature, the development of continuing education opportunities to help fsp understand the limitations of existing sources of information as well as additional places to search to find credible, freely available information would be helpful. this could also include information on effective search strategies and best practices to help fsp become more efficient searchers. a focus on search strategy design and best practices can also mitigate the frustrations some survey respondents expressed with the actual search process. learning how to effectively use keywords and boolean operators to create search strings would limit the number of results as well as the time it takes to sift through results. other solutions include better tool selection such as searching google scholar rather than google to find scholarly material. continuing education related to information searching and evaluation is critical, especially with the development of the open access (oa) movement that advocates for more scholarly information to be made freely available online. many federal granting agencies such as the nih, nsf, and nij now require researchers to make publications and/or data produced under grant funds to be openly available (22). while pubmed central is a good example of a federal repository for publications from grants awarded through the nih, forensic science researchers may be depositing their papers in university or other subject repositories to fulfill a grant mandate or university requirement. these oa mandates are a recent development and some fsp may not know about this option or that google scholar and google’s dataset search indexes materials that are posted in university repositories. continuing education related to identifying good resources for literature, regardless of whether it is oa or subscription-based, as well as learning how to identify predatory journal practices, is critical. forensic science educators can request the assistance of university librarians to teach students about publishing models, creating data management plans for grant funding, and depositing research data in university repositories. raising awareness of resources like the directory of open access journals (https://doaj.org), a list of high quality, open access, peerreviewed journals that includes categories such as law, anthropology, medicine, and science, can prevent researchers and students from falling prey to predatory journal publishers. the survey results showed many respondents were searching for articles. until publication practices shift to favor more oa publications, there needs to be an easier mechanism for fsp to purchase articles as needed for their research work. fsp new to the field were less likely to pay for articles they could not get freely online as opposed to fsp who have decades of experience. paying for articles was often not an option because of workplace bureaucracy leading to information coming too late, or a workplace lack https://doaj.org/ j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education bankston of budget. some fsp reported that they paid for information resources out of their own pocket. additionally, researchers at universities can work with their university library or subject liaison librarian to learn more about how to make their research more accessible by depositing pre-prints of manuscripts in institutional repositories. researchers can also request funds to make their articles open access in the gold oa model. this model charges the author a fee which allows the article to be open to all readers on the publisher’s database platform, not just those who subscribe to that database. forensic science educators can incorporate the need for a line item in the grant request to include funding to make research more widely available in grant writing workshops for students. in reviewing the data from question 13, the researchers discovered that information seeking terms commonly used by librarians did not map easily to the ways fsp respondents used the same terms. for example, when librarians use database as a term, they are referring to specific resources such as pubmed or web of science, which are citation and article databases. similarly, when asking fsp about what types of resources might fit in their definition of a scholarly article, it was enlightening to see the variety of answers. in the library and information sciences discipline, “scholarly article” is typically used to describe peer-reviewed journal article, and librarians often focus tutorials and instruction on identifying and finding peer-reviewed articles (23). however, it could be that fsp who responded might be including all things that might be considered scholarly, credible, or acceptable as sources in their field. for clarity, librarians need to find different words to use or better explain what they mean by these terms when educating students. at the university level, peer-reviewed articles are typically required for assignments, and librarians working with forensic science classes should work with professors to not only teach about peer-reviewed sources but also other credible and commonly used materials that would be used in the field. there also emerged a different approach to access between forensic science professionals and librarians, which could be an area of future exploration. it seems that fsp tend to think, ‘i need x information,’ and are very transactional based on a specific case or need. in contrast, librarians tend to teach information seeking strategies that are applicable to any discipline and providing access to all available information. are librarians teaching forensic science students what fsp want or need in their future work research? managing expectations was another issue that emerged for which librarians and fsp educators can provide guidance. the kruskal-wallis test demonstrated fsp in all fields and all times in field experienced similar frustrations in locating information, indicating that access to information was a universal frustration. information seeking takes time and information is distributed through many resource formats such as journal articles, web sites, and books, among others. given that information, especially forensic science information, on a particular topic can cross disciplines, fsp can approach research with these expectations in mind. in college courses, librarians often tout subscription article databases, but according to this survey, library instruction sessions should also include research avenues to open access resources for when fsp do not have access to university resources after graduation. forensic science educators can work with their university librarians to develop effective library training sessions to provide students with research skills that relate to the situations they will encounter in their future jobs. to assist the information access needs of fsp out in the workforce, the research team created freely available education modules based on the themes developed from this survey, which have been made available at https://sites.google.com/view/forensicscienceopenaccess/home as a model to demonstrate this type of training to fsp. this training is something a forensic science library network could develop and maintain. limitations this study consisted of a survey that was distributed to a forensic science professional organization. while this is a large association, it is not the only one, and there was a low response rate. while the researchers obtained useful information for the goals of developing information literacy education modules and resources related to information seeking and access, more studies should be conducted to examine more closely the use of scientific literature among fsp. specifically, future research could include a more targeted quantitative survey to tease out more specific issues uncovered by these preliminary findings, including funding, access, and quality of resources. conclusion this research uncovered how some fsp have found ways to work around barriers to information access. collegiality is important and useful for accessing information in the various disciplines. many fsp contact authors directly for a copy of their article or ask for help finding information on mailing lists. newer fsp in this survey relied heavily on colleagues to acquire information they could not get freely online. educators teaching forensic science students can instigate networking skills before the students enter the workforce, and fsp workplaces can provide new fsp with introductions within these close-knit fields. in addition to emphasizing the importance of building these professional relationships, forensic science educators can work to integrate information access, searching, and evaluation (including https://sites.google.com/view/forensicscience-openaccess/home https://sites.google.com/view/forensicscience-openaccess/home j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education bankston open access materials) into their assignments and courses to better prepare their students for their careers. this investigation into anecdotal claims points to a need for further investigation. this survey provides data to support the anecdotal evidence researchers encountered regarding frustrations with access to scholarly information. the research showed that while not all fsp who responded to the survey need assistance in information seeking, there could be benefit from guidance regarding finding quality resources, particularly via open access venues, as well as education related to search strategies to help mitigate issues with time and information overload. forensic science educators can work with academic librarians to provide education and instruction on what types of research students might be performing when they are employed as an fsp so that they have adequate knowledge and reasonable expectations if they are no longer affiliated with a university that provides easy access to scholarly information. other ways for the forensic science community to provide information access is to create a network of libraries that could help provide access and training, or to work with libraries to become consortia members to provide access to scholarly databases. the researchers hope this manuscript will lead to further discussions on the role open access can play in the forensic science community and their research needs. in addition to this manuscript, the study data has been made available at doi:10.18738/t8/2baqeo to help continue the conversation related to providing forensic science professionals better access to scholarly information. acknowledgements this research was funded by national institutes of justice grant 2016-r2-cx-0054. opinions, points of view expressed in this research, and products discussed represent a consensus of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position, policies, or endorsement of the united states department of justice, office of justice programs, or the nij. the authors would like to thank sarah potvin for her review of an earlier version of this manuscript. references 1. committee on identifying the needs of the forensic sciences community, national research council. strengthening forensic science in the united states: a path forward. washington, dc: national academies press, 2009. 2. national institute of justice (nij). impact of forensic science research and development. washington, dc: u.s. department of justice, 2015. http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo63341/248572.p df 3. baporikar n. lifelong learning in knowledge society. in: ordóñez de pablos p, tennyson rd, editors. impact of economic crisis on education and the nextgeneration workforce. hershey, pa: information science reference, 2016;263-84. 4. national commission on forensic science. scientific literature in support of forensic science and practice: views document issued by the scientific inquiry and research subcommittee. washington, d.c. u.s. department of justice, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/ncfs/pages/ attachments/2015/02/25/scientific_literature_views_d ocument_as_adopted_1_30_15.pdf 5. teitelbaum j. an improved forensic science information search. forensic sci rev 2015;27(1):4152. 6. butler jm, teitelbaum j, makar s, malanowski a, taylor mk, wood mr. information does exist beyond the first page of your google search!: tools and strategies for forensic science literature searching and use. workshop presented at the 68th american academy of forensic science annual meeting; 2016 feb 22-27; las vegas, nv. 7. tomberlin jk, jordan hr, bankston sk, sare l, et al. viewing research through different lenses: how to achieve success in court. workshop presented at the 69th american academy of forensic science annual meeting; 2017 feb 13-18; new orleans, la. 8. knoll jl. open access journals and forensic publishing. j am acad psychiatry law 2014;42(3):315-321. 9. pontis s, blandford a. understanding “influence:” an exploratory study of academics' processes of knowledge construction through iterative and interactive information seeking. j assoc inf sci technol 2015;66(8):1576-1593. doi:10.1002/asi.23277 10. makri s, blandford a, cox al. investigating the information-seeking behaviour of academic lawyers: from ellis’s model to design. inf process manage 2008;44(2):613-634. doi: 10.1016/j.ipm.2007.05.001 11. dinet j, chevalier a, tricot a. information search activity: an overview. eur rev appl psychol 2012;62(2):49-62. doi:10.1016/j.erap.2012.03.004 http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo63341/248572.pdf http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo63341/248572.pdf https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/ncfs/pages/attachments/2015/02/25/scientific_literature_views_document_as_adopted_1_30_15.pdf https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/ncfs/pages/attachments/2015/02/25/scientific_literature_views_document_as_adopted_1_30_15.pdf https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/ncfs/pages/attachments/2015/02/25/scientific_literature_views_document_as_adopted_1_30_15.pdf j forensic sci educ 2021, 3(1) 2021 journal forensic science education bankston 12. palmquist ra, kim k-s. modeling the users of information systems: some theories and methods. ref libr 1998;28(60):3-25. doi:10.1300/j120v28n60_02 13. tenopir c., king dw, christian l, volentine r. scholarly article seeking, reading, and use: a continuing evolution from print to electronic in the sciences and social sciences. learn publ 2015;28:93105. doi:10.1087/20150203 14. american academy of forensic sciences. membership statistics. july 2017. 15. cresswell jw. research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. 2nd edition. thousand oaks: sage publications, 2003. 16. glaser b, strauss a. the discovery of grounded theory. chicago: aldine publishing company, 1967. 17. corbin j, strauss a. basics of qualitative research. 4th edition. los angeles: sage publications, 2015. 18. speaker sl. an historical overview of the national network of libraries of medicine, 1985-2015. j med libr assoc 2018;106(2):162-174. doi:10.5195/jmla.2018.297 19. frierson eg, gardner m, mccarthy s, blake pj. collaborative development of agricultural information services at the national agricultural library of the united states. sci technol libr 2003;24(1-2):5-20. doi:10.1300/j122v24n01_02 20. moberly hk, gardner ma. creating distributed information access: the agriculture network information center (agnic). tech serv q 2000;17(3):33-46. doi:10.1300/j124v17n03_03 21. center for research libraries. accessed september 28, 2020. https://www.crl.edu/about 22. national institutes of health, public access policy, https://publicaccess.nih.gov/; national science foundation, today’s data, tomorrow’s discoveries, 2015, https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15052/nsf15052.p df; national institute of justice, research, development, and evaluation grant award requirements, https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/research-developmentand-evaluation-grant-award-requirements 23. examples of university library guides describing scholarly material: https://www.library.wisc.edu/help/research-tipstricks/identifying-scholarly-articles/; https://www.library.illinois.edu/ugl/howdoi/scholarly /; https://library.yale-nus.edu.sg/start-yourresearch/how-to-identify-a-scholarly-source/; https://research.library.gsu.edu/c.php?g=115862&p= 754393 https://www.crl.edu/about https://publicaccess.nih.gov/ https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15052/nsf15052.pdf https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15052/nsf15052.pdf https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/research-development-and-evaluation-grant-award-requirements https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/research-development-and-evaluation-grant-award-requirements https://www.library.wisc.edu/help/research-tips-tricks/identifying-scholarly-articles/ https://www.library.wisc.edu/help/research-tips-tricks/identifying-scholarly-articles/ https://www.library.illinois.edu/ugl/howdoi/scholarly/ https://www.library.illinois.edu/ugl/howdoi/scholarly/ https://library.yale-nus.edu.sg/start-your-research/how-to-identify-a-scholarly-source/ https://library.yale-nus.edu.sg/start-your-research/how-to-identify-a-scholarly-source/ https://research.library.gsu.edu/c.php?g=115862&p=754393 https://research.library.gsu.edu/c.php?g=115862&p=754393 methods results discussion and conclusion j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education cloete commentary accelerator-based techniques: a multidisciplinary addition to revolutionize forensic science curricula for social justice? karen j. cloete, phd unesco-unisa africa chair in nanosciences & nanotechnology laboratories, college of graduate studies, university of south africa, muckleneuk ridge, po box 392, pretoria, 0003, south africa nanosciences african network (nanoafnet), ithemba labs-national research foundation, po box 722, somerset west 7129, western cape province, south africa, kaboutercloete@gmail.com, cloetekj@sun.ac.za, karencloete@ilabs.nrf.ac.za i recently attended the world science forum in cape town, south africa. in one of the thematic sessions organized by the international centre for theoretical physics (ictp) and synchrotron-light for experimental science and applications in the middle east (sesame), the role of physics and accelerators for science and social justice was discussed. if we project this discussion into forensic sciences, crime remains a worldwide social injustice. multidisciplinary facilities such as the ictp and sesame do not only offer a scientific diplomatic tool to bring together global networks of forensic scientific communities with a mission to finely advance science intermixes to address important multidisciplinary challenges as a vital pathway towards social justice, but can also grow and develop scientific and technological innovation and excellence, and build scientific and cultural bridges between global scientific societies in the field of forensic research. most importantly, such facilities also provide access to training and education for students and researchers. yet, the role of accelerator-based techniques in answering complex questions in the field of forensics combined with its position in multidisciplinary curricula in forensic sciences have unfortunately remained rather limited. accelerator-based techniques include for example synchrotron radiation, micro-proton-induced x-ray emission (pixe), external beam pixe, neutron activation analysis, and secondary ion mass spectrometry using mev ions. accelerator-based techniques alone or in combination with other methods present as very powerful tools to uncover forensic evidence, with ion beam accelerators and synchrotrons being the most commonly explored in forensic science. these techniques employ particle accelerators to produce a beam of charged ion particles such as protons or electrons accelerated to high energy that interact with atoms in the forensic sample to release x-rays or secondary ions that are analysed by a detector to determine the sample’s elemental or chemical composition. these techniques can provide spatially resolved qualitative and quantitative elemental and molecular mapping in sample regions that remain intact during analysis and that can also be subsequently analyzed by complementary benchtop techniques. other benefits include fast analysis, low detection limits, and the traceability of results. a detailed overview comparing chemical imaging methods can also be found in (1). illustrative themes exploring the utility of accelerator-based techniques include fingerprint and document analysis, gunshot residue analysis, drug screening, and for studying provenance, counterfeiting, mislabelling and adulteration of samples. for cultural heritage forensics, the ion beam laboratory in the louvre museum in paris has been quite eminent. accelerator-based techniques also find its application within the field of systemic intoxication studies using hair. to illustrate, synchrotron longitudinal hair mapping provides a retrospective or chronological profile of acute or chronic exposure to xenobiotics including toxic metals, whilst cross-sectional mapping across the hair morphological regions may allow differentiation between exogenous chemicals on the hair surface deposited via air pollution or drug vapours and endogenous chemicals deposited via the bloodstream, which remains an area of great debate in hair research. an illustrative and famous case study that comes to mind and utilized synchrotrons is that of phar lap, for which synchrotron radiation analysis with high resolution x-ray fluorescence and x-ray absorption near edge structure showed a longitudinal change in the intensity signal with time progression linked to metabolic changes incorporated during hair formation that ultimately indicated arsenic poisoning of the famous race horse (2). another study that comes to mind is that of the world-renowned danish astronomer tycho brahe who died in prague in 1601 after a short, 11-day illness in which neutron activation analysis was used for hair analysis. the analysis showed that the astronomer was exposed to pb and several other toxic elements from his alchemical activities that most likely contributed to his demise (3). interestingly, to reconstruct the dose associated with the hiroshima detonation, accelerator mass spectrometry has also been used to analyse neutron activation products such as 63ni in copper samples (4). in conclusion, to promote the diverse and robust applications of accelerator-based techniques to answer complex forensic questions, knowledge cross-fertilization focused on the development of international curricula delineating the fundamental and applied science underscoring accelerator-based techniques, complementary mailto:kaboutercloete@gmail.com mailto:cloetekj@sun.ac.za j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education cloete methods, the use of chemometrics and rigorous statistical models, and case studies should be developed to train interdisciplinary forensic scientists capable of more robustly conducting inquiries supported by a diverse set of analytical techniques that meet scientific quality standards and interlaboratory reliability in order to assist th e criminal judicial system in firmly connecting legal rulings to the existing forensic evidence. references 1. menezes lyra da cunha m, trepout s, messaoudi c, wu t-d, ortega r, guerquin-kern j-c, marco s. overview of chemical imaging methods to address biological questions. micron 2016;84:23-36. 2. kempson im, henry d. determination of arsenic poisoning and metabolism in hair by synchrotron radiation: the case of phar lap. angew chem 2010;122(25):4333-4336. 3. kučera j, kameník j, havránek v, krausová i, světlík i, pachnerová brabcová k, fikrle m, chvátil d. recent achievements in naa, paa, xrf, iba and ams applications for cultural heritage investigations at nuclear physics institute, řež. physics 2022;4(2):491-503. 4. straume t, rugel g, marchetti aa, rühm w, korschinek g, mcaninch je, carroll k, egbert s, faestermann t, knie k, martinelli r, wallner a, wallner c. measuring fast neutrons in hiroshima at distances relevant to atomic-bomb survivors. nature 200331;424(6948):539-542. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education botch-jones a review of grounded theory-mixed methods analysis and potential application to forensic science education research and practice sabra botch-jones, ms, ma 1,2* , ronald r. thrasher, phd 1 , b. bavette miler, phd 1 , james d. hess, phd 1 , jarrad wagner, phd 1 1 oklahoma state university, center for health sciences, tulsa, ok, usa; 2 boston university school of medicine, biomedical forensic sciences, boston, ma, usa *corresponding author: sabraj@bu.edu abstract: grounded theory has been used in qualitative research for over sixty years and in many subject areas. it has allowed researchers to “ground” their theory in data that is systematically gathered, sampled, coded, categorized, and analyzed. within science technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) education, programs focused on forensic science may benefit from grounded theory mixed methods research that assesses program design, content delivery, student experiences, faculty demographics, and allocated resources. this study set out to identify and characterize current peer reviewed articles in grounded theory mixed methods research in stem education. a literature search using pubmed (us national library of medicine, national institutes of health, bethesda, md, usa) and google scholar (mountain view, ca, usa) was conducted to identify relevant peer-reviewed articles using the search terms "grounded theory", "research", "science”, “technology”, “engineering”, “mathematics”, “education”, “graduate”, “undergraduate”, “educational standards”, and “stem”. research from the past decade (range 2011-2021) was targeted for both graduate and undergraduate education. using these key terms and search parameters, 165 results in google scholar and 20 in pubmed were identified. however, after a closer examination, only 37 and 16, respectively, of the articles were relevant to grounded theory mixed method analysis in higher education research (n=53). using the identified articles in educational research and practice revealed a total of 52 themes that occurred in at least two or more journal articles. the most studied themes were “applied practice” (18 items), “culture/environments/community/climate/sociocognitive” (17 items), “communication/handoffs/interpersonal skills” (14 items), “pedagogy” (13 items), “knowledge building/acquisition/learning theory” (12 items), “resources (education and research)” (11 items), and “innovation” (11 items). this review highlights numerous educational research themes or key topics that may help us understand and improve educational outcomes in stem higher education including forensic science. it is essential that future forensic scientists obtain a level of academic/technical competence, communication/interpersonal skills, protective mechanisms, adaptive skills, professional attitudes, and ethical judgment. these themes should be evaluated with a focus on forensic science to enhance the education students receive and the skills they start out with in their careers. keywords (audience): educators, academics, undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate keywords (domain): grounded theory, mixed methods, education research, forensic science education keywords (pedagogy): synchronous, asynchronous, traditional, hybrid, on-line key words (topics): grounded theory in education, forensic education, educational standards, education best practices, pedagogy . introduction educational research is essential to develop best practices, identify and further investigate deficiencies in current approaches, and ultimately improve student outcomes. within stem education, programs focused on forensic science may benefit from research that assesses the role educational standards play in program design and content delivery, student experiences, faculty demographics, allocated resources, and more. historically, grounded theory, developed by glaser and straus, has been used in qualitative research for over sixty years and in many subject areas (1). it has allowed researchers to “ground” their theory in data that is systematically gathered, sampled, coded, categorized, and analyzed. further, charmaz, thornberg and other researchers have explored grounded theory and note that it can aid in the development of strategies for theoretical analyses, in the generation of new concepts, contribute to the larger body of scientific knowledge, as well as help to guide policy development and practices (2-5). in the work of taber, who explored case studies of grounded theory mailto:sabraj@bu.edu j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education botch-jones and research in science education, they found “grounded theory approach claims to produce testable outcomes…..and is intended to lead to predictions which may be subject to traditional experimental and statistical testing”(6). we noted in our previous work that forensic science education is relatively new in comparison to other stem disciplines as is its content delivery via nontraditional, on-line or hybrid academic programs (7). we found that published research on forensic science education effectiveness is limited (8-12). forensic science has been characterized as a hands-on career, with various sub disciplines including seven overarching scientific areas: biology, digital multimedia, medicine, scene examination, physics/pattern interpretation, and chemistry (13). each of these forensic disciplines utilizes hands-on techniques whether in the field or in the laboratory. since 1977, several reviews of forensic educational programs have been published that highlight the variability in academic programs, course work, faculty demographics, laboratory courses offered, as well as the perspectives on hiring decisions regarding forensic science degrees (812). further, with the creation of the forensic science education programs accreditation commission (fepac) there has been a shift from unaccredited to accredited forensic programs with the adoption and implementation of meeting accreditation standards (14). educational research utilizing grounded theory mixed methods analysis, whether focused on forensic science or not, could help guide future research on the effectiveness of forensic science education. therefore, this study set out to identify and characterize current peer reviewed articles in grounded theory mixed methods research in stem education regardless of pedagogy. methods a literature search using pubmed (us national library of medicine, national institutes of health, bethesda, md, usa) and google scholar (mountain view, ca, usa) was conducted to identify relevant peerreviewed articles. the search terms "grounded theory", "research", "science”, “technology”, “engineering”, “education”, “mathematics”, “graduate”, “undergraduate”, “educational standards”, and “stem" were used to identify research in this area. research from the past decade (range 2011-2021) was targeted for both graduate and undergraduate education. using these key terms and search parameters, 165 results in google scholar and 20 in pubmed were identified. however, after a closer examination, only 37 and 16 of the articles, respectively, were relevant to grounded theory mixed method analysis in higher education research (n=53). each of the articles were assessed for targeted educational research related to general and stem higher education research/practice. the selection, screening, eligibility, exclusion, and inclusion process can be viewed in figure 1. figure 1 peer-reviewed article selection, screening, eligibility, exclusion, and inclusion process (15). results and discussion themes identified using the published research on grounded theory mixed method analysis in educational research and practice revealed a total of 52 themes or thematic groups that occurred in at least two or more journal articles (table 1). the most studied themes identified were “applied practice” (18 items), “culture/environments/community/ climate/sociocognitive” (17 items), “communication/ handoffs/interpersonal skills” (14 items), “pedagogy” (13 items), “knowledge building/acquisition/learning theory” (12 items), “resources (education and research)” (11 items), and “innovation” (11 items). “mixed methods” (13 items) was also a theme that was specifically identified in the article selection process, in addition to qualitative and quantitative analyses which is often used interchangeably with mixed methods. table 1 identified themes in grounded theory mixedmethods research. in addition to those listed in table 1, other themes identified but limited to one occurrence included j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education botch-jones “accountability”, “continuity”, “disengagement”, “faculty development”, “flexibility”, “immersive”, “indifference”, “problem-based learning”, “promote”, “relevance”, “structure”, and “service”. these topics may not have been studied using grounded theory and/or mixed methodologies extensively, but some, if not all, may warrant further exploration. although there were over 50 identified themes, some were combined into thematic groups due to topic similarity (i.e., culture, environment, community, climate, data, resources, etc.) and/or targeted behavior (i.e., communication, interpersonal skills, learning/knowledge, etc.). further, multiple themes or thematic groups may occur in a single article. applied practice and laboratory-based instruction laboratory based instruction, applied practice, and hands on skill acquisition, are key elements of scientific education, regardless of the discipline. grounded theory and/or mixed methodologies have been used to evaluate effective themes in laboratory instruction (16-23). communication has been found to be essential in learning and group collaboration. peer to peer learning has been studied and found to be “crucial to students’ knowledge acquisition through lab work” (24-25). a theme that not only arises in grounded theory research on laboratory instruction, but other educational research, is culture and how it can influence individual productivity, affect motivations, and facilitate, as well as possibly impede, progress in full student participation (26-31). the application of forensic science theoretical knowledge in applied practice and/or laboratory settings is essential. indeed, fepac standards state that “fepac acknowledges that laboratory-based instruction is integral to any sciencebased discipline such as forensic science” (14). emphasis is placed on resource allocation to program laboratories, including equipment and supplies, and must demonstrate that the program is able to meet the standard for accreditation (14). the standard shows preference to faculty members with working experience in forensic organizations and the program must interact with local forensic science laboratories. culture/environments/community/climate as previously noted, culture/environments/ community/climate can influence an individuals’ ability to become fully participating laboratory members. organizational climate, culture, community, and environments were the second most common theme group identified (17 items) (26-27, 29-32). researchers found that the structure of the laboratory and effective communication can “influence group collaboration and individual learning” (30). peer to peer interaction and collaboration has been found to influence knowledge acquisition. culture can influence individual motivation, productivity, communication, educational interventions, collaboration, applied practice, and create as well as break down barriers (28-30). in 2009, the united states department of justice released the report “strengthening forensic science in the united states: a path forward” and highlighted culture in several sections (33). the report stated that “it [forensic science] must have a culture that is strongly rooted in science, with strong ties to the national research and teaching communities, including federal laboratories” and that “this culture leads to continued reexamination of past research and hence increased knowledge” (33). communication, handoffs, and interpersonal skills as important as culture is communication, handoffs, and interpersonal skills (14 items) (20, 30, 34-36). a handoff, in terms of medicine, is important for patient care, where key information is communicated from one practitioner to another that is essential for the quality of medical outcomes (37). miscommunication due to ineffective handoffs may result in harm to patients. this review identified that communication influences group collaboration, self-directed learning, and facilitates collaboration (20,23, 26, 34, 36, 38-39). communication can occur in innovative ways such as with the use of social media to facilitate peer interaction (40). peer-peer interaction can be an important factor in education, especially knowledge acquisition through laboratory practice (30). further, effective student faculty interaction can have “implications for achieving mastery of core competencies” (39). with regard to effective handoffs in medicine, students need to “learn key information, be open to guidance, apply clinical knowledge, be concise, incorporate delivery strategies, and be open to styles/preferences of handoff recipients” (41). handoffs, although not often characterized as such, occur in other areas including forensic science. ineffective communication both within and outside forensic organizations such as through expert testimony can have severe consequences on the outcome of a criminal case. further, information that is “handed off” to a forensic analyst may result in cognitive bias (42). in forensic science, providing and reserving information that could influence forensic evidence analysis, also known as linear sequential unmasking, is an approach that attempts to reduce bias through withholding task-irrelevant information (i.e., race, gender, etc.) from the forensic scientist until the analysis of evidence is complete (4344). pedagogy, knowledge building/acquisition, innovation and learning theory the method and practice of teaching, or pedagogy (13 items), is a theme intertwined with knowledge j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education botch-jones building/acquisition and learning theory (12 items). further, it is important to understand the effectiveness of innovation (11 items) in knowledge acquisition and transfer through other themes such as assessment (9 items), development (8 items), challenges/barriers/corruption (8 items), students’ adaptive skills (7 items), and evaluation (6 items) and their effects on acquiring new knowledge and techniques. this literature review revealed several studies on innovative approaches such as machine learning, augmented/virtual reality, modeling, social media, gamification, simulation-based medical education, maker movement, and massive open online courses (35, 45). several learning theories have been developed and studied including evidenced-based, self-directed, and problem-based learning (40, 46-48). in general, learning theories describe how students receive, process, and retain knowledge through the learning process (31, 35, 49). further, intwined in these topics is the connection with inter/multidisciplinary research (6 items) (16, 38, 46, 48, 50, 51). forensic and stem disciplines are characterized by the numerous scientific disciplines, some of which are multidisciplinary, as well as the variability in pedagogies used to transfer knowledge from faculty to student. to strengthen “education outcomes” and the applied practice of stem disciplines, including forensic science, laboratory courses should be the focus of additional research (50). resources (education and research) as with the other most studied themes, educational and research resources (11 items) was repeatedly identified in the grounded theory mixed methods research. for example, in simulation based medical education, resources (educational and research) are needed for translational science (35). mcgaghie et al. found that "national research priorities are served from translational educational research [and that] national funding priorities should endorse the contribution and value of translational education research" (35). in research evaluating selfdirected learning in internal medicine residency, resources were identified as a needed component for progression through an academic program (31). resources were also cited as necessary for other higher education initiatives including incorporating innovative approaches such as the “maker movement”, “active learning”, and “socialemotional learning” approaches (45, 52-53). forensic science education and training involve faculty with specialized knowledge and skills, expensive analytical equipment, laboratory space, and additional resources to provide the required information and expertise to enable students to enter a career as a forensic scientist. fepac acknowledge in their standards that forensic academic programs must demonstrate that they have “institutional support” which must be sufficient to allow the program to achieve its mission, goals, and objectives (54). these resources should provide classrooms, laboratories/facilities, equipment and supplies appropriate for the size and scope of the program. quality, standards, best practices, and policy standardization, as well as academic accreditation, which can demonstrate that an institution meets a set of minimum standards, helps to ensure that the education students receive provide a base level of experience and instruction to prepare them for entry into a career in a stem field such as forensic science. as previously mentioned, fepac was created to provide minimum standards for forensic science education. it is essential that future forensic scientists obtain a level of academic/technical competence, communication/ /interpersonal skills, protective mechanisms, adaptive skills, professional attitudes, and ethical judgment (27-28, 34, 36, 39, 45, 53, 55-56). these are all themes identified in this review. with the use of grounded theory and mixed method analysis, the identified themes in this review may provide useful information that applies to forensic science and help to identify key areas that should be focused on for future research. other theories socio-cognitive, critical, and spatial skills theories were also explored. in the work by atit et al., “spatial skills enable us to manipulate, organize, reason about, and make sense of spatial relationships in real and imagined spaces [and]stem professionals often employ spatial skills when completing tasks within their domain” (57). as with stem professionals, forensic scientists need spatial skills to perform their analyses. atit et al., further found that “…discipline-based education researchers specializing in stem domains have focused much of their research on understanding how to bolster students’ skills in completing domain-specific spatial tasks” (57). research on problem-based learning, through the understanding of socio-cognitive nature of learning, can help us understand how “conceptions, judgment, and motivation” affects cognitive processes and how environments influence learners and the acquisition of knowledge (49, 58). critical theory and modeling were also explored in the articles reviewed (32, 41, 46, 59). modeling allows us to create visual representations of data (through experimentation) to better understand it. critical theory is an approach that utilizes reflective assessment of society and culture criticism to reveal and challenge power structures (59). forensic scientists often work in publicly funded law enforcement organizations, such as local and state police departments, which may be operated in a para-military formation with a distinct chain of command or power structure. forensic scientists are j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education botch-jones tasked with examining evidence and making conclusions that could potentially influence the outcome of a case. the information that is gathered through the investigative process on victims and suspects may influence the forensic scientists, due to preconceptions they may hold on criminal acts and those that may be involved in them (60). conclusion this review highlights numerous educational research themes that may help us understand and improve educational outcomes in stem higher education, including forensic science. it was found that a theme may be identified as a topic of study but may also influence other themes and/or thematic groups. although grounded theory mixed method approaches have not been used in forensic science education research, the identified themes and conclusions in this review may be of benefit to forensic science training. brown noted that grounded theory methodologies allow for “innovative synthesis” to “organize, analyze and combine concepts from an intermixed selection of quantitative and qualitative research [and] inferring an emerging theory or thesis of new knowledge" (61). it is essential that future forensic scientists obtain a level of academic/technical competence, communication/interpersonal skills, protective mechanisms, adaptive skills, professional attitudes, and ethical judgment. these themes should be evaluated with a focus on forensic science to enhance the education students receive and the skills they start out with in their careers. acknowledgements the corresponding author would like to acknowledge the support of the boston university school of medicine’s biomedical forensic sciences graduate program director, dr. robin cotton, assistant director, amy brodeur, and her colleagues patricia jones, and dr. adam hall. in addition, she would like to thank the boston university school of medicine’s department of anatomy & neurobiology chair, dr. jennifer luebke and past department chair dr. mark moss for their support. the corresponding author also expresses her gratitude to her doctoral committee, dr. jarrad wagner-chair, dr. ron thrasher, dr. bavette miller and dr. james hess for their continued support and encouragement throughout her doctoral research. finally, she expresses her immense gratitude to dr. bryan jones for his willingness 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sciences, felician university, lodi, nj 07644. 2department of chemistry and forensic science program, pennsylvania state university, university park, pa 16802. dgs12@psu.edu abstract: the teaching of instrumental methods of analysis as applied to chemical and forensic science problems at many educational establishments continues to be hampered by high-cost, high power requirements, and sheer bulk of the instrumentation. the smile initiative (small, mobile instruments for laboratory enhancement) that we have developed incorporates an inquiry-based project that addresses these issues by significantly engaging students, and thus enhancing the confidence and achievement of students in our technology-based analytical courses. one instrument that has been designed, constructed, and characterized is the electrostatic lifter. the electrostatic lifter is a versatile nondestructive technique that can lift and recover impressions of prints left in the dust of a floor, and from dusty walls or doors. the instrument and technique conveniently lends itself to miniaturization, and facilitates the practical application of impression analysis within standard undergraduate and advanced high school forensic science related courses. the entire instrument was constructed from scratch for less than $50, thus allowing deployment of multiple apparatuses in labs that are allocated a modest budget. details on how to construct the instrument is provided together with some characterization data obtained from a variety of smooth and rough surfaces. keywords (audience): upper-division undergraduate, first-year undergraduate/general keywords (domain): analytical chemistry keywords (pedagogy): hands-on learning/manipulative, inquiry-based / discovery learning keywords (topics): forensic chemistry, instrumental methods introduction analytical chemistry occupies a prominent place among scientific and engineering disciplines. it is a highly practical hands-on based scientific discipline with deep roots in the world of atoms, molecules, and molecular transformations, with the ability to precisely and accurately assess these entities with specific instrumentation. analytical chemistry has evolved dramatically over the past few decades, from a collection of empirical recipes and prescriptions to that of a branch of chemistry built upon solid theoretical principles. the modern day discipline takes a more holistic approach to analytical properties, is technology driven and research-active. the application of this field ensures quality of air, water, food, consumer products, and medicines. furthermore, the role of analytical chemistry in solving crimes, both to protect the public and to protect the innocent from unjust punishment cannot be overstated. applications in forensic chemistry have served as a rich palette from which we have been able to stimulate the interests and abilities of students, particularly those that arrive from nonmajor chemistry/forensic science fields. an understanding of the scientific process in selecting the right tools, and the technologies involved in such instrumentation has been an important goal of the analytical chemistry courses developed at penn state over the past two decades: our analytical chemistry students learn to appreciate the many quantitative and qualitative tools available, and most importantly, make an intelligent choice among mailto:dgs12@psu.edu j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education chohan the many possible ways of solving an analytical problem. we purposefully place a strong emphasis on acquiring a deep insight into the principles upon which the methodology is based, thus ensuring proper use and a learned evaluation of the experimental findings. this approach leads to a thorough understanding of the scientific process that can be applied to many other problems and disciplines, including forensics. one inquiry-based module of these courses is centered on development of small inexpensive analytical instruments that we have abbreviated as smile (small, mobile instruments for laboratory enhancement). this lab pedagogy requires students in the upper level instrumental analysis course to research into, design, construct, characterize, and troubleshoot small instruments. the process guides the students in asking relevant research questions regarding the required materials and techniques, and includes background information and training protocols that are necessary to achieve the overall objective which is a well-designed functional analytical instrument.1-8 underclassmen, including visiting school students, are then taught how to assemble the instruments from kit form, and how to make full use of them upon returning to their classrooms. the instrument described herein augments instruction relating to impression evidence, specifically to the application of an electrostatic dust print lifter, a versatile technique that can lift and recover impressions of prints left in the dust of a floor, in light soil from a criminal's shoes, and from dusty walls or doors.9-12 locating and recovering obvious impressions from mud, dirt or blood are common and easily accomplished, but dust prints found in many indoor crime scenes are often overlooked and damaged or obliterated, and therefore a sensitive lifter instrument is indispensable in gathering physical evidence. using footwear marks to track movements of suspects can lead to other forms of evidence, and so assist in placing other collected evidence into context and thus ensure a full scene investigation takes place. the entire electrostatic lifter can be designed from anywhere between $50 to $75 depending on if the instrument is designed from scratch or if a driver plus multiplier is purchased to aid in its construction. this is clearly an inexpensive alternative to commercial lifting devices that can cost upwards of $650 or more. the instrument remains under constant development, and our latest model has obtained some remarkable data from a variety of smooth and rough surfaces. methodology three commonly used methods for lifting dust shoeprints are electrostatic lifters, gelatin lifters, and an adhesive lifter followed by chemical enhancement. the electrostatic lifter is a nondestructive recovery process, and operates by applying a high voltage electrostatic charge onto a lifting film which is placed over the imprint mark. a metal plate to the side serves as the reference ground. the resulting charge difference between lifting film and the surface on which it rests causes dust on the surface to attach to the film, this adhesion draws the film onto the surface bearing the print. the film retains a charge after the unit is turned off, and so retains the particles of dust. such commercial devices are capable of producing a charge in the range of 10 to 15 kilovolts, however the current is negligible. the lifting film is metalized mylar foil (part no. a-5036, arrowhead forensics, lenexa, ks). one side of the foil consists of a conductive material which holds the electrostatic charge. the other side of the foil consists of nonconductive material and is the side which captures the attracted dust particles. figure 1 shows the constructed lifter device. j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education chohan figure 1 the electrostatic lifting device constructed by students (blue), together with the grounding plate and mylar lifting film. the electrostatic lifter is powered with a 9 v alkaline battery, and features a cockcroftwalton multiplier which allows generation of a high voltage at very low current. the voltage output of the lifter is between 10 to 12 kv. the circuit is completed when metal grounds touch the stainless steel plate and the voltage output lead is connected to the lifting film. the circuit diagram is provided in figure 2. a detailed list of components and a description of the circuit are provided in the supplemental information (si). in order to build the instrument as shown, some machine work (drill press or hand-held drill) on the housing is required, which may add a very small cost that is not reflected in the total. figure 3 shows the internal layout for the electrostatic lifter which uses an in-house etched breadboard for the transformer and other circuit components; however, the simplicity of the design permits direct solder connections between the components. the cockcroft-walton multiplier was purchased fully assembled from the manufacturer. j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education chohan figure 2 circuit diagram for the electrostatic lifting device. j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education chohan figure 3 internal bread board circuitry highlighting connections to the momentary on-off button and the led located on the lid of the housing. the electrostatic lifter takes less than two hours to construct from kit form. the assembled unit has dimensions of 17 cm x 8.5 cm x 3.4 cm. the decision to use a pre-assembled multiplier and miniature ac transformer results in a far lighter instrument than the commercial units. the biggest advantage of such a circuit is that the voltage across each stage of this cascade is equal to twice the peak input voltage into each respective stage, thus requiring relatively lowvoltage-rated components. once assembled, students conducted a series of experiments based on published literature.12 the electrostatic lifter was tested on nine different surfaces including office paper, carpet, linoleum, ceramic tile, untreated cement, waxed-sealed cement, cardboard, newspaper, and hardwood flooring. using a pair of rubber-soled sneakers, students identified up to ten individual characteristics of the right foot impression. a volunteer puts on both sneakers and, using the right foot, steps into some all-purpose flour, and walk 20 paces on a given surface. students then used the electrostatic lifter to lift the 11th step of the right foot and all subsequent steps until at least one of the individual characteristics (as identified earlier) drops out of a lifted print. the step at which this occurs depends on the type of surface, amongst a number of other factors. the specific choice of the 11th step came from an initial experiment which found prints from a smooth tiled surface provided a high-quality print up to the 13th step, and prints of rapidly diminishing quality following this step. the lifting process and image acquisition were generated by carefully placing the lifting film over the surface of the impression. the grounding-connection plate was placed adjacent to the lifting film, and the lifting film was charged. the charge was distributed throughout the film using a foam brush. the film was then removed and viewed using white oblique light and photographed using a digital camera. the mylar film used to collect the impression can attract excess dust, and so it was important to photograph the dust print lifts immediately. if a j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education chohan print was not obtained on the 11th step then the process was repeated on each prior step of the right foot until a useable impression was obtained. results the real success of the student-built electrostatic lifter was measured by lifting foot prints from multiple surfaces. for each surface examined the 11th right footprint was analyzed. the results of the experiments are presented in table 1, and the lifted prints, as observed and photographed under white light are provided in figure 4; the unsuccessful print from untreated cement is not shown. table 1 data from the constructed electrostatic lifter showing the footprints detected. surface lifted step 1 office paper 11th 2 carpet 8th 3 linoleum 11th 4 tile 11th 5 untreated cement unsuccessful 6 waxed-sealed cement 11th 7 cardboard 11th 8 newspaper 11th 9 hardwood flooring 11th j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education chohan (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) figure 4 photographed images of the lifted foot prints. (top) the rubber sole shoe (1), carpet (2), linoleum (3), and tile (4). (bottom) from waxed-sealed cement (6), cardboard (7), newspaper (8), and hardwood floor (9). note that the lift is a mirror image of the actual impression. discussion and conclusion the specific student learning objectives (los) for the complete set of electrostatic lifter activities are as follows (after completing this module, you should be able to -): 1. define and identify the class and individual characteristics of footwear impressions imaged using an electrostatic lifter. 2. identify and explain the variables which impact the quality of the lifted prints. 3. understand the theory of operation of the electrostatic lifter, and be able to independently operate, troubleshoot, fix, and maintain the device. students in the course have previously taken a course in crime scene investigation; therefore, lo #1 reinforces material already covered in the program’s overall curriculum. lo #2 requires students to develop a method which isolates each variable in order to enable a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the electrostatic lifting device as an investigative tool. variables, such as surface texture, humidity, pace, weight placed on each step, composition of sole material, wear and tear on sole surface, the thickness and distribution of flour on the sole of the footwear, among others, are commonly identified but not all student groups recognize such a ‘complete’ set of variables. further, not all student groups perform the optimized method on j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education chohan a negative control for one or more of the surfaces. the students in the course are made aware that faculty guidance does not ensure a successful end to any project; success or failure is based on the student’s initiative, motivation, organization, and work ethic. the electrostatic lifter as constructed provides very good results on most of the surfaces that were investigated, with clear and distinguishable prints. the electrostatic lifter does require a smooth flat surface for best results, as determined by the quality of print and the failure to achieve prints from the untreated cement flooring. because the surface of the cement is rough-textured, the mylar lifting film does not adhere to the cement as effectively as the other surfaces, thus providing no recognizable results. ideally, the dust film on the target substrate should consist of loose, very finegrained, and dry dust for this process to work. the untreated cement was the only experiment conducted outside where humidity is of significant concern. the carpet surface was also less successful compared to other surfaces primarily due to its rough texture. te texture makes it difficult for a proper ground to be achieved when applying the electrical charge, and for the lifting film to fully adhere to the surface. overall the other surfaces examined provided far better data due to the film fully adhering to the surface. a student with sights set towards a career in the forensic sciences must possess a basic knowledge of the chemical and life sciences as well as have an advanced exposure to the tools and technologies used by these disciplines. by making tools accessible to students, they learn how to operate them and understand the capabilities and limitations of that particular instrument and methodology. unfortunately, the ability of many programs and institutions to maintain and improve the quality of their educational offerings in this field is under constant threat because of the increasing costs to maintain state-of-the-art instructional facilities and the shrinking nature of funding sources. however, it is possible to provide rugged, lowcost, low-maintenance, and low-power instruments capable of providing accurate information for a fraction of the cost of commercial instrumentation. the small mobile instruments for laboratory enhancement (smile) program that we have developed has shown that it is possible, with just a basic understanding of electronics and instrument design theory, to obtain high-quality data from an instrument that students can build within a few hours (lo #3). the only substantial difference between a commercial instrument and a studentbuilt instrument are the software and specialty components; the basic design and methods for probing chemical systems are practically identical. at penn state, students in the seniorlevel instrumental analysis and forensic chemistry courses build smile instruments as part of their laboratory experience, test their devices by performing standard experiments, and then assist in the development of new, unique laboratory activities and supporting instructional materials. the student-built instruments are then used by their younger peers in lower-level chemistry and forensic science courses. as the younger peers advance through the curriculum, they help improve the design of the instruments and help optimize the experimental protocols. the smile initiative enhances student competency in science and engineering fields, and the co-curricular exposure fosters student ownership of a program's curriculum. a number of the student-built electrostatic lifters have also been donated to penn state university police services and to the us postal inspection service. the electrostatic lifter is relatively simple in design and construction, such that high school students, participating in a six-week summer research program sponsored by summer experience in the eberly college of science (seecos) in collaboration with upward bound math and science, have built and used the device. the seecos program promotes educational opportunities for low-income students by helping them overcome class, social, and cultural barriers to higher education. the design and construction of a small electrostatic lifter that can generate footprint data for forensic analysis at a fraction of the cost of a commercial instrument was described. the constructed electrostatic lifter is simple to use and has provided some high quality footprint results, j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education chohan particularly those that were lifted from smooth surfaces, as is usually found in an active indoor crime scene. the constructed instrument has additional merits of small size, low weight, and high portability since it requires just a single 9v alkaline battery. with some brief training, the electrostatic lifter device provides an effective and reproducible method for collecting and forensically examining latent dust footprints. acknowledgments the authors thank robert crable of the research instrumentation facility at penn state. we would like to thank the penn state schreyer institute for teaching excellence, and the summer experience program in the eberly college of science (seecos) for financial support. seecos is supported by the upward-bound math and science center (ubms) at penn state, and a us doe trio grant. . references 1. dominguez, vc, mcdonald, cr, johnson, m, schunk, d, kreuter, r, sykes, dg, wigton, bt, chohan, bs. the characterization of a custombuilt coulometric karl fischer titration apparatus. j chem educ 2010; 87: 987-991. 2. mcdonald, c, johnson, m, schunk, d, kreuter, r, sykes, dg, wigton, b, chohan, bs. a portable, low-cost, led fluorimeter for middle school, high school, and undergraduate chemistry labs. j chem educ 2011; 88: 1182-1187. 3. wigton, b, kreuter, r, sykes, dg, chohan, bs. the characterization of an easy-to-operate inexpensive student-built fluorimeter. j chem educ 2011; 88: 1188-1193. 4. chohan, bs, sykes, dg. teaching analytical chemistry: application of the smile initiative to bioanalytical chemistry instruction, in teaching bioanalytical chemistry, hou, hjm. (ed), acs symposium series 2013; chapter 6: 105-138. 5. mott, jr, munsons, pj, sykes, dg, chohan, bs. development and characterization of an inexpensive portable cyclic voltammeter. j chem educ 2014; 91: 1028–1036. 6. clippard, cm, nichisti, jc, kreuter, r, sykes, d, chohan, bs. the use of a custom-built coulometric karl fischer instrument for the determination of water content in chocolate. food analytical methods 2015; 8: 929-936. 7. clippard, cm. hughes, w, chohan, bs, sykes, dg. construction and characterization of a compact, portable low-cost colorimeter for the chemistry lab. j chem educ 2016; 93: 1241-1248. 8. galyamova, a. johnson, mm, chohan, bs, sykes, dg. the construction and characterization of a conductivity meter for use in high school and undergraduate science labs. the chemical educator 2019; 24: 22-26. 9. naples, vl, miller, js. making tracks: the forensic analysis of footprints and footwear impressions. the anat rec (part b: new anatomist) 2004; 279: 9-15. 10. bodziak, wj. footwear impression evidence: detection, recovery and j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education chohan examination. 2nd ed. boca raton, fl: crc press, 2000. 11. fisher, baj, fisher, dr. techniques of crime scene investigation. 8th ed. boca raton, fl: crc press, 2012. 12. craig, cl, hornsby, bm, riles, m. evaluation and comparison of the electrostatic dust print lifter and the electrostatic detection apparatus on the development of footwear impression on paper. j forensic sci 2006; 51: 819-826. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education coyle linking the forensic biology classroom to the courtroom heather miller coyle, ph.d., henry c. lee college of criminal justice and forensic sciences, 300 boston post road, university of new haven, west haven, ct 06516, hcoyle@newhaven.edu abstract: the concept of clear communication and truth in testimony is examined in the forensic biology classroom by introducing undergraduate students to the american society of crime laboratory directors (ascld) guiding principles and then having an evidentiary hearing transcript evaluated for key concepts from an adjudicated post-conviction case where blood pattern analysis, dna test results and legal definitions are considered carefully. the intrigue in this case develops after a blood pattern expert is identified as fraudulent and nonstandard science is applied after poor evidence collection and storage practices. the goal with this exercise is to examine each word of the transcript with pre-identified court issues to determine if students believe the concept from the transcript to be true. a comparison to current best practice recommendations is also provided in student discussions and demonstrations to aid them in evaluating the changes in forensic science practices from the pre-dna to post-dna era that may often be encountered in post-conviction review work. keywords: ascld guiding principles, courtroom testimony, forensic biology, dna, blood pattern analysis (bpa), evidence collection . introduction the american society of crime laboratory directors (ascld) has set forth a set of guiding principles for the forensic scientist that includes expectations for professionalism, clear communication, and proficiency (1). learning about the guiding principles and considering professional work obligations and ethics is part of the education of the forensic scientist in the course curriculum or the workplace. the purpose of this classroom exercise is to provide training and discussion in evaluating best practice and clear communication strategies for entry into the forensic biology workplace. the guiding principles were written for forensic scientists and laboratory management. these principles have been adopted by the ascld/lab board of directors as guides and for use in training. some key aspects identified under the guiding principles include professionalism (e.g. conduct fair and impartial examinations; render conclusions that are within expert’s area of expertise), competency and proficiency (e.g. proper training and competence; care in treatment of samples to avoid tampering, adulteration, loss or unnecessary consumption), clear communications (e.g. accurate representation of expert’s education, training, experience and area of expertise; be able to support sound scientific techniques). blood identification and blood pattern analysis methods require skill and professional training. chemical tests are typically used to presumptively screen and then potentially confirm by immunology the presence of human blood on a garment. while blood identification is part of many program curriculums, many forensic science programs shy away from pattern interpretation until students have examined the effects of gravity and force on blood droplet shape. the traditional methods for pattern analysis training include dropping known volumes of blood from various heights and at different angles to examine the effects on the shape of a blood droplet. often, though, clothing evidence is received in forensic laboratories in a variety of conditions (e.g., torn, ripped, worn, folded/unfolded, dirty) and one good question that might arise for stain patterns is whether the stain was original to the crime scene or was from blood transfer during folding and storage? for the student (in preparation for the case evaluation), several good articles discuss blood identification methods (2-3). additional articles discuss the challenges of blood pattern interpretation and the determination of age of bloodstains (4-8). described here is an alternate approach to the method of learning blood identification techniques used in the forensic laboratory where an evidentiary hearing transcript is dissected for methods, best practice, and scientific accuracy. the case details and approach are described in the methods section below. students also attend the forensic biology laboratory and perform microscopy and presumptive blood screening exercises using phenolphthalein and ortho-tolidine to establish the authenticity of the transcript statements using their own hands. this provides a framework for examining science and technology junctures where older laboratory practices may have been supplanted with newer techniques and do not always yield the same result. while learning about the scientific techniques used in the laboratory, it is important to understand them at a deeper level when one j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education coyle must go to the courtroom to explain the technique in detail and a written record or transcript is maintained. a puzzle that is difficult or impossible to solve is called a conundrum. this case is an example of a conundrum. as a training exercise in forensic biology and its applications to post-conviction testing, students are asked to examine the information posted to multiple website sources to review the background on this double homicide case. the case (state of north carolina v. george goode, jr.) was a particularly bloody double homicide with a landlord and landlord's wife brutally stabbed to death and four individuals purported to be involved. one of these individuals, george goode jr. had no human blood identified on his clothing at the time of the crime in 1992 (9). the question at hand was if no human blood was identified on him, was it true he was a witness as he claimed rather than a participant? without video surveillance or eyewitness testimony, only possible case circumstances can be determined, and the presence or absence of blood became a critical factor in establishing mr. goode jr’s proximity to the homicides. there are strong opinions in this case by counsel on both sides starting from the original trial all the way through a very long appeal process. when dna technology became available for post-conviction testing, it was thought that dna testing would result in a possible exoneration. one of the key issues with this case revolved around whether george goode jr. was an active assailant or an innocent bystander. three other individuals were convicted in this case as being active participants and they did have substantial amounts of blood on their clothing. george goode jr., however, did not. leon and margaret batten were viciously stabbed to death and on november 19, 1993, george goode jr. was found guilty and given the death penalty even though he testified that he was merely present as a bystander. leon batten was the landlord where george goode jr. and his wife lived. george goode jr.’s lack of blood evidence played heavily in the decision to re-examine his clothing for postconviction dna analysis. a motion was filed for appropriate relief (mar) where a judge was asked if post-conviction dna testing could be performed to clarify the issue. this is a statutory mechanism to challenge a problematic conviction. the judge has the full discretion to hear the motion. mar hearings are typically granted for a variety of reasons: (1) the defendant did not understand the full impact of a guilty plea, (2) the court misapplied the law, (3) the evidence did not support the jury finding, (4) new evidence or technology to analyze the evidence has become available, (5) the defense counsel did not provide adequate representation or (6) a new law has been made that retroactively affects the conviction concept 1: can microscopy be used effectively as a screening method to determine a substance and the manner in which it was applied to clothing? the following are quotes from a transcript of the mar proceedings regarding the examination of clothing evidence for post-conviction dna testing results taken in the general court of justice, superior court division, johnston county, north carolina at the september 13, 2004; special criminal session (file nos. 92-crs-26616292-crs-2569, 2570; volume 10, pages 1616-1819). the coveralls. serologist bissette testimony "i made a visual observation of those coveralls, and i did a phenolphthalein test; and i found that test to be negative" (mar transcript page 1730 lines 2-4.). this statement was made in reference to bissette's original serological evidence examination in 1992. bissette found "that the garment was soiled and there were some grease-like stains" (mar transcript page 1731 lines 2-3). no human blood was identified at the time of the crime. a phenolphthalein test, also called the kastle-meyer reagent test, is a presumptive test for screening for possible blood. a swab is collected from a blood-like stain and the test reagents (reagent 1: phenolphthalein; reagent 2: 3% hydrogen peroxide) are added consecutively and the pink color change read as an indicator of a positive test for possible blood. this test is for screening of evidence and does not confirm the presence of human hemoglobin, a protein whose presence is required for the formal identification of human blood. it could turn positive with animal blood and some plant or soil components. since the presumptive blood identification screening test was negative, no further confirmatory testing for human blood was performed on george goode jr.'s coveralls in 1992. this would have been considered standard and best forensic practice at the time. in 2004, a hearing was held to evaluate the process and results of the re-testing of the clothing evidence in post-conviction dna analysis. in this hearing, bendure describes his role using microscopy in selecting areas of the clothing to use for the dna test but never performs a human blood identification step to answer the critical question of whether the stains were grease or human blood. he also attempts to address the question of whether the blood-like stains now visible on the coveralls are from the time of the crime or from contamination events during storage based on a visual assessment of adherent or absorbed stains. microscopist bendure testimony "we do proficiency tests for identification purposes. i've not performed any identification here. i've just described the material that appeared to be something to me. i never said the samples were blood. so, therefore, i've done no blood identification. therefore, i do no proficiencies on blood identification. i'm not a serologist or a dna person. i just j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education coyle mainly look at materials because i know what they look like. i went in and isolated the material and provided it to the dna unit (mar hearing page 1677 lines 17–25-page 1678 line 1). this part of the testimony relates to his skill set and the guiding principles of professionalism, competency and clear communication for determining a substance and the timing of deposit using microscopy. in response to whether bendure had been proficiency tested to recognize blood or blood-like substances, bendure's testimony was "so my opinions about the state of wetness or blood being absorbed in the yarn is not really what i would call expert opinion. it's observation of my experience and common sense" (mar hearing page 1678 lines 1-12). and "i just know what grease stains look like" (mar hearing page 1679 line 13) and "i've never been (proficiency) tested, but i know what paint looks like" (mar hearing page 1679 lines 18-19) and "and i know what ketchup looks like too" (mar hearing page 1679 line 2 concept 2: can possible blood be invisible and under what circumstances would this be true? the boots. another feature of this case involves the term "invisible blood." how can an expert testify to something they cannot see? is it even possible to find circumstances where this could be true? how would this relate to evidence in this case? excerpt: "state of north carolina, v. george earl goode, jr. no. 10a94 (1). "state bureau of investigation special agent duane deaver, who was proffered as an expert in the field of forensic serology and bloodstain pattern interpretation, testified that although he found no visible bloodstain located on defendant's boots, a chemical test indicated the presence of (presumptive) blood, the type of which could not be determined. agent deaver did not detect any visible bloodstains on defendant's coveralls, hat, or boxer shorts. it was agent deaver's opinion that the absence of blood on any of defendant's clothing had no exculpatory effect. defendant next assigns as error the trial court's admission of sbi special agent deaver's testimony concerning a microscopic quantity of blood on the top leather portion of defendant's left boot. other than revealing the presence of this "invisible" blood, agent deaver could draw no further conclusions as to the type or source of the minute quantity of blood he found. the invisible bloodstain could not be tested further to establish if it was human blood". given these two positions stated above regarding nonvisible blood that could not be confirmed as coming from a human source, would it be the more reasonable to assume "the blood" was neither tested nor proven to be human blood? this point, again, goes toward ascertaining proximity to the victims and the issue of george goode jr. not having any identified human blood on his clothing or shoes at the time of the crime. has the presumptive test for blood identification met the legal standard for testimony of blood? methods exercise 1 as part of the training in using presumptive and confirmatory forensic identification tests for blood and human blood, i discuss this case to show the value in being able to be certain the substance is human blood and be able to comfortably testify to the identification of the substance. otherwise, the term "blood-like substance" must be used in the courtroom. proper training and experience along with proficiency testing translates to competence in the laboratory and courtroom. students are asked to examine 5mm x 5mm squares of white cotton cloth under stereomicroscopes (4-10x magnification power) that have had red-brown substances applied that are then air dried. this is not a proficiency test per se, but students are asked to review all the samples and asked to rank them for which they would consider might be blood (human or animal) based on the microscopic appearance. samples include human blood, pig blood, barbeque sauce, red lipstick, red nail polish, red-brown house paint, tea stains, potassium permanganate and ketchup. this exercise is to illustrate to the student that some substances can appear blood-like and with careful observation, a student may be able to narrow down the likely stains to the human and animal bloodstains, but presumptive and confirmatory human blood testing would be required to distinguish between those two options scientifically and legally for reports and testimony. bendure was clear about his competency in his testimony stating that he was trained only in microscopy. the screening for possible blood by microscopy is useful to orient the student in basic microscopy skills. as a refresher, the microscope is examined for all its component parts and focus, and photography is reviewed. the 5mm x 5mm test squares are not labeled but are provided as unknowns to the students who then sort them into options of possible blood, possible food stains, possible paints or other as categories. students are asked to write a detailed description of the substance in their j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education coyle own words (dry, flaky, absorbed, uniform in color, smooth, etc.) on an evidentiary worksheet as well as sketch the weave pattern of the fabric. on completion of the exercise, students are given the correct answer to the source of each unknown substance. this exercise is useful for a discussion on the use of adherent versus dried flaky blood as an observation to support a crime scene theory. bendure used microscopy and adherent blood to threads to suggest that bissette was incorrect in 1992 and the grease stains were blood-like stains that she incorrectly identified. he theorized that if the stains appeared absorbent, then the “blood” had been applied wet, therefore, it must have been there at the time of the crime. there is very little peer-reviewed scientific literature on this topic and thus the judge could only rely on the microscopist's opinion for guidance. it would have been helpful to know what “blood” looked like many years later when co-mingled clothing evidence was stored in humid conditions at room temperature. exercise 2 as a class, i ask students if any can identify a possible circumstance where blood could be considered "invisible" while acknowledging the fact that it could not be analyzed further. students are given a series of small beakers with neat pig blood (obtained from a butcher shop) and a series of dilutions of the animal blood in water (1:10; 1:50; 1:100; 1:500; 1:1000; 1:10,000; 1:100,000 and 1:1,000,000) to test with phenolphthalein and orthotolidine for establishing a sensitivity of detection of possible blood. each student is given a clean ceramic plate with wells and asked to place a single drop of each dilution into separate wells to create two separate experiments for each test reagent. to each sample of one plate, one drop of test reagent phenolphthalein is added, and a color change is noted after 10 seconds. if no color change, 1 drop of 3% hydrogen peroxide is added and any color change to pink is recorded after 10 seconds. the timing of this test is important as false positives can appear if the results are read after the 10 seconds. the second plate is set up the same way except the test reagent is ortho-tolidine which when positive results in a blue color change. the test method is performed the same way as for phenolphthalein. a class discussion is held on (a) which test reagent is more sensitive based on the color detection of weak diluted samples and (b) the effect of clothing color and dyes on the ability to reliably interpret presumptive blood detection results. at some point, students realize that extremely dilute blood samples could be difficult to visualize but still have trace amounts detectable by chemical presumptive test methods. results most students can sort possible bloodstains into the correct category for exercise 1. an example of a human bloodstain analyzed and documented by photo microscopy is shown in figure 1. this stain was formed by a direct deposit on the surface of the absorbent fabric, and it is evident that the blood was wicked into the fabric and then dried. figure 1 human bloodstain on cotton fabric examined at 40x magnification with a fisher brand stereomicroscope. photograph is courtesy of sophie hryzan, university of new haven. presumptive blood detection reagents all differ in their ability to detect human blood especially when diluted as evidenced by the results from exercise 2. after performing the testing for presumptive identification of blood, students can detect a limitation based on the sensitivity of detection for the two reagents phenolphthalein and ortho-tolidine. a phenolphthalein test has a limit of detection of 1:500 dilution beyond which blood could be invisible in this example (figure 2). j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education coyle figure 2 test results for the phenolphthalein presumptive test for blood identification. this test is not human-specific and can detect animal blood. the blood: water dilution is labeled below each sample well in the spot plate. the neat sample is undiluted animal blood. phenolphthalein is a detection test for heme in blood and a pink color indicates a positive result. the shade of pink is loosely correlated to the quantity of heme in the sample. the same sensitivity of detection concept holds true for the ortho-tolidine presumptive blood identification test with a limit of detection at 1:1000 (figure 3). in this example, ortho-tolidine was the more sensitive detection reagent when compared to phenolphthalein but that may be a simple matter of greater contrast with the dark blue color for the positive test result. figure 3 test results for the ortho-tolidine presumptive test for blood identification. this test is not humanspecific and can detect animal blood. the blood: water dilution is labeled below each sample well in the spot plate. the neat sample is undiluted animal blood. orthotolidine is a detection test for heme in blood and a blue color indicates a positive result. the shade of blue is loosely correlated to the quantity of heme in the sample. this example shows that in comparison to phenolphthalein, ortho-tolidine is the more sensitive detection reagent. this exercise should reinforce the need for students and analysts in forensic science to know the reagent and method limitations. a good point to be made with presumptive test methods is any plant peroxidase and many heavy metals can yield a false positive reaction. the stains in question on the coveralls and boot are in locations where an individual walking in a ditch or a field of grass may have acquired plant peroxidases as stains on clothing. it also shows that to testify to a substance as being human blood, a proper confirmatory test would need to be performed to identify human hemoglobin. in the situation of the boot, the sample was consumed in the preliminary presumptive test and could not be further confirmed as being from a human source. this finding should also prompt a discussion on forensic laboratory evidence consumption policies and the need to retain evidence, when possible, for replicate or post-conviction testing. students show competency with microscopy and analysis of magnified bloodstains in this laboratory. most can distinguish between blood (animal, human) and the other red-brown substances applied on the cloth samples. students also are appreciative of the fact that highly dilute blood samples can be invisible to the naked eye such as those that might be encountered in bathtubs or sinks where blood has been cleaned up at a crime scene. the blood dilution series experiment reinforces the sensitivity of detection limits of presumptive blood detection reagents. discussion and conclusion for classroom discussion, i do acknowledge that without chemical testing for confirmation of human blood, it is difficult to know what was tested after 1992 from the george goode jr. clothing samples in the postconviction analysis. was it grease (with contaminating blood-like stains from comingled storage) as defense counsel claimed? or was it human blood that was not correctly identified in the original biological examination in 1992? the lack of confirmatory testing for human blood (this step was by-passed by the laboratory in the post-conviction dna testing in lieu of microscopic analysis) and poor storage conditions after trial further complicate and hamper the modern era analyst from definitively evaluating the old evidence. the evidence j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education coyle after the original trial was stored unwrapped in a large plastic bin in the bottom of a courthouse and comingled with other unwrapped items including two open and empty vials of blood from the victims and a bloody tailgate used to transport both of their blood-soaked bodies for emergency services. due to these unfortunate circumstances and poor forensic storage practices after the original trial, the evidence had been potentially contaminated, and any dna results would be perplexing. the use of new dna technology to determine the source of the grease/blood patterns that remained on the clothing was thought to be useful but may not have fully addressed the issue due to the poor evidence storage conditions. it did confirm the presence of leon and margaret batten’s dna as well as some additional dna mixtures. this laboratory exercise is based on recognition of truth in testimony practices for forensic science training and is a start to blood identification exercises to establish if testimony matches the scientific evidence. for those interested in learning about forensic analyses, dissecting a court transcript to evaluate the veracity is an interesting introduction to the legal consequences to testimony and the need for accurate language. the value of linking laboratory work to courtroom testimony is the enhanced learning and ability to discuss the importance of being accurate in forensic diagnostic laboratory testing. there is a need to clearly communicate complex findings to the court and learn how to break down difficult science and technical terms into the clear communication of findings and this is a learned skill. by analyzing courtroom proceedings in transcript evaluations, the student can identify terms and phrases that are gaps in their understanding of the science that they are performing in the laboratory. in these two exercises, students are applying forensic science to determine if the concepts testified to were true and fairly represented. microscopy can be used to screen possible blood stains and presumptive blood identification tests can yield positive results for nonvisible highly dilute bloodstains. the mar hearing was a legal proceeding designed to examine the quality and quantity of the evidence used for the post-conviction dna testing in this case. the assessment by the judge was that although the evidence was stored inappropriately after the original trial, the value of performing the new dna testing might shed some light on whether the substance was likely to be grease or blood. why the confirmatory blood identification testing was not ordered for the coveralls by the court is still a perplexing mystery. although some forensic laboratories have adopted the practice of using dna to identify donor source after presumptive screening only, this practice lacks the specificity acquired through confirmatory tests to declare a substance as human blood based on the presence of human hemoglobin. at the time, there was also very little in the way of scientific research on what a bloodstain would look like under a microscope if it had been deposited by blood spatter during the knifing incident as compared to transfer from bloody items during storage. one of the very valuable messages of this exercise is to show forensic science students that there are still areas of basic research needed to help bolster the use of forensic evidence and methods in the courtroom especially when using the science to answer questions of timing and manner of deposit. one of the gaps in this case, state of north carolina v. george goode jr., was evident in that a peer-reviewed published scientific study was not available with photographs of bloodstains stored under a variety of conditions, ages and circumstances to aid the court in the determination for the timing of stain deposit. at the time, the scientific methods for determining the age of a bloodstain were not very well understood and this issue remains a challenge for forensic biologists today. there are two recent developments in the aging of bloodstains: qpcr for rna degradation (10) and steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy (11). quantitative pcr can be useful to measure rna degradation by analysis of the degradation rate of multiple transcripts in a cell. science has shown that the 5' phosphate group end degrades at a faster rate than the 3' hydroxyl group end of a dna molecule. this type of assay has been shown to be useful for estimating timing of deposit within two to four weeks for bloodstains less than six months in age. for bloodstains between six and twelve months of age since deposit, the accuracy of this method is within four to six weeks from timing of deposit. this technique may not be useful on very old biological evidence but certainly could be useful if evidence is to be examined within the time frames specified. fluorescence spectroscopy uses the decay in fluorescence of fluorophores such as tryptophan, nadh and flavins to measure the age of a bloodstain. both methods are in the research and development phase and are not commonly used in united states forensic science laboratories yet. in the future, however, or for courtordered cases, these techniques will hopefully be refined and fully validated for the use and interpretation of stains deposited during criminal acts. another issue that arose during this case was whether it was appropriate to combine blood-like stain cuttings together into a single tube for laboratory processing. by doing so, dna mixtures were identified but could not be sourced back to a particular stain with any scientific certainty. in casework, combining samples from different stains could cloud the interpretation of blood stain patterns for donor sourcing. by creating false dna mixtures by combining samples in the dna testing process in the laboratory, information is lost. dna test methods have become increasingly more sensitive with the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) method since the advent of forensic dna analysis when restriction fragment length polymorphism (rflp) was utilized. therefore, there is often now no need to combine samples together to achieve j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education coyle a readable dna profile using current methods as compared to those methods used back in the 1990’s. conceptually, the use of new dna technology to identify if an old stain was biologically human blood is a misapplication of the science. it is further confounded if the evidence has not been stored in a pristine and controlled manner. dna technology is so sensitive it can detect dna molecules to the picogram levels and with modifications in pcr methods, can detect even as little as two picograms (approximately one third of a cell). the careful consideration of the context of the dna to the case is vital and it is not always possible with older evidence and different handling practices in past eras to be sure that the dna is from the crime event rather than from transfer during evidence collection procedures and the subsequent evidence transport and storage at the courthouse. more scientific research in this area would be helpful to further define and characterize the appearance of blood stain patterns from both direct deposit and transfer, for establishing the age of blood deposition and for developing better screening methods for post-conviction evidence that has been comingled or exposed to poor environmental conditions during storage. the goal for this exercise was to link the courtroom transcript to the scientific techniques as a training exercise. by exploring testimony statements, students can learn about statements used to define the expert’s experience, the techniques that were used, and why. students could validate for themselves if the statements made at the mar hearing appear to be true or false. students can also consider the challenges of going back in time to different handling practices and standards used in forensic science when examining evidence for postconviction information and cold cases. the conclusion for this case was a resentencing of the defendant from the death penalty to life imprisonment after post-conviction dna testing. acknowledgements thank you to dr. marilyn t. miller, department of forensic science, virginia commonwealth university and attorney diane savage, north carolina attorneys for science and technology for introducing me to their areas of expertise and for working with me on the dna issues in this post-conviction case. it has been an invaluable experience as a professor and consultant and very useful for student training in forensic science education for best practices. references 1. the american society of crime laboratory directors. https://www.ascld.org (accessed july 5, 2022). 2. luedeke m, miller e, sprague je. technical note: the effects of bluestar(® and luminol when used in conjunction with tetramethylbenzidine or phenolphthalein. forensic sci int 2016;262:156 159. 3. sloots j, lalonde w, reid b, millman j. kastle meyer blood test reagents are deleterious to dna. forensic sci int 2017;281141-146. 4. wang f, gallardo v, michielsen s, fang t. fundamental study of porcine drip bloodstains on fabrics: blood droplet impact and wicking dynamics. forensic sci int 2021 318:110614. 5. karger b, rand s, fracasso t, pfeiffer h. bloodstain pattern analysis--casework experience. forensic sci int 2008;181(1-3):15-20. 6. bremmer rh, de bruin kg, van gemert mj, van leeuwen tg, aalders mc. forensic quest for age determination of bloodstains. forensic sci int 2012;216(1-3):1-11. 7. stojanović i, stojanović j, šorgić d, čipev a. ffect of incomplete sampling description in dna reports on bloodstain pattern analysis and reconstruction of a crime scene. med sci law 2020;60(4):301-304. 8. hicklin ra, winer kr, kish pe, parks cl, chapman w, dunagan k, richetelli n, epstein eg, ausdemore ma, busey ta. accuracy and reproducibility of conclusions by forensic bloodstain pattern analysts. forensic sci int 2021;325:110856. 9. justia. state v. goode. https://law.justia.com/cases/north carolina/supreme-court/1995/10a94-0.html (accessed july 5, 2022). 10. fu j, allen r. a method to estimate the age of bloodstains using quantitative pcr. forensic sci int genet 2019:39:103-108. 11. weber a, wojtowicz a, lednev, i. postdeposition aging of bloodstains probed by steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy. https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/post deposition-aging-bloodstains-probed-steady-state fluorescence (accessed july 5, 2022). https://www.ascld.org/ https://law.justia.com/cases/north-carolina/supreme-court/1995/10a94-0.html https://law.justia.com/cases/north-carolina/supreme-court/1995/10a94-0.html https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/post-deposition-aging-bloodstains-probed-steady-state-fluorescence https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/post-deposition-aging-bloodstains-probed-steady-state-fluorescence https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/post-deposition-aging-bloodstains-probed-steady-state-fluorescence j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education mabry alternatives to in-person mock trials in forensic science education john p. mabry 1* , j.d., jennifer schmitz1 1* , j.d. 1 forensic science institute, the university of central oklahoma, 100 n. university drive, box #203, edmond, oklahoma, 73034 * corresponding author: jmabry1@uco.edu and jschmitz3@uco.edu. abstract: while mock trials are widely recognized as an effective teaching tool in preparing forensic students to testify in court, the move to online curriculums, increased enrollment, and alternative delivery methods have limited the practical use of this valuable tool. in response, the forensic science institute (fsi) at the university of central oklahoma (uco), in cooperation with the uco center for elearning and connected environments, has developed a virtual mock trial exercise which places students in a virtual courtroom to testify as witnesses. two simple scenarios have been developed a lay witness scenario and an expert witness voir dire scenario. in the lay witness scenario, the student assumes the role of a crime scene technician and testifies regarding the processing of a scene and the evidentiary foundation for the admission of a firearm. in the second scenario, the student assumes the role of an expert in firearms and toolmark analysis and responds to questions posed in the voir dire process to qualify as an expert. for each scenario, students are given a set of facts and personal qualifications which form the basis of their testimony. they then enter the virtual courtroom through the uco learning platform and type their responses to the questions posed by attorneys representing each side. at the conclusion of each exercise, the program produces transcripts of the testimony for the instructor to grade and critique. this article describes creation and implementation of such scenarios as viable alternatives when live mock trials are not an option. keywords: mock trial, lay witness testimony, expert witness testimony, direct examination, cross examination. introduction mock trials are widely recognized as an effective and necessary teaching tool in preparing future law enforcement professionals to testify in court. forensic science is no exception, and in fact the american academy of forensic science, forensic science education programs accreditation commission (fepac), requires under their accreditation standards, section 5.2.1, that: “the program shall provide students with the basic knowledge necessary for effective testimony as an expert witness, and each student shall participate in practical exercises where they will render expert testimony (e.g., moot court).” live, in-person mock trials are unquestionably the best means of preparing forensic students to become effective witnesses in the courtroom. law schools have long used mock trials to teach trial advocacy, and moot court to teach appellate procedure. while the terms are often used interchangeably, mock trial typically refers to simulated trial proceedings while moot court refers to simulated appellate arguments before an appeals court. mock trials have long been used by law enforcement academies, criminal justice programs, and forensic science programs as a primary means of training and preparing students for their first real courtroom appearance. teaching and demonstrating the fundamentals of testifying is essential, but the true development of testimonial skills begins when the student takes the stand for the first time in a realistic mock trial scenario. that student’s ability to be an effective and professional witness in the future might very well depend on their prior experiences in mock trial scenarios. much like a broadway play, opening night will likely be a disaster if the cast foregoes the dress rehearsal. while live mock trial experiences are unquestionably the best means of preparing students to testify in court, every educator who has ever developed and implemented a live mock trial exercise knows that the realistic implementation of these exercises can be challenging, labor intensive, and time consuming. there are several major challenges that educators face in staging mock trials, but two of the most critical are time and resources. for programs with large enrollment, a primary consideration is the amount of time required to give each student a meaningful courtroom experience. for a student to truly experience testifying as a witness, they need to spend an adequate amount of time on the witness stand j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education mabry responding to direct examination, cross-examination, and arguably even re-direct and re-cross. for a lay witness scenario, this arguably requires a minimum of 15-20 minutes per student. for an expert witness, this could easily require a minimum of 30 minutes or more per student. assuming an introductory criminal procedure course has an enrollment of 40 students, a meaningful testimonial experience for each student could consume nearly one-third of the semester to complete. for an expert witness scenario, the amount of time required would be even longer. in addition, the fact that only one student can testify at a time presents another dilemma. what is the remainder of the class to do? what would be an effective use of their time while classmates are testifying? while it is tempting to put students into the roles of judges, prosecutors, or defense attorneys, their lack of experience in this area will likely result in a line of questioning which is unrealistic and therefore of little benefit to the actual student witness. furthermore, simply watching the same or similar testimony over and over is of little benefit to the other students and may adversely impact their own experience when it is their turn to testify. to be done correctly, questioning on direct and crossexamination should be realistic, meaning it should adhere to the applicable rules of criminal procedure and rules of evidence. ideally, the questioning should be conducted or at least scripted by actual attorneys or experienced faculty with testimonial experience, but this option is not available for every program. it is also important that an individual with some legal experience play the role of judge in order to realistically respond to objections and to direct courtroom procedures. while these may not be issues in law schools where legal resources abound, they can pose significant challenges in forensic programs where additional faculty with the requisite legal background are less plentiful, or simply occupied with their own teaching and administrative obligations. at the uco forensic science institute, mock trials are utilized throughout the curriculum to develop testimonial skills. basic testimonial instruction, demonstrations and mock trial are presented in criminal procedure, a required course for all students. additional mock trial testimony and training is also incorporated in a number of specialized advanced courses depending on the student’s chosen degree track (investigations, biology, chemistry, or digital). finally, an entire course in expert testimony is offered at the graduate level as a required course. this course is taught in conjunction with the school of law at oklahoma city university (ocu) and the class consists of both uco forensic science students and ocu law students. instruction is provided by faculty from both schools, allowing for a mock trial scenario which is legally sound and trains both lawyers and expert forensic witnesses. due to increasing enrollment and the desire to offer criminal procedure as an online option, the uco fsi partnered with the uco center for elearning and connected environments and developed a virtual mock trial scenario. this tool proved extremely beneficial later when covid-19 shut down in-person learning and forced alternative delivery of all courses. through the use of this tool, the uco fsi was able to continue to offer an introductory mock trial experience to the students in criminal procedure. methods the steps used to create a virtual mock trial scenario can be divided into two stages: the first stage is the actual creation of the mock trial scenarios. these steps are essentially identical to those used to create an in-person mock trial scenario and involve deciding on a fact situation, creating reports, and supporting documents for the student witnesses, and drafting direct examination questions. the second stage is the transition of the mock trial scenario to a virtual platform. the implementation and complexity of this step will depend greatly on the information technology resources available. the use of trained elearning personnel is recommended, although when such resources are not available, it may be possible to create a simple workable exercise with basic educational software programs. as an example of the process, the steps used to create the uco fsi mock trial scenario will be explained. stage one creating a scenario the uco fsi offers degree tracks in investigations, chemistry, biology and digital. the distinction is important in the development of mock trial scenarios because not all forensic science graduates will testify as expert witnesses during their careers. an expert witness is “someone who has knowledge, skill, education, experience, or training in a specialized field. (fed. r. evid., 702). while students on the chemistry, biology or digital tracks will pursue careers as likely experts in their fields, those in investigations will more likely testify as lay witnesses. for that reason, both a lay witness scenario and an expert witness scenario were created. the lay witness scenario was designed for a crime scene technician who collects a key item of evidence, in this case a firearm. this witness is called to the stand to describe the processing of the scene and to authenticate introduction of the firearm into evidence. the information provided the student is set forth below in figure 1. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education mabry the expert witness scenario was designed as the voir dire examination of an expert in firearms and toolmarks. the scenario involves questions posed on direct by the prosecutor to establish the witness’ qualifications as an expert. the information provided the student is set forth below in figure 2. figure 1 lay witness scenario provided to witness. figure 2 lay witness scenario provided to witness. next was the creation of the script for direct examination by the prosecutor for each of these scenarios. the uco fsi is fortunate to have two attorneys as faculty members who oversee legal instruction and who prepared the scripts used in each of these scenarios. in order to make the questioning as realistic as possible, the use of attorneys to create the examination questions is highly recommended. another excellent legal resource on this matter is evidentiary foundations by edward j. imwinkelreid, which contains numerous examples of the foundation questions to be asked of both lay and expert witnesses in various situations. (imwinkelreid, 2020) examples of the lay witness direct examination and the expert witness voir dire examination, as well as instructions, are set forth below in figures 3 & 4. figure 3 lay witness direct examination script (pp. 12). j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education mabry figure 4 expert witness voir dire examination script (pp. 1-2). stage two creating an online testimonial experience once the scenario and supporting documents were created, the uco center for elearning and connected environments was tasked with creating a virtual platform to run the mock trial exercise. after several months of design and experimentation, and through close collaboration with the uco fsi, the center for elearning delivered the first version of the uco fsi virtual mock trial exercise. it was originally created using a unity game engine but was later converted to a web-based exercise using html, java script, and sql. the game basically triggers events that go down a chain. these events generate answers which the program then pins together to create a web view that can be downloaded as a .pdf. the images used for the scenario and in this article were obtained by the center for elearning from shutter stock under uco’s standard subscription license. using the lay witness scenario as an example, the scenario begins with the student entering the courtroom and being sworn-in by a bailiff (see figures 5a and 5b). figure 5a bailiff swears-in witness to begin the testimony. figure 5b student witnesses respond by typing their answers. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education mabry after being seated, the prosecutor then begins his/her direct examination of the witness following the scripted questions. in response to each question, the students answer by simply typing their answer and hitting “enter” (see figure 6). figure 6 prosecutor asks questions on direct examination. the testimony continues to the point where the witness responds to the questions necessary to authenticate the firearm being offered in evidence. the firearm is offered as evidence and with no objections, the judge admits it into evidence as a government exhibit. in this scenario, the defense attorney has no questions for the witness on cross-examination and the witness is dismissed, thus ending the lay witness scenario (see figures 7 & 8). figure 7 judge admits the firearm into evidence. figure 8 testimony and exercise ends with no questions from the defense attorney. at the completion of the exercise, the program automatically creates a transcript of the witness’ testimony and places it in a folder for review, grading and critique by the instructor (see figures 9 and 10). figure 9 student transcripts folder. figure 10 sample student transcript. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education mabry implementing the virtual mock trial exercise the virtual mock trial exercise is explained in class following the standard course of instruction on lay and expert witness testimony. by the time students begin the exercise, they have viewed numerous video examples of both good and bad courtroom testimony and have critiqued the strengths and weaknesses of each. to begin the exercise, students are provided handouts which describe the exercise and provide the foundation for their testimony. they are then directed to a simple linkfound in the assignments section of the course online learning platform, which in the case of the uco fsi is desire2learn, more commonly known as d2l. the students then click on the link to again receive instructions and begin the exercise. both the lay witness exercise and the expert witness exercise are accessed through the same link. upon completion of the exercise, the students simply exit the program and the transcript is automatically generated and placed in the instructor transcript folder described earlier. results after the student has completed and submitted both the lay and expert witness exercise, the instructor is able to access the transcript folder using a link provided by the center for elearning. two links are provided each semester for each section of criminal procedure, one for student access to the assignment and another for instructor access to the completed transcripts. instructors are then able to review each student’s transcript for both exercises and record grades and provide feedback using the d2l grading tool. discussion and limitations as emphasized earlier, in-person mock trials are unquestionably the best means of preparing forensic students for their first courtroom experience as a lay or expert witness. the authors are by no means suggesting that a virtual exercise be unnecessarily substituted for an in-person mock trial experience. when time and resources permit, a live mock trial is the best way to introduce and develop good testimonial skills. however, for online courses, or when time and resources are short, or when traditional in-person learning is interrupted, a virtual exercise may be the next best option for an alternative means of delivery. following are situations in which a virtual mock trial exercise may serve as a suitable alternative: i. when class size makes it impractical due to time requirements to conduct live mock trials. ii. when additional personnel are unavailable to serve as prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges. iii. when criminal procedure courses are online rather than in-person. iv. when in-person instruction is interrupted due to pandemic or other circumstances beyond the control of the institution. v. as a makeup for students unable to attend regularly scheduled in-person mock trial exercises due to illness, quarantine, or other circumstances. vi. as extra credit, a refresher, or part of a comprehensive exam in forensic science. in addition to academic applications, virtual mock trial scenarios could be used in the forensic science profession for trial preparation and practice, continuing education, or basic education of newly hired employees with limited forensic backgrounds. there are some obvious disadvantages and limitations of virtual mock trials. the most significant limitations are the absence of live role players and observers; the absence of realistic cross examination; and the inability to create a virtual scenario due to a lack of hardware or software resources. each of these will be discussed separately below. first, the underlying purpose of a mock trial is to provide students with a testimonial experience that is as close to reality as possible. not only must students learn to prepare to testify and present effectively, but they must learn to present themselves professionally, avoid nervous tendencies, and manage the stress and anxiety that inexperienced and even seasoned witnesses often face. many students will tell you that one of their greatest fears is public speaking. testifying in court is very much public speaking, except with much higher stakes and the knowledge that the experience will inevitably involve a defense attorney anxious to expose weaknesses, twist words, and make witnesses as ineffective and uncomfortable as possible. this aspect of the testimonial experience is simply impossible to create and is completely absent in a virtual scenario. the reality is that in a virtual mock trial assignment, the student completes the exercise alone, at a time of their own chosing, in the comfort of their own environment, at their own pace, and in the absence of a live audience. this is clearly far from reality and a major weakness of virtual scenarios. this leads to the next major limitation the inability to create a realistic cross-examination scenario. it is difficult if not impossible to realistically introduce cross examination into an online exercise. the federal rules j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education mabry of evidence, rule 611, requires that direct examination of witnesses be conducted by asking direct, non-leading questions what is your name? what did you find? where did you find it? because direct questioning is accomplished with open-ended questions, the questions can easily be scripted and the answers predicted. when it comes to cross-examination however, the opposite is true. cross examination involves leading questions, or questions which suggest a particular answer the knife had blood on it, correct? you never gave my client his miranda rights, did you? you’ve never used fluorescent powder before, have you? when conducting cross examination, the questions and the manner in which they are asked are very much dependent on the witness’ previous response(s). as such, it is difficult to anticipate or even script the next question without knowing how the witness responded to the previous questions. crossexamination is a very dynamic and responsive process and as such is difficult if not impossible to script. this unfortunately results in a key teaching point of the mock trial experience being absent from virtual scenarios. finally, not every department will have the it resources to create and run a virtual scenario with the complexity of the one described above. at uco, the fsi was fortunate to have the support of an entire department, the center for elearning and connected environments, to create the program described in this article. the center for elearning fully supported the project by supplying the personnel, expertise, hardware, software, and instruction needed to bring the project to fruition. the center for elearning continues to support the project with periodic updates, tweaks, and new links every semester for every section. for departments or instructors with limited it resources, there may be options for using more common programs such as microsoft powerpoint to create a simpler version of a mock trial exercise. for example, instructors could provide a scenario to students in which each powerpoint slide represents a question, thereby allowing students to move through the slides/questions at their own pace while typing their own transcript as they go. recommendations to make the virtual mock trial scenario even more realistic, the next logical step would be to explore the possibility of turning the computer screen still version into a 3d virtual reality courtroom in which the student dons a virtual reality headset and hand controllers to virtually enter a courtroom and respond to role players who actually move about the courtroom and speak to the witness. rather than typing a transcript, the student would actually answer the questions while sitting on the virtual witness stand. other students and an instructor could watch the exchange on monitors, or the exercise could be recorded for playback and evaluation later. it may even be possible for voice recognition to create a separate transcript in addition to the recorded testimony. this would add a more realistic feel to the exercise. instead of typing an answer to a written question, the student would actually be making eye contact with and verbally answering questions posed by a role player who is actually moving about the courtroom, gesturing, and using inflection in their voice. this would allow not only for a recorded verbal exchange, but would also incorporate the practice and critique of basic testimonial skills such as good body language and frequent eye contact with jurors. while this does not resolve the issue of no cross-examination, it certainly makes the scenario more realistic for the student. the ability to take a mock trial scenario to this level no doubt depends on the resources available to the institution. for those institutions developing or experimenting with virtual reality platforms for education, a mock trial scenario in virtual reality would be an excellent consideration. summary mock trials are a proven tool for developing future professionals in law, criminal justice, and forensic science. recent developments such as increased enrollments, the move to online courses, and class disruptions due to pandemic or other uncontrollable circumstances have challenged instructors to develop, within their resources, the means to provide mock trial training through alternative delivery. virtual mock trial exercises such as the one created at the uco fsi can serve as viable alternatives to live, in-person mock trials. when the need arises, students who would otherwise receive no courtroom experience will at least be able to apply their learned skills in a virtual environment. there are both pros and cons to such an exercise, but an interactive experience in any form is certainly better than no experience at all. as advances in virtual reality platforms continue to make their way into education, it is foreseeable that an interactive virtual reality testimonial experience can be created to greatly improve the experience. acknowledgements the authors wish to acknowledge the outstanding support and contribution of the uco center for elearning and connected environments in developing the forensic science institute virtual mock trial exercise. special thanks to our project developer, zain chisti, for his skill, expertise and support during the development and implementation of this project. special thanks as well to the american academy of forensic science, council on forensic science education, for allowing the authors to present and demonstrate this project at the 2021 j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education mabry international online conference on forensic science education. references 1. american academy of forensic science, forensic science education programs accreditation commission (fepac), accreditation standards, (revised sep 24, 2021). 2. federal rules of criminal procedure, (as amended 2020). 3. federal rules of evidence, (1975). 4. imwinkelreid, e.j. evidentiary foundations. 11 th ed. u.s.: carolina academic press, 2020. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education brandon a laboratory stations activity provides a rigorous, hands-on introduction to concepts and techniques in forensic anthropology in an introductory forensic science course. bianca brandon, m.s., staten island technical high school, 485 clawson st. staten island< ny 10306, biancabrandon@icloud.com abstract: this article presents the use of a laboratory stations activity in an introductory forensic science course in order to introduce students to concepts in forensic anthropology and techniques for estimating the biological profile of skeletal remains. after completing preliminary activities, students examined osteological replicas in order to estimate age at death, stature, and sex; and analyzed evidence of skeletal trauma. students were provided with reference materials to aid in their analysis. the advantages of using this format included high student engagement and inquiry, real-world problem-solving, realistic case scenarios, and challenging content. some of the challenges encountered included difficulty comparing the osteological replicas to sketches and photos in order to assign scores and identify bony landmarks. these issues could be resolved by incorporating more preliminary instruction and providing additional reference materials. keywords: forensic anthropology, biological profile, stations activity, inquiry . introduction the purpose of this article is to describe the use of a laboratory stations activity in a forensic anthropology learning module. this learning module was part of a college level introduction to forensic science course taught to juniors and seniors at a specialized high school in new york city. students enrolled in the class have the option to apply for three college credit hours from the college of st. rose. this is a full-year survey course that includes learning modules on (in order) history of and introduction to forensic science, eyewitness testimony, physical matching, crime scene processing and evidence examination, impression evidence, death investigation, serology, blood spatter, forensic dna testing, and trace evidence. the forensic anthropology learning module is part of the unit on death investigation, and is taught after the modules on forensic pathology and forensic entomology. at this point in the term, students should already be familiar with cause and manner of death, and the changes that take place in the body after death. the forensic anthropology module focuses primarily on examination of skeletal remains and estimation of a biological profile. learning standards for this module are listed in table 1. table 1 learning standards for the forensic anthropology learning module. standards (swbat) evidence of meeting standards analyze the inventory of skeletal remains from a burial site in order to determine nisp and mni. hand in a hard copy of what do we tell the sheriff? part 4 (on the next page) as evidence of meeting this standard. distinguish between human and non-human bones. hand in a hard copy of laboratory activity 4: forensic anthropology (stations) data sheet as evidence of meeting these standards. analyze characteristics of skeletal remains in order to estimate age at death. analyze characteristics of skeletal remains in order to estimate sex. analyze characteristics of skeletal remains in order to estimate stature. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education brandon identify and analyze evidence of traumatic injuries in skeletal remains. before beginning the lab, students completed several preliminary activities including watching screencasts about forensic anthropology, taking notes on the content of screencasts and readings on an outline worksheet. this method is similar to the cornell note taking system (1). the outline worksheet included required readings (2,3) and optional resources (4,5). the outline was completed independently and followed by a student-directed class discussion to address topics that require clarification. students then worked in their small learning teams to label a simple diagram of the human skeleton obtained online (6) in order to become familiar with human skeletal anatomy and terminology. since this worksheet was more appropriate for middle school students, the author modified it, adding several bones for students to label such as the subtypes of vertebrae (cervical, thoracic, lumbar), the sacrum, coccyx, individual bones and cartilage in the pelvis (ilium, ischium, pubic bone, pubic symphysis), and individual bones in the skull (maxilla, zygomatic bone, mandible). students were given the option to color individual bones in different colors (rather than simply labeling the diagram) to aid in their understanding. once the students were more familiar with skeletal anatomy, they worked in their small learning teams to complete a case study from the national center for case study teaching in science (nccsts) titled “what do we tell the sheriff?” (7). the students completed each of the four parts of the case study consecutively. in part 1, they were given a realistic scenario in which they are the forensic anthropologists called in to examine a scatter of bones discovered in a state park. students determined the number of identified specimens and the minimum number of individuals based on which bones were identified in subsequent parts of the case. an ethical dilemma was also discussed in the context of the case study. the final activity in the forensic anthropology learning module was the laboratory stations activity. a stations activity allows students to have several experiences related to the same topic, is self-paced, and requires students to move around the classroom and work with other students outside of their usual small learning team (8). the author has already used this format for laboratory activities related to tool marks and firearms as well as trace evidence. it is difficult to create a hands-on laboratory activity for forensic anthropology in a high school setting, since realistic casts of bones are expensive. in previous years, the author used activities from the course textbook in which students analyze data collected from skeletal remains in order to estimate a biological profile (2). while such activities challenged students to apply their knowledge, the direct observation and measurement of realistic replicas of skeletal remains was lacking. a laboratory stations activity in which students analyze features of skeletal remains was discussed in an article by dr. shelley montgomery published in the forensic teacher (9). the article presents using stations as a way to include a number of topics without setting up an entire mock crime scene or several labs. however, dr. montgomery’s activity was more appropriate for a class taught at the middle or high school level and, though some measurements were included, relied more on morphology to draw conclusions about characteristics of the remains. the use of the word “determine” instead of “estimate” when referring to the biological profile (sex, age, stature, and race) was also problematic since anthropological analysis can only result in an estimation of these features. it was this author’s intention to create a modified stations activity appropriate for a college-level course, and to raise students’ awareness of the shift to more robust, research-based methods that have been used in the field of forensic anthropology since the daubert ruling (10). the estimation of ancestry was excluded from the stations activity described here, due to the difficulties and association of this type of analysis with past racist practices and racial stereotypes. biological features of skeletal remains are not always an accurate indicator of the ancestral origin a person identified with in life, and the forensic anthropology databases available for some ancestral groups are inadequate compared to others. the fordisc program gives a highly accurate estimate of ancestry for certain groups, such as americans of african or caucasian descent for example, if enough data points for the skeletal remains are available to be entered into fordisc (10). however, teaching students how to use the fordisc program and providing students with numerous bone samples and/or measurements to analyze was beyond the scope of an introductory course in forensic science. rather than relying on less precise methods of comparing morphological features to estimate ancestry, ancestry estimation was omitted. methods realistic casts of bones were purchased from bone clones, inc., osteological reproductions (https://boneclones.com/) using grant funding from donors choose (https://www.donorschoose.org/) and flex funds from a math for america master teacher fellowship (https://www.mathforamerica.org/). all osteologic reproductions from bone clones include an osteological evaluation report. an osteometric board, https://boneclones.com/ https://www.donorschoose.org/ https://www.mathforamerica.org/ j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education brandon disarticulated plastic skeleton, and sliding calipers were purchased by staten island technical high school from ward’s science (https://www.wardsci.com/store/). students were provided with a lab handout to answer questions and record observations and measurements, including instructions and hyperlinks to reference materials for each station (11-24). questions on the handout required students to explain their reasoning for any conclusions. a classroom skeleton consisting of real bones (donated to the school by an alumnus) was used as a reference throughout the stations activity, and the skull of the classroom skeleton was analyzed at one of the stations as described below. the students rotated through the stations in any order and worked at their own pace. all of the bone samples at each station were labeled with a unique identification number, in case any samples were misplaced during class. station 1: this station tested students’ knowledge of skeletal anatomy with a “name that bone” challenge. students compared the replicas of ten different bones (from the disarticulated plastic skeleton) with the reference materials on skeletal anatomy (11, 14), and determined and recorded the identity of each. bone samples included the humerus, cervical vertebra, rib, and scapula. station 2: students examined bone clones osteological reproduction #404, a coyote tibia and fibula, in order to assess whether the bones were human or non-human (12, 13). the instructions at station 2 stated that the bone was found in a state park in nebraska. students were asked to identify the bone and, based on the size and features of the bone (11, 14) and location where it was found, which animal it may have come from. station 3: students examined two tibiae and two patellae (from the disarticulated plastic skeleton) in order to determine which is the left and which is the right, based on the location of bony landmarks such as the medial malleolus of the tibia and the articular surface of the patella. reference materials included diagrams of each of these bones with the bony landmarks labeled (14). students were also encouraged to use the classroom skeleton as a reference. students had little difficulty defining left and right in anatomical terms, but found it hard to distinguish the bony landmarks present on each of the bones. one possible solution might be to allow students to examine the bony landmarks of other bones or to watch a screencast demonstrating identification of bony landmarks prior to the lab stations activity. in addition, the reference materials with labeled bony landmarks (14) could be printed on a larger scale so they are easier to read. station 4: students examined bone clones osteological sample #540, a broken femur and fractured innominate from a female pedestrian struck by a large truck. students were asked to examine and score the subpubic concavity, medial aspect of the subpubic ramus, ventral arc, and the sciatic notch in order to estimate the sex of the individual. they were provided with sketches and photos of these features and corresponding scores (16, 17), and with 3d replicas of a complete male and female pelvis for comparison purposes. students also measured the diameter of the femoral head and compared it to known data sets and sectioning points for two ancestral populations (18). students were asked to opine whether the injuries apparent in the bones were peri-mortem and to justify their conclusions. the students had difficulty comparing the three-dimensional osteological reproductions with two-dimensional sketches and photos of the features they were asked to compare and score. in the future, it may be helpful to have students observe these features in osteological reproductions prior to the lab stations activity, or to include photographs of actual bones in addition to comparison sketches of the features. measurement of the femoral head diameter and comparison to sectioning points, as well as the trauma analysis, was more straight-forward. station 5: students examined bone clones osteological sample #217, a male skull with two healed hammer blows, in order to estimate the sex of the individual, observe evidence of blunt force trauma, and determine whether the trauma was peri-mortem. students also examined the skull of the classroom skeleton for the purpose of sex estimation. students examined and scored the nuchal crest, mastoid process, supraorbital margin, supraorbital ridge, and mental eminence (missing from sample 217). comparison of the three-dimensional osteological reproductions with two dimensional photos and sketches of the features of the skull (19) proved difficult once again. students found it helpful to reference the color atlas of human anatomy (14) to clarify the locations and shapes of the features of the skull, particularly the supraorbital ridge. in the future, a printed copy of the labeled photographs of the skull from this reference will be included in the reference materials at this station. station 6: students examined bone clones osteological sample #190, a skull, femur, and humerus from a fiveyear old human child. students were also given dental xrays for a five-and-a-half year-old child, obtained from a local dentist’s office. the students compared the shape of the teeth and roots in the x-ray with the atlas of human tooth development (20) in order to estimate the age of a sub-adult. they measured the length of the humerus and femur with an osteometric board and compared their data to the averages for children of different ages (21). based https://www.wardsci.com/store/ https://boneclones.com/product/coyote-tibias-and-fibulas-comparative-pathology-set-fo-404 https://boneclones.com/product/human-female-blunt-force-trauma-fm-540-set https://boneclones.com/product/human-male-skull-with-hammer-blows-bc-217 https://boneclones.com/product/5-year-old-human-child-skull-bc-190 j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education brandon on the length of the long bones examined, most students underestimated the age of the individual. the dental xray comparison generally resulted in a more accurate age estimate, which was expected. one problem that should be addressed is the quality of the printed copy of the dental x-ray. some students had trouble observing developmental stages of the teeth due to the clarity of the image, which the author plans to reprint at a higher quality. station 7: students examined images of the sternal end of the fourth rib (22) and compared them to descriptions of sternal rib end phases (23) in order to estimate age in an adult. students had difficulty with this comparison, since images were not included in the descriptions of each phase. including pictures that are consistent with the phase numbers in the reference materials would improve this issue. use of an osteological replica might also be helpful, especially when observing the depth of the depression in the sternal end of the rib, which is difficult to ascertain from a photo. station 8: bone clones osteological sample #178, a tibia and humerus from an african american female, were examined in order to estimate stature. the students measured the long bones using an osteometric board and used regression analysis (2) to calculate a range of heights for this individual. students were required to convert from centimeters to feet/inches. an optional activity was for students to measure their own height and compare it to their self-reported height on their drivers’ licenses. station 9: students examined bone clones osteological sample #152, a human male skull with a .32 caliber gunshot wound in order to determine the entry and exit wound. students were given a reference on skeletal trauma (23) to inform their conclusions. although nearly all the students correctly identified the entry and exit wound, most of them based their conclusions on the size and shape of the wound rather than examining the beveling of the bone. in order to encourage students to conduct a more detailed analysis, the author plans to include additional reference materials with close-up photographs of beveling of the bone in gunshot wounds. station 10: students examined bone clones osteological sample #804, which included six skull fragments from different individuals in order to determine the type of trauma (blunt force, sharp force, high speed projectile) that resulted in the wound. students were required to examine any two of the six skull fragments for this activity. because these were fragmented remains, students had difficulty identifying some types of skeletal trauma. in particular, the shearing fracture was frequently misinterpreted as sharp force trauma. additional reference materials with photos or including fewer fragments could be helpful in addressing this. students were able to identify injuries from blunt force trauma and projectiles most of the time. hazards and safety precautions there are minimal safety precautions needed for this laboratory experiment. the osteological reproductions, osteometric board, and calipers should be carefully handled and stored. if digital calipers are used, the batteries should be changed as needed. results below are photos of students working on the stations activity during the forensic science class (figures 1-6). figure 1 students use an osteometric board to measure the length of the humerus at station 8. figure 2 at station 9, students examine a gunshot wound in order to determine entry and exit. additional skull fragments from station 10 are seen on the table. https://boneclones.com/product/human-african-american-female-left-tibia-ko-178-t https://boneclones.com/product/human-african-american-female-humerus-ko-178-h https://boneclones.com/product/human-male-skull-with-a-32-caliber-gunshot-wound-bc-152 https://boneclones.com/product/skull-trauma-set-of-six-fragments-kom-804-set j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education brandon figure 3 students examine the skull of the classroom skeleton in order to estimate sex at station 5. figure 4 at station 4, students examine a fractured innominate bone in order to estimate sex. the femur from station 4 and the skull from station 5 are visible on the table. figure 5 students examine a tibia and fibula in order to determine whether they are human or non-human at station 1. figure 6 at station 6, students examine the skull and femur in order to estimate age in a sub-adult. discussion and conclusion the forensic anthropology laboratory stations activity was an effective way for introductory forensics students to gain experience in analyzing skeletal remains. the students were highly engaged during the lab, and were able to complete most of the required tasks, giving accurate estimations of sex, stature, and age at death for the human remains they examined. students were also able to correctly identify human and non-human bones. in addition, the set-up of the stations was relatively easy once all of the required equipment, reference materials, and osteological replicas were obtained and organized by station. class periods are 41 minutes long, which is always a challenge when carrying out complex, multi-step laboratory experiments. the author originally planned to allow a maximum of ten class periods total for students to complete data collection and analysis at all ten stations. this was assuming students would complete, on average, one to two stations per day. however, this activity was scheduled coincidentally during a covid-19 outbreak. due to the high rate of absenteeism and large numbers of students required to quarantine, the lab had to be extended an additional week, for a total of 15 class days. this is, in the author’s opinion, too many class days to devote to this activity in an introductory forensic science course; however, with the evolving covid protocols and guidelines it should not be a major issue next year and the students should be able to reasonably complete the lab within ten class days. most of the difficulties encountered with the lab stations activity were due to inadequate reference materials, the need for additional direct instruction, or the challenge of comparing three dimensional replicas with two dimensional sketches or photographs. at station 2, for example, the students had trouble identifying bony landmarks in order to distinguish between the left and right bones. this could easily be addressed by having students practice bony landmark identification, or providing students with a screencast in which this process j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education brandon is carried out prior to the lab stations activity. the practice or screencast should include bony landmark identification for a different bone than those included at the station so that the stations activity is a true assessment of the students’ skills in this area. in the case of station 5, in which students found it challenging to locate the supraorbital ridge and supraorbital margin, providing students with a higher quality photo that clearly showed the location of these landmarks was sufficient in addressing the problem. the same was true for station 9, in which detailed photos of the beveling of the bone in gunshot wounds allowed students to more accurately determine entry and exit wounds. this could also be said for station 6, in which the quality of the printed x-ray could be improved to facilitate comparisons with the atlas of human tooth development (20). including photos or sketches of the different phases and age ranges for the sternal end of the fourth rib at station 7 would also aid students in making a more accurate estimation of age at death. in addition, students struggled to toggle between the lab handout, reference materials, and specimens. it would be helpful to have printed, and preferably laminated, color copies of the necessary reference materials at each station, rather than having hyperlinks within the lab handout and hard copies of the books at a common station. this recommendation would save time as well. the students were able to meet most of the standards for this learning module despite the need for improvement in the areas noted above. students were also enthusiastic about having an authentic experience in the field of forensic anthropology. several students expressed their surprise at how detailed and methodical the examinations and analysis were, in contrast with how forensic anthropology is portrayed in popular media. though the lab stations activity was challenging, the students were highly engaged and motivated. acknowledgements the author would like to acknowledge mr. mark erlenwein and dr. john davis for their support of this project, ms. roe mugavero for her assistance in obtaining the required materials, juliette ferrigno for reviewing the manuscript, and dr. amy zelson-mundorff for lending her expertise and patiently answering questions. the author would also like to thank dr. ronald napolitano, d.d.s, f.a.g.d, and ms. sofia napolitano for providing the sub-adult dental x-ray. my most heartfelt thanks to the forensic science students at staten island technical high school for their dedication and enthusiasm. some of the materials for this laboratory activity were purchased with grant funding from donors choose (https://www.donorschoose.org/) and flex funds from a math for america master teacher fellowship (https://www.mathforamerica.org/). references 1. learning strategies center. the learning strategies center. https://lsc.cornell.edu/how-to-study/takingnotes/cornell-note-taking-system/. accessed 22 aug 2022. 2. bertino aj., bertino pn. forensic anthropology, in forensic science: fundamentals and investigations, 2nd ed., south-western:mason oh, 2016, pp. 442– 462. 3. angier n. bone, a masterpiece of elastic strength, new york times, 27 apr. 2009. 4. maples wr, browning m. the tsar of all the russias, in dead men do tell tales: the strange and fascinating cases of a forensic anthropologist, doubleday dell publishing group:new york, 1994, pp. 238–268. 5. pharr l. how vultures can help solve crimes,| ted talk, tedx lsu, 2019, https://www.ted.com/talks/lauren_pharr_how_vulture s_can_help_solve_crimes. accessed 22 aug. 2022. 6. matching eskeletons. department of anthropology university of texas at austin, https://eskeletons.org/sites/eskeletons.org/files//files/r esources/000646794.pdf. accessed 22 aug 2022. 7. stubblefield pr, scharf e. what do we tell the sheriff?” nsta, https://www.nsta.org/ncss-casestudy/what-do-we-tell-sheriff. accessed 22 aug 2022. 8. misciagna p. personal communication. 9. montgomery s. a quick skeletal remains lab setup for forensic anthropology, in the forensic teacher, issue 37, 2021, pp. 36–41. https://theforensicteacher.com. 10. klales a. personal communication and course materials for human skeletal biology: estimating the biological profile, washburn university, july 2021. 11. baum h. the skeletal system. university of cincinnati. https://www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/ce/images/olli/ page content/the skeletal system.pdf. accessed 22 aug 2022. 12. watson jt, mclelland j. distinguishing human from non-human animal none, the university of arizona, arizona state museum, tuscon az, 2018. https://www.donorschoose.org/ https://www.mathforamerica.org/ https://www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/ce/images/olli/page%20content/the%20skeletal%20system.pdf https://www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/ce/images/olli/page%20content/the%20skeletal%20system.pdf j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education brandon 13. adams b, crabtree p. comparative osteology a laboratory and field guide of common north american animals, elsevier:philadelphia pa, 2012. 14. yokochi c, lutjen-drecoll e. color atlas of anatomy: a photographic study of the human body, 4th ed., lippincott williams & wilkins:philadelphia pa, 2002. 15. klales ar. morphopasse trait exploration. morphopasse, 2020, https://www.morphopasse.com/trait-exploration.html. accessed 22 aug 2022. 16. christensen am, passalacqua nv. a laboratory manual for forensic anthropology, appendix k, academic press: san diego ca, 2018, pp. 263-264. 17. shook b, et al. explorations: an open invitation to biological anthropology. american anthropological association, 2019, https://explorations.americananthro.org/wpcontent/uploads/2019/11/chapter-15bioarchaeology-and-forensic-anthropology-3.01.pdf. accessed 22 aug 2022. 18. christensen am., passalacqua nv. a laboratory manual for forensic anthropology, appendix m, academic press:san diego ca, 2018, pp. 268–269. 19. christensen am, passalacqua nv. a laboratory manual for forensic anthropology, appendix l, academic press: san diego, ca, 2018, pp. 265-267. 20. christensen am, passalacqua nv. a laboratory manual for forensic anthropology, ,appendix q, academic press, san diego, ca, 2018, pp. 280-283. 21. christensen am, passalacqua nv. a laboratory manual for forensic anthropology, appendix r, academic press, san diego, ca, 2018, pp. 295-296. 22. christensen am, passalacqua nv. a laboratory manual for forensic anthropology, academic press, san diego, ca, 2018, pp. 152. 23. christensen am, passalacqua nv. a laboratory manual for forensic anthropology, appendix v, academic press, san diego, ca, 2018, pp. 302-303. 24. christensen am, passalacqua nv. analysis of skeletal trauma, in a laboratory manual for forensic anthropology, academic press:san diego, ca, 2018, pp. 185-205. https://explorations.americananthro.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/chapter-15-bioarchaeology-and-forensic-anthropology-3.0-1.pdf https://explorations.americananthro.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/chapter-15-bioarchaeology-and-forensic-anthropology-3.0-1.pdf https://explorations.americananthro.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/chapter-15-bioarchaeology-and-forensic-anthropology-3.0-1.pdf https://explorations.americananthro.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/chapter-15-bioarchaeology-and-forensic-anthropology-3.0-1.pdf j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education buffalini student preparation, perceptions, and persistence in a newly accredited undergraduate forensic science program. cole buffalini 1 , frank c. bailey, ph.d. 1 , and karen n. reed, ph.d. 1* 1 forensic science program, middle tennessee state university, 1301 east main st., murfreesboro, tn 37132, * corresponding author: karen.reed@mtsu.edu abstract: attainment of forensic science education programs accreditation commission (fepac) accreditation represents a major achievement for university forensic science programs. this designation is a recognition of a program’s rigor and can help prospective students in selecting quality training. in 2021, the authors examined one undergraduate forensic science program located in the southeastern united states as it neared completion of the fepac accreditation process. current program students were surveyed for their incoming academic preparations, as well as their perceptions of the program on a range of variables including comfort level in interactions with professors, perceptions of the program’s effectiveness in preparing them for employment post-graduation, and factors contributing to student success in the program. the results indicated that the program met many but not all of the students’ expectations, and demonstrated that some students may conflate the goals of their program with a separate but complementary forensic anthropology program. overall, the majority of surveyed students felt the program adequately prepared them for their post-graduation careers. these results can inform other fepac-accredited undergraduate programs or those seeking accreditation as to student preferences and expectations of their forensic science preparation. keywords: student perceptions, student preparation, undergraduate forensic science program . introduction the forensic science education programs accreditation commission (fepac) is the accrediting body for university programs of forensic science education. the organization has been a key partner to the forensic science profession through its standardization and assurance of rigor within forensic science programs throughout the united states and internationally. although all academic programs undergo the same evaluation in pursuit of fepac accreditation and most list their requirements online, little is known about the individual qualitative differences among programs. furthermore, there are many questions about what students desire from their forensic science training. this paper adds to the broader discussion of undergraduate forensic science education by examining student perspectives of a specific academic program. students enrolled in an undergraduate forensic science degree program at middle tennessee state university (mtsu) were surveyed in march 2021. this survey was deployed while the program was simultaneously seeking fepac accreditation, a status which was since attained in 2022. the primary goals of the survey were to examine incoming student academic preparations and influences, as well as measure current student perceptions of the coursework, faculty, and campus supports. mtsu’s bachelor’s degree program in forensic science is an interdisciplinary program developed by the biology, chemistry, and criminal justice administration departments. at the time of this study, there were 180 students in the program, the majority female (78%). of the 180 students, 21% were african american or black, 11% hispanic, and 67% white. the degree requires a minimum of 120 credit hours, 73 of which are direct requirements for the major and another 17 credit hours are specified supporting courses. to meet fepac accreditation standards, the degree has a tightly comprised curriculum with few electives and little room for deviation from the academic map. mtsu’s program was developed with an eye for prospective local and state employers of its graduates, and therefore emphasizes coursework which would prepare a graduate for work in a crime laboratory. one such prospective employer for example, the tennessee bureau of investigation, requires a minimum of 24 semester hours of chemistry classes for forensic science job applicants (1). separate from mtsu’s forensic science degree is a program in forensic anthropology in which bachelor’s degree-seeking students may receive a minor. the j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education buffalini forensic anthropology academic program is supplemented by several hands-on experiential learning opportunities for students, such as the forensic anthropology search and recovery (fasr) team which assists the state medical examiner’s office to identify unknown skeletal remains (2). many forensic science students choose to take part in these extracurricular opportunities, which are complementary experiences but outside of the laboratory focus of their degree program. before examining the perceptions of students enrolled in the mtsu forensic science program, the authors first wanted to determine and understand factors which contribute to student academic success in sciencefocused undergraduate programs. one such factor was found to be incoming college student preparation. wang (3) found a significant association between high school math achievement and the decision to major in a science, technology, engineering, or math (stem) degree. dwyer, gonzalez-espada, de la harpe, and meier (4) found that high school preparation was strongly associated with student persistence in stem degrees received at the united states air force academy. their study also found that success in calculus and general physics classes most strongly predicted graduation from a stem degree at the institution. beyond the academic factors related to student success in a stem major, student perceptions of their competence as well as a sense of belonging in the major were found to be very important to student retention. hilts, part, and bernacki (5) surveyed 208 students enrolled in an undergraduate anatomy and physiology class and found that students who felt competent in their major were more likely to persist in the degree until graduation. they also found that when students made connections to peers who were also stem majors, they developed a sense of relatedness which was correlated with student success as a stem major. as a result of this finding, the researchers recommended that peer mentoring programs be utilized by stem majors to increase contact with classmates and therefore build a sense of community and relatedness. a study of female undergraduate engineering majors found that same-gender peer mentors, in particular, produced the best results in terms of fostering student sense of belonging and self-efficacy, which led to greater retention in the major (6). although peer mentoring can yield strong results in terms of student retention, faculty-student connections are also important in this regard (7). christe (8) found that students who felt a positive connection with their professors, such that they felt comfortable speaking in class or engaging in conversations outside of class, were more likely to persist in their degrees. she recommended that universities encourage opportunities for greater student engagement, for example through faculty-led research projects as well as peer mentoring by upperclassmen. cundell and pierce (9) similarly emphasized the importance of a nurturing environment to succeed in hard science majors. they cited the positive effects of certain classroom management strategies, for example creating an environment whereby all students felt emboldened to speak in class. they also found that biology students needed real-life examples in order to best learn the material, whereas chemistry students needed structured questions and analytical homework assignments. a final consideration is the impact of media and entertainment in influencing students to choose forensic science as their college major, a phenomenon sometimes termed the “csi effect”. weaver, salamonson, koch and porter (10) examined the perceptions of students enrolled in an undergraduate forensic science program and found that a majority of participants (91.1%) had watched popular tv shows such as ncis and csi. although the participants overwhelmingly had negative views regarding the accuracy of the science depicted in the tv shows, many regarded the shows’ characters as role models at least as it related to their depiction as intelligent and skilled scientists. the researchers concluded that the shows were useful as a means to “enhance recruitment and provide ideas about the spectrum of technologies and specialties available in the career.” other research has noted that since the inception of these forensic-related tv shows, student demand for forensic science degrees has increased and universities have responded by expanding the number of available forensic science programs (11)(12)(13). methods this study utilized an embedded mixed methods design approach (14) in which quantitative and qualitative data were collected using the same instrument. although the survey instrument emphasized quantitative data collection, two open-ended questions gathered student perceptions of the major as well as the program’s overall effectiveness. the purpose of this study was to better understand the preparation and academic experiences of students currently enrolled in mtsu’s forensic science program. specifically, the authors sought to examine the following questions: (1) rq 1: how are incoming students prepared, in both their academics as well as their perceptions, for the rigor of the forensic science program? (2) rq 2: what are current student perceptions of the forensic science program? (3) rq 3: what are current student perceptions of forensic science faculty and campus supports at mtsu? j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education buffalini participants this study utilized a convenience sample of participants (n=46) who responded to an emailed solicitation to all forensic science program majors to participate in a survey. at the time of the survey deployment, the program enrolled 180 students; this survey therefore had a 25.5% response rate. the participants were primarily of ages 18-22 (80.43%, n=37), and were overwhelmingly female (84.78%, n=39). there were, however, respondents between the ages of 23-30 (15.22%, n= 7) and ages 31-50 (4.35%, n=2). the majority of participants (97.83%, n=45) were enrolled full-time at mtsu and were rather evenly distributed between the academic classifications of freshman (21.74%, n=10), sophomores (28.26%, n=13), juniors (26.09%, n=12), and seniors (23.91%, n=11). in addition to their studies, many of the students enrolled in the program were also employed, with 13.04% (n=6) of students working between 11 and 19 hours per week, and 28.26% (n=13) of students working 20 hours or more per week. survey instrument a survey consisting of 38 individual questions was developed for this study and was administered through qualtrics, an online survey tool. students were emailed a solicitation through a departmental mailing, asking them to voluntarily complete the survey by clicking a link. the survey obtained informed consent before presenting the survey questions. a copy of the survey instrument, the institutional review board (irb) approval letter, and the data set may be viewed at https://osf.io/e8mkb/?view_only=19f01518b2b246d283ba 9f43987cb1db. data collection and analysis participant data were downloaded from qualtrics, then cleaned by removing extraneous data fields and suppressing responses of participants who did not agree to the irb consent language. this resulted in 42 entirely completed responses and 4 mostly complete responses, for a total of 46 individual responses. all personally identifying information, such as participants’ ip addresses, were removed prior to data analysis to protect participant confidentiality. data analysis entailed performing descriptive statistics and calculating percentages based on individual responses to the survey questions. results rq 1: how are incoming students prepared, in both their academics as well as their perceptions, for the rigor of the forensic science program? several questions in the survey helped the authors understand the high school academic preparation of incoming students in mtsu’s forensic science program. nearly half (51.11%, n=23) of the participants stated that they took more than the required number of science classes in high school. about a third (37.78%, n=17) of participants expressed that they participated in science or math based extracurricular activities while in high school, and 71.11% (n=32) said that they had a strong interest in forensic science at that time. nearly all (93%, n=43) of participants entered mtsu as a forensic science major. because of individual departmental prerequisites, remediation is sometimes necessary prior to entering certain required classes in the forensic science curriculum. more than half (57.78%, n=26) of respondents were required to take pre-calculus prior to beginning the program’s required calculus i course because they did not have calculus in high school or a math act score of 26 or above. twenty percent (n=9) of participants stated that a remedial chemistry course was required prior to taking general chemistry i because of the chemistry department prerequisite of college algebra or a math act score of 19 or better. few students (13.33%, n=6) reported that they needed to take both remediation courses, while 35.56% (n=16) did not need to take either and instead directly entered the program’s core classes. another area of interest was the importance of role models and other influences in choosing to go into forensic science. the survey asked students whether their parents had a stem background. a slight majority (58.70%, n=27) of participants had parents who graduated from a 4-year college or university and of those, 63% (n=17) of parents graduated with a stem degree. for parents with a stem degree, the highest degree obtained for the majority was a bachelor’s degree (n=13); however one parent obtained a master’s degree and three parents attained doctorate degrees. a later question in the survey asked in more open-ended terms: “in high school, did you have science role models (example parents, teachers, even tv/media figures)?”. a large number of participants (64.44%, n=29) claimed to have science role models in their lives. an open-ended question asked “please explain briefly: what attracted you to this major?”, and participant responses to this question point to many motivations such as “subject matter interest”, “early exposure”, “being able to help”, “career stability”, and “csi/crime analysis interest”. https://osf.io/e8mkb/?view_only=19f01518b2b246d283ba9f43987cb1db https://osf.io/e8mkb/?view_only=19f01518b2b246d283ba9f43987cb1db j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education buffalini rq 2: what are current student perceptions of the forensic science program? mtsu’s forensic science program is an applied and hands-on degree with an emphasis on laboratory work. the core courses of the program include topics in chemistry, biology, physics, criminal justice, and some survey courses regarding career opportunities. when surveyed, 56.52% (n=26) of respondents said that they would prefer a greater amount of field work, as compared to lab work, in the program. to better understand what students were referring to by the term “field work”, as well as to further identify student preferences for coursework, the survey presented respondents with a list of 21 hypothetical forensic-based upper-division electives for the program and asked them to select all courses for which they had an interest. the top three electives which found the most interest were: death investigation (n=27), bloodstain pattern analysis (n=24), and forensic fingerprinting (n=24). other elective choices with twenty or more student responses were: forensic trace evidence analysis, forensic psychology, forensic anthropology, forensic serology, ballistics, and forensic hair and fiber analysis. table 1 contains the complete list along with the number of interested students per course. table 1 student interest inventory of suggested future upper-division electives. possible forensic-based upper-division electives number of interested students (n=) death investigation 27 bloodstain pattern analysis 24 forensic fingerprinting 24 forensic trace evidence analysis 23 ballistics 21 forensic anthropology 21 forensic hair and fiber analysis 21 forensic psychology 20 forensic serology 20 forensic skeletal trauma 18 forensic pathology 16 forensic aspects of fire and explosion investigation 12 forensic questioned documents 9 forensic dentistry 8 forensic archaeology 7 computer or cyber forensics 6 forensic entomology 5 other 4 forensic accounting/auditing 3 forensic nursing 3 forensic taphonomy 2 forensic graphology 1 in addition to the list of 21 possible electives, this question also gave students a free response choice of “other” which yielded four responses. students expressed that they would be interested in elective classes focused on the following content: “medical examiner”, “forensic chemistryor specifics of learning about drugs and drugs testing”, “crime scene investigation”, and “a class on forensic careers”. some of these open response questions demonstrate student lack of familiarity with the current required coursework, as “forensic chemistry”, “crime scene investigation”, and “a class on forensic careers” are all covered in current course offerings. in addition to examining the issue of the coursework, the survey attempted to measure student perceptions of the forensic science program as a whole. for 79.07% (n=34) of the participants, middle tennessee state university was their first choice of school to attend for their bachelor’s degree. nearly all (92.86%, n=39) of participants felt that the forensic science major at mtsu was challenging, and moreover, 83.33% (n=35) of the participants stated they felt the forensic science major at mtsu was effectively preparing them for their postgraduation career. a scaled survey question scored from 0 to 10 asked participants to express how confident they were that they would finish their degree in 6 years or less. a score closer to 0 represented “i am not very confident” and a score closer to 10 represented “i am very confident”. the mean score of participants was approximately 9.07, indicating high levels of student confidence in their ability to graduate in 6 years or less. a majority of participants (74.42%, n=32) planned to continue their education through graduate school at some point in the future. one area of concern however was in terms of career preparedness: almost every student was aware that an off-campus internship is required for the degree, yet only 28.89% (n=13) knew how to secure one. this was a puzzling response because faculty spend considerable time in the forensic freshman seminar class discussing how to obtain an internship. it is possible that preparing students in the freshman year is the wrong time, and perhaps it would be better to give students this information when they are upperclassmen or multiple times throughout their program. the survey gave a free response question asking if the forensic science program at mtsu had met their expectations and asked if they could explain. of the 34 responses, 22 (64.7%) responded in the affirmative, with j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education buffalini some students providing enthusiastic comments such as: “yes, despite the pandemic, the forensic science program is obviously curated with the help of local professionals. i do believe the associate professors have exposed me to connections that i would not have made without their ‘foot in the door’.” four students wrote ambivalent comments indicating their novice status in the program such as “i am only in my second semester so i have not gotten into the coursework yet.” six students had mixed reviews because they desired a specific forensics focus that they felt the program lacked; for example one student wrote “i am excited that mtsu even offers a forensics degree, but i feel like there could be a lot more forensic specific classes.” another student comment provided greater context to this sentiment, writing: “i feel that we technically only have a handful of forensic science classes. whereas when i take classes like chemistry subjects or biology subjects there may have been one or no other person in my class with a forensic science major. whereas if there were chemistry and biology classes focused solely on forensic science you can make a better connection with the information in those classes.” only 4 of the 34 respondents to this question (11.76%) indicated that the program had not met their expectations. rq 3: what are current student perceptions of forensic science faculty and campus supports at mtsu? the literature review indicated the importance of faculty-led research projects as a factor which favorably impacted student retention in stem fields. of those surveyed, 15.56% (n=7) had participated in research under a professor’s supervision. besides research projects, the survey examined other ways in which students might interact with faculty outside of class. when given options of how participants contacted professors and how often they interacted with forensic science faculty outside scheduled class times, the majority of the 45 students responding said that they communicated via email (93.33%, n=42), followed by virtual office hours (55.55%, n=25), and in-person office hours (37.77%, n=17). regarding faculty interactions within the forensic science program, most of the 45 student respondents claimed to only interact with faculty once a month (20%, n=9), once a semester (33.33%, n=15), or never (31.11%, n=14); small numbers of students interacted weekly (6.67%, n=3) or biweekly (8.89%, n=4). a likert scale was used to determine the satisfaction of participants with the level of support offered by the forensic science faculty members. the scale ranged from 0 to 10 with lower values representing “very dissatisfied”, the middle representing “neutral”, and the higher values representing “very satisfied”. the mean response was approximately 6.20 with a median of 6, indicating moderate satisfaction. regarding perceptions of faculty support, the participants were asked a series of yes/no questions. although the majority of participants felt that the forensic science faculty had not gotten to know them on an individual basis (75.56%, n=34), the majority of students felt empowered to ask questions in class (71.11%, n=32), felt forensic science professors actively engaged them in classroom activities (71.11%, n=32), and felt comfortable to speak individually with their forensic science professors (84.44%, n=38). these results suggest that most students experienced individual engagement in the classroom, however attention outside of the classroom may have been limited due to the covid-19 pandemic. in addition to faculty supports to students, the authors hoped to isolate additional factors which could be considered campus supports. participants were asked if they had attended a non-faculty led study group, and of the respondents (n=45), one-third (33.33%, n=15) stated they had while the majority (66.66%, n=30) had not. out of the 15 participants who answered in the affirmative, two attended weekly study groups, five attended them every other week, four attended monthly, and four attended them once a semester. one question from the survey that was very interesting for its almost unanimous affirmative response was a question regarding mentoring. participants were asked if they would find mentoring from senior forensic science students to be beneficial, and 95.56% responded in the affirmative. student mentoring programs have been implemented in the past, but with very few actual participants. it is possible that a renewed effort at peer mentoring may attract participants if the correct format is achieved. for example, it is possible that today’s students may appreciate virtual or online opportunities for peer mentoring rather than the in-person opportunities previously offered. additional study is required to understand student interest. regarding extracurriculars at mtsu, 93.02% (n=40) of the participants did not take part in the crime busters living learning community through on-campus housing. this is likely correlated to the majority of participants (69.77%, n=30) reporting that they lived off campus. on a scale from 0 to 10, participants were asked to score how likely they were to participate in campus extracurricular activities with the lower values representing “very unlikely”, the central values representing “some interest”, and the higher values representing “very likely”. the mean value chosen by participants was approximately 6.85 with a median of 7. students therefore have interest in campus extracurricular activities despite being a largely nonresidential student population. j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education buffalini discussion and conclusion this study was undertaken to understand the precollegiate preparations of students currently enrolled in mtsu’s forensic science program, as well as their perceptions of the program. far more respondents indicated the need for math remediation courses (57.78%) versus science remediation courses (20%) prior to beginning the program’s required sequences. it is possible that recruitment of high school students should reiterate the importance of both areas for students who desire to pursue a bachelor’s degree in forensic science, as they may be under the impression that advanced math preparation in high school is less important. the rq1 findings also suggest that a majority of students entering the forensic science program were influenced by science role models such as parents, teachers, and even tv shows; this finding partially supports the “csi effect” noted by other researchers (10)(11)(12)(13). this is one of many factors behind incoming student motivation for the major, in which a very high percentage of students (93%) entered mtsu as forensic science majors. it may be helpful for forensic science faculty to understand these influences as possible sources of student motivation in choosing forensic science and/or persisting through the degree. one important discovery of the study is that these highly motivated students may be entering the program with misconceptions of what it is to be a forensic science major at mtsu. in particular, the results of rq2 regarding student expectations demonstrated that there are several student assumptions which forensic science faculty should consider. several of the survey’s inquiries, for example, demonstrated that students held misconceptions regarding the curriculum, expecting specialized introductory biology and chemistry classes that focus on forensic science. this expectation reveals a lack of understanding in how the foundational coursework prepares students for the rigor of upper division classes in forensic science. additionally, it appears that some students may conflate their interest in forensic anthropology (as perhaps cultivated through mtsu extracurricular experiences such as fasr team) with the forensic science degree coursework. although forensic anthropology content, such as death investigation and forensic anthropology, can complement one’s understanding of the forensic sciences, the forensic science program is a separate and laboratory science focused degree. these results suggest that more needs to be done to clearly articulate to students the parameters of the forensic science program, and its objective of training future scientists to work in crime labs rather than death investigations. this points to a need for the forensic science faculty to manage student expectations regarding the laboratory focus of the degree program. also, these student misconceptions can prompt questions to forensic science faculty of an existential nature: why should students major in forensic science instead of biology, chemistry, or anthropology? is there an added value in specializing in forensic science? if so, faculty must clearly articulate this value to incoming students, who may be heavily influenced by their high school science role models and may therefore lack real-world understanding. despite these misconceptions, it is important to retain sight of student motivation factors. students clearly are interested in some of the hands-on opportunities afforded by the forensic anthropology curriculum such as the fasr team. this finding may be supported by the literature review, in which cundall and pierce (8) reported that biology majors benefit from real life examples more so than chemistry majors. for those forensic science majors with a predisposition towards the biological sciences, the coursework as well as extracurricular opportunities afforded by the forensic anthropology program may provide needed engagement and motivation to persist through the laboratory sciences classes of the forensic science major. in response to these factors, the forensic science program has added new coursework beginning with the 2022-2023 academic year in forensic anthropology, forensic taphonomy, forensic photography, and advanced forensic chemistry. new courses in latent fingerprints and firearm and toolmark analysis are currently in development. finally, the survey’s findings reiterate the importance of student connections to their peers and faculty, an idea supported by the literature review (5)(6)(7)(8)(9). the study has identified several areas of student interest which were underutilized at the time of the survey’s deployment such as peer mentoring, study groups, extracurricular opportunities, and individual faculty attention such as through office hours and research opportunities. some of these are longstanding issues: even before the covid-19 pandemic, the forensic science program struggled to find the right balance of extracurricular activities by which to engage students. like the previously reported interest in peer mentoring, attempts were made over the years to foster extracurricular forensic science opportunities but with little student participation. more study is needed to determine the precise format and topics needed for optimal student interest and participation. other issues, however, may be more directly related to the covid-19 pandemic. although the results of rq3 found that student-reported interactions with faculty were mixed, it is important to consider these results within the context of the survey’s deployment in march 2021. at that time, students were attending class under covid-19 enforced policies of limited in-person contact and upper classmen had been experiencing various degrees of no or partial inperson contact since march 2020. although in-person classes were offered at mtsu during the time of the survey, the campus culture was one of social distancing, j forensic sci educ 2022, 4(2) 2022 journal forensic science education buffalini limited in-person class sizes, and fewer social gatherings. therefore, students may have hesitated to interact with their faculty in-person. it would be helpful to deploy the survey again as the campus environment has largely resumed normal classroom interactions including regularsized classroom enrollments as well as extracurricular offerings. in all, we were pleased to find that our students appeared to be largely satisfied with the academic preparation they were receiving. a vast majority of surveyed students expressed that they chose mtsu as their first choice, that the forensic science program was preparing them well for the job market, and that they felt engaged by their faculty. although the survey, with its 25.5% response rate, does not represent a majority of our enrolled students, we feel that the results of this survey support the implementation of additional course offerings and other improvements to our program. we hope our findings will assist other fepac-accredited programs who are examining similar concerns. acknowledgements we thank middle tennessee state university’s forensic science program, the forensic institute for research and education, and the middle tennessee forensic science society for their funding assistance. we also thank joe kindoll who gave technical pointers in using excel documentation. references 1. tennessee bureau of investigation. tbi special agent forensic scientist: minimum qualifications. https://www.tn.gov/tbi/employment/tbi-specialagent-forensic-scientist.html (accessed april 19 2021). 2. middle tennessee state university. forensic institute for research and education. https://www.mtsu.edu/fire/index.php (accessed april 19 2021). 3. wang x. why students choose stem majors: motivation, high school learning, and postsecondary context of support. am educ res j 2013;50(5):10811121. 4. dwyer jh, gonzalez-espada wj, de la harpe k, meier dc. factors associated with students graduating with stem degrees at a military academy: improving success by identifying early obstacles. j coll sci teach 2020; 50(1):28-35. 5. hilts a, part r, bernacki ml. the roles of social influences on student competence, relatedness, achievement, and retention in stem. sci educ 2018; 102:744-770. 6. dennehy tc, dasgupta n. female peer mentors early in college increase women’s positive academic experiences and retention in engineering. proc natl acad sci usa 2017;114(23):5964-5969. 7. deemer e, dotterer a, morel s, basnagel a. undergraduate students’ achievement goals for conducting research: examining the motivational benefits of laboratory classroom affiliation. learn.environ. res 2017;20(3):325-338. 8. christe b. the importance of faculty-student connections in stem disciplines: a literature review. j stem educ 2013;14(3):22-26. 9. cundell d, pierce jr jd. factors influencing undergraduate student-teacher interactions. j coll sci teach 2009;38(5):33-37. 10. weaver r, salamonson y, koch j, porter g. the csi effect at university: forensic science students’ television viewing and perceptions of ethical issues. aust j forensic sci 2012;44(4):381-391. 11. collica-cox k, furst g. it’s not the csi effect: criminal justice students’ choice of major and career goals. int j offender ther comp criminol 2019; 63(11):2069-2099. 12. durnal e. crime scene investigation (as seen on tv). forensic sci int 2010;199(1-3):1-5. 13. ley b, jankowski n, brewer p. investigating csi: portrayals of dna testing on a forensic crime show and their potential effects. public underst sci 2012; 21(1):51-67. 14. creswell jw, clark vlp. designing and conducting mixed methods research. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, 2009. https://www.tn.gov/tbi/employment/tbi-special-agent-forensic-scientist.html https://www.tn.gov/tbi/employment/tbi-special-agent-forensic-scientist.html https://www.mtsu.edu/fire/index.php j forensic sci educ 2023 (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education jeter martha goddard: the woman who revolutionized sexual assault forensics misty d. jeter1*, jennifer schmitz1*, j.d. 1forensic science institute, university of central oklahoma, 100 north university drive, edmond, ok 73034 *corresponding authors: mjeter1@uco.edu; jschmitz3@uco.edu abstract: martha goddard had an invaluable impact on the field of forensic science. she was a victims’ advocate who desperately wanted to change the investigative approach toward sexual assaults. in the 1970s, law enforcement was trained to believe that women who were raped lacked decency and morality. if a rape case ever made it to a courtroom, the victim was painted as a scorned lover wanting revenge on a man with a roving eye. before the era of dna testing, lack of evidence posed the greatest challenge to reaching a guilty verdict for the defendant. the government could not reach a guilty verdict with little or no physical evidence connecting the defendant to the crime. no consistent methodology had been established regarding the collection of evidence in a rape case. if evidence was collected, it was often inadvertently destroyed or crosscontaminated. martha goddard pioneered the first rape kit that established a clear and methodical manner to collect evidence from a victim. that evidence could then be used to positively identify the defendant, creating a more prosecutable case. victims of sexual assault now had the means to prove the guilt of their perpetrators. those who fell prey to sexual offenders were no longer subjected to cruel misperceptions of their virtue. instead, blame was now being placed where it belonged, on the offender. keywords: sexual assault, women in forensic science, sexual assault evidence, rape kit, martha goddard introduction to recognize the importance of the sexual assault evidence kit, or rape kit, you must first understand the woman behind its invention. martha goddard first recognized the need for an evidence collection kit when she volunteered at a local chicago crisis center in the 1970s. goddard would often lend an ear to child victims of sexual abuse who had grown used to being ignored. after hearing their stories, goddard realized this abuse was perpetuated by the belief of the times in which she was living: incest was typically initiated by daughters who were seducing their fathers (1). this mindset spilled over into the way law enforcement officers were trained to investigate a rape case. a 1973 chicago police training manual said, “many rape complaints are not legitimate. it is unfortunate that many women will claim they have been raped in order to get revenge against an unfaithful lover or boyfriend with a roving eye. an actual rape victim will generally give the impression of a person who has been dishonored” (1). when officers did respond to a rape, they would often drop the victim off at a hospital lobby, staying just long enough to notify personnel they had a rape victim needing treatment. nurses would then wash the victim, tend to their wounds, and discard soiled clothing, unintentionally destroying valuable evidence. goodard realized that evidence needed to be collected in a manner that would maintain its integrity and give veracity to these victims’ claims. she envisioned a kit stocked with everything one might need along with careful instructions on collecting the evidence from the victims. by stocking the kits with affordable supplies such as brown paper bags and cotton swabs, she would keep the kits affordable, thus encouraging their use in evidence collection (1). when goddard pitched her idea to rudy nimocks, an african american police officer, he warned her the men in the crime lab may be insulted with her idea and refuse to work with her. instead, he advised her to approach louis vitullo, a chicago police sergeant who would later serve as the head microanalyst in chicago’s crime lab. when goddard presented vitullo her written description of the kit, he became angry and screamed at her, dismissing her suggestions, and accusing her of wasting his time. vitullo’s response was not far-fetched, as police officers had been trained that rape cases were virtually impossible to prove, and the evidence was useless. despite vitullo’s initial angry reaction to goddard, he was clearly intrigued with her idea. after being left with her rape kit plans, he spent days looking over the proposal and created a prototype. when he was satisfied, he met with goddard and presented her with his work, proud of what he considered was his invention (1). mailto:mjeter1@uco.edu mailto:jschmitz3@uco.edu j forensic sci educ 2023 (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education jeter with vitullo's close association with the chicago police department, the implementation of the new rape kit was heralded as a brilliant collaboration between the department and the state attorney’s office. goddard knew the kit’s full potential would be hindered if it were backed by a woman with no formal forensic training. as a result, she helped start a nonprofit group, citizens committee for victim assistance, which later filed the vitullo evidence collection kit's trademark in 1978. goddard's name would never go on her own invention (1). goddard forced the court to see sexual assault as a serious crime with real victims. a victim’s virtue was no longer on trial. physical evidence, that could be corroborated with testimony from lab technicians, provided credibility to the victims’ claims. juries were impressed with the kit’s uniform approach to the collection and preservation of evidence. by the end of the 1970s, almost 3,000 kits had been submitted to crimes labs across the nation. one of the submitted rape kits led to a 60-year prison sentence for the offender (1). evidence collection and analysis sexual-assault evidence can be collected from both the crime scene and the victim. groups and organizations like the scientific working group on dna analysis methods evaluate forensic methods and protocols to ensure that agencies worldwide can have the latest information and training available for their criminalists (2). a sexual assault exam can be requested by the victim and is ideally conducted within the first 72 hours following the assault and prior to the victim bathing or using the restroom. the victim’s clothing and personal belongings are placed in a paper bag to help preserve the evidence and any injuries requiring medical attention are treated. in addition, photographs may be taken to document the injuries. swabs are taken of the mouth and/or vagina and blood and/or urine specimens and hair samples are collected. in addition, a cheek swab will be taken from the victim and any suspects, if known. during the exam, the victim might be asked questions regarding the incident and offered followup treatment, such as preventative treatment for sexually transmitted infections, emergency contraception, and counseling services (3). evidence collected from the victim will be placed in a serialized rape kit envelope and sent to a lab for analysis. if a sample from the suspect is collected, it is also sent to the lab, but not contained in the rape kit envelope. once the kit is received by the lab, it will be tested for the presence of male dna. if no male dna is detected, the analysis is complete, and the kit is returned to the reporting agency. if male dna is detected, the evidence will be sent for the four steps of dna analysis: extraction, quantitation, amplification, and genetic analysis (4). during extraction, a criminalist will extract dna from the vaginal swab and cheek swabs from the victim and suspect, if provided (4). cells are broken open, dna is released, and impurities are removed. this process is called differential extraction. female cells are incubated in a sodium dodecyl sulphate (sds) and proteinase k mixture, which causes them to break down their cell membrane. the mixture is centrifuged, which causes the sperm cells to sink to the bottom of the microcentrifuge tube and form a pellet. the liquid is then removed. the sperm cells are treated with an sds, proteinase k, and dithiothreitol (dtt) mixture. it is not incubated because the dtt in the mixture organically breaks downs sperm cell membranes. in cases where a perpetrator has had a vasectomy, differential extraction cannot be used to separate semen without sperm cells from female dna. in these cases, y-chromosome-specific markers will be used to test for the presence of male dna (5). during quantitation, a criminalist can find how much dna is present, if it is degraded, if impurities are present, etc. quantitation ensures that an amplifiable amount of high-quality human dna was recovered during extraction. quantity is just as important as quality during amplification. if the sample is too degraded or contains too much dna, analysis can be near impossible (4). amplification uses real-time polymerase chain reaction (pcr), the results of which are shown in a few hours. pcr is the process through which short repeating segments of dna bases are multiplied. the segments are called short tandem repeats (strs), the regions of dna that individualize people at the genetic level. pcr primers used during the amplification process are fluorescent single strands of synthetic dna that anneal to base sequences surrounding strs. pcr amplification is faster and more sensitive than other methods of dna amplification and involves cyclical heating and cooling of samples. during a thermal cycle, the str sequence is duplicated (5). genetic analysis involves taking the amplified product and putting it in a genetic analyzer, which applies electricity to a gel, causing the amplified pcr products to travel through the gel. the amplified dna is separated by size and color of the fluorescent primers. these amplified dna segments are recorded as peaks on an electropherogram. the analyzer software converts this raw data from the electropherograms into easier-to-read analyzed data and displays the results as a dna profile (4). gene mapper id-x (applied biosystems tm) is the current analysis software used by most agencies. the software’s findings will then be verified or disputed by a criminalist (4). after interpreting the data, a criminalist will finish their analysis by generating a population statistic, which shows the probability of the suspect sharing the same dna profile as another individual. to generate a population statistic, a population database is needed (3). blood from a local blood bank can be collected for this database if the agency wishes to have a local statistic (4). the national institute of standards and technology also publishes j forensic sci educ 2023 (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education jeter population data that has helped the forensic dna typing community for over 20 years (6). while the development of dna testing has enhanced the initial objective for the rape kit, it has further complicated the analytical process, leading to a nationwide backlog. the two main sources of this backlog appear to be 1) the evidence was never sent to a crime lab or 2) once it was sent it was never tested. non-profit organizations such as the rape, abuse & incest national network (rainn) have discovered the backlog and raised national attention regarding the stockpile and the number of dishonored victims it represents. by educating lawmakers, providing technical support, and demanding accountability, these organizations are committed to eliminating this backlog and restoring justice for these victims (2). conclusion the story of martha goddard is an unfortunate reminder of how little respect women received in previous decades. in the 1970s, women were forced into traditional roles such as a homemaker, mother, and wife, while just two decades before, they left their homes to help their country during a war. the women’s rights movement inspired women to challenge society’s definition of gender roles, eventually leading to the anti-rape movement (7). now given basic human rights, women were ready to place blame where it belonged, with the rapist. victims came forth from the shadows to seek justice after spending decades in shameful silence. today, women have joined hands with male victims of sexual violence to prove that their stories matter, too (7). but even martha goddard, the woman behind the rape kit, was unable to escape from the stigma surrounding sexual assault. after returning from a trip to hawaii, she called her friend cynthia gehrie and told her she was raped. goddard’s assailant first gained her trust by pretending to be a fellow advocate for the rape kit. he then lured her into his vehicle and drove her to an isolated area at the resort, while goddard begged him to let her go. after he finished raping her, he drove her back to the resort and, much to goddard’s surprise, released her. goddard later discovered she had contracted herpes from her attacker (1). despite goddard’s consistent dedication to the cause, societal shame surrounding rape persisted. while training law enforcement officials to use the newly implemented rape kits, goddard was forced to listen to degrading assumptions made about the victims. horribly discouraged, goddard retreated into herself and died in obscurity in 2015 after a lengthy battle with alcoholism. her friends were unaware of her passing for many months. her nephew was the only person who came to collect her belongings. goddard was not appreciated for her talents, nor was she given any of the recognition that she deserved for her contributions to the forensic science community. martha goddard, much like her invention at the time, was undervalued and underappreciated by the very group of people she was trying to help (1). acknowledgements we would like to thank leah simmons for the many hours of encouragement and helpful suggestions regarding this topic. we also thank dr. john mabry for his mentorship and guidance in highlighting such a monumental story. thank you to dr. dwight adams for providing a supportive learning environment for both students and faculty. we would be remiss if we did not thank martha goddard for her bravery and innovative spirit that left its lasting impression on the world of forensic science. references 1. kennedy p. there are many man-made objects. the rape kit is not one of them. the new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/17/opi nion/rape-kit-history.html. 2. swgdam. scientific working group on dna analysis methods. home. https://www.swgdam.org/ (n.d). 3. rainn. what is a sexual assault forensic exam? https://www.rainn.org/articles/rape-kit (n.d.). 4. jeter m. interview with juliette smith. 2022. 5. butler jm. fundamentals of forensic dna typing. amsterdam, netherlands: elsevier academic press, 2009. 6. national institute of standards and technology. strbase. population data. https://strbase.nist.gov/populationdata.htm . (accessed january 15, 2023) 7. poskin, p. resource sharing project. a brief history of the anti-rape movement. https://resourcesharingproject.org/resources/a-briefhistory-of-the-anti-rape-movement/ (june 22, 2022). https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/17/opinion/rape-kit-history.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/17/opinion/rape-kit-history.html https://www.swgdam.org/ https://www.swgdam.org/ https://strbase.nist.gov/populationdata.htm https://resourcesharingproject.org/resources/a-brief-history-of-the-anti-rape-movement/ https://resourcesharingproject.org/resources/a-brief-history-of-the-anti-rape-movement/ open access journals and publishing journals are moving toward open access formats. new open access journals continue to flood the forensic science discipline. as researched by stacey et al. in this issue, costs to publish open access articles can be significant and as well as costs to download and read traditionally published articles. the journal of forensic science education is proudly one of the few that is open access for its readers and does not charge its authors publication fees. this issue is our largest yet and we appreciate our authors for their contributions and commitment to community supported and no cost open access publishing. kelly m. elkins, ph.d. lawrence quarino, ph.d., gke-abc adrienne brundage, ph.d. tri-editors-in-chief journal of forensic science education j forensic sci educ 2023, (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education conte forensic method validation: piloting a new course to increase student skills for the forensic science workforce jillian conte, ph.d. 1,2 * 1 previously of keystone college, department of biological and physical sciences, la plume, pa 2 conte forensic consulting, llc, peckville, pa *corresponding author: jillianconte517@gmail.com abstract: the process of method validation is critical prior to implementation of a new technology, product, or method into forensic casework. despite its importance, gaps exist in educating forensic scientists and students on method validation. to combat this issue, a course in forensic method validation was piloted as an undergraduate, two-credit course at a small, liberal arts college within a forensic biology program. the course had both a lecture and a laboratory component which culminated in the joint submission of a formal validation report. students increased their technical skills and knowledge of validation that they were then able to take with them into post-graduate employment. based on a post-course survey, students would recommend this course to others, and they gained more laboratory and technical experience in this course compared to other undergraduate lecture and laboratory-based courses. the work herein serves as a model for offering educational experiences in forensic method validation that can be expanded and delivered in other learning platforms. keywords: method validation, education, forensic science . introduction method validation is a process used to demonstrate that an analytical method or system performs satisfactorily to meet the requirements of its intended purpose (1). data generated from a validated method or system is expected to produce the same or similar result when analyzed by a different laboratory or analyst under the same conditions within a measure of uncertainty (2). once a method or system is validated, scientists can be confident that when the method is applied according to the developed procedure, it will perform as expected and produce reliable data for their customers. in the forensic sciences, method validation recommendations have been established by scientific working groups. recently, standards have been created in multiple forensic science sub-disciplines to create consistency in how analytical methods and systems are validated (3). there are validation standards in the forensic toxicology, dna analysis, bloodstain pattern, and wildlife sub-disciplines of forensic science, to date (3). the movement from ‘recommendations’ to ‘standards’ for method validation aligns with the 2009 national research council report, strengthening forensic science in the united states: a path forward call for improving quality assurance in the work processes of forensic scientists (4). validation is done in many ways and in many fields, from clinical testing to computer software (8,9). there are short courses, boot camps, textbooks and other resources where a person inexperienced with method validation can turn to learn how to conduct such a study. two examples of resources are cited here (9,10). validations may be performed by dedicated staff in crime laboratories, more tenured forensic scientists, a team of forensic scientists, and/or be outsourced to commercial entities. a search of 257 workshops from the past 10 years of conference proceedings for the american academy of forensic science (aafs) resulted in only 17 workshops that covered content on method validation (2013 – 2023). understanding, planning, executing, and reporting a validation are therefore, knowledge, skills, and abilities (ksas) that forensic scientists must acquire. professional development and training opportunities exist in-house at laboratories, at regional and national conferences and workshops, virtual webinars, and through other innovative pathways in the forensic science community. however, minimal opportunities exist to gain ksas in method validation before forensic scientists enter the workforce or during their professional development while employed. this article describes a pilot offering of an undergraduate course titled “forensic method validation”. this two-credit, 400-level, lectureand laboratory-based course was offered at a rural, primarily undergraduate college in the spring 2019 semester. the j forensic sci educ 2023, (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education conte course was offered as part of the undergraduate program in forensic biology. students that completed this course have gained ksas in forensic method validation and are better prepared for employment as forensic scientists. methods new course proposal procedures were followed to create a new course at keystone college in the turock school of arts and sciences. the procedure included completing a “new course proposal form” and submitting it to the academic committee for approval in the academic year prior to the first offering of the course. students enrolled in the lectureand laboratory-based course for two credit hours in the spring 2019 semester (n = 10 students). the class met together for one hour per week in a classroom and students worked asynchronously in the laboratory during the six available hours each week when the faculty was readily available to answer questions and provide support. prerequisites included courses in statistics, forensic biology (lecture and lab course), and a survey of general forensic science (lecture and lab course). the investigator quantiplex pro kit (qiagen, hilden, germany) was the product the students were tasked with internally validating. the quantiplex pro kit was chosen as it was readily available and did not require the higher cost of str amplification and analysis. the validation was done on a qiagen rotorgene q 6 plex. all other supplies and consumables were purchased and made available on one laboratory bench for students to use, as needed. lecture topics, lab tasks, and learning resources are outlined in table 1. topics the students had learned previously, such as dna extraction and statistical calculations, were reviewed in the course prior to doing these tasks in the laboratory setting. the course objectives were: 1. describe the documents and recommendations of a forensic validation. 2. describe the studies conducted during a forensic validation. 3. conduct laboratory experiments to complete one forensic validation study. 4. critically analyze self-generated data from a forensic validation study and communicate the results in written form. in week 3, students were asked to select which study they wanted to conduct in the validation (reproducibility, repeatability, sensitivity, specificity, stability, mixtures, stochastic effects, case-like samples) and studies were assigned based on a first-come, first-served basis. two students were assigned to the reproducibility study due to the nature of having two students replicating the samples, and two students were assigned to the sensitivity study due to the larger sample sizes. students were assessed based on their participation (80%) and the final joint validation report (20%). students received letter grades for the course. reviews were received by the author 1-2 months after the course ended. additionally, two years after completion of the course, students completed course evaluations anonymously via an electronic portal. hazards and safety precautions students were required to wear goggles, lab coats, closed-toe shoes, and long pants with long hair pulled back during laboratory times. universal precautions were followed when handling biological fluids (blood and saliva). safety policies are reviewed during the first week of all laboratory-based courses and students sign that they have read, understood, and will follow all protocols and procedures. all students in the course signed the safety policy. table 1 outline of the forensic method validation course weekly topics, tasks, and resources. week lecture topic lab tasks resources provided 1 introduction to validation (2,5) 2 product overview product handbook 3 experimental design 4 review of dna extraction process dna extraction practice (6) 5 contamination in the dna laboratory sample collection 6 dna extraction 7 review of qpcr (standard curves, data output, etc.) qpcr (6) 8 qpcr 9 exporting data into excel for calculations data analysis bring laptops – working in excel 10 review of statistical calculations statistics statistics textbook 11 what goes into a validation report? draft validation report (7) 12 explanation of feedback from draft report editing of validation report 13 final validation report due j forensic sci educ 2023, (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education conte results ten students enrolled in the pilot method validation course in the spring 2019 semester. each student was assigned and held accountable for preparing the experimental design for their assigned study, executing the laboratory experiment, collecting and analyzing the data, and contributing their methods and results to the class-wide final validation report. the faculty member helped guide students throughout the course. the final experimental design from the students for the investigator quantiplex pro kit validation is found in figure 1. in the experimental design phase of the course, students struggled with determining the sample size for their study. the appropriate sample size of a validation is still up for debate in the forensic community, thus, opening our classroom to a discussion topic of “how many samples are sufficient to validate a kit?”. an additional area the students struggled was how to design their study. resources were provided that included published validations and students were encouraged to emulate these previous works. however, there was a lot of “trying to reinvent the wheel” observed when interacting with students during this class period, meaning, students were reluctant to design their experiment after previous studies. the student evaluation survey was completed by 5 students. there were 10 questions that students scored on a likert scale where 1 meant they “strongly agreed” and 5 meant they “strongly disagreed” (table 2). there were three open-ended questions included in the survey and one lab competency question. the three open ended questions were: (1) please identify area(s) where you think the course could be improved, (2) please identify what you consider to be the strengths of the course, and (3) please provide any additional information (such as if you’ve worked on a validation in a position, asked about this course in an interview, realized you never want to do validation, etc.). of the respondents, 60% have completed or started graduate studies and 100% have gained employment in a scientific capacity. figure 1 student-designed experimental design of investigator quantiplex pro kit validation conducted in forensic method validation course. table 2 results of forensic method validation course evaluations. survey question average likert scale score (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree) the instructional materials (i.e. readings, handouts, lab handbooks, articles) increased my knowledge and skills in forensic method validation. 1.6 the course was organized in a manner that helped me understand the underlying concepts. 1.6 the course gave me the confidence to do more advanced work with the laboratory skills. 1.4 i believe the concepts i was being asked to learn in this course are important. 1.2 i would recommend this course to other students. 1.2 the course provided an appropriate balance between instruction and practice. 1.6 the lab portions of the course complemented my understanding of the lectures. 1.4 the course developed my abilities and skills for forensic method validation. 1.6 i enjoyed this course. 1.8 i feel i gained more from this course compared to other lecture & lab-based courses. 1.8 j forensic sci educ 2023, (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education conte for the lab competency question, students were allowed to select as many skills as possible that they used after the course. skills to choose from included: universal precautions, validation, experimental design, nucleic acid extraction, prevention of contamination in a lab, qpcr/pcr, data analysis, statistics for data generated, and report writing for science (figure 2). preventing contamination is a skill that all respondents have utilized after the course in their graduate studies and/or employment. during the offering of this course, a contaminating event occurred where a student contaminated samples with their own dna. this contaminating event helped students experience the impact of contamination. two students had to start dna sample extraction over again before proceeding to obtain uncontaminated extracts. eighty percent of respondents answered universal precautions, validation, experimental design, data analysis, and report writing as skills they have used in both this course and post-graduation. in open ended questions, feedback on areas to improve included: only having the course available to juniorand senior-level students that have coursework for concepts in the course (e.g., statistics and forensic biology), extending the length of the course, and having the ability to experience more than one study of a validation. in the open prompt question about strengths of the course, all responses included the teamwork of the course being similar to a workplace and felt like “real world” experience that they did not get in other lab courses. additionally, respondents mentioned they have gained transferable skills for all areas of science in method validation. in other comments added, two respondents stated that they brought this course up in their job interview for their first job out of college and they got feedback from the interviewer that the course helped them land the job. a third response stated that she was able to get started more quickly during an internship and contribute more as she was involved in a validation in a forensic dna crime lab. figure 2 assessment of skills students in the forensic method validation course had used in employment. discussion and conclusion method validation is a critical process that takes place before implementing a new product, technology, or workflow into practice. typically, entry level forensic scientists have their first exposure to method validation on the job, and after post-secondary education. this gap presents a learning opportunity to reinforce forensic scientific principles through exploring how a method is fit for purpose. the newly developed forensic method validation course presented in this paper is a step toward filling this gap and aligns with recent national strategies in forensic science that support fostering “the next generation of forensic science researchers” (11). the course was successfully offered to 10 students in a forensic biology undergraduate program. the course had a lecture and a laboratory component, including aspects where students worked independently as well as on a team. in the open prompt feedback, it is evident that this course directly links to students entering the workforce – and at times, giving the student an edge over other job applicants. the method validation course also provided students with additional experience with laboratory techniques that they used on-the-job. one area in which students were apprehensive involved mimicking other validation studies in designing their experiments. it is hypothesized this apprehension stemmed from much emphasis in undergraduate education on experiments being novel and having unique hypotheses. this observation furthers the need for students and young scientists to understand method validation and how these experiments differ from foundational and applied research. some ideas for how to improve this course include, but are not limited to, inviting a guest speaker that has recently done or is doing a method validation to offer firsthand experience, a class discussion at the conclusion of the class on lessons learned and pain points, having it worth more credits and thus more contact hours, and support from a statistics expert to reinforce statistical concepts. this forensic method validation course can be used for other forensic disciplines and methods or products, while keeping the same learning objectives – making it easier for faculty to get a new course approved and potentially offer different sections of the course with different validation focus areas (for example, one section for qpcr, a second section for validating a gc/ms method). the forensic method validation course can alternatively be offered in a “boot-camp-style” where students spend a few weeks, or weekends, learning the basics of validation while conserving their time and financial resources compared to a traditional college classroom setting (12). j forensic sci educ 2023, (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education conte acknowledgements the author thanks dr. vicki stanavitch for her support in the creation of a new course. the author thanks qiagen for donating the commercial kit that was validated in this course. the author thanks jennifer bonetti for providing feedback on a draft of the manuscript. references 1. hibbert db. method validation of modern analytical techniques. accred qual assur 1999;4(8):352–6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s007690050381. 2. wille smr, peters ft, di fazio v, samyn n. practical aspects concerning validation and quality control for forensic and clinical bioanalytical quantitative methods. accred qual assur 2011;16(6):279–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769011-0775-0. 3. academy standards board | american academy of forensic sciences. https://www.aafs.org/academystandards-board (accessed november 15, 2022). 4. council nr, sciences d on e and p, statistics c on a and t, affairs p and g, law c on s technology, and, community c on i the n of the fs. strengthening forensic science in the united states: a path forward. national academies press, 2009. 5. scientific working group on dna analysis methods. validation guidelines for dna analysis methods, 2016. 6. butler jm. forensic dna typing: biology, technology, and genetics of str markers. elsevier, 2005. 7. (en) investigator quantiplex hyres developmental validation report qiagen. https://www.qiagen.com/us/resources/resourcedetail? id=6703bd2a-4f7c-4798-add983381c3b0527&lang=en (accessed november 14, 2022). 8. park sh, choi j, byeon j-s. key principles of clinical validation, device approval, and insurance coverage decisions of artificial intelligence. korean j radiol 2021;22(3):442–53. https://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2021.0048. 9. adrion wr, branstad ma, cherniavsky jc. validation, verification, and testing of computer software. acm comput surv 1982;14(2):159–92. https://doi.org/10.1145/356876.356879. 10. lab training | cdc. 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/labtraining/index.html (accessed march 6, 2023). 11. national institute of justice, "forensic science strategic research plan, 2022-2026," june 20, 2022, nij.ojp.gov: https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/forensic-sciencesstrategic-research-plan-2022-2026 12. zumwalt k. simple answers: alternative teacher certification. educational researcher 1996;25(8):40–2. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education croce the power of out of school engagements: developing high school students’ identities as forensic scientists. keri-anne croce 1 * kelly m. elkins 2 , sonali raje 3 1 college of education, towson university, 8000 york road, towson, maryland, 21252 * kcroce@towson.edu 2 chemistry department, forensic science program, towson university, 8000 york road, towson, maryland, 21252 3 chemistry department, towson university, 8000 york road, towson, maryland, 21252 *corresponding author: kcroce@towson.edu abstract: in response to job markets, organizations are seeking to design educational opportunities that may influence students to pursue careers in forensic science. more research is needed that explores whether out of school engagements develop students’ identities as forensic scientists. this article examines how high school students described their evolving identities as forensic scientists before and after participating in an out of school engagement. three key factors shaped the out of school engagement described in this study: a) student social interaction with peers, b) student directed decision making, and c) student inquiry facilitated by experts. the out of school engagement also provided students with opportunities to experiment with ways of communicating science. pre and post engagement survey results suggest that the out of school engagement appeared to change some students’ perceptions as to whether they would consider themselves forensic scientists. based on the results of the study, it is suggested that out of school engagements provide valuable opportunities to help high school students develop their identities as forensic scientists. by examining the design of the out of school engagement described in this article, science educators, administrators, parents, and other stakeholders may develop ideas as to how to develop students’ identities as forensic scientists. keywords: forensic science, high school, science identity, diversity introduction as educators continue to highlight the importance of increasing high school students’ engagement with science (1), recent research has highlighted the significance of supporting high school students within specific scientific disciplines (2). the demand for forensic scientists is expected to grow much faster than for any other occupation (3), inspiring educators to design programs and curriculum to prepare students to meet the upcoming labor demand. programs located outside of traditional high school classroom settings have positively influenced students’ interest in stem (4). for example, science camps have been found to support students’ positive attitudes about both science in general and more specifically the application of forensic science (5). while partnerships with local universities have supported high school students’ development of disciplinary understandings in biology (6) and health sciences (7), more research is needed on the impact of out of school engagement activities for high school students that focus on the field of forensic science. enrichment engagements located outside of traditional classrooms may increase students’ interest in stem by helping students develop identities specifically in forensic science. more research is needed that explores not only how out of school engagements influence students’ understandings of the content of forensic science but also how students develop identities as forensic scientists. in addition, research is needed that identifies specific academic and social elements that influence interest in stem among students from diverse populations (4). in order to meet these needs, the researchers developed an out of school engagement located at a university. this article focuses on two research questions: what are high school students' beliefs about their scientific identities before and after participating in an out of school engagement? how may an out of school engagement be constructed to support students’ evolving identities as forensic scientists? the answers to these questions may provide support for educators, families, and stakeholders who wish to inspire high school students to investigate forensic science. when educators, families, and stakeholders learn about strategies for increasing science students’ aspirations through participation in out of school mailto:kcroce@towson.edu mailto:kcroce@towson.edu j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education croce engagements, students will likely advance socially and academically (8). out of school science engagements often share the characteristics of being voluntary, not attached to formal curriculum, and varying widely in scope (4). these characteristics were found within the engagement that the high school students participated in during the study described in this article. the engagements were structured, since they were organized around their own curriculum (9). while many curriculum studies in forensic science unite theoretical and contextual knowledge with hands on laboratory experiences (10), the experiences described in this article are viewed through the lens of identity building. we describe how a university professor, a university teaching assistant, and high school students interacted during a day of out of school engagement taking place at a university. specifically, this article describes an approach to pedagogy that focuses on identity building within the field of forensic science. science identities are formed through social practice (11). forensic science identities may develop as students engage in social practices that they come to associate with being a forensic scientist. while forensic science requires strong powers of observation, engagement in logical reasoning, and the ability to engage in evidence-based argumentation (12), there are also key rituals and exchanges that inform forensic science identities. social cultural contexts help construct science identities (13). the science identities of women of color may be informed by social perceptions of competence, performance, and recognition (14). this indicates that identity may be developed as a reaction to engagements experienced with others. carlone and johnson (14) note, “a science identity is accessible when, as a result of an individual’s competence and performance, she is recognized by meaningful others, people whose acceptance of her matters to her, as a science person.” (p. 1192) within the study described in this article, the university professor, university teaching assistant, and students themselves all had the power to influence how individuals came to situate themselves within the field of forensic science. this article provides insights into what occurred during exchanges within the out of school engagement and how other parties may engage high school students in identity building. methods participants in the study included 23 high school students, one university faculty member, one university teaching assistant, and two high school teacher chaperones. the high school students who attended the out of school engagement at the urban mid-atlantic university were selected from two high schools containing racially diverse populations. table 1 displays demographic information for both high schools. the university that was the location for the out of school engagement is a large institution serving a minoritymajority undergraduate population. in addition, it is important to note the demographic information of the adults participating in the engagement, since they too help to shape students’ identities. the university professor is a white female who identifies as a member of an underrepresented population as defined by the national institute of health (15), and the teaching assistant is a white female who identifies as a member of the lgbtq+ community. since the students were transported by bus to the university campus to participate in the out of school engagement, two high school teachers were required to act as chaperones. both of the high school teacher chaperones identify as black females. table 1 demographics of high school participants. african american hispanic asian white other high school 1 53.68% 33.50% 7.14% 3.00% 2.68% high school 2 85.43% 10.80% 1.62% .85% 1.30% multiple selection criteria were used to determine the high school participants. invitations to participate in an out of school engagement were offered to students from two different high schools. participants/guardians signed permission slips allowing the students to participate in an out of school experience related to forensic science. the public-school high school teachers selected participants based on the order of returned permission slips. participant selection criteria was as follows: attended at least one of two selected high schools; self-selected to sign up for out of school learning engagement focusing on forensic science; turned in a written parent/guardian permission; availability based on the order of returning permission slips; granted both self-consent and parent/guardian consent to participate in study. data collection occurred before, during, and after the out of school engagement. three sources of data were collected. first, students responded in writing to a survey given in advance of the out of school engagement, prior to arriving at the university campus. copies of this survey can be found in appendix a. second, students responded in writing to a survey given after of the out of school engagement. the questions on the pre and post survey were the same. the surveys were anonymous to encourage honest responses; however, given the anonymous nature of the survey we were not able to gather information about students’ race, ethnicity, or language background. we were also not able to examine individual student’s changes in perception but could look at changes in perceptions across the entire data pool. third, students were observed as they produced written j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education croce responses while participating in the out of school science engagement. these written responses were collected on the observation sheets. appendix b contains a copy of the observation sheet. elements of out of school engagement in order to encourage the development of students’ identities as forensic scientists, the out of school engagement centered on three elements: a) student social interaction among peers, b) student directed decision making, and c) student inquiry facilitated by experts. the following discussion illustrates how each of these elements was implemented in order to encourage the development of students’ identities as forensic scientists. student social interaction among peers forensic science is centered around solving mysteries. out of school engagements that focus on forensic science offer the opportunity for students to make individual contributions towards the achievement of a greater common goal (solving a mystery). as the university professor and university teaching assistant planned how to support students as they developed as forensic scientists, they set out to design an environment where students could engage in the rituals and routines that are common among forensic scientists. sometimes the routines of forensic scientists involve collaboration with others. within the field of forensic science, multiple collaborators often contribute different data sources that must be triangulated. within the out of school engagement, high school students were given the opportunity to collaborate with their peers to achieve a common goal. within the out of school engagement, students were presented with two scenarios (see appendix c). these scenarios presented students with realistic contexts that may be encountered within the work of forensic scientists. students were then encouraged to both collaborate with their peers and use their writing to make sense of the data. appendix b includes a copy of the reflection sheet distributed to each student. the reflection sheet called, “who committed the crime?”, guided students to compare and contrast data collected at the crime scene, garage of suspect one, and the car of suspect two. students were encouraged to gather data and analyze it in self-formed groups of three or four. by revolving these interactions around collaboration, the students were engaging in a key routine inherent within forensic science. stations were set up in the room including stereo and compound light microscopes, a ballistics scope, an alternate light source, and the kastle-meyer serology test. in addition, str dna data was displayed on computer screens along the wall. this data included electropherograms for the suspect’s dna and the dna that was found at the crime scene. all equipment was obtained from local chemical suppliers and vendors. the stereoscope (model ez4) and compound light microscope (model dm500) and ballistics scope were obtained from leica. an alternate light source (model mcs 400) was purchased from spex forensics, and the kastle-meyer serology test was purchased from evident. short tandem repeat (str) dna electropherograms were student data generated in the university’s forensic science program using a commercial kit and a capillary electrophoresis instrument (model abi 3500). as students worked at different tables, they were encouraged to use tools to gather evidence that would solve the mystery. students were given the opportunity to learn how to use several tools that provided different sets of data. through peer collaboration, students could analyze the usefulness of each piece of newly gathered information and its impact on creating an answer to the mystery. the university faculty member and university teaching assistant provided tools that students could use to support critical thinking and identification as a forensic scientist. the adults modeled analyses from different units of the forensic lab including firearms/toolmarks, trace evidence, questioned documents, and biology (including dna and serology). students were also given information about the use of and function of following tools: stereomicroscopy, compound light microscopy, ballistic scope, alternate light source (als), serology – presumptive blood test: the kastle-meyer test. students could then choose to use information provided by these tools to make conclusions about the mystery. student directed decision making after gathering serval sources of data, and comparing and contrasting the data, students were encouraged to analyze the data to form a conclusion. the bottom of the “who committed the crime? reflection sheet asked not only, “who committed the crime?” but also “how do you know who committed the crime?” since students were encouraged to use data to support their findings, the decision-making process was student directed. making evidence-based statements is an additional ritual and routine inherent within forensic science. by allowing students to make decisions based on their own analysis of the data, the out of school engagement encouraged students to develop identities as forensic scientists. student inquiry facilitated by experts as students attempted to engage with peers and make student directed decisions, the experts (the university professor and university teaching assistant) were able to support student inquiry as well. primarily, the experts attempted to both inspire students by connecting forensic science to students’ everyday lives and to present students j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education croce with specific tools that can be used in forensic science. at the start of the engagement, the university faculty member attempted to motivate the students by disclosing concepts from the field of forensic science that connected to students’ real lives. the university teaching assistant attempted to develop students’ interest by making connections between dna and students’ personal histories. she stated, “about 99.7% of our dna is the same and only 0.3% differs from one another. half of your dna is inherited from your biological mother and half from your biological father.” this example demonstrates one way the experts attempted to draw students’ interest to real life purposes for using forensic tools. by directly using tools to solve mysteries, students experienced some of the transactions that occur among individuals who engage in careers in forensic science. students were also asked by the adults to wear some of the personal protective equipment worn by forensic scientists. asking students to use goggles while performing the presumptive blood test allowed students to further experience the rituals and routines of forensic scientists. experts can develop students’ identities as forensic scientists by helping them experience the numerous tools, rituals, and routines of the field. results the out of school engagement appeared to change students’ perceptions as to whether they would consider themselves forensic scientists. table 2 shows an increase from 3.85% to 30.43% in students who labeled themselves specifically as forensic scientists after participating in the out of school engagements. in addition, table 3 indicates that after the out of school engagement there was an increase from 19.24% to 34.78% in students who saw themselves within the general categories of scientists, mathematicians, or forensic science. table 2 students evolving identities as forensic scientists. did identify as a forensic scientist pre-engagement 3.85% post engagement 30.43% table 3 students evolving identities in the general fields of forensic science/science/mathematics. did identify as a forensic scientist/ scientist/ mathematician not sure did not identify as a forensic scientist/ scientist/ mathematician preengagement 19.24% 0 80.76% post engagement 34.78% 13.05% 52.17% table 4 provides examples of survey responses that demonstrate why some students may or may not consider themselves to be forensic scientists after the out of school engagement. a portion of students consider themselves to be forensic scientists after the out of school engagement because they were able to successful solve the crime presented or because they experienced the process. in contrast, table 4 also presents examples from the data that provides context as to why students may not have identified as forensic scientists after the out of school engagements. specifically, students spoke of identity markers established by outside parties. some high school students referenced the lack of a degree or certifications as the reason why they did not identify as a forensic scientist. some also began to understand the depth of the field of forensic science, causing them to hesitate to label themselves forensic scientists. for example, one student survey indicated, “i am not a forensic scientist because there is so much more to learn.” in this case, it is unknown if the student increased their interest in forensic science while also developing knowledge about the field that prevented them from assigning themselves the label of forensic scientist. table 4 examples of students’ reasoning for identifying or not identifying as forensic scientists. did not identify as a forensic scientist did identify as a forensic scientist preengagement “i am not a forensic scientist because i don’t fit the boxes that require you to be a forensic scientist” “i think so because i have been given knowledge about forensic science.” post engagement “no. i don’t have a degree.” “no because i got to learn in my experience and i’m not certified. “i am a forensic scientist because i have solved the crime.” “yes because i know the process of forensic science.” j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education croce table 5 shows that students indicated on their surveys that the out of school engagement made them think about science/ specific science/or math in their everyday lives. many who referenced the influence on their everyday lives also indicated that stem was included in what they wanted to do when they grew up. table 5 analysis of students’ responses to inquiries about influence of out of school experience. informal science learning experience influenced students’ everyday life stem was referenced when students discussed what they want to do when they grow up. students referenced both influence of informal science learning experience on students’ everyday life and referenced stem when discussing what they want to do when they grow up. 65.22% 80% 52.17% table 6 analysis of one student’s response to the “who committed the crime? reflection sheet. example of student’s written response critical thinking used in forensic science phrases used by student in communication of ideas within forensic science when comparing the note ink of suspect 2 and the evidence, they glowed the same. when looking at bullet casing, you can see that evidence and sample 2 had the same manufacturing model and the holes punched. when looking at the fibers, suspect 2 and evidence had the same color and curl pattern. all of this points to suspect 2 matching up to be the murder.” compare and contrast data triangulation of conclusions from multiple sources of data use of multiple sources of evidence to support a conclusion “when comparing…… … “…matches up…. “when looking at….” “all of this points to….” students’ written responses to the observation sheet displayed in appendix b demonstrate how they used language during the out of school engagement focusing on forensic science. while every student group solved the murder during the out of school engagement, the students’ ability to communicate their ideas provided strong evidence of their evolving identities as forensic scientists. table 6 presents an example of a student’s response to the “who committed the crime?” refection sheet. the student’s responses in table 6 displays elements of the numerous types of critical thinking used in forensic science. the writing sample also shows the language choices that the student made while communicating their conclusions. this demonstrates how this student views communication as a forensic scientist at this point in time. future studies may consider how students’ written language choices change over time as they participate in out of school engagements focusing on forensic science. discussion and conclusion internationally, reduced rates of secondary level students studying science have become a concern (16, 17). educators, family members, and stakeholders are seeking ways to address the diminishing number of individuals who study science. this article demonstrates that out of school engagements have the potential to influence students’ evolving identities as forensic scientists. as described in this article, the out of school engagement contained three components: a) student social interaction with peers, b) student directed decision making, and c) student inquiry facilitated by experts. the study described in this article suggests that when high students are supported during out of school engagements that involve these elements, some students may develop identities as forensic scientists. in addition, when students are given opportunities to communicate their thinking in writing during out of school engagements, they may begin to formulate identities as forensic scientists. given the increase in students who identified as scientists, mathematicians or forensic scientists after participating in the out of school engagement, the experience had a positive influence on many students’ developing stem identities. growth is demonstrated when comparing the statements of some of the students before experiencing the out of school engagement to the statements made by students after the out of school experience. for example, before the informal science learning experiences one student indicated, “i am not a forensic scientist because i don’t fit the boxes that require you to be a forensic scientist.” this response highlights the societal forces that may shape individuals’ identities as forensic scientists before they participate in out of school engagements. after participating in out of school engagements, any student who indicated that they were not currently a forensic scientist pointed to reasons that indicated lack of a degree or lack of education. none of the students wrote statements suggesting that outside j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education croce forces such as race or gender shaped their potential to be a forensic scientist. it is possible that students still held these ideas, but the writing samples did not reflect this perspective. it is important to note that the identities of the adults who participated in the study may have influenced evolving ideas about communication in forensic science. within the study, high school students were able to engage with experts in forensic science who either identified as a member of the lgbtq+ community or who were a white female from an underrepresented population. these experts drew on their own complex social cultural contexts to model language for the students. in addition, the fact that students, members of underrepresented populations, could watch their classmates engaging in forensic science may have influenced students’ ideas surrounding how forensic science can be communicated. supportive out of school engagements should provide students with opportunities to experiment with ways of communicating science. in order to develop identities as forensic scientists, students need to navigate new language patterns that synthesize the ways that language can be used in the field of forensic science. out of school engagements need to provide students with opportunities to both redefine language for themselves and experience new ways of using language as displayed by some experts. as students from underrepresented populations enter into the field of forensic science, they will bring with them new ideas about how to use language. students must learn how to communicate with different parties such as other forensic scientists, police, judges, and lawyers. each group evolves in its ways of negotiating language. by communicating with both peers and forensic science experts in out of school engagements, students can begin to experiment with how to negotiate language in different contexts. there are two elements that must be considered when reflecting on the findings of the study. first, it is unknown if students were concurrently participating in other unstructured out of school activities centering on forensic science. examples of these types of activities may include watching forensic science centered television shows or listening to forensic centered pod casts. it is suggested that future research examine how students’ participation in these unstructured out of school forensic science engagement may influence students’ identities as forensic scientists. second, it is unknown if supporting the students to develop identities as forensic scientists will increase their aspirations to pursue careers in forensic science. studies have suggested the connections between students’ identities as scientists and their intentions in pursuing careers in science (18, 19). as this article demonstrated, before entering into an out of school engagement in forensic science, students formulated ideas about who was or was not a forensic scientist. out of school engagements have the potential to allow students to evolve in their ideas as to what an individual should look like or talk like as they engage in forensic science. engagements that are facilitated by experts from underrepresented populations may influence students’ evolving identities as forensic scientists. out of school engagements also have the potential to allow students to experiment with how to use language to communicate ideas about forensic science. chen et al (2) suggest that each student develops an identity in science when they are recognized by both themselves and others as a science person. out of school engagements that are facilitated by experts from underrepresented populations may influence students’ evolving identities as forensic scientists. acknowledgements we wish to thank the maryland higher education commission, college preparation and intervention program (award number 22-102; pi sonali raje) for providing funding to our four-year institution for this work. references 1. stahl g, scholes l, mcdonald s, lunn j. middle years students’ engagement with science in rural and urban communities in australia: exploring science capital, place-based knowledges and familial relationships. pedagogy cult soc 2021;29(1):43–60. 2. chen s, wei b, zhang h. exploring high school students' disciplinary science identities and their differences. int j sci math educ 2023;21(2):377-94. 3. bureau of labor statistics, u.s. department of labor. occupational outlook handbook, forensic science technicians. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-socialscience/forensic-science-technicians.htm. accessed: march 20, 2023 4. young j, ortiz n, young j. stemulating interest: a meta-analysis of the effects of out of school time on student stem interest. int j educ mathematics, sci technol 2017;5(1):62-74. 5. ahrenkiel l, worm-leonhard m. offering a forensic science camp to introduce and engage high school students in interdisciplinary science topics. j chem educ 2014;91(3):340-4. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/forensic-science-technicians.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/forensic-science-technicians.htm j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education croce 6. elgin s, flowers s, may v. modern genetics for all students: an example of a high school/university partnership. cell biol educ 2005;4(1):35-7. 7. curran-everett d, collins s, hubert j, pidick t. science education partnership between the university of colorado and a denver high school. acad med 1999;74(4): 322-5. 8. burns ec, martin aj, kennett r, pearson j, munrosmith v. high school students' out-of-school science participation: a latent class analysis and unique associations with science aspirations and achievement. j res sci teach 2023; 60(3):451–83. 9. dabney kp, tai rh, almarode jt, miller-friedmann jl, sonnert g, sadler pm, hazari z. (2012). out-ofschool time science activities and their association with career interest in stem. int j sci educ, part b 2012;2(1):63– 79. 10. elkins, k. curriculum and course materials for a forensic dna biology course. biochem mol biol education 2014;42(1):15-28. 11. barton c, kang h, tan e, o’neill tb, bautistaguerra, j., & brecklin, c. crafting a future in science: tracing high school girls’ identity work over time and space. am educ res j 2013;50(1): 37–75. 12. metz s. editor’s corner: forensics: solving mysteries with science. the science teacher 2017;84(8):6. 13. visintaine t. "i think at first glance people would not expect me to be interested in science": exploring the racialized science experiences of high school students of color. j res sci teach 2020;57(3):393-422. 14. carlone h, johnson a. understanding the science experiences of successful women of color: social identity as an analytical lens. j res sci teach 2007; 44(8):1187-1218. 15. national institute of health. populations underrepresented in the extramural scientific workforce. https://diversity.nih.gov/about-us/populationunderrepresented. accessed: april 18, 2023 16. jones lk, hite r. a global comparison of the circumscription and compromise theory of career development in science career aspirations. school sci math 2021;121(7):381-94. 17. scholes l, stahl g. ‘i’m good at science but i don’t want to be a scientist’: australian primary school student stereotypes of science and scientists. int j incl educ 2022;26(9):927-42. 18. chemers mm, zurbriggen el, syed m, goza bk, bearman s. the role of efficacy and identity in science career commitment among underrepresented minority students. j soc issues 2011;67(3):469–91. 19. estrada m, woodcock a, hernandez p r, schultz pw. toward a model of social influence that explains minority student integration into the scientific community. j educ psych 2011; 103(1): 206–222. https://diversity.nih.gov/about-us/population-underrepresented https://diversity.nih.gov/about-us/population-underrepresented j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education croce appendix a. reflection survey 1. describe what you think (name of specific type of science or math) is? 2. how would you describe to someone else what (name of specific type of science or math) is? 3. did any activity from today make you think about (name of specific type of science or math) in your everyday life? 4. did anything that you have read make you think about (name of specific type of science or math) in your everyday life? 5. are you a (name of specific type of science or math) scientist/mathematician now? why or why not? 6. what do you want to do for work when you grow up? j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education croce appendix b: who committed the crime? compare column 1 to column 2. next compare column 1 to column 3. who committed the crime? use your answers from the chart above to explain how you know who committed the crime. write your answer below. 1.what did you notice about the evidence from the crime scene? 2. what did you notice about items found in suspect one’s garage? 3.what did you notice about items found in suspect two’s car? j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education croce appendix c. mock crime scene exercise scenario: yesterday evening the suspect broke into the victim’s home. the victim’s back window was found broken, indicating forced entry had occurred. suspected blood was found on the windowsill. the victim was found with a gunshot wound to the head and bound at the wrist and ankles with duct tape. fibers were found on the tape and a cartridge casing was found. a note was also found at the scene. suspect 1: suspect one is the victim’s neighbor. the victim has previously reported him multiple times for sneaking around her house and looking into her windows. duct tape, a handgun, gardening gloves with suspected blood on them, and a red pen were found in the suspect’s garage. suspect 2: suspect one had reported seeing a mysterious car parked down the street from the victims house the night of the incident. a car matching suspect one’s description was found two miles from the victim’s house. a torn t-shirt with suspected blood on it, a handgun, duct tape, and a red pen were found in the vehicle belonging to suspect two. a swab of the suspected blood found on the victim’s windowsill was taken and a dna profile was generated to compare to the dna profile of both suspects. assignment: your job as the forensic scientist is to analyze the evidence that was recovered from the crime scene and compare it to the evidence found in suspect one’s garage and suspect two’s car to determine who committed the crime. instructor notes: fake blood and unloaded cartridge casings were used in this activity. j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education feliciano an engaging lesson model for biological evidence collection training for dna valerie feliciano, b.s.1, kendra tupper, b.s.1 and heather miller coyle, ph.d.1* 1 forensic science department, henry c. lee college of criminal justice & forensic sciences, university of new haven, 300 boston post road, west haven, ct 06516 usa *corresponding author: hcoyle@newhaven.edu abstract: according to the locard’s exchange principle, “every contact leaves a trace.” the study of touch dna further explores this principle: when a person comes in contact with any surface they will leave residual evidence behind. touch dna is a common form of evidence. factors thought to affect the transfer and recovery of touch dna include duration of contact, surface type, genetic “shedder status,” environmental factors (e.g. heat, humidity), bacterial action, dna degradation rate, pressure applied to surface, and recovery method (e.g. swabbing, cutting, tape lifts). here a college-level lesson uses cell biology concepts with a set of touch dna exercises to serve as an example of experimental design and training on dna contamination and touch dna in forensic science. this lesson model describes student learning activities. students collect data to authenticate beliefs on dna transfer and translate the information for biological evidence collection strategies and classroom discussion. the activities are divided into two categories: (1) microscopy with cytology and (2) human identification by dna. both categories are relevant to biological evidence collection training and identification methods. this lesson model can be useful for training workshops and forensic science, cell biology and basic biology college courses. keywords: biological evidence, dna, apoptosis, cytology, forensic science . introduction touch dna is a reference to easily transferred dna molecules by touch (1, 2). the transferred dna can be from the primary depositor or can be from a secondary transfer mechanism through contact with others and objects in the environment (3). although there are many scientific forensic publications addressing touch dna, rarely do students easily conceptualize what dna looks like on a surface. the dna molecule itself and frequently associated epithelial or skin cells are microscopic, clear, invisible and, therefore, theoretical for most student discussions on dna contamination. there are numerous traditional cytological stains that can be used to visualize cell types in standard biological training including nuclear fast red (nfr) (3 6), may-grunwald giemsa (mgg) (7, 8), papanicolaou stain (pap) (9), and trypan blue (tb) to name just a few (10, 11). simple laboratory microscopy can be used to visualize stained cells as a low cost exercise in training for touch dna on different surfaces and for dna contamination exercises. the magnification can be simple from 40x to 400x total magnification with standard compound light microscopes using glass slides and cellular staining techniques. even greater detail can be visualized with phase contrast and scanning electron microscopy. epithelial cells from touch dna are interesting to study since the skin is a large, constantly rejuvenating organ that grows from an active internal cell layer that undergoes programmed cell death (apoptosis) as the cells are pushed to the surface (figure 1) (12). figure 1 nuclear fast red stained cells (keratinocytes) collected by cotton swab (left) and tape lift (right). the epidermis (outer layer of the skin) has a human dna component from living cells and free dna from apoptotic cells; in addition, the human microbiome contains microbial dna from approximately one thousand species from an estimated nineteen phyla (https://www.britannica.com/science/humanmicrobiome). the forensic applications for this set of exercises are many: (a) visualization of the concept of dna deposit, j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education feliciano dna transfer, contamination and the number of dna containing cells (keratinocytes) versus the number of nondna cells (corneocytes), (b) evaluation of finger marks for dna from robbery and burglary from window glass, (c) plastic analysis for dna for drug packaging and (d) dna from a struggle transferred to hair and other crime scene scenarios (13 – 15). when considering forensic education, many terms such as touch dna are mentioned but a true understanding may not be achieved until the concept can be visualized. even in courtroom testimony, touch dna is testified to simply because a full understanding of how this process works has not been met. for example, how is it that an individual can be identified on video but no detectable dna from the donor is left behind on a weapon? when analyzing this situation, multiple possibilities exist: (a) incorrect sampling of the weapon, (b) insufficient recovery of dna for detection, (c) rapid dna degradation, (d) use of gloves or a perspiration barrier that prevents deposition and (e) true exclusion as the dna source. foundational scientific disciplines such as cell biology, cytology, and microscopy are helpful aids for improving student understanding of biological evidence collection concepts and dna deposition. the purpose of this study is to collect and analyze touch dna transferred from a person to a surface. specifically, this study will test for the quality and quantity of the touch dna from various surfaces for comparison. it will also illustrate why forensic scientists are concerned over dna contamination based on the ease of recovering cells from thumbprints, thumb surfaces and hair shafts and surfaces. goals (a) to visualize epithelial cells to improve sampling for evidence collection (b) to conceptualize the quantity and source of dna transferred to any surface by touch; and the necessity for wearing personal protective equipment (ppe) to reduce contamination (c) to improve general scientific understanding of touch dna and the deposition and recovery process (d) to better understand cell biology and programmed cell death by differential staining to identify from which cells touch dna originates methods supplies and equipment  glass microscope slides (amscope sku: bs144p-200s-22)  universal transparent sheets (officesupply product no. unv21013)  slide warmer (labscientific model no. xh-2004)  nuclear fast red (kernechrot) stain [preparation: dissolve 25g of aluminum sulfate in 500ml distilled water; add 0.5g nuclear fast red and heat gently to dissolve; cool, filter and add a few grains of thymol as a preservative (sigma n8002 or n3020)]  plastic weigh boats for staining (fisher scientific cat. no. 13-735-741)  cotton tipped applicators (uline model. no. s21102)  tape (scotch brand)  kim wipes (thomas scientific cat. no. 34256)  black indelible marker (uline cat. no. h286bl)  quantifiler human dna quantification kit (thermofisher scientific cat. no. 4343895)  ampflstr identifiler plus pcr amplification kit (thermofisher scientific cat. no. 4427368)  compound light microscope (fisher scientific cat. no. s23871; swift compound microscope with integrated 10 in. tablet)  nanodrop one/onec microvolume uv-vis spectrophotometer (thermofisher scientific cat. no. nd-one-w)  abi 7000 sequence detection system (thermofisher scientific)  substrates (home depot) sample collection and processing experiment #1: collection of dna from hair surfaces. this experiment is designed to assess dna recovery rates by allele counts and comparison to buccal reference samples of the student. all participants in this study were selected with no bias for age, gender or race. donors were seated and the student investigator would place a hand on the participant’s head hair for a period not exceeding 30 seconds. swabs pre-moistened with sterile deionized water were then gently brushed along the hair on the right side of the participants’ head, with care taken to avoid contact with the scalp. pre-cut sections of scotch® brand shipping tape were then gently placed on the left side of the participant’s head and lifted between 4-12 times with care taken to avoid touching the scalp and avoid tearing participant’s hair. right hand thumb reference samples were collected as controls by swabbing the surface of the student thumb with a moistened cotton swab 15 minutes before and after contact with the surface. buccal reference samples were collected as controls with sterile cotton swabs by students from themselves as known comparisons for the training experiment. negative controls included processing of reagents without dna template. microscopy: thumb print samples were created by placing a thumb on a clean glass slide with 30 seconds of pressure, heat fixing on a slide warmer for 5 minutes, j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education feliciano staining with nuclear fast red cytological stain (www.sigmaaldrich.com) for 5 minutes at room temperature, rinsing the slide gently with distilled water at a 30 degree angle until most of the stain was removed into a plastic disposable dish. standard compound light microscopy was performed and photographs taken at 100400x magnification. dna methods: dna was extracted using a qiaamp dna investigator kit per manufacturer instructions (www.qiagen.com). two microliters of the dna extract per sample was quantified for the total dna concentration (ng/ul) per equipment manufacturer instructions for the nanodroptm one/onecuv spectrophotometer (www.themofisher.com). the recovered dna represents both human dna and microbiome dna. human specific dna was quantified using a quantifiler human dna quantification kit per manufacturer instructions (www.thermofisher.com) and compared to the uv spectrophotometric values. human dna profiles were generated using an ampflstr identifiler plus pcr amplification kit per manufacturer instructions (www.thermofisher.com). dna fragments were separated and detected on a 3130xl genetic analyzer per manufacturer instructions and analyzed using genemarker hid software (softgenetics llc, state college, pa). experiment #2: collection of dna from various touched surfaces. this experiment was designed to assess the quality and quantity of touch dna. a thumb was placed on a 1 square inch area of each clean surface (e.g. ceramic, wood, metal, plastic, carpet, paper, glass, cardboard and napkin) for approximately 10-30 seconds and rubbed back and forth with medium pressure. between collections from each surface, 15 minutes was allowed to replenish dna on the surface of the thumb. dna was collected after replenishment from the thumb with a moist cotton swab. a sterile wet cotton swab was used to collect touch dna from each surface. the cotton part of the swab was removed and placed in a 1.5 ml collection tube with a sterile blade and dna extracted. dna was extracted using a qiaamp dna investigator kit per manufacturer instructions (www.qiagen.com). each sample was then quantified for total dna by uv spectrophotometry to assess for quantity and evaluated by the a 260/280 ratio for purity. a ratio of approximately 1.8 is considered pure dna. two microliters of the dna extract per sample was quantified for the total dna concentration (ng/ul) per equipment manufacturer instructions for the nanodroptm one/onecuv spectrophotometer (www.themofisher.com). the recovered dna represents both human dna and microbiome dna. hazards and safety precautions any hazards and safety precautions are typically handled through the standard university and occupational safety and health administration (osha) safety regulations. material safety data sheets (msds) are available for chemical safety and exposure information from chemical suppliers. proper laboratory safety guidelines should reduce or eliminate any safety issues for handling chemicals, handling glass slides, operating laboratory equipment and for waste disposal. results when examined with a microscope it was possible to determine that neither freshly cleaned hair nor a recently washed hand could be expected to be completely free of surface cells (living or dead) or cellular debris even when an effort was made to minimize contact with any surfaces that might release cells. for both the swab and tape samples the presence of living and dead cells was apparent with all samples; at least a small number of visible clear corneocytes and some dna containing keratinocytes were consistently recovered. in our experiment, swabbing was a significantly better biological evidence collection method for human genotyping for dna profiles (table 1). on average, 22 alleles were recovered from the triplicate swabs; 3 alleles were recovered from the triplicate tape samples. this represents a seven fold increase in dna recovery by use of the swab method. although sufficient numbers of dna staining cells were observed by microscopy, we hypothesize that the adhesive in the tape samples had an inhibitory effect on allele recovery. table 1 allele counts for hair shaft samples sample no. alleles recovered #1 swab 20 #2 swab 27 #3 swab 19 #1 tape lift 1 #2 tape lift 5 #3 tape lift 3 positive 30 possible from 15 loci negative 0 detected many alleles originated from the hair donor but some samples detected additional alleles in common with the touch dna source and others from unknown sources in the environment (table 2). table 2 allele sourcing from hair shaft swab samples sample hair donor touch donor unknown donor #1 swab 13 1 1 j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education feliciano #2 swab 24 1 2 #3 swab 5 4 10 positive 30 possible from 15 loci negative 0 detected uv spectrophotometry results indicated the greatest recovery of total dna in our study (student results may vary) from paper, wood and metal (table 3). table 3 total dna recovered from various substrates by uv spectrophotometry sample quantity (pg/2ul) quality (a260/a280) paper 13.2 2.50 wood 16.8 2.02 metal 60.6 1.55 glass 0.2 0.26 plastic 1.7 1.52 ceramic 1.7 3.10 cardboard 2.0 3.56 swab of hair 5.6 1.81 tape lift, hair 3.0 3.98 positive control 23.8 (buccal swab) 2.51 negative control 9.6 (clean swab) 1.96 negative control 0.0 (water) 0.08 some surfaces had no detectable dna using this nonspecific dna detection method (e.g. napkin, carpet). other surfaces that had detectable but small amounts of dna included glass, ceramic, and cardboard. the average recovery of human dna from seven randomly sampled thumbs prior to touch of a substrate was 3.79pg (range 1.17.3pg). surfaces of the thumbs after touching a substrate and allowing for 15 minutes of replenishment had a range of 1.0-2.5pg of human-specific dna indicating either residual dna on the thumb surface after touch or a rapid replenishment of dna on the skin surface. discussion and conclusion training goals are met for forensic education in this sample lesson plan for forensic biology in several ways. the microscopy technique serves as a refresher for a basic but useful technique for screening and visualizing cellular material. typically, students are surprised (79% of students surveyed) by the large quantity of pink staining cells present from just a single thumbprint and it serves as a reminder for careful collection procedures as it is fairly easy to contaminate biological evidence with cells shed from the collector’s skin; an estimated 40,000 cells daily. even after touching a surface, there is sufficient replenished or residual dna retained on the student thumb surface that a second consecutive touch to a surface can leave detectable dna without wearing protective latex or nitrile gloves. the dna recovered from the touched hair samples is primarily from shed epithelial cells from the scalp of the donor. however, if the collection is carried through the human identification process along with a reference buccal swab from the student, it becomes apparent that dna from the touch dna donor can often be detected from the hair strand along with stray dna alleles from exposure to the general environment. the results from this experiment can facilitate discussion on primary deposit, secondary transfer, and allelic “drop-in” events and emphasize the need for caution in interpreting human genotyping results from a variety of criminal casework scenarios (e.g. strangulation, physical and sexual assaults, etc.). last but not least, the inherent variability of recovering touch dna from different surfaces can be investigated as a classroom exercise to establish trends in cell adherence to such surfaces as metal, glass, plastic and ceramic. our student generated data and other published scientific studies support the inherent variability of touch dna recovery and cite the wide range of environmental and genetic factors that contribute to the general inability to predict dna quantity and quality for recovery from different surfaces at crime scenes. each crime scene has inherently different features that can contribute to the unpredictability; only in the largest sense can one predict contributing factors such as extended contact time, perspiration, friction, and repeated handling etc. that have a positive impact on the expectation of a forensic scientist to recover dna. items that are commonly processed in forensic laboratories for touch dna include firearms, tools, knives, ligatures, clothing, and cell phones to name a few. one would anticipate some differences in student results from different sections of the same course for this reason and also between individual students. the two experiments described here can be limited to microscopy and ultra violet spectroscopy to fit into a single three hour laboratory training period. if consecutive weeks are available to the student, the dna processing aspect of qpcr, pcr amplification for genotyping, capillary electrophoresis and software analysis can be incorporated into the course syllabus. additional features can be built into this general experimental lesson model to have the student investigate the following: (1) impact of different lengths of contact time for touch dna transfer to a substrate, (2) genetic variability between donors, (3) effect of hand washing, (4) effect of varying pressure on a surface, etc. to vary the training focus. if the lesson plan is restricted to microscopy and uv spectroscopy, cell counts can be performed for each field of view with microscopy to estimate the percentages of keratinocytes to corneocytes. students can calculate an estimate of the number of dna containing cells that might be shed from 1 square inch of their skin surface as an additional self-discovery exercise. a survey of twenty-eight university of new haven students who performed the microscopy experiment generated the following results: 17.9% considered the exercise to train on dna contamination, 39.3% considered the exercise informative on dna transfer, 17.8% j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education feliciano considered the exercise a “shedder” status exercise, and 25% indicated the exercise showed one could obtain dna from a thumb print. one hundred percent of the students surveyed indicated the microscopy exercise was effective as a training tool for dna transfer and contamination in forensic science. eighty-nine percent of surveyed students indicated the microscopy exercise was useful to learn about skin differentiation processes. the implications for professional practice and training of forensic scientists and crime scene personnel are clear; a visual assessment of the quantity of dna containing cells aids in reinforcing the need for proper protective laboratory and crime scene gear to avoid dna contamination of the biological evidence. acknowledgements thank you to university of new haven for funding our research on touch dna for this publication. references 1. burrill, j, daniel, b, frascione, n. a review of trace "touch dna" deposits: variability factors and an exploration of cellular composition. forensic sci int genet 2019; 39:8-18. 2. kanokwongnuwut, p, kirkbride, kp, kobus, h, linacre, a. enhancement of fingermarks and visualizing dna. forensic sci int 2019; 300:99-105. 3. van oorschot, rah, szkuta, b, meakin, ge, kokshoorn, b, goray, m. dna transfer in forensic science: a review. forensic sci int genet 2019; 38:140166. 4. motiwale, g, jaiswal, s, vikey, a, motiwale, t, bagulkar, b, bhat, a, kapoor, p. evaluation of efficacy of 1% crystal violet & nuclear fast red stain compared to haematoxyline & eosin stain for assessing mitotic figures in oral premalignant and malignant lesions. j exp ther oncol 2016; 11(3):165-170. 5. frank, m, 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mucosa in bidi smokers and nonsmokers. ann afr med 2018; 17(4):210-214. 10. lebeau, pf, chen, j, byun, jh, platko, k, austin, rc. the trypan blue cellular debris assay: a novel low-cost method for the rapid quantification of cell death. methodsx 2019;6:1174-1180. 11. abdelmotaal, h, abdelazeem, k, hussein, ms, omar, af, ibrahim, w. safety of trypan blue capsule staining to corneal endothelium in patients with diabetic retinopathy. j ophthalmol 2019;4018739. 12. raj, d, brash, d, grossman, d. keratinocyte apopto sis in epidermal development and disease. j invest dermatol 2006;126:242-257. 13. sowmyya, t. touch dna: an investigative tool in forensic science. int j curr res 2016; 8(2): 2609326097. 14. alketbi, sk. the affecting factors of touch dna. j forensic res 2018; 9(3): 424. 15. sessa, f, salerno, m, bertozzi, g, messina, g, ricci, p, ledda, c, rapisarda, v, cantatore, s, turillazzi, e, pomara, c. touch dna: impact of handling time on touch deposit and evaluation of different recovery techniques: an experimental study. scientific reports 2019; 9: 1-9. j forensic sci educ 2023, (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education wooldridge learning to catch a killer: the advantages and challenges of planning a community-oriented murder mystery event to improve forensic science education outreach jennifer l. wooldridge 1 * & danielle j. s. bailey 1 1 department of social sciences, university of texas at tyler, 3900 university blvd, tyler, tx 75799, *corresponding author: jwooldridge@uttyler.edu abstract: in spring 2022, the university of texas at tyler hosted a murder mystery event for community members. the event featured a mock crime scene, activity booth area, forensics lab, with criminal justice professionals on site. participants were able to interview witnesses and potential suspects, collected evidence, and tried to solve the mock homicide crime. although this event was not financially selfsustaining, outcomes suggest that this event has a substantial positive effect on community education and outreach efforts. this also gave students an opportunity for hands on learning outside the classroom. this article outlines our efforts to plan such an event and provides advice for those interested in organizing similar events for their own campuses and communities. keywords: forensic science, community engagement, active learning, mock crime scene, murder mystery . introduction for many educators, active learning exercises are an easy incorporation into curriculums but for others it can be difficult to build these activities into everyday activities. for many stem fields, it is particularly easy to incorporate active learning through traditional laboratory courses (1,2), such “group problem solving, worksheets or tutorials completed during class, use of personal response systems with or without peer instruction, and studio or workshop course designs (2:8410). but what about more lecture-based courses like those found in social sciences and criminal justice? for those educators, innovation is often the key to incorporating active learning into the classroom given constrains in preparation time, space allocation, budget, and more (3). incorporating mock crime scenes into forensic science courses is one innovative way to give students that laboratory experience by actively applying classroom knowledge to a real-world simulation (4). other instructors have incorporated mock crime scenes into their forensic science and anthropology programs with successful outcomes for their students (1, 5, 6, 7). however, for many programs, the educational focus is exclusively on students rather than the broader community. in this paper, we discuss the nuances involved with blurring the lines between student education and community engagement by hosting a murder mystery event on campus. bringing community members onto campus as part of the event not only brought recognition to the university and department, it also educated citizens about the realities of the forensic science processes utilized during crime scene investigation. within this paper, we will discuss the process in which we planned the murder mystery event, advertised and recruited community member participants, and worked with university and law enforcement partners to host the innovative event on our campus. additionally, we will provide lessons learned from hosting the event, discuss challenges in hosting the event without a dedicated laboratory space and provide recommendations to readers who wish to host their own similar events. purpose/goals of the murder mystery event we organized our murder mystery at ut tyler event in march of 2022, celebrating both national criminal justice month and our university’s homecoming weekend. the theme of the event was one pill can kill, the drug enforcement agency’s (dea) public service campaign focusing on the dangers of counterfeit prescription drugs like fentanyl. the murder mystery event, which consisted of two components, was open to students and community members. the murder mystery at ut tyler event achieved multiple goals for us as a department, including increasing student engagement, expanding community outreach, and providing educational opportunities outside of the classroom. by utilizing student volunteers for multiple stages of the event, we provided ut tyler mailto:jwooldridge@uttyler.edu j forensic sci educ 2023, (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education wooldridge students with a simulation activity that expanded upon their classroom learning and provided them with real world exposure to forensic science and criminal justice concepts. we also provided a fun and interactive way to educate community members about the realities of forensic science, and by integrating the one pill can kill campaign we provided education about the dangers of counterfeit drugs. we believe that including the activity booth pavilion helped enhance the event by offering students and community members the opportunity to network and build relationships with local criminal justice professionals. the murder mystery consisted of two components with the first being a mock crime scene that participants “solved” via analysis of crime scene evidence, suspect interviews, and laboratory analysis. the second component was an activity booth pavilion featuring hands-on activities and local criminal justice agencies. component one: mock crime scene the mock crime scene took place in a manufactured home donated by a local business and two large pavilion areas. the home featured two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an open living room/kitchen area. in order to highlight the event theme, the mock crime scene was staged as a gang-related, multiple-homicide occurring in a clandestine drug lab. all areas of the house were utilized for the crime scene, which included five deceased victims, a counterfeit drug production lab, and relevant forensic science evidence. poseable dummies were used for the victims, each dressed in bloodstained street clothes. a criminal history handout with a photograph of the victim, identifying information, and their previous criminal charges was posted nearby each dummy. weapons, spent bullet casings, bullet holes, fingerprints, and other pieces of evidence were placed strategically throughout the house in order to help guide participants to identify the correct perpetrator. however, there were also a few red herrings thrown in to make it more challenging. we created a step-by-step information packet that explained the mock crime scene for participants as well as giving space for note-taking and sketching. participants were grouped into starting times of 20 people every 20 minutes. once their time was called, participants were brought into the home and asked to explore the entirety of the crime scene. participants took notes on a provided evidence log of evidence that they would “collect,” although to avoid having to restage the area no evidence was physically collected. once they were done examining the crime scene, participants left the crime scene and moved to the first pavilion area, where they would interview the suspects. the information packet provided them with the names and history of four different suspects, each represented by a ut tyler criminal justice and forensic science student sitting inside the pavilion. the week prior to the event, the students were given a detailed character sheet that outlined the suspect’s alibi as well as providing them with example responses, mannerisms, and other behavioral suggestions given their character’s typical interaction with law enforcement. participants were asked to split up into small groups and given five minutes to interview each suspect. the last step of the mock crime scene was the crime laboratory pavilion, which was located next to the suspect pavilion. participants were able to request fingerprint, ballistic, and toxicology analysis for the evidence they “collected.” prior to the event, we created laboratory reports for items in the house that we anticipated would be popular collection items. we also included a general “nothing found” report for other items that community members requested analysis on that were not relevant to the crime. before the evidence analysis reports were handed out, participants were given a short presentation about the process of evidence preservation and contamination concerns. we had multiple evidence packaging examples in the pavilion, including a moldy bag of evidence highlighting the danger of wet evidence in airtight containers. component two: activity booth pavilion once participants had received their laboratory reports, they were given time to discuss their findings with their team and then directed towards the activity pavilion. at the front of the pavilion there was a table with arrest warrants and drawing prizes donated from local businesses. participants were asked to fill out the arrest warrant with the name of the perpetrator and then submit it in the prize boxes. we drew arrest warrants for each prize the following week, after which all participants were emailed the actual solution to the crime with explanation of relevant evidence. overall, the mock crime scene component took approximately one hour for participants to complete. in addition to the arrest warrant booth, the pavilion also featured interactive activities staffed by additional student volunteers, including a fingerprint comparison activity and a field sobriety test using intoxication simulation goggles. the pavilion also included booths staffed by a variety of local criminal justice agencies, including our local dea office, a photobooth with criminal justice related props, and free safeid kits for all participants. participation in the activity booth pavilion was not required or monitored, but we expect that most participants spent approximately 30 to 45 minutes in the activity booth area. behind the curtain: making the event a reality similar to the experiences of other forensic science instructors trying to include active learning in their j forensic sci educ 2023, (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education wooldridge classroom (1), long term planning was necessary to be able to coordinate the many moving parts required for this event. as a four-year university with over 10,000 students, the university of texas at tyler is a well-suited to hosting large community events, but had never hosted a community event focusing on forensic science such as this one. for nearly a year in advance, we coordinated with campus staff, local community members, businesses, our students, and local law enforcement to provide the greater east texas community with a well-prepared murder mystery event. the biggest hurdle for us was securing and delivering the house in which the murder mystery would take place. finding a crime scene house in 2021, we hosted a student-only event in which we secured a temporary donation from a manufactured home supplier. the supplier was generous and absorbed the cost of the delivery and the use of the home, but it was too small to host more than a few students at a time. between 2021 and 2022, we applied for internal and external funding in order to purchase a permanent crime scene house for our campus. however, in 2022 when we hosted the murder mystery at ut tyler, we still did not have a dedicated space so we knew that we would once again be dependent on community outreach to host the event. the solution required us to cold call other local manufactured home distributors who could provide us with larger, but still temporary, home to host the event. while we cannot guarantee that others will have the same success, our very first cold call resulted in a temporary donation of a larger manufactured home. we asked the owners of the business if they donate the residence in exchange for publicity and media exposure. since we had completed a similar event in 2021, we were able to show the company owners pictures of our prior efforts and convinced them to provide us the home at no cost to the university. the company absorbed the cost of delivery, provided us with some furniture, and even connected us with additional local companies and vendors who might be willing to donate additional items. the house they provided was a two bedroom/two bathroom manufactured home complete with a full kitchen, living room, and laundry room. this home was big enough to host roughly 20 people at a time provided that they would divide and conquer the interior space. the home needed to be large enough that we would not create a safety or fire hazard on campus, but we also had to ensure that the manufactured home would fit in the allocated space. thankfully, we were given space on campus where a modular building had recently been demolished, meaning that we were given easy access to electrical and water hook-ups that we could use for the donated home. if you are not able to find a site like this on your campus, we would recommend renting a camper or trailer temporarily and placing it in your parking lot or any vacant space available. while it is not ideal to be without electricity and running water, it is possible to host the event without these utilities, although likely on a smaller scale. our manufactured home did not have a working air conditioner or restroom, but as it was march we were able to open the windows and keep our participants cool. the lack of restroom facilities required the additional expense of portable toilets for the month. ideally in the future, we would like to build or create a permanent crime scene house on campus that would allow us to utilize air conditioning, running water, and all of the regular conveniences that a home would offer during the event simulation. we relied on the support of several campus departments to help us carry out the murder mystery at ut tyler event. working with your campus partners early and often is vital to making sure this process runs smoothly especially when you are asking for a whole house to be moved onto campus. we were very fortunate to have a facilities team who was able to help us with many of the home-delivery related logistics. the facilities team was the one to accept the house, hook up the water and electric lines, and they provided security for the home while it was on campus. given the ada requirements for a public event, our facilities team helped us secure an accessibility ramp leading into the manufactured house, since the original door was only accessible through a staircase. filling the house once we secured the donation of the house, we needed to fill the empty shell to depict a mock residential scene. the manufactured home distributor recommended a local furniture company that they had worked with in the past for staging events. we cold called the furniture company and explained our purpose of our event and our need for simulation furniture. similar to our discussions with the manufactured home distributor, we offered to promote the business by using their corporate logos on our website and promotional materials. the company agreed to donate all of the master bedroom furniture, including furniture, bed linens, and room decorations, for the duration of the event. while there can be difficulties in cold calling businesses, we were surprised at how readily most business owners wanted to assist and support the university. we did notice that locally owned businesses were often better able to donate compared to corporate chains, as there were less restrictions for the small business owners. if you solicit donations within your own community, we encourage you to focus on those businesses that are locally owned and operated, as they would likely benefit more from additional marketing and publicity. j forensic sci educ 2023, (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education wooldridge at this point, we had enough furniture to successfully depict a living room and bedroom scene, but the house still felt unlived in. as our department had been offering a crime scene processing course for several years, we had enough supplies already purchased to fill the home with regular household items one would find in a residence, such as kitchen wares, clothing, bathroom items, pictures, and other items. we also borrowed extensively from our own houses, bringing in spare towels, clothes to hang in the closet, folding tables, camping chairs, and event empty beer bottles and other pieces of trash. bring in whatever items you feel are appropriate for the scene that you have designed. all of our donated items were washed and taken home after the event was finished, so it was a low-cost way to supply the house. this is important when you are on a limited budget. when planning a scene like this, the details matter so don’t be afraid to collect pieces or search for free items at marketplaces whether online or in person. setting the scene as we had created crime scenes in the past for our students, we began the planning for this event with a certain scene in mind. we knew that we wanted to make the scene drug based and that we would connect it to the one pill can kill campaign. the crime scene processing course supplies already included fake weapons and drug paraphernalia, so we knew we had a majority of the supplies we needed to set the scene for a drug house. the campaign theme was also the reason that we brought in so much trash from our own homes, as these items helped make the house feel both lived in and contributed to the overall feeling of neglect that was appropriate to a clandestine drug lab residence. in order to make the scene as realistic as possible, we enlisted the help of a former crime scene technician to help stage the scene. murder mystery participants were encouraged to search all areas of the house, so having a technician on scene was beneficial to make sure that we placed items in realistic places. for example, our murderer used a firearm and killed five victims within the home. our technician verified the placement of the bullet holes based on the location of the bodies to ensure the trajectory of the bullets was accurate. she also helped set up the small bedroom where the counterfeit pills were being packaged and distributed, creating a powdered mixture of baking soda and placebo pill powder that was meant to represent fentanyl. her assistance in the creation of the scene was vital to getting the small details correct, and many participants discussed how realistic everything felt when examining the crime scene. spreading the word our university marketing team was crucial in the promotion of the event. we created fliers and logos for the murder mystery that they helped distribute. event management staff were also vital in the creation of a registration website which allowed participants to purchase tickets in advance of the event and the staff helped us organize on-site registration as well. by hosting the event during our university’s homecoming week, we were able to increase event visibility through the homecoming website, promotional materials, and the increased number of students and families already on campus for other events. this collaboration helped increase our attendance as evidenced by the substantial number of walk-up registrations. outcomes of the event the primary goals for this event were community outreach, education, and exposure for our department and our academic programs. our department also wanted to use this event to increase student enrollment and to explore new initiatives that could possibly bring in revenue. the murder mystery did not end up being a selffunding event. the ticket price was $5 per person, and we sold 190 tickets, bringing in a total revenue of $950. this revenue was not enough to cover the total event costs that were provided for us by the ut tyler’s college of arts and sciences, but this was in part due to the low cost of the tickets and the rental fees involved in bringing in the manufactured home and pavilion spaces. if the event was done in an existing building, these set-up costs would have been substantially lower, and we believe that future renditions of this event in a permanent building would generate profit for the department. we did achieve our goal of building community recognition of our department, an outcome which we hope will continue to increase our student enrollment in future semesters. we purchased a facebook ad for one of our event posts, spending $40 to have the post highlighted across our region for the month prior to the event. during this campaign, our facebook post reached over 13,000 people and our instagram post reached almost 350, providing us with numerous new followers for our department page and expanding our community outreach. the murder mystery was also given media coverage from three local newspapers and the ut tyler radio station, further expanding our department’s visibility. participant and volunteer outcomes in order to help us better understand the impact of the murder mystery at ut tyler event, we sent follow-up assessment surveys to all participants (n=190) and student volunteers (n=15). our irb approved the study j forensic sci educ 2023, (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education wooldridge as an exempt research study. the participant survey included questions measuring the participants’ satisfaction with the event as well as identifying whether or not they had correctly solved the crime. twenty-one participants (11%) completed the participant survey. the survey sent to student volunteers included questions measuring the student’s experience and their perception of the educational benefit of this event. seven students (47%) responded. community member outcomes sixteen participants (80%) reported that they solved the crime and identified the correct suspect. a majority of participants stated they were very satisfied with the ticket price (91%), activity booth area (91%), the crime scene set up inside the house (91%), and the suspect interviews (80%). when asked whether the participant learned more about criminal justice and forensic science from the event, fifteen participants (71%) strongly agreed and the remaining six participants (29%) agreed. eighteen participants (86%) stated they would like to participate in the murder mystery event again. the qualitative feedback was also positive and supported the educational nature of the event. [in response to ‘what was your favorite part of the event?’] “having a fun educational experience for my older children. they are now interested in criminal justice.” “thank you for sharing this information with the public i think we get comfortable with the idea that crimes are solved in tidy little packages like in the movies or tv shows, and it makes people too eager to "armchair quarterback" actual cases they see on the news.” “thank you all so much for letting our students go through! they all loved it! they learned much! they enjoyed hypothesizing on the crime and all parts.” “once i made the reservation, i had to change the time and it was handled very easily. the entire event was well worth the time and handled very well. it was impressive. thank you for hosting.” student volunteer outcomes five students (71%) strongly agreed that the community benefited from the event and that the event provided educational information to the community, while the remaining two participants (29%) agreed to both statements. four students (57%) strongly agreed and three students agreed (43%) that the event enhanced concepts they learned in their own criminal justice and forensic science courses. all seven students (100%) agreed they would volunteer for this type of event if held again, with six students (86%) also agreeing that they would attend as a participant if given the opportunity. one student outcome we did not measure, but is likely to have occurred, is the impact of the murder mystery event on the students’ ability to conduct their own mock crime scene investigations. many of the volunteers from this event were enrolled in our crime scene processing course, which concludes with a mock crime scene final project. the mock crime scene took place in the same manufactured home that was used for the community event, but the scene was altered so that students had a different scenario. by assisting community members in their quest to solve the mock scene, students were engaged in an experiential learning activity that likely helped them succeed in their own learning assessment (1). we encourage readers who plan to host similar events to consider adding this outcome variable to their evaluation instruments. future directions the murder mystery at ut tyler was the first opportunity we have received to showcase our criminal justice and forensic science programs to the general community. based on the positive feedback received, we hope to host a community-oriented event at least once a year. in the meantime, we continue to seek funding for a permanent crime scene house on campus. approximately 75% of our event budget was spent on rental items, including the accessibility ramp, tables and chairs, portable bathrooms, and pavilions for the outdoor areas. a permanent building would eliminate a large majority of those rental needs, allowing us not only to provide more simulations for our ut tyler students but also to host more events for our community members without incurring high rental fees each time. it is also possible to create a crime scene in more general locations on campus, such as reserving vacant classrooms, hallways, offices, or even large meeting spaces. these locations can serve as an alternative to securing a manufactured home like we did, but they would require more ambition to turn into a mock residential space due to the lack of a traditional home layout. you could also consider doing scenes that were more appropriate to the specific location. for example, when we did our very first mock crime scene for our students, we utilized the building hallway, student lounge center, and a faculty office for our crime scenes because that was all that was available. to better fit the surroundings, we developed a crime scenario involving student study groups and students stealing test questions so as to make the scene appropriate for the setting. if you wanted to set up a clandestine laboratory scene, you could use a laboratory classroom or a dorm room. you could also use a dorm room or computer lab to set up a j forensic sci educ 2023, (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education wooldridge cybersecurity threat or other technology-based scenario. if planning a physical crime scene is not conducive to your university, there are multiple ways in which you could plan one through photographic or virtual means (8, 9, 10). in terms of event planning, this would reduce the logistical requirements for a community event. the important thing is to try and remain consistent with your scene and your setting so as to add to the realism. in addition to serving our students, consistently hosting events on campus would also provide additional revenue generating opportunities. like we mentioned earlier in the paper, our murder mystery event cost $5 per ticket which is relatively low. future events could charge more per ticket as a way to generate additional revenue for the department and as a way to help offset the cost of event planning. hosting routine murder mystery events could allow for the integration of specific themes throughout the year such as hosting a halloween themed murder scene or a christmas themed one. this variability allows for participants to return for additional events while still experiencing new scenes and scenarios. because our murder mystery event was limited to one weekend day, we did not do extensive outreach to the k12 schools beyond advertising the event with high school counselors. however, we had several high school groups come through the event and based on their feedback, we recommend offering additional weekday opportunities specifically for k-12 groups to participate. however, you would need to be cognizant of the participant age group, creating scenarios that are easier and more ageappropriate if you choose to invite elementary and middle school groups to the event. finally, at the end of the events we would consider further evaluation of all participants and volunteers about the event itself. although we did incorporate a short feedback survey, we had a limited number of responses which was likely due to the online nature of the survey and the time in which it was sent out. future events would benefit from surveying participants on-site and more immediately following the event. this would provide increased feedback from participants as a way to improve understanding of participant experiences. conclusions the murder mystery at ut tyler event serves as a great example of an event that can educate both your community and your students. with some creativity, departments could host a murder mystery event to coincide with new student orientation, homecoming events, or at other times as a way to recruit new criminal justice/forensic science students. creating an event like our murder mystery at ut tyler is also an ideal way to create interdisciplinary partnerships with other departments on campus. for example, if your university has the means to do so, the chemistry department would be a vital resource for evidence testing such as providing mock toxicology screens or even testing illicit substances found at the scene. if your university has a theater program, consider using those students to play the role of victims, suspects, eyewitnesses and more. your university’s communications or journalism programs could provide mock media coverage at the scene as a way to interview your technicians or to observe the event as it happens. as is well documented, social science programs are typically less funded than stem programs (1), so we recognize that there will be financial constraints for these types of events. while we tried to make our event as large as possible, you can design a smaller scene in an empty classroom, hallway, vacant office, or even in a residence hall if your university consents. however, if you have the means to host a community-wide event we strongly encourage you to do so. as evidenced by our participant and student feedback, this was a worthwhile event that provided positive exposure for the department and the discipline as a whole. overcoming the constraints associated with hosting a murder mystery event can lead to a well-organized event that allows for significant community engagement and provides a way to disseminate the efforts of your program to the greater community as whole. we hope that our paper has provided ideas of spaces and scenarios that you can use that would be appropriate to your college and budget. references 1. bracewell te, jones c. the use of simulated crime scenes in teaching undergraduate forensic sciences: implementing an active learning approach to forensics. sci justice 2022;62(6): 758-67. 2. freeman s, eddy sl, mcdonough m, smith mk, okoroafor n, jordt h, wenderoth mp. active learning boosts student learning in stem courses. proc natl acad sci usa 2014;111(23): 8410-5. 3. overton t. key aspects of teaching and learning in experimental sciences and engineering. in: fry h, ketteridge s, marshall s, editors. a handbook for teaching and learning in higher education: enhancing academic practice. london:routledge 2003;255-77. 4. braithwaite g. the use of high-fidelity simulations in emergency management training. in: cassella jp, maskell pd, williams a, editors. forensic science education and training: a tool-kit for lecturers and practitioner trainers. hoboken (nj):john wiley & sons, inc 2017;235-52. 5. carew rm, errickson d. an overview of 3d printing in forensic science: the tangible third-dimension. j forensic sci 2020;65(6):1752-60. j forensic sci educ 2023, (5)1 2023 journal forensic science education wooldridge 6. rogers d. considerations in using a crime scene house facility for teaching and learning. in: cassella jp, maskell pd, williams a, editors. forensic science education and training: a tool-kit for lecturers and practitioner trainers. hoboken (nj):john wiley & sons, inc 2017; 39-44. 7. van den eeden caj, de poot cj, van koppen pj. the forensic confirmation bias: a comparison between experts and novices. j forensic sci 2019;64(1):120-6. 8. kennedy j. a strategy for teaching forensic investigation with limited resources: crime scene house: what crime scene house? in: cassella jp, maskell pd, williams a, editors. forensic science education and training: a tool-kit for lecturers and practitioner trainers. hoboken (nj):john wiley & sons, inc 2017;87-101. 9. pringle jk, stimpson ig, jeffery aj, wisniewski kd, grossey t, hopson l, heaton v, zholobenko v, rogers sl. extended reality (xr) virtual practical and education egaming to provide effective immersive environments for learning and teaching in forensic science. sci justice 2022;62(6):696-707. 10. mayne r, green h. virtual reality for teaching and learning in crime scene investigation. sci justice 2020;60(5):466-72. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education chamblee chemical imaging of latent fingerprints, paint chips, and fibers using µ-ftir: an experiment for forensic chemistry and instrumental analysis courses reba e. a. chamblee1, kendall m. wontor1, james v. cizdziel* department of chemistry and biochemistry, university of mississippi, university, ms 38677 *corresponding author: cizdziel@olemiss.edu 1co-first authors. abstract: emerging technology combining spectroscopy with microscopy is advancing the analysis of trace evidence with the potential to revolutionize forensic microscopy and excite a new generation of forensic microscopists. in this laboratory experiment, developed for undergraduate forensic chemistry and instrumental analysis courses, students use fourier transform infrared (micro)spectroscopy (µ-ftir) to analyze mock forensic samples commonly encountered at crime scenes, including latent fingerprints (laced with ibuprofen to mimic an illicit drug), vehicle paint chips, and acrylic fibers. unlike light microscopy, µftir provides information on the spatial distribution and chemical nature of the sample. the learning objectives were to reinforce key concepts covered in the classroom, including collection and preparation of trace evidence, forensic microscopy, and vibrational spectroscopy, as well as to provide students hands-on experience using a state-of-the-art instrument. students prepared the fingerprint and fiber samples, whereas the paint chip was previously cross-sectioned to save time. the students collected and processed their own data, including generating chemical distribution maps. student responses were positive and reports written by the students demonstrated an increased awareness of the capabilities of ftir microscopy and chemical imaging. overall, the exercise helped remove the “black box” mentality, where students analyze samples without understanding the fundamentals of the technique, which is important to recognize poor data quality and troubleshoot instruments. this report describes the laboratory exercise and student experience, includes data and chemical images collected by students and aspects of the experiment that could be modified to improve learning outcomes as well as adaptations for use with an atr-ftir. keywords: ftir microscopy, chemical imaging, trace evidence, fingerprints, paint chips, fibers . introduction forensic microscopy utilizes microscopy techniques to characterize evidence for use in civil or criminal law. the locard exchange principle, the basis for much of forensic trace evidence, states that when there is contact between two items a cross-transfer of physical evidence will occur. microscopy can provide insight into the identity, origin, and history of a trace material, and the route(s) it may have taken between a victim, suspect, and crime scene (1). today, microscopic trace evidence is mainly used to establish associations that can be presented at trial. however, it is often overlooked as a tool to aid forensic investigations which was not always the case. early forensic scientists used microscopic trace evidence to aid detectives by providing facts and developing wellreasoned inferences to assist in the search for locations, persons, and vehicles (1). yet, forensic microscopy is on the decline in many forensic labs due in part to the rise of dna technology and dna indexes (e.g., codis) which have revolutionized forensic science, garnering much attention and resources in forensic laboratories. the shift away from forensic microscopy has also crept into academia, with forensic microscopy classes being phased out or minimized in many forensic science programs. the decline in forensic microscopy expertise will be exacerbated as senior microscopists retire. recently, emerging technology combining spectroscopy with microscopy is advancing the analysis of trace evidence with the potential to revolutionize forensic microscopy and excite a new generation of forensic microscopists (2). vibrational spectroscopy (ir absorption and raman scattering) is ideal for trace analyses because it is non-destructive and highly selective, yielding vibrational fingerprints characteristic of the sample (3). spectral databases have been established that contain ftir spectra for tens of thousands of compounds. moreover, recent advances in detectors, sample positioning stages, and mailto:cizdziel@olemiss.edu j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education chamblee image process software have led to the rise in chemical imaging spectroscopy, where spectroscopic properties of the sample are represented in a false color “chemical image”. such imaging excels at mapping the spatial distribution of chemicals in a sample and can be used to characterize multilayered films (e.g., paints) and microscopic particles. for imaging in the ir region, a focal plane array (fpa) detector is utilized, which is essentially a digital camera where each pixel expresses an entire ftir spectrum (4). with thousands of spectra collected simultaneously, the image contains a huge amount of chemical information. this wealth of information is invaluable in forensic microscopy. although the collection and interpretation of chemical image data may seem daunting, it is not. instruments like the lumos ii from bruker corp., used in this study, have built-in automation and a user-friendly interface so that users of different skill levels can use the advanced technique with minimum effort and time. further, image processing software is fully integrated and minimizes subjectivity with hit quality indices to compare known and unknown spectra. as a result of this new technology, exciting new chemical imaging applications (often developed in academia) are becoming practical in forensic labs equipped with instruments capable of microspectroscopy. these include the detection of illicit substances in fingermarks, and discrimination between counterfeit banknotes, electrical tapes, and human body fluids (5–8). it should be noted that optical – photothermal infrared (o-ptir) spectroscopy is another analytical technique recently commercialized that has lower (sub-micron) resolution than both traditional ir and raman spectroscopy. here, we describe a laboratory exercise introducing ftir microspectroscopy (µ-ftir) to undergraduate forensic chemistry majors in an instrumental analysis class. the goal was to reinforce key concepts in spectroscopy and forensic microscopy covered in class by providing students a hands-on opportunity to use µ-ftir chemical imaging to analyze fingerprints, automobile paint chips, and fibers, all important categories of forensic trace evidence. methods course background and laboratory logistics this laboratory experiment was developed for an undergraduate course at the university of mississippi titled advanced instrumental analysis (chem 512). the class had 21 students with 16 being senior b.s. forensic chemistry majors. briefly, the course was designed to instruct students on modern chemical analysis using instrumental techniques not typically covered in lowerlevel courses, and to provide students opportunities to conduct analyses using select instruments. the goal is to provide the students with a thorough understanding of not only the principles of analytical instruments, but also of their capabilities, limitations, applications, and some practical aspects of sample analyses. removing the “black box” mentality that students may have about instrumentation is critical for them to recognize instrumental problems, identify data quality, and conduct basic instrument maintenance and troubleshooting. the course has both lecture and laboratory components. students meet three hours a week for the lecture and discussions, most of which focus on theoretical underpinnings of the instruments, but also includes preparation for experiments and demonstrations. in preparation for this experiment, students were required to watch 3 short youtube videos on the features and general operation of the lumos ii instrument and to provide a brief summary of each as well as to read a minireview on chemical imaging of latent fingermarks, focusing on the introduction and spectroscopy sections (9). they were also provided links for refreshing their memory on the basics of ftir analyses, though use of this material was optional. the instructor also discussed the laboratory in class, highlighting the instrumental technique, discussing the samples and logistics of the experiment, and covering expectations and learning objectives. in the laboratory, groups of 3-4 students met at the designated time with a teaching assistant (ta), a graduate student who was trained on the instrument and who was herself a graduate of the forensic chemistry program. lab schedules were flexible, but each component was to be finished within a specific time frame. under the guidance of a ta each student group spent the first lab session (2-3 h) becoming familiar with the instrument and learning the key features of the software (opus, version 8.5.29), including generating chemical maps, data processing (peak picking, baseline correction, and spectral subtraction), and database searching. during this session, students also examined the effect of changing spectral resolution (2 cm1, 4 cm-1 and 16 cm-1) and scan number (4 and 16) by comparing and contrasting chemical images, s/n ratios of spectra, and analysis time. while this lab session may not be necessary to conduct the main laboratory experiment, we found that it gives the students a familiarity with the instrument that allows them to focus on the analyses of their samples in the next lab session. the second lab session (3-4 h) was used to analyze the forensic trace evidence as described below, and a third (optional) lab session was also available, if needed, to retrieve data, ask questions, and revisit and clarify aspects of the experiment. students were allowed to operate the instrument under ta supervision during both the demonstration and the actual analysis of their forensic samples. finally, students were required to submit a singleauthor written report in journal format (abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusions, literature cited) with subsections on fingerprints, paint, and fibers. they are provided a grading rubric that includes points for pre-lab assignments. overall grammar, style, and j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education chamblee appearance are evaluated as written communication is a key element in the work place. preparation of fingerprint samples a volunteer from each student group used their fingerprint for analyses. before fingerprint application, the student washed their hands with soap and water, rinsed them clean, and allowed them to air dry. the index finger was then pressed gently to the forehead or rubbed behind the ears, to insure sufficient sebaceous secretions were added to the fingerprint region. the finger was then gently pressed for a few seconds onto the left portion of a reflective side of a low-e (mirrir) glass slide (kevley technologies) (figure 1). low-e glass slides are composed of two layers of silver sputtered onto float glass, providing ~95% infrared light reflection while simultaneously allowing visible light transmission (10). the previous steps were then repeated, but following the addition of the sebaceous secretions, the finger was pressed lightly into the powder of a crushed over-the-counter ibuprofen drug tablet. the exact identity of the drug was not given to the students. the excess ibuprofen powder was brushed away, and the finger was then pressed onto the right portion of the low-e glass slide for a few seconds. preparation of car paint samples the paint chips that we used for this laboratory were provided by the royal canadian mounted police (rcmp) for a separate research project involving their paint data query (pdq) program. however, almost all modern automotive paint chips will contain the paint layer system that is necessary for this experiment. instructors interested in including this laboratory in their own courses may be able to source paint chips from local automotive shops. shops that offer sunroof installation may be an especially good place to start, as the panel that is cut out to form the sunroof is generally regarded as waste and will also provide an abundance of material to generate paint chips from. instructors that can only source a single paint chip can focus their lesson on the difference in chemical composition as seen below. for those that are able to obtain multiple paint chips, however, the experiment can be broadened to include the compositional differences between the same paint layer from two different manufacturers. doing so would help students understand the scientific underpinnings of the pdq database as well as driving home key points about the strengths and limits of class evidence. paint chips were prepared by the ta in advance of the laboratory because it would be too time consuming to have the students do so themselves. however, the procedure was described to the students. samples were prepared by placing the chip tightly within a micro-vice holder and using a scalpel to slice off the paint layer system as thinly as possible. this allows for the removal of the majority of the substrate while still ensuring all layers of the chip will be analyzed. the thin paint layer slice was then placed into an embedding mold which was promptly filled with the tissue-tek o.c.t. (optimum cutting temperature) compound and placed on dry ice for 15-20 minutes until frozen. following removal from the mold, the sample was placed in a cryostat and sliced into 5μm thick cross sections. at this stage, the cross-section is still embedded in tissue-tek o.c.t., so the sample was then placed in a small dish under the stereomicroscope and washed with water to remove any of the tissue-tek o.c.t. lastly, the sample was dried in an oven overnight at 40ºc to remove any remaining moisture. following removal from the oven, samples were stored in a desiccator until analysis. to prepare the paint chips for analysis with the ftir microscope, the dried sample was placed on the diamond compression cell and viewed under the stereomicroscope (figure 1). once all layers were in focus, the top of the compression cell apparatus was placed over the sample cell and screwed into place. the screws and top of the cell were then removed, and the sample was inspected under the stereomicroscope to confirm that the sample was appropriately flattened. at this point, students were encouraged to observe the sample underneath the stereomicroscope and attempt to identify layers in the paint system visually. the bottom half of the compression cell and the flattened paint chip were then carefully placed on the ftir microscope sample stage for analysis. preparation of fiber samples this section of the experiment was adapted from practical exercises found in the scientific working group for materials analysis (swgmat) forensic fiber examiner training program (11). using the field standard guidelines provided by swgmat ensured that the lab would be similar to the training students would receive in the trace evidence section of a forensic laboratory. a single fiber pulled from a piece of acrylic (polyacrylonitrile) yarn (red heart© super saver) was secured tightly across the frosted end of a glass microscope slide using small pieces of adhesive tape. while viewing it with the stereomicroscope, gentle pressure was applied using a glass stir rod as a sample roller to flatten the fiber. students were instructed to keep the rod level while rolling in order to flatten the fiber to a uniform thickness. a portion of the flattened fiber was then cut with a scalpel and mounted across the cell window of a diamond compression cell, with care taken to avoid twisting the fiber (figure 1). the apparatus was inspected under the stereomicroscope to confirm that the sample was flat and placed correctly on the compression cell window. it should be noted that the compression cell was not used to flatten the sample further, but merely to provide an ir transparent mounting surface. as such, the top of the compression cell was not used. the j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education chamblee fiber mounted on the cell apparatus was then carefully moved to the ftir microscope sample stage. figure 1 photos of samples analyzed. fingerprints on low-e glass slide (top); paint chip cross-section (center) showing its layers including the bluish base coat sandwiched between the whitish top coat and greyish plastic substrate (note that the primer is not visible in this image); and fiber (bottom). for scale, the diameter of the compression cell (white area surrounding the paint chip and fiber) is 1.6 mm. ftir microscopy analysis all samples were analyzed using the bruker lumosii ftir microscope with the liquid nitrogen cooled 32x32 fpa detector. visible images were collected for each of the samples before ftir analysis. the backgrounds were acquired over the 4000-700 cm-1 range on a blank (clean) portion of the sample space. background scan parameters were set at 16 co-added scans, 100 co-added scans, and 64 co-added scans at 4 cm-1 spectral resolution for the print, paint chip, and fiber samples, respectively. the sampling regions for ir imaging were selected via the visible image and are indicated by a superimposed red square grid. for the ir images, fingerprint samples were analyzed via reflectionabsorption mode while both the paint chips and fibers were analyzed using transmission mode. all data analysis was completed using the bruker opus software v8.5. the main purpose of the experiments was to create chemical images for each of the samples. this was completed via two paths: integration of specific peaks within the spectra (table 1) and using the factorize 3d function, which creates a chemical image based on spectral differences calculated by the program. following the creation of a chemical image, spectra were extracted for baseline correction and peak labeling. lastly, these spectra were searched against the databases currently set up within the program to potentially confirm the identity of the unknowns. searches were completed via the standard search method, which looked for one main compound. data analyses were completed by the students with help from the ta (figure 2). figure 2 graduate student teaching assistant demonstrating aspects of the bruker lumos ii µ-ftir (bottom right) to forensic chemistry students. the undergraduate students then took turns “driving” the instrument to j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education chamblee collect data and chemical images. note that the fpa detector is cooled with liquid nitrogen, which is supplied through a port on the top of the instrument. see text for details. table 1 ftir peaks selected for chemical mapping of compounds or classes of compounds. see results for discussion on peak selection. compound band assignment wavenumber (cm-1) carbohydrates c-o stretches 1120-990 protein amide i and ii 1700-1480 lipids ester c=o stretch 1770-1710 collagen side chain vibrations 1305-1160 sebum methyl c-h stretch ~2854 ibuprofen c-o stretch ~1123 polyacrylonitrile nitrile ~2246 hazards and safety precautions while there are few hazards associated with this lab, it is important to note that ftir microscopes require liquid nitrogen to cool their fpa detector. liquid nitrogen poses both an extreme cold hazard and an asphyxiation risk to users due to its ability to displace oxygen. all users should therefore undergo safety training on the use of liquid nitrogen before handling it. the lumos ii’s fpa detector needs to be cooled once every ~6 hours, so the instructor or ta may choose to do this themselves before the students arrive. other models of ftir microscopes or those from other manufacturers may have different cooling needs or timeframes, so instructors using such instruments may need to adjust the cooling protocols accordingly. additionally, if the instructor chooses to have the students prepare the car paint sample(s) during class, they should be aware that doing so will require the use of dry ice and a cryostat or microtome. instructors should review the proper safety procedures for these instruments with their students before use to reduce the risk of injury. it may be preferable to have the instructor or ta be the one to cut the samples, either before or during the lab session to avoid the risk to students. finally, students should also be reminded to keep their hands clear of the sampling stage on the ftir microscope to avoid injuring their fingers. adaptations for use with an atr-ftir spectrometer while this paper is focused on the use of an fpa-ftir microscope, which is suited for chemical imaging and microscopic analyses of fibers and paint chips, not every institution will have access to this instrument due to its high cost. the following modifications are provided for instructors seeking to run this experiment (minus the chemical imaging) using an ftir spectrometer with an atr attachment. such instruments are more widely used and should be available to most instructors in an accredited forensic science program at the university level. when testing these adaptations, all spectra were collected using the macro atr unit of the lumos ii with 64 co-added sample and background scans, a wavenumber range of 4000-600 cm-1, and a resolution of 4 cm-1. all spectra were baseline corrected with a rubber band correction using 100 points and smoothed with the savitzky-golay method using 13 points. although it is not possible to chemically image fingerprints using an atr, it is still possible to identify drugs found within them using this method. to do so, samples should be prepared as previously described. however, they do not need to be places on a low eglass slide when using the atr method. students should analyze a fingerprint without the drug before preparing the fingerprint with drug residue to serve as a standard for fingerprint oil. before analyzing the drug laced print, students will need to visually identify where the drug particles are present in the print. a stereomicroscope will make this significantly easier. students can then press the area of the print containing the drug particles onto the atr crystal. once a spectrum of the drug laced print has been collected, the fingerprint oil should be subtracted from it. this results in a spectrum of the drug that can be searched against a library database. note, the fingerprint on the slide needs to make direct contact with the atr crystal, so instruments with crystals depressed in plates (sample wells) won’t work unless the plate is removed or the configuration is changed. also, some atr crystals are relatively soft (e.g., znse) and can crack if too much pressure is applied. for the automotive paint chips, each sample will need to be cut into individual layers instead of in cross-section before they can be analyzed. these can be sliced with a cryostat or microtome but can also be separated manually with a stereomicroscope, a scalpel, tweezers, and/or a micro-vise. if separating manually, the clearcoat layer can be analyzed before cutting for simplicity. it can then be scraped off to reveal the basecoat underneath, which can be analyzed and then scraped off to reveal the primer. additionally, instructors may wish to use paint systems on metal substrates if they are having students manually separate the samples, as their thicker layers make the sample preparation easier. once the layers have been separated, they can be placed directly on the atr crystal for individual analysis. alternatively, if students are able to cleanly separate the paint layers, instructors may wish to have students analyze their samples according to the pdq’s standard operating procedure, wherein the manually separated layers are analyzed in transmission mode using a diamond compression cell and 100 co-added scans. fibers can be stretch across the atr crystal and analyzed directly with no sample preparation. for best j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education chamblee results, instructors should choose fibers with a single component. fibers that are made of multiple materials twisted together may not yield optimum results. alternatively, instructors may wish to intentionally include such samples and use them to illustrate the limits of the atr method compared to the chemical imaging method. results all student groups were able to create a chemical image of their respective samples and accomplish the following: identified ibuprofen and illustrated its distribution within the latent fingerprint, distinguished three different layers within the paint chip, and identified the acrylic fiber. chemical imaging of latent fingerprints for mapping sebum deposits, students used the optical image to select a point on the slide where the sebum was present and displayed the resulting spectrum. based on this spectrum, they selected a peak to integrate to create the chemical distribution map. for the representative image shown in this article, students used the 2854 cm-1 peak, a methyl c-h stretch prominent in sebaceous oils. the chemical image for the ibuprofen was created similarly. students used the optical image of the print to find and select unknown particles. after displaying the particle’s ir spectra, they then created a distribution map by integrating the peak found at 1123 cm -1. this c-o stretching peak was specifically chosen because it is found at a different location in the ibuprofen spectra than in the sebaceous oil spectra. representative chemical images illustrate the distribution of the signal for these selected peaks within the area analyzed (figure 3). while this lab focused on the use of single peak integration to create chemical images, it should be noted that the opus software does contain a chemical mapping function that creates images based on multiple peaks. if using a single peak, as done in this experiment, it is crucial that the peak chosen for the drug does not overlap with a peak in the sebum spectrum. if overlap does occur, the resulting map will show the distribution of both the drug and fingermark residues. this is because the chemical image is actually depicting the distribution of the selected peak rather than the compound associated with that peak. taking figure 3 for example, just because a pixel is highlighted in red does not mean that ibuprofen is present at that location. in order to conclusively identify that particle, the analyst must extract the spectrum from that location and compare it to a reference spectrum. using the single peak integration method made this point easy to demonstrate to students by first creating a distribution map using an overlapping peak. when students then inspected the spectra from the highlighted areas, they could clearly see the drastic differences that indicated that two distinct compounds were present. when searching the spectrum for the unknown powder against the databases within the opus program, the best match was ibuprofen, with a hit quality score of 309 (with a perfect match being a score of 1000). this low score is likely a result of both the low number of co-added scans used in the experiment as well as the use of a commercial ibuprofen tablet. these tablets contain inactive ingredients used as binders, such as cornstarch, that can introduce changes into the tablet’s ftir spectrum compared to the reference spectrum of the pure compound. using pure ibuprofen might have resulted in a higher match score, but having the students use the commercial tablets better approximated the challenges involved with real-world samples. while the students did successfully identify the unknown drug as ibuprofen, the low quality hit score allowed them to think critically about their confidence in their results and theorize about what they could have done to improve them. a variety of methods can be used to improve hit quality score values. instructors may choose to have students increase the number of co-added scans and binning area, which will increase spectral quality at the expense of time. additionally, selecting larger particles to analyze will also often lead to better quality spectra. postanalysis corrections to the spectra, including baseline corrections and smoothing, can also help increase the hit quality score during the search process. instructors can also have students create a library standard from the drug tablet they are using to account for the effect of inactive ingredients and additives. for example, when adding our own standard ibuprofen tablet to the library and then completing a search on the same extracted spectra, the hit quality score improved to 509 from 309. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education chamblee figure 3 chemical images of a fingerprint depicting the distribution of the 2854 cm-1 peak, which is associated with natural fingerprint secretions with two ridge lines curving downward (top) and the sporadic distribution of the 1123 cm -1 peak, which here corresponds to ibuprofen (bottom). chemical imaging of paint chips for the paint chip, a chemical image was created using the factorize 3d function to characterize the differences between each layer (clear coat, base coat/pigment, primer, and substrate) (figure 4). the factorize 3d function condenses the spectral data from each pixel and groups them by common factors. it then uses the eigenvalues generated to produce series of chemical images that apply a color scale to identify similar spectra. while there were distinct spectral differences between two of the layers (the clear coat and the substrate), the pigment layer and primer were harder to discriminate, especially because the primer layer is extremely thin (~5 µm). the third spectra selected, which optically fell within the base and primer layers, seems to be closely associated with that of the clear coat, with only one peak being similar to the substrate layer. a spectrum from each of the layers was also searched against the database. the substrate spectrum brought up a match to polypropylene with a hit quality of 795, a high match, while the clear coat gave toso csm 530 (chlorosulfonated polyethylene) as a result with a hit quality of 519. for the basecoat, the search resulted in a hit quality of 592 to proviplast pls green 8, or 2-thylhexyl epoxy soyate. all components from the search are compounds that would be associated with use in vehicle components. however, it is important to note that the current databases loaded into opus are not all-encompassing. therefore, it is possible that the search results merely represent the closest match in the database as opposed to a definitive identification. this issue was introduced to students, who were then allowed to theorize about possible solutions. as part of this discussion, the ta brought up the use of a more thorough search involving many databases (e.g., knowitall spectral library from wiley) to improve the accuracy of the search results. figure 4 visible (optical) image of the paint chip with each of the layers labeled (top). chemical image obtained via factorize 3d function illustrating the different layers of a paint chip (bottom). chemical imaging of fibers for the fiber, only one type of material was present as all points selected throughout the analysis area gave the same spectrum. the nitrile peak from this spectrum (2246 cm-1) was selected to create a chemical image (figure 5). the fiber spectrum was searched through the libraries and produced a hit to polyacrylonitrile, with a score of 363. the dyes present in the fiber likely accounts for the relatively low hit quality score. polyacrylonitrile fibers are generally known as acrylic fibers which are used to make “artificial wool” type clothing. though unknown to the students, like the powder for the fingerprints, the fiber sample was indeed a polyacrylonitrile fiber, indicating another successful match from the analyses. as with the latent prints, this experiment illustrated the differences between reference and evidentiary samples for the students. doing so also provides them with an opportunity to think critically about how they would j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education chamblee present such findings in court and whether they feel additional testing is necessary to be confident in their results. figure 5 visible (optical) image of the fiber with two points selected for spot analyses (top). chemical image of the fiber showing the distribution of the 1731 cm-1 peak, representing a c=o stretch, throughout the fiber (bottom). discussion and conclusion this laboratory experiment, designed for an undergraduate class in forensic chemistry or instrumental analysis, offers an introduction to the basics of ftir microscopy and illustrates how the technique can be applied to forensic samples that are important to criminal cases. the students become acquainted not only with the preparation of these types of samples for microscopy, but also with microspectroscopy and chemical imaging, an increasingly important area across scientific fields, including forensics and environmental and life sciences. introducing forensic chemistry students to spectrochemical analyses of fingerprints, paint chips, and fibers aids in their understanding of concepts in microscopy, spectroscopy, and forensic science. with forensic microscopy on the decline in many forensic labs due to increased dna technology, the loss of forensic expertise in this area is of great concern. this hands-on laboratory proactively seeks to re-introduce and revitalize forensic microscopy education using chemical imaging by ftir microscopy. through these experiments, forensic students are able to use current research methods to prepare and analyze real examples of forensic evidence which provides them with insight into the forensic practices. analyzing fingerprints, paint chips, and fibers not only emphasizes the importance of trace evidence in investigations, but also provides a basis for discussions on analyzing other types of evidence (drugs, gunshot residue, etc.) with spectroscopy. the key principles of ftir spectroscopy and microscopy were also reinforced as the students themselves operated the instrument and performed their own analyses. while the analyses done here are focused on the use of the bruker lumos ii ftir microscope, it is possible to accomplish chemical imaging via other similar instrumentation, meaning the lab can be tailored to the available instrument. while the initial cost of an ftir microscope is high, operating expenses for this experiment are low as the supplies for the fingerprint and fiber analyses are relatively inexpensive. the low-e glass slides are more expensive than traditional slides, but they can be washed and reused. further costs and time can be reduced by removing the paint chip portion of the lab. this would also make the lab feasible for a wide variety of curriculums. in all, this lab culminates in an increased awareness of trace evidence analyses and the usefulness of chemical imaging via ftir spectroscopy. acknowledgements we thank the students in the university of mississippi’s advanced instrumental analysis class (chem 512) for their insightful comments and suggestions on the experiment, and anonymous reviewers for helping to improve the manuscript. we also thank the department of chemistry and biochemistry for supporting this class experiment. the lumos ii ftir microscope used in this study was obtained through an nsf mri grant (#0923080). references 1. stoney da, stoney pl. critical review of forensic trace evidence analysis and the need for a new approach. forensic sci int 2015;251:159–70. 2. kammrath bw. combining spectroscopy with microscopy for advancing the analysis of forensically relevant traces. spectroscopy 2020;35(7):33–6. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education chamblee 3. muro ck, doty kc, bueno j, halámková l, lednev ik. vibrational spectroscopy: recent developments to revolutionize forensic science. anal chem 2015;87(1):306–27. 4. dorling km, baker mj. rapid ftir chemical imaging: highlighting fpa detectors. trends biotechnol 2013;31(8):437–8. 5. ng phr, walker s, tahtouh m, reedy b. detection of illicit substances in fingerprints by infrared spectral imaging. anal bioanal chem 2009;394(8):2039–48. 6. ajid nfd, keat how f, mahat na, desa wnsm, kamaluddin mr, mohamed huri ma, et al. counterfeit one hundred malaysian ringgit banknotes discrimination using chemical imaging inspection and pattern recognition. aust j forensic sci 2022;54(5):695–709. 7. nimi c, chophi r, singh r. discrimination of electrical tapes using atr‐ftir spectroscopy and chemometrics. j forensic sci 2022;67(3):911–26. 8. takamura a, watanabe k, akutsu t, ozawa t. soft and robust identification of body fluid using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and chemometric strategies for forensic analysis. sci rep 2018;8(1):8459. 9. wei q, zhang m, ogorevc b, zhang x. recent advances in the chemical imaging of human fingermarks (a review). analyst 2016;141(22):6172– 89. 10. faq | kevley technologies [internet] [cited 2022 nov 8]. available from: http://kevley.com/faq.aspx 11. a forensic fiber examiner training program. scientific working group for materials analysis fiber subgroup, 2004. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education bauer teaching forensic entomology with common grocery items: decomposition and insect succession studies erin bauer 1* , m.s., mlis, charles murrieta 2 , ph.d., larry barksdale 2 , m.a. 1 entomology, university of nebraska--lincoln, 1700 east campus mall, ento 103 lincoln, ne 685830816 2 forensic science, university of nebraska--lincoln, filley hall, 1625 arbor drive, lincoln, ne 68583 *corresponding author: erin bauer: ebauer2@unl.edu abstract: forensic science and entomology programs may benefit from using deceased pigs as teaching resources due to anatomical similarities to humans. the use of such animals provides opportunities for students to learn the effects of geographical location and climate on insects; understand insect succession; practice insect collection and identification; and learn post-mortem interval procedures, taphonomic principles of decomposition, and crime scene investigation and management techniques. forensic entomology and taphonomic studies fit well with educational interests in experiential learning. pigs may be readily available through animal science departments or local producers, and many institutions may have property where this research can be conducted. however, due to regulatory requirements and cost, smaller entities such as community colleges, k-12 schools, criminal justice agencies, students conducting independent research or taking lab courses, and private consultants may have difficulty obtaining suitable materials and space for entomological forensic studies. the purpose of this study was to evaluate alternative, physically small meat products that are easily obtained from a grocery store or butcher shop and could be used in lieu of a pig or other large animal. such meats are relatively inexpensive, readily available, and would need little space when setting up an experiential, immersive learning exercise. in many cases the decomposition experiment could be carried out in a closed container such as a fish tank and in less time than with a larger animal source. keywords: forensic entomology, taphonomy, experiential learning, forensically important insects, crime scene investigation. . introduction forensic entomology is the study and use of arthropods and insects in legal investigations and has also been used as a teaching tool (1,2). considerable forensic laboratory studies and teaching exercises in taphonomy and entomology have been conducted using pigs as a suitable substitute for human cadavers (3). pig carcasses have been successfully used at university level instruction for forensic entomology, crime scene investigation, trace evidence, lab safety, insect collection, and insect succession and identification (4). taphonomy has been defined as the study of organic remains in all spheres (5), and forensic taphonomy as the study of the change of human bodies from a living organism to deceased remains with judicial and legal purposes (6). groen and berger commented on the analytical reasoning application to crime scene investigation, archaeology, and taphonomy in the form of restructuring the past from the present (7). the authors’ institution embraces experiential learning, defined as participating in new experiences and applying observations to the real world (8). it provides students with opportunities to practice what they’ve learned in settings beyond the classroom. experiential learning exercises using decomposing meat can provide a good method for teaching scientific principles, report writing, ecology, entomology, taphonomy, biochemistry, crime scene investigation, and other related forensic science topics. reasoning from the present to the past, as an example, is illustrated by noting the stages of decomposition of a meat and correlating with time since death. the interrelationships of the entities in the natural world are illustrated by the interpenetration of decomposition with the air, soil, microbes, vegetation, and other living and non-living things. in short, using meats for taphonomy and entomology lab experiments is an experiential and fun way to teach many subjects, and associate them with real-world scenarios. when circumstances support the use of pigs, they have been documented as a good analogue for human mailto:ebauer2@unl.edu j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education bauer cadavers because of similar body structure (organ placement, skin, and hair) and systems (organ function) (9). however, it is not always feasible, and particularly so in smaller school settings, to set up a scene using a pig carcass. a review of the literature suggests other surrogate protein sources. the researchers gerard (10), perez (11), byrd and castner (12), and o’brien (13) have varied recommendations about which protein sources to use in insect and decomposition studies. these include cats, dogs, pigs, porcupines, and meats such as liver. in addition, the literature seems to indicate that unadulterated sources are more representative of natural decomposition and insect succession. while many forensic insect succession studies testing meat products have used bait traps (14) or been conducted within indoor lab settings, information about testing and ranking various meat products for use in educational or classroom decomposition studies seems to be lacking in the literature. this study seeks to address some of these gaps. our study demonstrates a small and inexpensive outdoor decomposition scenario using different commercially available meats arranged in the environment. the idea was to mimic an outdoor scene that would be easy and practical for educators to set up, especially those involved in k-12 instruction or smaller colleges and universities. this would also be feasible for students engaged in independent studies or online class labs. we used unadulterated materials purchased from grocery stores and offered for human consumption. in this study we discuss what types of meat (poultry, beef, pork, fish, and processed) we tested and make recommendations for which of these will likely yield the best results when conducting a forensic entomology classroom exercise. this will save the educator time, resources, and cost of running such experiments on their own. instead, they can focus more on teaching about forensic entomology with known attractive meats at the outset. methods hazards and safety precautions although the materials used were generally regarded as safe, outdoor laboratory classrooms can present unique challenges to a successful student experience. dirkmatt and cabo describe a forensic taphonomy scene, the processes for such a scene, and subsequent analysis (15). these may involve removing brush or foliage, collecting soil samples, catching and preserving insects, collecting tissue samples, and performing numerous tasks. using appropriate attire and personal protective equipment (ppe) for field work (long pants, boots, gloves, etc.), including bug spray, can mitigate these challenges. if insect samples are to be collected and preserved for future analyses, ethanol can be effectively used as a preservative. materials and experimental design this study was conducted over a 7-day period from june 17-23, 2022. the location was a secured outdoor location on the university of nebraska—lincoln campus. the day before the study, eight varieties of meat were purchased from a local supermarket. meats were chosen based on ease of access from the grocery store (easily available from shelves or in the freezer section). we also wanted to test a range of meats in different categories: (i.e., beef, chicken, fish, pork, etc.) and extent of processing (i.e., whole, thick, thin, canned). due to some predatory activity, an additional five meat products were purchased and placed out on day 4. meats used in the study included:  340 g (12 oz) can of spam ®  340 g frozen whole filet wild pacific salmon  two .45 kg pkgs of lean all-natural ground beef (75% and 80%)  .31 kg angus beef ribeye steak  .69 kg chicken boneless chicken thighs  .77 kg pork loin  1 tyson ® cornish hen  four pkgs (each 74 g) chunk light premium tuna in water  1 pkg turkey livers  1 pkg. hot dogs (turkey, beef, pork mix)  1 pkg. chicken necks  1 pkg. pork ends in addition, prior to beginning the study, several supplies were gathered:  ethyl acetate charged glass kill jar  70% ethanol for preservation  kaa (kerosene, ethanol, acetic acid) for preserving maggots  labels  vials, spoons, forceps  latex gloves, face masks  white garden plastic tags and pen to label meats  small and large plastic plates to place meat on  wire netting, plastic ties, and stakes used for barriers to protect meat from predators  thermometer and hobo ® device for environmental records such as humidity and temperature  i-phone cameras and standard scales at 9:00 a.m., june 17, 2022, the meats were placed above ground, labeled with tags to track data for each j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education bauer product, and laid out in three rows of approximately 28 sq. meters. each meat item was placed on a plastic plate and placed inside a fenced area. materials used for fencing were either wire netting (available at most hardware stores) or old dish drying racks. these items were used because they were already available on the research property, but such items could easily be obtained by educators from their homes or purchased inexpensively for classroom experiments. the fencing was then staked and zip-tied to keep it secure. cinder blocks were used to enclose the ends of the drying rack fencing to reduce movement. these fencing procedures were established to deter predatory animals like racoons, foxes, hawks, cats, dogs, and opossums from taking the meat. all items were in a full sun, outdoor environment (see figure1). figure 1 meat experiment was laid out in three rows using wire netting, drying racks, stakes, and zip ties to deter predators. photo credit: erin bauer on day 4, june 20, 2022, around 12:00 p.m., additional meats were purchased and introduced to the project. they were placed near the initial meat selection and surrounded in wire netting. the purpose of this addition was to replace some of the meat stolen by predators within the first two days of the experiment and to add additional meat types than those used earlier. for example, liver was not in the earlier set of meats, but because it is so often used in literature, the researchers wanted to test it. like the meats obtained on the first day, researchers tagged and labelled the new meats, which were fenced near the original study area and laid directly on the ground rather than on plastic plates. this was to compare their attractiveness with that of the meat samples on plates. results table 1 denotes general insect observations on each of the eight meat types the first three days. the angus ribeye steak and two of the chicken thighs were stolen the first night by predators, despite fencing. as the fencing was not covered, a bird may have been responsible. persistent ground animals may also have been able to pull pieces of meat through the openings of the dish drying racks. table 1 observations of meats day 1-3. upon placement of the initial 8 meats out on day 1, we observed insect activity after a few minutes. most meats had ant activity, which is to be expected both because of environmental presence and predatory behavior; a few flies made an appearance. by day 2, some fly eggs were observed, in addition to flies and ants. some of the meats either had no activity (i.e., spam) or had been stolen so were excluded from the project (i.e., angus ribeye). on day 3, more fly activity, including adult blow flies on all meats other than the ground beef (in addition to half of the ground beef being stolen), hatched first instar maggots on ground beef (see figure 2) and fly eggs on pork loin (see figure 3) were observed. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education bauer figure 2 on day 3, we found first-instar maggots on the purple plate containing ground beef. photo credit: erin bauer figure 3: on day 3, the pork loin was laden with fly eggs. photo credit: erin bauer on day 4, the researchers did not record observations for the original meats but added several new meats to the experiment. experiments on all meats were then recorded for day 5-7 (see table 2) table 2 observations of all meats, day 5-7. the spam and tuna had very little to no activity. by day 7 both had been stolen by predators. the salmon and ground beef contained a few small maggots and flies, but overall had little activity. on day 5, the plate with chicken thighs had a few fly pupae in the corner near the meat where residue from meat juices had settled, and a small number of flies were also still landing near or on the meat. observations we made during this time were that some of the plastic plates (pork loin, see figure 4; and cornish hen, see figure 5) contained predatory insects (ants) and maggots that were larger than those found in other original studies where the authors have used pigs that were laid on the ground surface. we suspected these were sarcophagidae (flesh fly) maggots. this was later verified through microscopy. the researchers had conducted a preliminary exercise previously during early summer to determine viability of placing meat in the open research area. in that exercise, none of the meat items were on plates with edges and lips, and therefore no substrates had a collection of liquid. we did not see sarcophagidae maggots under these conditions. we also observed that some maggots had difficulty migrating from the plastic plates. meat defrosting and condensation plus the decomposition process contributed to fluid presence on the plates. maggots were found in the fluid as well as some puparia, indicating that some flies j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education bauer simply pupated on the plate without ever reaching the soil. byrd and caster noted that maggots can drown in liquids (16). figure 4 on day 5, we observed large maggots on pork loin. under the microscope, we determined the family to be sarcophagidae (flesh flies). photo credits: pork and maggots, erin bauer; spiracles, larry barksdale. figure 5 on day 5 we noted sarcophagidae maggots, ,under the cornish hen. photo credit: erin bauer other highlights from day 5 included extensive blow fly colonization of the turkey liver (see figure 6) with a few flies on the chicken neck. the hot dogs, pork ends, and ground beef had no fly activity. figure 6 on day 5, numerous blow flies were seen covering the turkey liver. photo credit: erin bauer on day 6, the turkey liver was covered with a large maggot mass (see figure 7). some flies and a few maggots were also observed on the pork ends and chicken liver, but not to the same degree as with the turkey liver. figure 7 on day 6, a large maggot mass was observed beneath the turkey liver. lesser maggot activity was observed under the chicken necks. photo credit: erin bauer in addition to the newer meats, the authors flipped over the pork loin to look at the underside. it was still moist and was sustaining a significant number of maggots (see figure 8). a few flies were still visiting the meat as well, likely because of the continued moisture. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education bauer figure 8 on day 6, the underside of the pork loin showed continued maggot activity, and flies were still attracted to the moisture. photo credit: erin bauer day 7 was the last day of observations. activity remained unchanged or was decreasing on the meats and much of the tissue was beginning to desiccate. it is important to note that we did not observe any late decomposition insects visiting the meat, such as dermestid beetles, nor did we see any carrion beetles during the decomposition process. we theorize that due to the small size of the meats, resource competition may have played a role, unlike in a larger carcass where many different insect species can be sustained. on day 11 we followed up and noted that most meats were dried up or stolen with no further insect activity. we broke down the fencing and left any remaining meat out for predators. local temperatures during the research time frame ranged from a high of 35 °c to a low of 17 °c (17). discussion and conclusion although larger university forensic science programs may have access to research animals such as pigs for use in decomposition studies, many smaller institutions don’t have this availability and need a suitable alternative. this study aimed to test various easily accessible grocery store or butcher-bought meats that could be used by k-12 or college educators for experiential learning activities in science courses such as entomology or forensics. the information from our study would also be applicable to student independent studies and online labs that need to be conducted in small home or school spaces and thus would require purchase of meat sources that are inexpensive, physically manageable, and offer a good potential for observable results. although students did not participate directly in this project, we have had considerable experience with outdoor forensic teaching exercises or field training programs in the past. these were conducted with law enforcement, students, teachers, researchers, and consultants who have used ½ chickens, chicken breasts, hamburger, steak, roadkill, dead mice, fish, and donated human blood. as an example, students in the university level bloodstains as evidence course (18) laid out meat products in an effort to record insect artifacts that mimic human bloodshed. several hundred students have completed this exercise and one predominant issue was the use of material. students most often used chicken breast, hamburger, or a slice of ham; overall, we learned that these meat products do not appear to produce good results, and that predation is an important issue. birds and other animals steal the students’ samples. in addition, we have participated in numerous individual research projects involving insect succession and decomposition (19) several of these were with grocery store meat products and others were with pigs. for example, the crime scene investigation course at the university of nebraska-lincoln (20) has laid out a pig to simulate human remains as one of 8 crime scenes to be processed during the semester. during the years of the covid-19, we did not use pigs for exercises due to zoonotic unknowns about viruses. those two years’ experience gave us additional insight on the difficulties identifying products to use for entomological, taphonomic, and crime scene investigation teaching and experiential exercises. instead, we used various meat products purchased from grocery stores. it is from these experiences that we determined a need for further testing of products that would perform well for insect composition studies. in this current study, we concluded that several meats were more attractive than others to common forensically important insects and would be a better choice for educators wanting to conduct their own classroom experiment. biopsy samples are easily obtained and stored for additional research in the fields of toxicology and nutrition. additionally, preserved samples can be examined later using a variety of microscopic methods. it is well known that both calliphoridae (blow flies) and sarcophagidae (flesh flies) are associated with decomposition scenes. the meats most successful in attracting one or both of these fly families were the turkey liver, cornish hen, and pork loin, with turkey liver being the most attractive to blow flies and the cornish hen and pork loin being attractive to both. the turkey liver was removed and placed directly from its container, which resulted in the turkey liver immersed in fluid. processed meat like spam and hot dogs seemed to be the least attractive choice to insects, followed closely by ground j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education bauer beef. in general, the fish, both the tuna and salmon, also didn’t attract many insects compared to the other choices. the pork ends, chicken necks, and chicken thighs all had activity, but were less preferred than the liver, cornish hen, and pork loin. the angus ribeye steak was stolen the first night, so we were unable to get any data. this is consistent with the authors’ past projects and reports from online lab students in which predators would take items. based on our observations in this study, the authors would recommend that instructors use turkey liver if the main goal is to encourage rapid arrival and colonization by forensically important flies, especially blow flies. it is a simple and reasonably inexpensive experiment that demonstrates many basic forensic entomology principles. liver in a container that has obvious blood and has been unprocessed would be the best selection for small, outdoor forensic insect succession experiments. other types of livers, such as beef liver, may be a viable choice based on the literature, although it was not tested in this study. in addition, much of the literature using beef liver and other meats, such as that done by neideregger et. al, have been conducted using indoor lab settings, rather than an outdoor environment, and may show success using meat types (i.e., processed) where we saw little activity (21). one reason for this difference may be that in a natural outdoor environment flies can choose oviposition sites. this is opposed to lab researchers determining which substrates to use for larval rearing. livers of all types were not available, but analyzing the difference between liver types would be an interesting experiment for future study. in addition, further studies using pork loin or cornish hens may be warranted, since the authors also saw success in attracting forensically important flies with these products. pork muscle used in bait traps has shown good results (22). overall size of the subject meat appears to affect succession. insect succession is not as robust on smaller meat masses. the biggest factor impacting this is likely less resource availability over time of the study. from personal observations of the authors during forensic classroom activities, larger intact pig carcasses attract more carrion beetles and a larger number of other insects than piglets or commercial meats. however, the small sizes we used in the outdoor scene with grocery store items seemed to attract sufficient flies and subsequent maggots for a successful general experiment. no replications were conducted in this study as it was intended to be a quick comparison that would indicate initial insect preferences. this type of simple study may be all that is required or preferred in elementary or middle school levels where the concept of forensics is first being introduced. for high school or college populations, a more detailed experiment may be desired. in this case, testing meats that appeared from our anecdotal observations to be more attractive (i.e., livers, pork loin, etc.) in various settings (ground vs. on plate, in aquariums, etc.) and with different animal types (e.g., turkey, beef, pork) would greatly enhance the experience for these older students. for example, using more or larger meat samples may result in greater diversity of forensically important insects, especially those that colonize later in the decomposition process. although we did not pursue this area, the collection of flies and maggots may also lend themselves to postmortem interval calculations using developmental stages of the insects. we have made time since death calculations and conclusions part of crime scene investigation courses in which students can determine values using entomological and taphonomic techniques and compare with known values. the plastic plates the meats were placed on also affected results because moisture was maintained on the underside of the meat and, in some cases, pooled outward. this enabled maggots to thrive longer underneath areas where the meat had not yet dried out and where they were protected from predators. however, maggots were observed migrating away from the food source and attempting to scale over the lip of the plate, some struggling with the height of the lip and any liquid that had spread to the area. thus, the plates may have prevented some maggots from escape. additionally, pools of liquid may have prevented egg hatching or resulted in drowning. although beyond the scope of this study, effects of excessive liquid pools may be examined at a later date. we recommend that exercises using meat products not be placed on substrates with constraining edges. modifications in experimental design could alleviate the challenges we faced, such as predator activity. although sample meats were surrounded by staked fencing, animal predators still managed to remove some of the materials. this was especially apparent in the areas where the meat was fenced in on all sides but not at the top, indicating an avian predator. in other cases, such as the dish drying baskets, the meat was pulled toward the side and in some cases removed through the larger openings by ground predators. one suggestion for future experiments is to utilize fish tank like structures, each holding a different kind of meat. the tanks could be covered with wire mesh that would allow insect access yet prevent predator interference. studies could be done with different meats having the same substrate on the bottom of the tanks or repeating each meat in a tank with different substrates (i.e., glass bottom, sand or dirt bottom, or fabric bottom) and comparing results of which produces the most flies. this would also serve to keep migrating maggots and pupae contained within the environment so that they can be counted. a successful design would be a great way to teach insect succession and decomposition within a small outdoor space with ease for collecting specimens. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education bauer testing grocery store products for nutrient content would also be worthy research. it would be interesting to know if products with greater nutrient density facilitated greater maggot masses. we suggest that our research adds to the literature for using entomology and decomposition to teach science, forensic science, taphonomy, and entomology. products can be obtained at minimal expense. the exercises add to experiential learning for students. they offer the opportunity to practice writing lab reports and to apply logic and reasoning to natural behaviors. they also are intriguing and open doors for many other skill exercises. as an example, calculating degree days and time since death offers practicing mathematical skills, considering error rates, and constructing uncertainty budgets. students know the time the item was first put out and the times of appearance of first, second, third stage instars, and the immigration of pupae. students can compare calculations with known times. students can study the process of decomposition such as autolysis, check soils for ph levels during the decomposition, and observe effects of soil texture on decomposition (23). in summary, the teaching of forensic entomology with associated subjects offers a fun and challenging journey for students of all ages and interests. it offers the opportunity to teach many topics, practice collecting and preserving insects and samples, learn good lab practices, and investigate research ideas. we recommend the use of fresh, unfrozen turkey livers for teaching lab exercises. acknowledgements the authors have no financial interest in this work. it is for educational purposes only. references 1. joseph i, mathew dg, sathyan p, vargheese g. the use of insects in forensic investigations: an overview on the scope of forensic entomology. j of forensic dent sci 2011; 3(2): 89-91. 2. mcneil j. the ecology of death: forensic entomology as a teaching tool. am biol teach 2010; 72(3): 153155. 3. stokes kl, forbes sl, tibbett m. human versus animal: decomposition dynamics of mammalian analogues in experimental taphonomy. j forensic sci 2013; 58(3): 583-591. 4. bauer ec, barksdale le, sidel e. death scene insect succession in nebraska: a guidebook. digitalcommons@university of nebraska-lincoln. 2022; https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/entomologyfacpub/98 3/. doi:10.32873/unl.dc.oth.012. 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(accessed jan 29 2023) 18. university of nebraska-lincoln (2023), bloodstains as evidence. undergraduate catalog 2022-2023. https://catalog.unl.edu/undergraduate/agriculturalsciences-natural-resources/forensicscience/#coursestext. (accessed march 26, 2023) 19. bauer ec, barksdale le, sidel e. death scene insect succession in nebraska: a guidebook. digitalcommons@university of nebraska-lincoln. 2022; https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/entomologyfacpub/98 3/. doi:10.32873/unl.dc.oth.012. (accessed jan 29 2023) 20. university of nebraska-lincoln. crime scene investigation. undergraduate catalog 2022-2023. https://catalog.unl.edu/undergraduate/agriculturalsciences-natural-resources/forensicscience/#coursestext. 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https://lincolnweather.unl.edu/july-2022-lincoln-ne-climate-data https://catalog.unl.edu/undergraduate/agricultural-sciences-natural-resources/forensic-science/#coursestext https://catalog.unl.edu/undergraduate/agricultural-sciences-natural-resources/forensic-science/#coursestext https://catalog.unl.edu/undergraduate/agricultural-sciences-natural-resources/forensic-science/#coursestext https://catalog.unl.edu/undergraduate/agricultural-sciences-natural-resources/forensic-science/#coursestext https://catalog.unl.edu/undergraduate/agricultural-sciences-natural-resources/forensic-science/#coursestext https://catalog.unl.edu/undergraduate/agricultural-sciences-natural-resources/forensic-science/#coursestext https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-013-3456-6 j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education jones meeting the standards during a global pandemic: a mixed methods study of fepac accredited forensic science educational programs sabra jones, phd 1a , ronald r. thrasher, phd 1 , b. bavette miler, phd 1 , james d. hess, phd 1 , jarrad wagner, phd 1 1 oklahoma state university, center for health sciences, tulsa, ok, usa a corresponding author:sabra@soft-tox.org abstract: introduction: standardization is used to ensure consistency and reduce variability within a given field such as forensic education. evaluating how forensic science education programs accreditation commission’s (fepac) programs met select standards during a public health crisis may help us to understand its impact. to this end, an explanatory sequential mixed methods design employing grounded theory was utilized. the purpose of this study was to evaluate fepac accredited masters’ programs and how accreditation standards were met with a focus on the effect of a global pandemic in four core areas. methods: twenty-one fepac masters’ programs were identified. qualtrics was used to collect data on core standards, followed by qualitative interviews to further expand on initial findings. interview data was analyzed with atlas.ti to identify themes in responses to questions. procedures and materials were approved by oklahoma state university institutional review board. results: of the 21 programs, 13 (~62%) of program directors completed the survey. pre-pandemic, ~77% of programs offered traditional education (core 1) with only 23% offering online courses. no programs offered online formats for more than 25% of courses. march 2020 through 2020-2021 academic year, there was variability in the number of courses offered online from 25-100% of program’s coursework. respondents indicated moving forward a decrease in in-person courses with 62% and increase in online courses at 31%. prior to march 2020, 100% specified that all laboratory courses were offered via in-person settings. following march 2020, 61% inperson, 31% hybrid, and 8% offered online laboratory courses. all (100%) responded that laboratory courses would return to be offered in-person after the pandemic. all (100%) of program directors responded that they did not lose faculty members directly due to the pandemic (core 2). professional involvement (core 3) remained relatively unchanged with slight shifts after march 2020. changes to institutional support (core 4) were identified with 54% of budgets remaining the same, 31% decreasing funding, and only 8% of programs experiencing an increase in support or were not sure (8%). post questionnaire interviews revealed overarching themes including: impact of the global pandemic, challenges, faculty and student interaction, professional involvement, perceptions of online learning, learning, and positive effects. conclusion: overall, programs experienced impacts to their course offerings (lecture and laboratory) due to the global pandemic. however, most programs returned to prepandemic approaches (i.e., in-person coursework). professional involvement for students and faculty was not significantly impacted; however, institutional support was reported to have increased or decreased for almost 39% of the programs. themes identified focused on students receiving the training and education needed for degree completion (education, professionalism, available faculty, and resources) and the challenges the pandemic had on faculty and students. keywords (audience): educators, academics, graduate keywords (domain): grounded theory, mixed methods, education research, forensic science education keywords (pedagogy): synchronous, asynchronous, traditional, hybrid, on-line key words (topics): grounded theory in education, forensic education, educational standards, global pandemic j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education jones introduction standardization is used to ensure consistency or uniformity and reduce variability within a given field. published research on forensic education effectiveness and the role standardization plays is limited (1–6). when academic programs choose to meet educational standards and be subject to oversight through accreditation, it helps to ensure that students receive a minimum level of education to reach competency within a given degree program. evaluating how forensic programs met select forensic science education programs accreditation commission’s (fepac) standards while impacted by a public health crisis may help to understand its impact, both negative and positive, to pedagogies used by these forensic programs (7). to evaluate how the targeted accredited programs met fepac standards before, during and, where applicable, after a global pandemic, an explanatory sequential mixed methods design was used (8). this design employees two distinct phases, starting with collection and analysis of quantitative data, followed by collection and analysis of data which is qualitative in nature to further expand/explain the results of the quantitative analysis (8). explanatory sequential mixed methods design has been employed in educational research (9–15). this work utilized grounded theory, which is a data driven approach to guide information collection and analysis. grounded theory has been used in qualitative research for over sixty years and in many subject areas. it has allowed researchers to “ground” their theory in data that is systematically gathered, sampled, coded, categorized, and analyzed. within stem education, programs focused on forensic science may benefit from grounded theory mixed methods research that assesses program design, content delivery, student experiences, faculty demographics, and allocated resources. with glaser and strauss’s grounded theory, the focus of analysis is determined through the research process (16). charmaz, thornberg and other researchers have explored grounded theory and note that it can aid in the development of strategies for theoretical analyses; in the generation of new concepts; contribute to the larger body of scientific knowledge; as well as help to guide policy development and practices (17–20). the purpose of this study was to evaluate fepac accredited masters’ programs and how accreditation standards were met with a focus on the effect of a global pandemic in four core areas: 1) providing inperson/traditional, distance learning/online/alternative delivery, or hybrid lecture and/or laboratory coursework (core 1), 2) composition of forensic faculty (core 2), 3) professional involvement (core 3), and 4) institutional support (core 4). these areas were chosen to assess the impact of a global pandemic on how forensic programs may have adapted to meet the select fepac educational standards. research questions employing both a grounded theory and mixed methods approach, a questionnaire of targeted fepac accredited masters’ programs was used to collect data on how programs met the select core areas identified in the standards, followed by qualitative post-questionnaire interviews to further expand on the findings of the first phase of the research project. as previously noted, the core areas to be assessed include: 1) providing in-person/traditional, distance learning/online/alternative delivery, or hybrid lecture and/or laboratory coursework (core 1), 2) composition of forensic faculty (core 2), 3) professional involvement (core 3), and 4) institutional support (core 4). it was hypothesized that there would be variability in how programs met each of the select standards. utilizing a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, a questionnaire targeted the previously mentioned core areas to gather data and identify variables on meeting educational standards (8). post-questionnaire interviews were conducted to expand on the findings. it was also hypothesized that there would be greater variability in select core areas and specifically those related to shifts in how content is delivered to students pre-, during, and post-pandemic. further, as forensic academic programs reside in both public and privately funded institutions, there may be a variable shift in institutional support which would affect programs and potentially their ability to meet educational standards. methods utilizing the fepac website (https://www.fepacedu.org/accredited-universities), accredited universities (n43) were identified (7). of these, 32 universities had accredited bachelor’s program, 21 accredited masters’ programs, with 12 having either both a bachelors/masters, more than one bachelor’s, or more than one masters programs at the time in which this study was conducted. for the purposes of this study, the 21 accredited masters’ programs were targeted. qualtrics (qualtrics, provo, ut, usa) was used to collect data on how fepac masters’ programs met the core areas identified in the standards, followed by qualitative post-survey interviews to further expand on the findings of the first phase of the research project. https://www.fepac-edu.org/accredited-universities https://www.fepac-edu.org/accredited-universities j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education jones post questionnaire interviews data analysis data collected from the qualitative post-questionnaire interviews were coded and analyzed. utilizing atlas.ti (atlas.ti version 22.2.0, berlin, germany), which is a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (caqdas), themes or patterns were identified based on responses to the instrument questions and postquestionnaire interviews. using caqdas, qualitative research can be evaluated using transcription analysis, coding, text interpretation, content analysis, grounded theory methodology and more (21–23). to further explore the data, descriptive statistics were identified to evaluate sample characteristics. institutional review board approval all procedures and materials were approved by oklahoma state university institutional review board (stillwater, ok). the solicitation process lasted from april 4 th through june 6 th , 2022, and included in-person solicitations, email, and phone/video calls to generate interest from the 21 fepac accredited masters’ programs. ethical considerations respondent anonymity was ensured both with the instrument design and in the post-questionnaire interviews. oklahoma state university, center for health sciences fepac accredited forensic sciences master’s program was not included due the authors’ affiliation to the university. the corresponding author was previously associated with an additional fepac accredited master’s program. results and discussion of the 21 fepac-accredited forensic science master’s programs in which the instrument was sent, 13 (~62%) program directors completed the survey. questions for instrument 1. prior to march 2020, did the academic program routinely/typically offer distance learning/online/ alternative delivery options for required lecture coursework (core 1)? a. no, all course work was offered in a traditional/in-person classroom. b. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for up to 25% of course work. c. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for up to 50% of course work. d. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for up to 75% of course work. e. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for 100% of course work. 2. after march 2020, through the 2020-2021 academic year, did the academic program offer distance learning/online/alternative delivery options for required lecture coursework (core 1)? a. no, all course work was offered in a traditional/in-person classroom. b. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for up to 25% of course work. c. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for up to 50% of course work. d. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for up to 75% of course work. e. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for 100% of course work. 3. does the academic program plan to continue offering distance learning/online/alternative delivery options for lecture coursework going forward (core 1)? a. no, all course work will be offered in a traditional/in-person classroom. b. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery will be offered for up to 25% of course work. c. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery will be offered for up to 50% of course work. d. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery will be offered for up to 75% of course work. e. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery will be offered for 100% of course work. 1 4. prior to march 2020, did the academic program routinely/typically offer distance learning/online/ alternative delivery options for laboratory coursework (core 1)? a. no, all course work was offered in a traditional/in-person laboratory setting. b. no or not applicable (laboratory courses were not offered) j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education jones c. yes, a hybrid approach was utilized where any pre-laboratory lecture material was offered in distance learning/online/alternative delivery, however the laboratory exercises were conducted in-person or in a traditional laboratory setting. d. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for up to 25% of laboratory course work. e. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for up to 50% of laboratory course work. f. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for up to 75% of laboratory course work. g. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for 100% of laboratory course work. 5. after march 2020 through the 2020-2021 academic year, did the academic program offer distance learning/online/alternative delivery options for laboratory coursework (core 1)? a. no, all course work was offered in a traditional/in-person laboratory setting. b. no or not applicable (laboratory courses are not offered). c. yes, a hybrid approach was utilized where any pre-laboratory lecture material was offered in distance learning/online/alternative delivery, however the laboratory exercises were conducted in-person or in a traditional laboratory setting. d. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for up to 25% of laboratory course work. e. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for up to 50% of laboratory course work. f. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for up to 75% of laboratory course work. g. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery were offered for 100% of laboratory course work. h. normally offered laboratory coursework was not offered during this time period. 6. does the academic program plan to continuing to offer distance learning/online/alternative delivery options for laboratory coursework (core 1)? a. no, all course work will be offered in a traditional/in-person laboratory setting. b. no or not applicable (laboratory courses are not offered). c. yes, a hybrid approach will be utilized where any pre-laboratory lecture material was offered in distance learning/online/alternative delivery, however the laboratory exercises were conducted in-person or in a traditional laboratory setting. d. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery will be offered for up to 25% of laboratory course work. e. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery will be offered for up to 50% of laboratory course work. f. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery will be offered for up to 75% of laboratory course work. g. yes, online courses/distance learning/ alternative delivery will be offered for 100% of laboratory course work. 7. did the composition of faculty members of the forensic program change due to the global pandemic (core 2)? (select all options that apply) a. yes, faculty members of the forensic program voluntarily left their positions. b. yes, faculty members of the forensic program non-voluntarily (i.e., reduction in staff, lack of students, etc.) left their positions. c. no, no change to the composition of the faculty members in the forensic program. 8. prior to march 2020, how did the program meet the fepac requirement for professional involvement during to the global pandemic (core 3)? (multiple option responses, respondent asked to select all options that apply): a. members of local forensic organizations interact directly with the academic program (select all options that apply): i. provide internships ii. serve on graduate research committees iii. teach as adjunct faculty iv. serve in an advisory role to the program(s) v. other (text box for open response) b. full-time faculty serve on state, city, county, or federal forensic oversight boards. c. full-time faculty recruit research committee members/advisors or collaborators from local/national/international forensic laboratories/ organizations. d. full-time faculty serve within professional organizations directly related to forensic science (i.e., aafs, name, soft, iai, iact, tiaft, iafs, cofse, regional professional forensic organizations, etc.). e. full-time faculty serve on standards development organizations directly related to forensic science (i.e., osac, asb, astm, etc.) j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education jones f. full-time faculty serve on forensic certification or accreditation boards, committees or as assessors (abc, abft, fepac, etc.). g. other (text box for open response). 9. after march 2020 through the 2020-2021 academic year, how did the program meet the fepac requirement for professional involvement during to the global pandemic (core 3)? (multiple option responses, respondent asked to select all options that apply): a. members of local forensic organizations interact directly with the academic program (select all options that apply): i. provide internships ii. serve on graduate research committees iii. teach as adjunct faculty iv. serve in an advisory role to the program(s) v. other (text box for open response) b. full-time faculty serve on state, city, county, or federal forensic oversight boards. c. full-time faculty recruit research committee members/advisors or collaborators from local/national/international forensic laboratories/ organizations. d. full-time faculty serve within professional organizations directly related to forensic science (i.e., aafs, name, soft, iai, iact, tiaft, iafs, cofse, regional professional forensic organizations, etc.). e. full-time faculty serve on standards development organizations directly related to forensic science (i.e., osac, asb, astm, etc.) f. full-time faculty serve on forensic certification or accreditation boards, committees or as assessors (abc, abft, fepac, etc.). g. other (text box for open response). 10. was the institutional support provided to the program changed due to the global pandemic (core 4)? (multiple option responses, respondent asked to select all options that apply): a. yes, the program budget increased, or supplemental funds were provided by the institution, due to the global pandemic (i.e., increased due to required supplies, social distancing, or other needs of the program to carry out the required course work, etc.). b. yes, the program budget decreased, or typical funds provided by the institution was not allocated, due to the global pandemic (i.e., loss of students and associated tuition, loss of grant funding, etc.). c. yes, additional space was provided to the program to help carry out course work with a consideration to public health concerns and social distancing. d. no, the program budget, funding, or space was unchanged. e. not sure. core 1-instument results in evaluating how accreditation standards were met with a focus on the effect of a global pandemic in four core areas, as previously noted, core 1 focused on how educational content was provided to students. this included in-person/traditional, distance learning/online/ alternative delivery, or hybrid lecture and/or laboratory coursework (core 1). prior to march 2020, of the programs that responded to the survey, labeled as question (q) 1, core 1, ~77% of programs offered traditional/in-person classroom-based education with only 23% offering online courses/distance learning/alternative delivery were offered for up to 25% of course work (figure 1). no program offered non-traditional coursework for more than 25% of their program coursework. after march 2020, through the 2020-2021 academic year, which was at the height of the global pandemic, only one program (~8%) offered all lecture course work inperson. figure 1 shows the responses for what percentages of courses were offered online or other alternative delivery format as well as a comparison with pre-pandemic offerings (qs.1-2, core 1). figure 1 fepac program responses for what percentages of lecture courses were offered online or another alternative delivery formats after march 2020, through the 2020-2021 academic year as well as a comparison from pre-pandemic delivery (qs.1-2, core 1). program directors were asked to determine if the academic program plan to continue offering distance learning/online/alternative delivery options for lecture coursework. the results can be viewed in figure 2. ~ 62% ~ 31% j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education jones figure 2 fepac program responses for what percentages of lecture courses will continue to be offered online or another alternative delivery formats after the 2020-2021 academic year (q.3, core 1). forensic science and its sub-disciplines are characterized as hands-on careers, therefore academic programs offer laboratory courses focused on providing the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform these roles. program directors were asked if prior to march 2020 if the fepac-accredited academic program routinely offered distance learning/online/alternative delivery options for laboratory coursework (q. 4, core 1). all program directors (100%) specified that all laboratory courses were offered in a traditional/in-person laboratory setting. to prevent the spread of disease, universities and colleges were faced with determining how many individuals could safely be in one confined space and reduce the risk of exposure. laboratory courses which require adequate space to perform hands-on activities while still maintaining safe distances can be very challenging to hold at the needed enrollment capacities to accommodate the students and ensure they meet the program as well as fepac requirements. therefore, program directors were asked if after march 2020 through the 2020-2021 academic year, if the academic program offered distance learning/online/alternative delivery options for laboratory coursework (q.5, core 1). the results can be viewed in figure 3. figure 3 fepac program responses for what percentages of laboratory courses were offered in-person, online/alternative delivery, or in a hybrid format after march 2022 and during the 2020-2021 academic year (q.5, core 1). program directors were asked if their academic program plans to continue to offer distance learning/online/alternative delivery options for laboratory coursework (q. 6, core 1). all (100%) responded that their programs would only offer traditional/in-person laboratory courses. core 2-instument results to better understand the impact of the global pandemic on staffing, core 2 evaluated the composition of forensic faculty and if those programs lost faculty members (q7, core 2). all (100%) of program directors responded that they did not lose faculty members directly due to the pandemic. core 3-instument results to understand how academic programs, faculty, and students, achieved the fepac standard for professional involvement, program directors were provided a list of activities that faculty members and students may have been involved in (q.8, core 3, figure 4). respondents were also provided an option to share other activities. it was noted that faculty were engaged in professional initiatives including grant reviewers, journal editorial boards, and the innocence project. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education jones figure 4 fepac program responses to how faculty within the program and students met the fepac standard for professional involvement (q.8, core 3). at the height of the pandemic and through the following school year (march 2020 through 2020-2021 academic year) with the limitations in travel and in-person meetings, program directors were asked about their program’s professional involvement (q.9, core 3), questions on how the global pandemic affected the program and their student’s ability for professional engagement if at all, were asked (figure 5). figure 5 fepac program responses how the global pandemic affected the program and their student’s ability for professional engagement after march 2020 through 2020-2021 academic year (q.9, core 3) as well as comparison from pre-pandemic involvement. core 4-instument results the economic effects of the global pandemic are not fully understood, and it may be some years before we fully appreciate the shortand long-term effects, therefore program directors were asked if the program’s budgets were altered due to the pandemic (figure 6, q.10, core 4). figure 6 fepac program responses to how the global pandemic affected the program’s institutional support (q.10, core 4). forensic academic programs reside in both public and privately funded institutions. institutional support, either directly or indirectly, may affect programs differently, with some being fully tuition funded and others dependent on grant funding to support student and faculty research. funding variability and institutional support may also relate to other select core areas assessed such as the composition of forensic program faculty members as well as the ability to meet the standards regarding professional involvement. post-questionnaire interviews following the administration of the instrument to collect the before mentioned data, each response was evaluated for completeness, and postquestionnaire interviews were conducted. these interviews were conducted with program directors. of the 21 fepac accredited forensic science maters programs, 7 (33%) program directors took part in the one-on-one interviews. conducting this qualitative data collection helped in the interpretation of participant responses to the instrument, as well as explain or describe variations in responses to the same question. the qualitative post-questionnaire interviews were evaluated, transcribed, and then coded. follow-up questions and associated core areas core 1 1. can you provide additional details as to why core courses were not offered by distance learning prior to march 2020? 2. are courses outside the program offered by distance learning/online/alternative delivery options? j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education jones 3. does the program or university have the technology to support distance learning/online/alternative delivery options? 3. is distance learning/online/alternative delivery options as effective as in-person teaching? 4. did students find distance learning/online/alternative delivery options as effective as in-person teaching? 5. did the program consider offering distance learning/online/alternative delivery options for laboratory courses? if so, what were some of the barriers to offering distance learning/online/alternative delivery options for laboratory courses? core 2 1. if faculty members left voluntarily, did they do so to continue teaching at another institution or take on a position in a forensic organization? 2. if faculty member(s) left non-voluntarily, did they do so due to faculty cuts or lack of funding? 3. if faculty members left voluntarily, did they do so due to medical issues related to the global pandemic? core 3 1. did program requirements change to meet the fepac professional involvement requirement? 2. did any students take part in an on-line or remote internship program? 3. was there any change to how local forensic organizations interacted with the forensic program during the global pandemic? 4. were there any benefits seen during or due to the global pandemic? for example, where members of forensic organizations in more of a position to interact with the academic program as they had more available time to do so? or did faculty members have an opportunity to work with collaborators they normally would not have the opportunity to do so, such as those outside of the united states? core 4 1. if you answered yes to a program budget increase or decrease can you elaborate on why this occurred? 2. if additional space was offered to carry out teaching and/or research objectives due to the global pandemic, did this additional space remain with the program after capacity restrictions were removed-if they have been lifted? 3. if the program budget was not affected, do you believe that the academic program suffered due to the global pandemic and meeting the fepac standard for institutional support? post questionnaire interviews results and discussion codes identified upon transcribing the interviews, these were imported into atlas.ti along with the video recordings. transcripts were reviewed for accuracy. after completion of coding, the frequency of each code was evaluated. if a code was not used, it was deleted. codes with only one or two occurrences were evaluated and merged, if possible, with a similar code resulting in an initial 40 codes (n40). all codes were further evaluated to ensure uniqueness, merged, if necessary, with a result of 33 (n33) final codes for data analysis as can be seen in figure 7. figure 7 finalized codes for data analysis. (created using simplemind, version 1.32.0). codes were evaluated for overarching themes and included: impact of the global pandemic, challenges, faculty and student interaction, professional involvement, learning, perceptions of on-line learning, and positive effects. subcategories within these themes are described and occurrences. it should be noted that themes are connected not only under overarching topics, but also between main ideas. figure 8 demonstrates the code cloud with the size of each word indicating the frequency of occurrences, i.e., increasing text size representing increase in frequency and vice versa. the following sections outline the total number of occurrences of the over-arching theme, as well as individual instances of subtopics. j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education jones figure 8 code cloud indicating frequency of codes with the increasing text size representing increase in occurrences (created using atlas.ti, version 22.2.0). impact of the global pandemic as the focus of this research is the impact of the global pandemic, or covid-19 (which was the term most often used in the interview process), had on meeting select fepac standards, it is not surprising that the topic would be discussed during the interview process. there was a total of 38 occurrences on the impact of the global pandemic, with transmission of covid-19 and steps taken to prevent the spread of the virus communicated five (15%) times. there were six (18%) instances regarding that the faculty remained the same or that a hiring freeze was put in place. three (9%) instances where the reduction in student enrollment occurred. university administration and institutional support was discussed in seven (21%) occurrences, with resources, including reduction in resources, discussed 17 (52%) times, by far the most often noted within the impact of the global pandemic theme. challenges there were 77 occurrences where codes involving challenges were discussed. it is not surprising that challenges with space, technology, and dedicated classrooms for the academic programs were noted and occurred 11 (33%) times. traditional faculty lacking abilities to carry out on-line courses and on-line course design-10 (30%), student experience with professional involvement-6 (18%), lost staff or faculty not due to covid-6 (18%), available time-17 (52%), professional involvement decreased-8 (24%), and the most often occurring topics being negative student experience or missed opportunities with 19 (58%) instances. faculty and student interaction a key component of successful graduate education is faculty and student interaction. there were 56 instances where codes involving these interactions were discussed. the occurrences included the programs’ ability to provide unique education experiences or value of educational experience 9 (27%), stress due to covid and/or disconnection between students and faculty 15 (45%), as well as importance of small class size to allow schedules to be restructured for in person experiences 10 (30%). there were 22 (67%) occurrences that included topics regarding one-on-one interactions, hands-on experience, as well as how these factors had no impact on meeting fepac standards. professional involvement as previously noted, to understand how academic programs, faculty, and students achieved the fepac standard for professional involvement, program directors were provided a list of activities that faculty members and students may have been involved in. there were 34 occurrences of codes involving professional involvement. during the interview process, topics were identified including alternative involvement with forensic labs and alumni engagement 15 (45%), decrease in internships 7 (21%), local forensic labs/organizations continue to support programs during a global pandemic 7 (21%), and virtual seminars 5 (15%). learning as the topic of this research is education, specifically educational standards, it is expected that codes related to learning (51 occurrences) and how courses were offered would be identified including synchronous 7 (21%), traditional/in-person courses only offered 8 (24%), and hybrid 12 (36%) approaches. offering on-line laboratory recordings for technology demonstrations had 7 (21%) occurrences. when asked if the programs had technology for on-line learning (available technology to support online learning or provide asynchronous education) there were 17 (52%) instances that the programs did feel they had it available. perceptions of on-line learning to gather more details on perceptions of on-line learning (43 occurrences) and if those may have impacted the approach taken to deliver course content prior to, during and after the height of the global pandemic questions were asked to derive more details. it was noted in 18 (55%) occurrences that program directors of fepac accredited master’s programs that in-person education is more effective than on-line courses. when asked, offering j forensic sci educ 2023, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education jones online courses in fepac program occurred for non-major coursework and when noted, that they felt their institutions were on par with national average 11 (33%) for on-line learning. finally, in 14 (42%) occurrences, program directors felt that on-line learning had a place in academic institutions, or it was viewed as effective as inperson learning for certain coursework or academic disciplines. in addition to available technology or faculty trained in on-line pedagogies, there are other possible reasons for not offering courses in non-traditional formats. as noted, the beliefs that in-person education is more effective or reluctance for institutions to adopt on-line learning due to loss of funding that comes with traditional programs (i.e., housing/food/tuition dollars) may also be reasons to consider. positive effects challenges, stress, disconnection between students and faculty, and other negative effects were experienced during and continue to be felt after the height of the global pandemic, however there were unanticipated positive effects (57 occurrences) including 25 (76%) instances of positive student experiences, 11 (33%) of innovative teaching and accommodating different learning styles, 10 (30%) of positive faculty experience, and 11 (33%) of professional involvement increases and instilling professional behavior. conferences, seminars and/or other forms of virtual continuing education were noted in professional involvement and behavior where students and faculty could attend and/or participate without the burden of travel costs. virtual seminars and engaging alumni were another added benefit where programs began to recruit seminar presenters from outside their geographical location and invite graduates of the program to these events. limitations as previously mentioned there may be variability in how accredited forensic programs meet the fepac standards. currently, there is only one accreditation program that is specific to forensic science education in the united states with only 32 accredited forensic programs, and only 21 accredited masters’ programs. per the national center for education statistics (2019) there are approximately 3,000 four-year colleges in the united states (24). therefore, the number of accredited forensic education programs is an extremely small number (~1%) relative to the number of total programs. further, although forensic organizations may require that applicants’ degrees are obtained from accredited universities/colleges, they may not specify that they are fepac accredited. through the council of forensic science educators (cofse), committee members have captured forensic science programs in the united states (as of february 2019) and provided this to cofse members. this list includes over 350 bachelors and masters’ programs related to forensic science education (25). therefore, fepac accredited programs only account for ~9% of all forensic related educational programs. conclusion overall fepac accredited programs experienced impacts to their course offerings (lecture and laboratory) due to the global pandemic. for lecture-based courses, there was a shift from traditional to on-line courses, even following the height of the pandemic. however, all programs returned to pre-pandemic approaches such as offering traditional in-person laboratory-based courses. professional involvement for students and faculty was not significantly impacted and in some cases were positively affected. however, institutional support was reported to have increased or decreased for almost 39% of the programs. themes identified focused on students receiving the training and education needed for degree completion (education, professionalism, available faculty, and resources) and the challenges, such as missed opportunities, the pandemic had on faculty and students. acknowledgements the corresponding author would 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generation, refinement and testing. int j soc res methodol 2021;24(1). 24. national center for education statistics. national center for education statistics. digest of education statistics. 2020. 25. cofse (council of forensic science educators). www.cofse.org. https://www.fepac-edu.org/sites/default/files/fepac%20standards%2002152020.pdf https://www.fepac-edu.org/sites/default/files/fepac%20standards%2002152020.pdf https://www.fepac-edu.org/sites/default/files/fepac%20standards%2002152020.pdf file://///catalog.hathitrust.org/record/000003666 http://www.cofse.org/ j forensic sci educ 2022, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education stacey a review of forensic science peer-reviewed primary literature: a guide for students and professionals catherine stacey 1 , sateedrah beckwith 1 , alexandra kuchinos 1 , aubrey shanahan 1 , mia fabbri 1 , caitlyn kresge 1 , kelsey patterson 1 , nyla ngegba 1 , brittany claassen 1 , morgan maddock 1 , kelly reading 1 , lawrence quarino 1* 1 department of chemical, physical, and forensic sciences, cedar crest college, 100 college drive, allentown, pa 18104 *corresponding author: laquarin@cedarcrest.edu abstract: the paper reviews fifty-three forensic science peer-reviewed journals based on several factors including cost to publish, cost to access, impact factor, indexing, frequency of publication, acceptance rate, affiliation, publisher, content, geography, and years of circulation. journals considered to be predatory were not considered. the findings of this review indicate that costs can be problematic for those seeking access, in addition to a lack of information that may make it uncertain which journals are best to access depending on need. furthermore, many forensic specialties are underrepresented across forensic science journals. many of the journals identified for this review originated in north america and europe, showing a geographical skew in widely available forensic information. forensic professionals, students, and others associated with the field must consider the interrelationship between these various factors and their relative significance to better understand the lack of access to published research. keywords: forensic science primary literature, access, forensic science education introduction the accessibility of forensic science primary literature is an ongoing concern in the discipline, as the published research is often not easily accessible to those who might benefit most from it. groups of interest include but are not limited to forensic professionals both within and independent from laboratories, students, and educational institutions. various factors can influence the general availability of a journal, with barriers both financial and otherwise. the intersection of these barriers is reviewed and described in the context of costs to publish and access, impact factor, indexing, frequency of publication, acceptance rate, affiliation, publisher, content, geography, and age across fifty-three selected journals (table 1). some journals are not forensic science specific journals per se but rather have a history of publications with a forensic science application (i.e. croatian medical journal, plos one, the microscope). emails were sent to publishers and editors in an attempt to ascertain information with varying degrees of response and disclosure. table 1 list of surveyed journals with publisher. academic forensic pathology (sage) american journal of forensic pathology and medicine (wolterskluwer) arab journal of forensic sciences and forensic medicine (naif arab university) association for crime scene reconstruction journal: the scene (association for crime scene reconstruction) australian journal of forensic sciences (taylor and francis) brazilian journal of forensic sciences, medical law, and bioethics (instituto paulista de estudos bioéticos e jurídicos) canadian society of forensic science journal (taylor and francis) croatian medical journal (dna only) (medicinska naklada) drug testing and analysis (wiley) egyptian journal of forensic sciences (springer open) environmental forensics (taylor and francis) forensic chemistry (elsevier) forensic genomics (mary ann liebert) forensic imaging (elsevier) forensic science international (elsevier) forensic science international: animals and environments (elsevier) forensic science international: digital j forensic sci educ 2022, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education stacey investigation (elsevier) forensic science international: genetics (elsevier) forensic science international: genetics supplement series (elsevier) forensic science international: mind and law (elsevier) forensic science international: reports (elsevier) forensic science international: synergy (elsevier) forensic science journal (department of forensic science central police university, taiwan) forensic sciences research (taylor and francis) forensic science review (central police university press) forensic science, medicine and pathology (springer) forensic sciences (mdpi) forensic toxicology (springer) international journal of legal medicine (springer) journal of american society of questioned document examiners (american society of questioned document examiners) journal of american society of trace evidence examiners (american society of trace evidence examiners) journal of analytical toxicology (oxford) journal of bloodstain pattern analysis (international association of bloodstain pattern analysts) journal of firearms and tool mark examiners (association of firearms and toolmark examiners) journal of forensic and legal medicine (elsevier) journal of forensic document examination (association of forensic document examiners) journal of forensic identification (international association for identification) journal of forensic nursing (wolterskluwer) journal of forensic science education (texas digital library) journal of forensic sciences (wiley) journal of the national academy of forensic engineers (national academy of forensic engineers) legal medicine (elsevier) malaysian journal of forensic science (universiti sains malaysia, kubang kerian) medicine, science and the law (sage) microgram journal (drug enforcement agency) (defunct) plos one (dna only) (library of science) problems of forensic science (publishing house of the institute of forensic expertise) romanian journal of legal medicine (ulrichsweb.com) scandinavian journal of forensic science (walter de gruyter) science and justice (elsevier) spanish journal of legal medicine (elsevier) the microscope (mccrone research institute) wires forensic science (wiley) cost is a primary concern for many interested parties when it comes to considering journal access and submission. when publishing an article, the cost to the submitting author is not necessarily clear or easy to locate. however, the cost is typically a direct result of author’s choice for their article to be open access, or if the journal itself is a completely open access journal. the responsibility for paying for open access or other publication fees lies with the author and/or their research funder. if authors do not wish to pay these publication fees or have the resources to do so, they can also go the route of having the subscribers pay for access to the articles. this leads to considering how much the subscriber would have to pay in order to access these published works. the cost to access published articles can be a frustrating process for potential readers when articles have not been made open access by their authors and may prove unaffordable for interested parties with fewer monetary resources. journals that do not offer open access or are hybrid often require a fee for access to a journal article. access is typically cost per article and is often time limited. frequently discussed in the realm of academic publishing is a journal’s impact factor. the concept of an impact factor (if) was first developed in the 1950s by dr. eugene garfield and irving h sher (1). the metric they created, also known as journal impact factor (jif), involves determining the number of citations articles published within the last two years received, and dividing it by the total number of articles published in the journal during those two years. by creating such a metric, dr. garfield wanted to assist the scientific community in better comparing journals, as simply relying on how many articles a journal publishes per year might cause smaller journals to be overlooked or perceived as less important. j forensic sci educ 2022, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education stacey impact factors are published by clarivate in their journal citation reports (jcr). unfortunately, this is a paid service, so official impact factors are inaccessible for anyone who has not paid the fee. since accessibility is a central concept of this paper, it will be more appropriate to use an open access alternative to the impact factor. some journals disclose an impact factor on their website. alternatively, impact factors are freely reported by resurchify and are generated based on the yearly average number of citations to recent articles published in that journal. rescuchify uses scopus as its source database (2). a crucial issue in considering journal accessibility is indexing, defined as a group of items pulled together with a purpose. in the context of journals, this refers to a system of organization by subject, discipline, or type of publication in a database for reader access. for a journal to be indexed, it must generally be vetted to be included in that particular database (3). thus, it is the general consideration that journals which are indexed frequently in reputable places are also reputable themselves. that is to say that indexed journals are considered of higher quality than journals that are not indexed, regardless of any other factors which may qualify the journal as one of value (4). selecting where a journal is indexed will influence the overall accessibility of a journal, meaning that wherever it is databased will affect who may have access to that journal or the articles within. another factor which may be considered when submitting to a scientific journal is the acceptance rate. this value corresponds to the number of publications by a journal versus their total volume of submissions. this figure provides insight as to journal’s selectivity and may influence interested authors who are seeking to publish. the acceptance rate for a journal may be reported on a journal’s website, but in some cases the editor-in-chief must be directly contacted to request the most accurate value. journals may not always be willing to disclose this information or may not be able to. comparison of acceptance rates among forensic journals is essentially idle and additional elements must be taken into account such as the scope and size of the journal as well as the time frame from which the rate was concluded. the acceptance rate for a journal with a high volume of submissions and broad scope cannot be directly compared to one reported by a discipline specific, low volume journal. therefore, evaluation of these rates must be cautiously approached with these considerations in mind. the publication frequency refers to the schedule upon which a journal publishes, whether that be annually, monthly, or otherwise. this can vary from journal to journal, based on their own procedures. the amount of publications output in a year and the rate at which they are distributed can affect the total visibility of the journal. this may result in a lack of accessibility if the volume of their publications is not such that they achieve high metrics in citation and thus impact factor. furthermore, those journals which publish more often may only cover specific topics not applicable to all parties of interest within the field. the publisher of a journal may also affect the relative accessibility of research to the forensic audience at large. the notoriety or size of the publisher may become particularly salient when the journal is known for its prevalence with scientific publishing, thus affecting the perceived value of all journals associated with it. accessibility must also be considered in light of the affiliation of the journal, given that the journal has organizational ties. just as prestige exists with wellestablished publishers, so does it exist with notable organizations in the field such as national and international academies of forensic scientists. membership to these organizations may provide access to content that is otherwise unattainable to the forensic community at large. in any science, existing knowledge and techniques must be presented to peers within the field, identifying gaps which need to be addressed. one way for the forensic science community to access these developments is to access different forensic science related journals with various content coverage (5). within the broader field of forensics, however, lies many subdisciplines with specific needs, and the content that is suitable and relevant to a forensic drug chemist may be of little practical value to an entomologist. broad accessibility of contemporary forensic research within these journals is advantageous for the evolution of the field. it is also important for each discipline within the field to have that same amount of access, and therefore would require a proportionate number of publications per discipline. ideally, the content throughout forensic science journals should be of high quality and equally representative of the reported scope of the journal. the quality of content is essential as there is a potential to use such information as supporting evidence in court (5). the article content, however, is driven by the need for research and interest in certain disciplines. in this study, the content per discipline is evaluated and compared to the scope of the journal in which it was published in. this evaluation exposes the gaps within published research of certain disciplines of forensic science as well as the trends observed throughout the fifty-three journals reviewed. additionally, the comparison of publications in 2018 versus 2021 will also display trends and shifts within the focus of forensic science research. forensic science journals are produced and published all over the world. establishing where journals have been published allows scientists to learn about how different countries and continents are performing forensic science research. the authors of this review conjectured that geography may affect the retrieval of articles due to the presence of localized databases, affiliations, and resources j forensic sci educ 2022, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education stacey respective to overseas publications. digital access alleviates some of this concern in that interested parties can theoretically gain information from articles outside of their continent of residence with ease. the reality, however, may involve unforeseen barriers that can skew the relative accessibility of literature in the field to different parties globally. the year that each journal published its first volume was determined for all fifty-three journals included in this review. forensic science as a discipline has existed for some time, but has changed drastically since the first journal was published. the focus has shifted primarily from law to science, as the origin of the term forensics itself has its roots in the term forum, the equivalent of a modern court in ancient rome (6). speaking explicitly on age and accessibility, some journals were found to not have online archives for their older publications. for example, the earliest volume of forensic toxicology readily available online is volume 24, published in 2006 (7). however, the international journal of legal medicine has all 136 volumes available from 1922 to 2022 (8). the transition from traditional print publishing to online journal archives may, then, have resulted in the loss of some publications from public view. methods the majority of the information described in this review was obtained directly from the websites of the journals included. the acceptance rates of the journals were obtained by emailing the editors and asking them directly for the information. for those who responded (thirteen were willing to share information by email), editors would self-report the number based on the number of submissions the journal receives versus the number accepted for publication within the same time period. for the content section, categories of content were assigned to articles from 2018 and 2021 for each journal and compared to the general topics reported in the scope of the journal. each article was placed into its respective category based on examination of the titles and abstracts. impact factors were retrieved the journal website if reported. if not reported, impact factors were retrieved from resurchify if available. for indexing, categories were defined as high indexed, moderate indexed, low indexed, or not indexed. those considered high indexed were found in seven or more databases while journals within the moderate indexed category were found in four to six. any found in one to three databases were classified as low indexed. journals were placed in the not indexed category if an index or abstracting service could not be identified. results and discussion cost to access and publish the fifty-three journals examined in the study fall into one of four categories: hybrid, open access with publication fees, open access without publication fees, and non-open access. many journals are considered hybrid, which means that articles can be accessed either through open access (paid by the author) or are available through subscription or “pay per article or issue” by the reader (table 2a). hybrid journals do not require publication fees from authors if they cannot or are unwilling to pay the open access fee. open access fees range in the thousands of dollars with drug analysis and testing having the highest fess at $4,700 usd (9). access per issue or article is sometimes time limited. articles are always freely available from open access journals but authors typically are required to pay for what amounts to a publication fee (table 2b). some open access journals do not require open access or publication fees from authors (table 2c). typically, these journals are not affiliated with any major publishing company. nonopen access journals require either a subscription and or offer access through pay for article or issue (table 2d). journals that are discipline-specific (e.g. bloodstain patterns, document examination) typically are found in the latter two categories. table 2a hybrid journals (monetary values are usd). journal cost to access cost for open access american journal of forensic pathology and medicine $47/article purchase $2445-3010 australian journal of forensic sciences $55/48 hour access; $184 issue/30 days access $3400 canadian society of forensic science journal $55/48 hour access; $89 issue/30 day access $3085 drug testing and analysis $15/48 hour access; $25/unlimited access $4700 environmental forensics $55/48 hour access $3400 forensic chemistry $25/95/article purchase $3430 forensic genomics $51/24 hour access $3600 forensic imaging $24.95/48 hour access $2500 forensic science international $37.95/article purchase $3710 forensic science international: digital investigation $24/95/article purchase $2750 forensic science international: genetics $24.95/24 hour access $4530 forensic science, medicine and pathology $39.95/article purchase $4190 j forensic sci educ 2022, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education stacey forensic toxicology $39.95/article purchase $4190 international journal of legal medicine $39.95/article purchase $4190 journal of analytical toxicology $40/24 hour access $4416 journal of forensic and legal medicine $27.95/article purchase $3540 journal of forensic nursing $47/article purchase $2545-3010 journal of forensic sciences $12/48 hour access, $48/article purchase $4000 legal medicine $24.95/article purchase $3000 science and justice $27.95/48 hour access per article $3610 spanish journal of legal medicine $24.95/48 hour access $700-2100 table 2b open access journals with publication fees (monetary values are usd except for rjlm). jjournal publication fee forensic science international: animals and environments $1700 forensic science international: genetics supplement series $3090 forensic science international: mind and law $1700 forensic science international: reports $650 forensic science international: synergy $1700 forensic sciences research $1500 forensic sciences $2068 plos one (dna only) $800-1805 romanian journal of legal medicine (rjlm) $300 euros wires forensic science $4300 table 2c open access journals without publication fee. arab journal of forensic sciences and forensic medicine association for crime scene reconstruction journal: the scene brazilian journal of forensic sciences, medical law, and bioethics croatian medical journal (dna only) egyptian journal of forensic sciences forensic science journal (taiwan) journal of american society of trace evidence examiners journal of bloodstain pattern analysis journal of forensic science education journal of the national academy of forensic engineers malaysian journal of forensic science microgram journal (defunct) problems of forensic science scandinavian journal of forensic science table 2d non-open access journals. journal cost to access academic forensic pathology $41/24 hour access forensic science review $30/article student $60/article individual; $80/article institution journal of american society of questioned document examiners $95 yearly subscription (on-line), $165 (print) journal of firearms and tool mark examiners (afte) $150 annual subscription (on-line of print); $50/issue journal of forensic document examination issue purchase $27.95-60 journal of forensic identification $205 yearly subscription medicine, science, and the law $41.50/24 hour access per article; $285.5/ 24 hour access for issue the microscope $66/annual subscription impact factor and acceptance rate of the fifty-three journals chosen for this paper, impact factors could only be located for twenty-eight of them through self-reporting on journal websites or through resurchify (table 3). although the importance of impact factors is often in dispute (10), it is likely that professionals and students seeking information on a topic and more likely to find articles on the subject from journals with high impact factors particularly if looking through reference lists on publications. acceptance rates and impact factors appear not to be linked thus limiting the determination of quality based on impact factor. some journals with higher impact factors (e.g. forensic chemistry, forensic sciences research, journal of analytical toxicology) (11-13) have higher acceptance rates than some journals with lower impact factors (e.g. australian journal of forensic science, canadian journal of forensic science) (14-15). many journals were unwilling to disclose or did not know their acceptance rates. some journals factor in author withdrawals or incomplete submissions in the calculation of acceptance rate. j forensic sci educ 2022, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education stacey table 3 journals ranked by impact factor. jjournal impact factor acceptance rate (%) forensic science international:genetics 4.88 nr forensic science research 3.79 39 plos one 3.58 nr journal of analytical toxicology 3.36 41 drug testing and analysis 3.26 nr international journal of legal medicine 2.79 nr forensic chemistry 2.67 50 forensic science international” genetics supplement series 2.67 100* forensic toxicology 2.54 35 forensic science, medicine, and pathology 2.45 35 forensic science international 2.39 27 forensic science international: synergy 2.04 nr legal medicine 2.02 28 science and justice 1.99 30 journal of forensic sciences 1.83 nr forensic science international: digital investigation 1.81 26 croatian medical journal 1.64 nr journal of forensic and legal medicine 1.61 20 environmental forensics 1.33 nr forensic science international: mind and law 1.31 nr medicine, science and the law 1.26 nr australian journal of forensic sciences 1.17 23 forensic science review 1.10 100* forensic imaging 1.05 nr journal of forensic nursing 0.89 52 forensic science international: reports 0.88 nr egyptian journal of forensic sciences 0.87 nr journal of forensic identification 0.45 nr canadian society of forensic science journal 0.40 25 romanian journal of legal medicine 0.26 nr academic forensic pathology 0.24 nr journal of forensic document 0.13 nr examination journal of firearms and toolmark examiners 0.03 nr scandinavian journal of forensic science nr 70 journal of national academy of forensic engineers nr 40 spanish journal of legal medicine nr 45 journal of american society of questioned document examiners nr 50 brazilian journal of forensic sciences, medical law, and bioethics nr 68 problems of forensic science nr 68 forensic genomics nr 70 journal of forensic science education nr 94 the microscope nr 90 forensic science international: animals and environments nr nr forensic sciences nr nr journal of bloodstain pattern analysis nr nr *forensic science review and forensic science international: genetics supplement series is by invitation to publish nr=not reported indexing and abstracting indexing and abstracting in various searchable databases allows for the student and professional to locate articles on a particular subject. the greater the amount of indexing, the greater the likelihood of finding a particular article. across the fifty-three journals examined for this study, indexing varied widely. for reporting purposes, journals as defined as high indexed, moderate indexed, and low indexed based upon the number of databases indexing articles from each journal. in most cases, indexing and abstracting are listed on each journal’s website. for those that are not, the authors attempted to locate articles from these journals in accessible databases (the authors recognize that some journals may be in databases that the authors just did not find). it is important to note that the indexing classifications do not refer to the quality or relative usage of these databases, only to the number. additionally, there is a separate category for those journals whose articles are only available on their own exclusive website, a category that seven journals surveyed for this study belong to. as shown in table 4, eleven journals were found to be in the high index category, fourteen belong to the moderate index category, and twenty-one were found to be in the low index category. in total, the data shows that the j forensic sci educ 2022, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education stacey majority of the journals are indexed in three or less databases. some databases appeared more often than others in the index lists. among the most common were chemical abstracts, directory of open access journals, ebsco, embase, google scholar, proquest, pubmed, science citation index, scifinder, and scopus,. major publishers such as elsevier, springer, and wiley typically have their own search databases for their journals (e.g. science direct for elsevier). in some instances, databases are particular to a particular geographical region (e.g. canadian serials directory provides indexing for the canadian society of forensic science journal). additionally, there is variation within larger journal families, as seen with the forensic science international journals (16-23). they are distributed between the moderate and low index categories with the exception of the flagship journal which is listed in the high indexed category. table 4 indexing and abstracting of forensic science journals. high indexed journals australian journal of forensic canadian society of forensic science journal forensic science international forensic science, medicine and pathology forensic toxicology international journal of legal medicine journal of forensic and legal medicine journal of forensic sciences legal medicine plos one problems of forensic science moderate indexed journals american journal of forensic pathology and medicine brazilian journal of forensic sciences, medical law, and bioethics drug testing and analysis forensic chemistry forensic genomics forensic science international: genetics forensic science international: synergy forensic science research forensic sciences journal of analytical toxicology medicine, science, and the law scandinavian journal of forensic science science and justice spanish journal of legal medicine low indexed journals academic forensic pathology croatian medical journal egyptian journal of forensic sciences environmental forensics forensic imaging forensic science international: animals and environments forensic science international: digital investigation forensic science international: genetics supplement series forensic science international: mind and law forensic science international: reports forensic science review journal of firearms and tool mark examiners journal of forensic document examination journal of forensic identification journal of forensic nursing journal of forensic science education journal of the national academy of forensic engineers microgram journal romanian journal of legal medicine the microscope wires forensic science not indexed arab journal of forensic sciences and forensic medicine association for crime scene reconstruction journal: the scene forensic science journal (taiwan) journal of american society of questioned document examiners journal of american society of trace evidence examiners journal of bloodstain pattern analysis malaysian journal of forensic science publication frequency primarily, the journals surveyed are published quarterly. of the fifty-three journals surveyed, eighteen follow this publication pattern. ten journals publish six times a year (including forensic chemistry which publishes five times per year) (11) and four active journals publish between eight and twelve issues annually (drug analysis and testing and forensic science international publish monthly) (9, 16). twelve journals publish either one issue annually or use a continuous publication model. these are primarily open access journals such as the journal of american society of trace evidence examiners, association of crime scene reconstruction journal, and plos one (24-26). there does seem to be some correlation between publication frequency and impact factor. of the top fifteen highest impact factor journals listed in table 3, eight publish at least five issues annually. of the other j forensic sci educ 2022, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education stacey seven journals, two publish four times per year (forensic sciences research and forensic science, medicine, and pathology) (11, 27), three use a continuous publication model (forensic science international: synergy and plos one) (18, 26), and one (forensic science international: genetics supplement series) publishes by invitation only (21). the only anomaly in this group is forensic toxicology which publishes only twice each year (27). publisher and affiliation the publisher of the journals surveyed also affects access. journals with well-known publishers are likely to be better indexed and typically have their own search engines that are often found in library systems (e.g. science direct for elsevier; springerlink, wiley online). of the fifty-three journals examined, thirty-two have major academic publishers. this group includes fourteen from elsevier, four each from springer and taylor and francis, three from wiley, and two each from sage and wolterskluwer. of the twenty-five high and moderate indexed journals listed in table 4, twenty-one have a major publisher. similarly, major publishers account for fourteen of the fifteen journals with the highest impact factor listed in table 3. the one that does not is plos one which is published through the library of science which is also highly indexed and accessible but differs from the other publishers since it is a non-profit organization (26). the one commonality among journals in this group is that they are either hybrid or open access with a publication fee. conversely, of the thirteen active open access journals without a publication fee listed in table 2c, twelve do not have a recognized publisher (the one exception is the egyptian journal of forensic sciences which is a springer open journal (28). although articles in these journals are freely accessible, they tend to be low indexed and show low impact factors. journal distribution and access is often associated with professional organization affiliation. most of the journals in this study are affiliated with a forensic science professional organization (table 5). in some cases, professional organizations offer access for their members to the official journal or publication of the organization. for instance, the american academy of forensic sciences offers access to the journal of forensic sciences to its members (29). similarly, the international association for identification offers access to the journal of forensic identification to its members as does the american society of questioned document examiners which offers access to members to their journal. at the very least, members of organizations will likely be more aware of the group’s official publication leading to increased journal visibility. unfortunately, this may not be an option for students in academic programs although in some instances, student members of professional forensic science organizations are allowed access to the group’s sponsored journal (this is the case with the chartered society of forensic sciences which serves as the parent organization for science and justice) (32). table 5 journals with forensic science professional affiliation. jjournal affiliation academic forensic pathology national association of medical examiners foundation american journal of forensic pathology and medicine national association of medical examiners arab journal of forensic sciences and medicine arab society for forensic sciences association for crime scene reconstruction journal association for crime scene reconstruction australian journal of forensic sciences australian academy of forensic sciences brazilian journal of forensic sciences, medical law, and bioethics instituto paulista de estudos bioéticos e jurídicos canadian society of forensic science journal canadian society of forensic science egyptian journal of forensic sciences international association of law and forensic sciences environmental forensics association for environmental health and sciences foundation/ international society of environmental forensics forensic chemistry american society of crime lab directors forensic genomics international symposium on human identification forensic imaging international society of radiology and imaging/ international association of forensic radiographers forensic science international: genetics international society for forensic genetics forensic science international: genetics supplement series international society for forensic genetics forensic science international: digital investigation digital forensic research conference forensic science international: synergy american society of crime lab directors forensic science journal academy of forensic science forensic sciences portuguese association of forensic sciences j forensic sci educ 2022, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education stacey forensic toxicology japanese association of forensic toxicology international journal of legal medicine international academy of legal medicine journal of american society of questioned document examiners american society of questioned document examiners journal of american society of trace evidence examiners american society of trace evidence examiners journal of analytical toxicology the international association of forensic toxicologists (tiaft)/society of forensic toxicologists journal of bloodstain pattern analysis international association of bloodstain pattern analysts journal of firearms and toolmarks examiners association of firearms and toolmark examiners journal of forensic and legal medicine faculty of forensic and legal medicine journal of forensic document examiners association of forensic document examiners journal of forensic identification international association for identification journal of forensic nurses international association of forensic nurses journal of forensic science education council of forensic science educators journal of forensic sciences american academy of forensic sciences journal of national academy of forensic engineers national academy of forensic engineers legal medicine japanese society of legal medicine medicine, science, and the law british academy for forensic sciences malaysian journal of forensic science forensic science society of malaysia microgram journal drug enforcement administration problems of forensic science institute of forensic expertise romanian journal of legal medicine romanian society of legal medicine scandinavian journal of legal medicine danish, norwegian, and the swedish societies for forensic medicine science and justice chartered society of forensic sciences spanish journal of legal medicine national association of forensic physicians the microscope mccrone research institute content the authors examined subject matter of papers published in the surveyed journal in two years: 2018 (prepandemic) and 2021 (post-pandemic). in these two years, 6,115 forensic science-themed articles were published in the fifty-three journals. the content of some articles could be classified into one or more subject areas creating a dataset of seven thousand three hundred and fifty articles. the forensic science disciplines most prevalent during these two years include forensic biology, forensic chemistry and environmental forensics, forensic pathology, medicine, and nursing, and toxicology. all four of these areas showed percentages above 8% for both years. the amount of papers in both years appears to be balanced for most disciplines with only questioned document examination and wildlife forensics underrepresented (table 6). table 6 percent articles published according to forensic science discipline in 2018 and 2021. jdiscipline 2018 2021 crime scene investigation 4.4 4.5 digital forensics 5.3 4.8 forensic anthropology 5.8 7.0 forensic biology 9/5 9.1 forensic chemistry and environmental forensics 8.3 8.4 forensic science administration and education 7.6 5.1 forensic engineering 1.9 3.3 forensic entomology 4.7 4.0 forensic odontology 4.7 6.1 forensic pathology, medicine, and nursing 9.9 9.2 jurisprudence 5.9 5.5 pattern analysis 6.5 6.3 forensic psychology 6.5 6.3 questioned document examination 2.7 3.9 toxicology 8.4 8.8 trace evidence 6.5 6/6 wildlife forensics 1.4 2.0 of the fifty forensic journals in this study (excluding plos one, croatian medical journal, and the microscope which are not by definition forensic journals), fourteen have forensic pathology as the main focus (academic forensic pathology; american journal of forensic pathology and medicine; arab journal of forensic sciences and medicine; brazilian journal of forensic sciences, medical law, and bioethics; egyptian journal of forensic science; forensic imaging; forensic science, medicine, and pathology; international journal of legal medicine; journal of j forensic sci educ 2022, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education stacey forensic and legal medicine; legal medicine; medicine, science, and the law; romanian journal of legal medicine; scandinavian journal of forensic science; spanish journal of legal medicine) (8, 27-28, 33-43). although papers dealing with forensic pathology and medicine primarily are found in these journals, papers from other disciplines that have death investigation as a focus can be found in these journals (e.g. anthropology, forensic biology, odontology, psychology, and toxicology). of the other thirty-six journals, twenty-one are discipline specific, two focus on review articles of topical interest (forensic science review, wires forensic science) (44-45), and twelve are classified as wide-scope covering a wide-range of forensic science topics (table 7). finally, forensic science international: synergy encompasses a unique space since it offers an interdisciplinary approach to research and forensic science policy and management (18). table 7 wide-scope forensic science journals. australian journal of forensic sciences canadian society of forensic science journal forensic science international forensic science international: reports forensic science journal forensic science reports forensic sciences journal of forensic identification journal of forensic sciences malaysian journal of forensic science problems of forensic science science and justice geography and age the journals comprising the master list of fifty-three journals come from six continents: africa, oceania, and south america contain the egyptian journal of forensic sciences, australian journal of forensic sciences, and the brazilian journal of forensic sciences, medical law, and bioethics respectively (14, 28, 36) . asia contains six journals including the arab journal of forensic sciences and forensic medicine, forensic science journal, forensic science review, forensic toxicology, legal medicine, and the malaysian journal of forensic science (7, 34, 39, 44, 46, 47). the remaining forty-three journals are published in either north america or europe. of these forty-three journals some have a more explicit geographical focus such as american journal of forensic pathology and medicine (united states); canadian society of forensic science journal; medicine, science, and the law (great britain); problems of forensic science (poland); romanian journal of legal medicine; and the scandinavian journal of forensic science (15, 34, 40, 41, 42, 48). conversely, others claim a more international focus (forensic science international, international journal of legal medicine, journal of forensic identification) (8, 16, 30). although the journal of forensic sciences is the official publication of the american academy of forensic sciences its authorship is clearly international (29). the earliest published journal on the list published its first issue in 1922 (international journal of legal medicine) (8) and the last journal to begin publishing was in 2021 (forensic sciences, forensic genomics) (49, 50). of the fifty-three journals surveyed, more than onequarter of them began publishing in the 2000’s clearly demonstrating the increased interest in forensic science over the last few decades. most of these journals have a discipline-specific focus (such as the journal of the american society of trace evidence examiners in 2010) (24) which as a trend started in the 1970’s with the creation of such journals as the journal of analytical toxicology, and the journal of forensic document examination during this period (13, 51). conclusion nearly half of the journals surveys in this study are freely accessible to students and practitioners. (24 of 53). however, since most of these journals are poorly indexed (only seven are defined as having moderate to high indexing including plos one which is not a forensic science journal), it may be difficult to locate papers from these journals unless those interested search directly on the journal website. in addition, nineteen of these journals have impact factors that are unknown or are below 1.00, meaning that their work is not being cited by other authors to any appreciable degree. this is not to presume that papers in these journals have diminished quality considering that all of them undergo the peer review process prior to publication. it is simply a question of dissemination. it is likely that most articles will be retrieved through mostly hybrid journals since these journals are better indexed and are more easily found. access to these journals however requires an agency or school subscription. without a subscription, costs for individual papers or articles can be high with some requiring more that $50 usd for limited time access. agencies/schools with comprehensive subscription to major publishers may also find that these subscriptions are often limited to certain journals and articles thus requiring fee to access for parts of their journal and article inventory. simple knowledge of the existence of journals likely plays a role in the dissemination of articles. journals that are newer or not associated with a major publisher always run the risk of “flying under the radar.” without a major publisher, journals may not be widely indexed. j forensic sci educ 2022, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education stacey even long standing freely accessed journals may not find their into reference lists in papers and textbooks if they are not suitably indexed. unless costs are paid by the author for open access, it thus appears that the availability of many articles sought by students and practitioners will incur cost to the person or agency. references 1. 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http://www.forensics.org.my/mjofs/about.php j forensic sci educ 2022, 5(1) 2023 journal forensic science education stacey (accessed 2022-05-01) 48. problems of forensic sciences. https://www.ejournals.eu/pfs (accessed 2022-05-04) 49. forensic sciences. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forensicsci (accessed 2022-05-06) 50. forensic genomics. https://home.liebertpub.com/publications/forensic genomics/659/overview (accessed 2022-05-06) 51. journal of forensic document examination. https://jfde.org/index.php/jfde (accessed 2022-05-01) https://www.ejournals.eu/pfs https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forensicsci https://home.liebertpub.com/publications/forensichttps://home.liebertpub.com/publications/forensichttps://jfde.org/index.php/jfde j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge appropriate education alters perceptions of forensic science and guides career selection candice bridge 1, 2 *, tonjua b. freeman 3 1 national center for forensic science, university of central florida, orlando, fl, *corresponding author: cbridge@ucf.edu 2 department of chemistry, university of central florida, orlando, florida 3 college of community innovation and education, school of teacher education, university of central florida, orlando, florida abstract: television crime series, i.e. csi: crime scene investigation, affect public perceptions of forensic science. the unrealistic view of science portrayed by these types of television shows has led to misperceptions of the science in forensic science by many students enrolling in forensic science degree programs. this study used quantitative and qualitative data about an undergraduate forensic science class at the university of central florida to demonstrate how critical entry level courses are in dispelling students’ misconceptions about forensic science and guide their career paths. this paper presents the activities that adjust perceptions of the field and how these chan ges manifest in changes in career interest, official changes in academic degrees, etc. after taking this course, the number of students that stated they were affected by the “csi effect” went from 28% to 50%. additionally, nearly 10% of students changed their degrees from forensic science to another discipline within one year after taking this course, indicating the significance that early education in a collegiate setting can have on students’ decision-making on their future careers. keywords: forensic science, perceptions of science, education, career paths, csi effect introduction the tv series, “csi: crime scene investigation”, has had a profound impact on stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education since its inception in 2000. the show has been described as portraying “the increasing use and capabilities of forensic science in actual criminal investigations… in an exaggerated and highly stylized manner” (1). this effect on the general population has been coined the “csi effect”, which is defined as the “supposed impact of the popular cbs crime drama csi: crime scene investigation”(2, 3). it has also been described as “blurring the lines between fiction and reality, many crime dramas unfortunately contribute to misconceptions about how the criminal justice system works” (4-7). this tv show has created an impact in the following three areas: 1) creating unreasonable expectations and increasing the prosecutions’ burden, 2) jurors’ expecting that the science is always correct and infallible, and thus blindly believing forensic evidence, and 3) significantly increasing interest in forensic science in the general population and future college students (2, 8, 9). there has been an explosion of students enrolling in forensic science degree programs since 2000 (8), even at the university of central florida (ucf) where the number of students enrolling in forensic science has significantly increased preand post-csi (figure 1). the unfortunate aspect of this effect is in relation to the third impact area described above; that many students are unaware of the scientific and mathematical requirements of the forensic career field and the necessary path to prepare for this career. most researchers who study the effects of csi typically and primarily focus on a select group of people: in the courtroom (e.g. jurors, judges, people in the audience) (10-14) and the general public who may become jurors (1, 4, 11). perception studies related to the “csi effect” have focused on the possible constructive nature of the information portrayed and the realities of the field, while concomitantly considering the potential destructive aspects of the information, whereby misconceptions related to forensic science were examined (4). in 2007, the popularity of forensic science careers was associated with the “csi effect” (15). there are several explanations that have been associated with the “csi effect”, including: 1) “growing expectation that the police labs can do everything tv labs can” (16-18), and 2) “the notion that crime show viewing influences jurors to have unrealistic expectations of forensic evidence, which then affects their trial decisions” (1, 11, 12). however, the main focus of these authors’ work were in regard to the jury and how the “csi effect” can affect their decision-making process. few researchers have studied how the “csi effect” plays a part in the selection of a college degree and ultimate career choice. this is j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge considering the relationship between the csi tv series and shows on tv channel like investigative discovery with the increase in college applications of students pursuing forensic science programs and personal conversations with students when asked why they selected the academic program. however, the selection of the academic program is critical in ensuring that the criminal justice system remains strong and generates accurate investigative decisions based on the appropriate application of science to the investigation. this can potentially be hindered by students pursuing this career based off of misinformation and misconceptions of the field. the “csi” tv show introduced a significantly large audience to how science and other stem fields can aid in criminal investigations and thus sparked a boom in the number of students pursuing a forensic science degree or one of the more traditional scientific fields (e.g., chemistry, biology, physics, and computer science) in an effort to obtain a forensic science position upon graduation. an unfortunate casualty of this boom, is that many students are unaware of the actual scientific requirement of a forensic science degree and/or career position (9). many students are not aware that even a forensic discipline that is based on matching patterns, such as latent prints or firearms comparisons, still requires a chemistry or biology bachelor’s degree. typically, these programs of study include courses such as general chemistry, general biology, organic chemistry, and general physics. as a result, students enter college unprepared to pursue a college stem degree, leading to first time in college (ftic) dropout rates of up to 40% by graduation day, which was observed by jackson in regards to ohio university students (9). according to jackson, the same was observed at other universities through personal conversations. however, more research in this aspect is necessary to understand how this dropout rate, potentially due to the “csi effect”, can be mitigated. some universities require interviews prior to acceptance into the program. while other universities have instituted a 1or 2-year degree declaration restriction before a student can declare a forensic science degree and by then the students will have taken some of the difficult courses, i.e., chemistry and biology. these courses are some of the primary reasons why students drop out of the forensic science program. therefore, if students are not allowed to declare a forensic science degree until their third year, where they have made it through the difficult courses; the graduation rate is much higher. the question then becomes how does a survey course in forensic science affect the students’ decision to stay in a forensic science program, leave the program, or enter the program? research statement the research objective was to determine if the ucf’s introduction to forensic science course impacted the career choice of students who took the course. this figure 1 forensic science b.s. degrees awarded at ucf by academic year (1980 – 2015). j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge study investigated how the course influenced students to continue their pursuit in the field or change academic degrees. the expectation was that students pursuing a degree in forensic science were affected by the “csi effect” and therefore, with proper education and exposure to the stem-based sciences that these effects could be mitigated. according to the national academies of science report strengthening forensic science in the united states: a path forward, formal education at the university level is the best opportunity to correct misconceptions of the field (19). this formal education should be based on established scientific knowledge and practices accepted in the community. it was expected that the students who took this course would reflect on their personal abilities to pursue a stem-based degree and operate in a stem-based career. this course should provide enough scientific/mathematic information to encourage students who could do well in these stem-based courses to continue their pursuit of a forensic science degree, while also helping those who struggle in stem courses to realize that there are other disciplines that they could pursue outside of the traditional stem-based forensic science disciplines, i.e., dna/serology, drugs, trace evidence, digital evidence, etc. therefore, students do not remain subject to the “csi effect” and can make appropriate decisions for their future career path in a timely fashion. research methods it was expected that students would utilize information that they learned from forensic science professionals, who work in the field, and what they learned from the introduction to forensic science course to reflect on their own ability to do well in their academic pursuits toward this career field. sample populations ucf’s introduction to forensic science course is required for all forensic science majors and science education majors but is open to students from other majors. a summary of the academic standings of students are presented in figure 2a, along with the percentage of stem majors and forensic science (fs) majors in figure 2b. figure 2a illustrates the academic standing of students in the class, where the designation “other” represents nondegree seeking and 2 nd degree students who took the course. this figure illustrates that this course had a mixture of students with different standings, in which most of the students, from year to year, had freshmen or junior academic standing. the students’ degrees were summarized into three categories: forensic science major, other stem major, and other majors (refer to figure 2b). most of the students (> 50%) declared forensic science as their major when they registered for the class. surprisingly, there were approximately 20% of students that were not pursing a science-based major registered for this course. a complete list of student’s standings and degrees is presented in supplemental table s1. course set-up this course was designed to provide an overview of the scientific foundation of most of the specialty areas in a traditional forensic crime laboratory by bringing in forensic professionals who work in a variety of disciplines to speak with the students. the course itself had an inquiry-based pedagogical approach where the faculty member posed questions to students to see how much scientific knowledge was learned and retained as well as students’ ability to integrate these lessons into a scientific discussion. since the invited speakers tended to have a more direct-instruction pedagogical approach (20), the course instructor facilitated the discussion between the students and the speakers to ensure that students understood the scientific underpinnings of the forensic topic. the students were required to read a chapter on a forensic discipline in the text book prior to class. therefore, the students could incorporate the text information in the presentation and discussion with the speaker to reinforce the topic. figure 2 the initial class composition during 2014 and 2017: a) the classification of students and b) the academic majors. j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge the speakers who were invited to speak to the class were from the law enforcement community. they were current or retired detectives, forensic scientists, and medical personnel who all had firsthand knowledge of their individual forensic discipline. the invited speakers had a more direct-instruction pedagogical philosophy (21) and lectured to the students. the course instructor would interject in an effort to engage the students into the discussion. these professionals discussed the actualities of the profession, as well as their educational background and career preparation. these interactions with professionals from the field provided students with a clear understanding of the amount of science and college-level math that is necessary to adequately perform these jobs. this course laid the foundation for the students’ remaining time at ucf prior to graduation, which could range from 1 to 5 years. this course discussed how science is applied in criminal investigations and various forensic science analyses and the underlying scientific (i.e., stem-based) concepts. preand post-course surveys to quantify this course’s effect on students’ decisions to continue pursuing forensic science, a 10question survey was given to the students after the first class of the semester. additionally, a 10-question postcourse survey was given to the students at the end of the last class, before the final exam. students were told that if they chose to answer or not answer a question on either survey, they would get a point. effectively, each student received 10 free points out of 15 total points, whether they chose to answer the questions or not. the surveys asked questions related to the following:  self-reflection on how the “csi effect” has impacted their career choice  how the course has affected their career and academic degree decision  to what extent students change their interest in a forensic specialty or the discipline as a whole throughout the semester  self confidence in performing forensic task  joining or retaining stem majors  joining or retaining forensic majors  perception of what classroom activities, if any, affect student career choice the first iteration of the survey tool in 2015 was subsequently revised in 2016 to ensure that the responses given by the students were more streamlined and easier to compile. however, the content in the surveys did not change and thus the data collected from the 3 years could be compiled to generate the results herein. many of the questions were multiple choice and a few were openended, essay questions to allow the students to provide their personal thoughts and feedback. the comments provided to the open-ended questions were reviewed by the authors to identify the core idea of the student’s answer. the comments were compiled based on these core ideas (refer to supplemental tables s2-s5). external surveys in the third year of the study, additional external surveys were conducted to obtain in-depth information from discussions with students surrounding how this course helped them determine if they would continue in forensic science or not. in an effort to increase the chances that the students shared honest responses, the course instructor did not participate in this portion of the data collection. researchers who had no connection to the course facilitated these discussions and collected this data. the course instructor only saw aggregated versions of the data. student participation in these additional, external surveys was optional. the students who completed these surveys were given extra credit points. the first part of the external survey required that students participate in a class discussion about the course. the discussion began as students in small groups discussed a set of questions provided by the researchers. each group provided notes about the answers given in the small-group discussions. the whole-class discussion was recorded and transcribed. the class discussions focused on a typical day in the introduction to forensic science course, what advice the students would give to other students who decided to take the class, and how the introduction to forensic science course compared to other science courses. students were also given the option to complete additional questions online through qualtrics. the open-ended questions solicited information specific to the individual students, such as: why did the student enroll in the course and what aspects of the course would the student keep the same versus change? the survey also solicited information about forensic science shows the student has watched and what aspects of the shows were validated or rejected during the forensic science course. additionally, students were asked how the forensic science course influenced overall feelings about forensic science and their career decisions. refer to supplemental sections 5 and 6 for the discussion and online survey questions. institutional knowledge management data demographic information (i.e., ethnicity, gender) was collected from ucf’s institutional knowledge management (ikm) office for every year that demographic information was available in the ikm database (i.e., 2011 – 2017). additional information requested includes which semester students took this course, which semester they graduated, when they changed their major the first time after taking this course, what was the new major, and which degree was awarded j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge to the student upon graduation. additional information gathered is listed below.  academic year (i.e. cohort or year)  gender  declared academic degree (stem vs nonstem)  declaring major before and after the course  graduating degree  forensic science graduation rate preand post csi tv show  current enrollment status o first time in college (ftic): students who came to ucf as a true freshman directly from high school. o florida college student (fcs): students who have transferred to ucf from another florida college that has a formal relationship with ucf (i.e. ucf direct connect program). o other undergraduate transfer (out): students who have transferred to ucf from another college/university that does not have a formal relationship with ucf. research findings the composition of the student population in the introduction course demographic information could be acquired from ikm for several years prior to the commencement of this research study. during the academic years (ay), 2011 – 2017, there were approximately 1,304 students that enrolled into this course over the eight (8) times the class was offered. throughout this 6-year period, 26.6% of this student population was men and 73.4% were women. however, this research study was only conducted during 2015-2017, and it was a concern that the limited population of the students who answered the survey would not be representative of the larger population of students. upon evaluating the data, the male/female ratio was approximately the same as the larger population, approximately 27.8% were men and 72.2% were women (refer to figure 3). additionally, the ethnic breakdown, for men and women, were approximately the same between the larger and smaller populations. the largest group of students that take this course is white women, followed by hispanic women and white men, in that order. changes in majors and degree conferred (2011-2017) the information gathered from ikm, provided information about changes in majors and the degree conferred upon graduation, which provided some insight into how this course may have affected academic decisions, and by extension career decisions, of the students who took the course. students were found to have initially changed their major at various times after taking this course. some students changed majors 1 semester after taking the course; whereas, other students waited to change their major up to 14 semesters (4.66 years) after taking this course. the longer it took for the student to decide to change their major, the less likely it was that this course had a direct impact on that decision. there could be a plethora of reasons why the student changed majors, including the length of time to reach graduation in this major, daily life changes/impacts, or the difficulty in passing upper-level courses. however, this was not a focus and the authors cannot comment specifically to reasons for the changes in majors that occurred since more the one year after the course, therefore, to mitigate the increased likelihood of other reasons for these changes, this study’s authors focused on official changed of majors that occurred in the first semester and first year after taking the course. the total number of students that changed majors between taking the course and graduating was also presented to provide a summary of official changes. several students made more than one change to their major, however, we focused on the first change of their major that occurred more than one year after the course. therefore, to mitigate the increased likelihood of other reasons for these changes, this study’s authors focused on official changes of majors that occurred in the first semester and first year after taking the course. the total number of students that changed majors between taking the course and graduating was also presented to provide a comprehensive summary of official changes. several students made more than one change to their major, however, we focused on the first change of their major that occurred within the first year after taking the class. there could have been additional factors affecting the second change in the student’s major which were not recorded in this study. comprehensively, there were approximately 1,299 students who took this course from 2011 to 2017. this is an approximate number of students because there were students who may have started the course and dropped early in the semester and those who started late in the semester. it was this ebb and flow that was difficult to monitor each semester. additionally, many students took the course more than once and each time the student took the course, they were considered a new student in the course for the study. the data was collected for the three different classes of students (i.e. ftic, fcs, and out) at ucf to determine if one type of student changed their degree more than the other types. approximately, 13.8% of the students graduated in the same non-forensic science major as when they started at the university (table 2). of the students who declared forensic science as their j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge major when they entered ucf, only 9.7% graduated with a forensic science degree. of the nearly 1,300 students who took this course in 7 years, no information was provided by ikm for 61.8% of the students. these students either left ucf without a degree, were still active students, or had not changed their major when this data was collected. the remainder of the student population (14.7%) changed their major at least once during their academic career. these official changes in their major occurred either 1 semester up to 14 semesters after taking the course. in the first semester after taking the course, 2.9% (38/1299) of the total student population changed their major (table 1). of this group of students, 89.5% (34 students) changed from forensic science to anoter academic discipline. most of the students transferred from forensic science to another science-based discipline, with nearly half choosing to pursue a criminal justice degree. it was determined from the surveys provided during the class, that this change could be directly impacted by the misinformation in the media about what forensic science is and that by taking this course, they realized where their interests really lie. this change to criminal justice was largely found in the first time in college (ftic) students. the subsequent degrees to which students moved to after criminal justice were health science and health services (11.8%), biology (5.9%), interdisciplinary studies (5.9%), and biomedical studies (5.9%) (refer to supplemental section 6, table s6). to a lesser extent, 5.3% (2/38 students) of the students who changed majors immediately after taking the course changed their majors from non-forensic science degrees to other non-science degrees, i.e. biology to interdisciplinary or from psychology to anthropology. what was very interesting was that 5.9% of the students (2/38) changed their major to forensic science from anthropology and from journalism. within the first year (3 semesters) after taking the course, 10.1% of the total student population (131/1299) officially changed their major (table 1). this is a significant increase in the numbers of students who changed their major after taking this course. what was most interesting was that most of the students who changed, 38.9% (51/131), took the course in the spring semester and changed in the fall semester, which was considered a change after two semesters despite the fact that many students take the summer off from school. in the first year after taking the course, 84.7% (111/131) of the students changed their major from forensic science to a non-forensic science major. most of these students changed from forensic science to criminal justice (35.1% (39/131), subsequently followed by changed to biology (11.7%), health science/health services (9.0%), psychology (5.4%), anthropology (5.4%), interdisciplinary (4.5%) and biomolecular sciences (4.5%). five students of the 131 students who changed their major (3.8%) went from a non-science to a nonscience degree, 9.2% (12/131) changed from a science to another science-based degree, with most of the students moving from chemistry to health sciences or health service degrees (refer to table s6). in addition to the two students who changed to a forensic science degree immediately after the course, one more student changed their major from chemistry to forensic science within the first year after taking the course. figure 3 the percentage of students who took this course based on self-identified gender and ethnicity during the larger population (2011-2017) and the limited population of students who took the course surveys (2015-2017). 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% males (11-17) female (11-17) males (15-17) female (15-17) student composition: ethnicity and gender american indian / alaskan native asian black hispanic/latino multi-racial native hawaiian / other pacific islander white non-resident alien / not specified j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge if focusing on the changes that occurred since the authors implemented the surveys into the course, similar changes were seen in the last three years (2015-2017). within the first semester after taking the course, two students changed from forensic science to biology and criminal justice. within the first year, there were four changes in the official major. again, the changes were from forensic science to biology and criminal justice degrees. of the remainder of the students, 7.6% of the students graduated with the same non-science degree in which they started, 0.7% of the students graduated with the forensic science degree, and the majority (90.9%) of the students did not have any information about graduation or official degree changes as recorded by ikm. comprehensive surveys results about taking the course the preand post-course surveys were compared to determine if each student who answered both the preand postquestions had a change in their decisions about pursuing or not pursuing a career in forensic science. these surveys were only conducted for the courses offered from 2015 to 2017. most of the students that took this course stated that they were taking this course because they were interested in a career in forensic science (47.9%) and that this course was required by their major (19.2%). the remainder of the students responded that they took this course because they were interested and wanted to learn more about forensic science (19.2%), it was an elective for their major (5.3%), or for another unnamed reason (1.3%). most of the students (23.5%) said that they were interested in obtaining a basic understanding of what forensic science is and 23.1% of the students said that they were interested in learning about all the different areas of forensic science plus the different potential careers. additional reasons for taking this course were to find a potential field to pursue in forensic science (8.8%), to determine if forensic science is a good career for them (8.1%), to find out what is done daily in a forensic science career (6.0%), and because they were interested in learning about one specific field (5.3%). most of the answers were about using this course to identify a potential career in forensic science and what might be the best fit for them as well as looking to incorporate forensics into their career as an attorney or judge. at the end of the course, most of the students stated that they felt that they gained more information about all areas of forensic science (63.6%), their personal area of interest (11.4%) or another area that they initially had not considered (6.9%). in the post-course survey, students were asked if they were interested in a forensic science career prior table 1 number of students who changed academic degree after taking this course. this data is presented for first time in college (ftic) students, florida college student (fcs) and other undergraduate transfer (out) students. fcs ftic out total % change no change forensic science degree 33 83 10 123 9.70 no change in another degree 85 84 10 179 13.78 changed degree 1 semester after 15 21 2 38 2.9% changed degree 1 year after 46 82 3 131 10.08 changed degree 2 years after 17 31 3 51 3.93 changed degree 3 years after 3 5 1 9 0.69 no graduation information available 257 500 46 803 61.82 j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge to coming to the course and 74.2% said “yes”, while 6.8% said “no”, and the remainder did not answer. when asked if they were interested in pursuing a forensic science career after taking this course, 27.0% of the students stated “yes”, and 13.2% stated “no”. most of the respondents (43.0%) stated that they were always interested in a forensic science career. then they were asked if they had switched their interest in pursuing a forensic science degree after this course. most of the students (31%) said “yes”; whereas, 29.8% said “no”. what was interesting, however, 4.8% were never interested in forensic science, 7.8% said that they chose not to pursue forensic science and would move towards another science degree, and 8.1% said that they would move towards a non-science degree. this is corroborated by the official changes in the majors of the students. potential effect of the “csi effect” to determine if students were possibly affected by the “csi effect”, students were asked if they often watched csi and based on this, do they have a good idea of what real forensic scientists do on a daily basis. 29.7% of the respondents stated that they watch csi type tv shows (forensic dramas) “very often”. nearly half of the students (50%) watched these shows “often” or “occasionally”. approximately, 16.8% stated that they “rarely” or “very rarely” watched these tv shows. based on this, 6.3% stated that they definitely knew what forensic scientists do and 8.3% stated that they definitely did not know what happens in a forensic science career on a daily basis. the remainder of the respondents (83.7%) ranged in answers from “probably not” to “probably” indicating that there was some recognition by the students who took this course that they may not know all that is required of a forensic scientist. in the post-course survey, the students were asked if they thought they were affected by the “csi effect” prior to taking the course and most of the students stated either “partially” or “yes”, totaling 54.6%. a large portion of the class (28.1%) stated that they were not affected by the “csi effect” and 17.2% did not respond. when asked what activities in the course may have removed the “csi effect” if they were previously affected by it, there were various answers provided by the class. across the students surveyed over the three years, the one thing above all that reduced the “csi effect” was the significant difference in the analytical and processing time observed on tv versus the actual time required in an operational forensic laboratory (26.8%). this statement also included the significant difference in the investigation time between the tv show and the real world. approximately 9.7% of the students now understood that everything on tv was not true. the differences between what was observed on tv and in the “real-world” helped to dispel some of the “csi effect” for the students. the use of computers and databases that help the human forensic scientist also helped students understand how the “csi effect” may have affected them (4.0%). additionally, responses that were common included “the amount of science necessary”, “how this was a team effort”, “there was a separation between the lab and the field and that lab personnel don’t go in the field”, and “how specialized the [forensic science] fields are”. another aspect that was studied under the “csi effect” header is how students interpret the use of science in various forensic science fields. students were asked to rank the amount of science required in five different criminal investigation fields from 1 (no science needed) to 5 (a lot of science needed). they were asked to provide a ranking for a police detective, crime scene technician, latent print examiner, digital evidence examiner, and drug examiner. at the beginning of the course, many of the students (30.9%) stated that a police officer needed a moderate amount of science to be a good detective. at the end of the course, this ranking remained the same, where most of the students still stated that a detective needed a moderate amount of science. however, more students at the end of the semester stated that a detective needed “little to no science”. this percentage went from 4.0% at the beginning of the semester to 10.0% at the end of the semester. this change was most likely from a shift where students went from giving a detective a 5 to giving them a 1. at the beginning of the course, most students gave the remaining four disciplines a 5 (a lot of science needed), with greater than 59.3% of the students providing this ranking. while these results were approximately the same at the end of the semester for the drug examiner, there was a large decrease in the “5” ranking for the crime scene technician (-67.3%), latent print examiner (-9.3%) and digital evidence examiner (-14.5%). the students shifted these responses from a “5” to a “4”. this is an indication of how the “csi effect” has influenced the perception that students have of science being in j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge forensics. the authors hypothesized that, prior to this course, students did not recognize how much science was needed in the criminal justice process and were surprised by the initial amount of science students attributed to each one of these careers. toward the end of the semester, the students’ perceptions were more in line with reality. the change in forensic science interests in the pre-course survey, students were asked to identify the top three forensic science disciplines that they were interested in when they started the course. at the end of the course, they were asked the same question to see if the information provided in the course changed their perspective and/or interests in forensic science, now that they were equipped with more information about the high-points and the difficulties in different forensic disciplines. over the 3 years, on average, 9.0% of the students had the same three interests before and after the course; which is indicated by “3 – all three responses same” in figure 4. these students primarily were the ones who knew they wanted to be in forensic science prior to taking the course. the majority of students, on average 64.6% of the students, changed 1 or 2 of the forensic interests by the end of the semester. there were several students who stated that they completely changed their top three interest areas (average 6.9%) and some students, 3.3%, stated that they were not interested in pursuing forensic science anymore and changed all three of their answers to “none”. this indicated that they were not interested in pursuing a career in forensic science. considering the significant number of students who changed interests, the change in the interest for a particular discipline is presented in table 2. the highest negative changes, i.e. less students were interested at the end of the course, were observed with the crime scene technicians and medical examination, at -39.3% and -33.5%, respectively. most of the students stated that they were not as comfortable as they thought they would be with dead bodies. one student stated, “… the medical examiner's presentation and seeming indifference to the bodies she was showing definitely turned me off from even considering going down that track.” conversely, entomology, drug examination, and latent print fields had more interested students at the end of the year. another significant increase was the “none” category, which increased by 1066% at the end of the semester. this was interesting because it demonstrated that education can change any preconceived misconceptions about forensic science disciplines. activities that contributed to interest or disinterest in forensic science in the 2016-2017 surveys, an additional question was asked to the students (n=371). they were asked which course activity helped them decide to pursue or not pursue a career in forensic science, the results of which are presented in table 3. several students stated that hands-on activities in the course influenced them the most, whether positively or negatively. specifically, the testimony activity required students to be able to accurately explain information to a “jury” based on the questions asked by the “attorney”. this activity demonstrated that students needed to be able to accurately define what they were seeing which was more difficult than most students expected. similarly, the course midterm exam required students to take a scientific forensic science concept and explain it to either a jury or a forensic science branch chief accurately and, again, students found it difficult to explain scientific concepts appropriately. however, there was a student whose interest in pursuing forensic science and confidence of being able to do well testifying on the stand was increased by being forced to write concisely and explain a scientific concept. several students indicated that they were influenced by their other courses that they took outside of this course, however they did not indicate if they were positively or negatively influenced. two (2) students said that their chemistry course was “too much”, and they were not interested in pursuing forensic science anymore because of that. all of the lectures had some influence on the students, whether negative or positive. however, there was one discipline that most negatively influenced students from pursuing that discipline, medical examination. while this may appear to be a loss, the authors feel that this is a plus because now students are made aware early in their academic career on what they can and cannot do and adjust their studies accordingly. j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge figure 5 number of changes in the top 3 interested forensic science disciplines at end of course. table 2 number of students that identified each forensic discipline as one of their top three areas of interest both before and after the course. fs interest identified before the course after the course # change % change anthropology 89 48 -41 -46.1 attorney/judge 34 38 +4 11.8 crime scene technician 397 241 -156 -39.3 digital evidence examiner 55 39 -16 -29.1 dna examiner 191 124 -67 -35.1 documents examiner 26 19 -7 -26.9 drug examiner 81 134 +53 65.4 entomologist 14 40 +26 185.7 firearms examiner 108 128 +20 18.5 trace evidence examiner 70 49 -21 -30.0 latent prints examiner 54 79 +25 46.3 medical examiner 173 115 -58 -33.5 police detective 151 127 -24 -15.9 toxicologist 120 106 -14 -11.7 i don’t know 26 18 -8 -30.8 none 6 70 +64 1066.7 other 33 3 -30 -90.9 j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge table 3 course activities that inspired students to pursue a degree in forensic science or deterred them from a forensic science career (n=371 students). 2016-2017 inspired towards fs increase interest narrow discipline influenced, pos & neg deterred from fs all items in the course 3 1 4 3 activity forgery (document examination) 4 activity latent print matching 1 activity testimony (attorney) 2 4 1 activity midterm 1 7 1 activity csi video & discussion 1 external chemistry classes / too much 5 2 external biology class 11 external math class 3 external science class 2 lectures all 31 14 52 13 lecture crime scene investigation 7 3 17 2 lecture digital evidence 1 2 lecture dna 7 2 4 1 lecture drug 2 5 lecture ethics in forensic science 1 1 lecture firearms 2 3 2 lecture introduction to course 1 1 lecture legal 4 3 1 lecture latent print 3 1 4 1 lecture medical examination 13 3 9 10 lecture police detective/ investigation 7 1 7 lecture toxicology 1 2 lecture trace evidence 2 2 1 presenters speak with them 5 quiz – firearms 1 n/a always interested 16 n/a always wanted to be me 1 n/a never interested 9 other middle school 1 other personal choice 1 total 92 28 180 39 j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge external survey the data from the external survey also showed that this course influenced students’ decisions about pursuing a degree in forensic science. most students who were already majoring in forensic science or a closely related field, shared that they would continue in their current major. one student stated that, “it has strengthened my desire to go into forensics and given me a better understanding of what to prepare for and expect in my future.” the external survey also provided more evidence that the lectures by the invited guest speakers were an aspect of the class that seemed to be very influential. many students valued “seeing people in their actual careers and sharing their stories and [the] hands on experiences”. “through listening to the speakers, i have realized that i prefer one branch of forensic science a lot more than all the others and this class was the reason why i enjoy this subject a lot more now.” additionally, the students appreciated the “real-world” aspect of the speakers as one student stated: since the class did include speakers who actually work as forensic scientists, i was able to see what working as a forensic scientist is truly like. each discipline varies in what they do. i got to see a glimpse into what it truly takes to become a forensic scientist in a specific discipline, and what the everyday work might involve. although i can't say that i am 100% sure of which forensic science discipline i would like to pursue, this class allowed me to decide on disciplines that i definitely do not want to pursue. there were some students who were not forensic science majors who determined during the class that they would continue their current degrees, yet still work in the field of forensic science. “it has shown me that a lot of different careers can potentially overlap with forensics.” several students who were chemistry majors expressed their interests. one expressed: the lectures and classes are very interesting, i’m also surprised that a chemistry degree can qualify a person for some of these positions without a strong criminal justice background so i suppose i have been more convinced that going after jobs in forensics may be a more possible goal than i initially believed. these students wanted to pursue careers that were more science-related. however, some students were directed toward fields that were not science-related. “first thing i learned in this class was a forensic science degree was not needed to be in this certain field. for which has led me to change my major to criminal justice.” there were also many students who shared that this course influenced them to remain in forensic science but made their decisions about their career paths more difficult because of the multitude of options to which they were exposed. this class has allowed me to take a look at a wide variety of possibilities in the field of forensic science and while i have yet to make a definitive decision as to which discipline, i would like to go into, it has given me opportunities that i had not known about previously. hearing about the specific aspects of the speakers’ careers also led students to choose career paths outside of forensic science. one student stated that the course “made me not want to major in forensic science anymore.” however, it made her “consider just being a normal scientist.” another student shared that “this class has not influenced my original aspiration to become an engineer.” this student felt “more clear that i wouldn’t want to do forensics”: i was at first 90 percent sure i wanted to do forensic science, but now i’m 30 percent sure. this is because i have been given more information in determining that this career wouldn't suit me. it is still interesting to learn about though. another student simply stated, “it helped me realize i want to pursue a career outside of forensics.” the data from the external survey supported and, in some cases, supplemented, the other sources of data. discussion the “csi effect” is a common term used in the forensic science education community when discussing why the number of undergraduate applications for forensic science bachelor of science j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge (b.s.) programs is so high. many educators are aware that it is necessary to ensure students are aware of the necessity of science and math in a forensic science career. the large number of students applying for bs forensic science programs are often due to the perception of forensic science, or forensic science careers, as portrayed in tv shows. it is necessary to determine the best intervention strategy to ensure students have the necessary information when deciding their academic degree to pursue their future careers. the earlier they are exposed to the educational requirements, career needs, and daily operational responsibilities; the better they are able to modify their academic pursuits accordingly, as requested by the nas report. if a student is interested in forensic science and has a good idea of the scientific and mathematical requirements prior to taking this course, their interests in pursuing a forensic science career increased. however, the students who began this course with misconceptions about forensic science careers, were equipped through this course with clarifying information and were able to adjust their academic pursuits with a degree that is more aligned with their personal interests. while many educators may view a change in academic degree path as a negative, especially since this may lead to less students in their program, the authors believe that this is a win:win situation for the student and the forensic science laboratories. if students recognize early in their academic programs that forensic science is not the best path for them; they save money on their education, they save aggravation and loss of self-confidence, and they increase the likelihood of graduating in a timely fashion. the forensic laboratory wins because the students who graduate from the program are more engaged in their careers and will want to conduct forensic science analysis. the goal of this study was to explore the perception of forensic science that is portrayed by tv to the average student pursuing a forensic science degree. the aim was to explore what impact this course had on the students’ pursuits toward forensic science careers, the impact that “csi effect” had on students’ perceptions of forensic science, and what course aspects helped remove or reduce the misconceptions of forensic science and/or a future career in forensic science. the data collected in this study demonstrated that approximately 28% of the students said that they were not affected by misconceptions of forensic science prior to taking this introduction course. however, more that 50% of the students who finished this course proclaimed that they were affected by the “csi effect”. after taking this course, more than 10% of the students officially changed their academic majors within the first year, with most of the students pursuing a degree in criminal justice or health sciences. the discussions and the presentations by actual forensic scientists were among the chief reasons that helped dispel some of the myths held by students and influenced their continued pursuits or changes in their degree paths. while all of the course activities helped students make decisions about their careers, it is evident that actual real-world discussions and an actual scientist discussing why science and math is necessary may be more influential than reading the book. this was closely followed by the hands-on experiences. in addition to exploring how this course intervened for students who would pursue or not pursue forensic science careers, the authors also explored how this course affects students who were consistent in their pursuit of forensic science throughout this course. exposure of different forensic science fields was another influential aspect of this course. while 3% of the students indicated that they were not interested in pursuing any forensic science career at the end of the course; approximately 45% of the students did not change or had one change in the three forensic disciplines they were interested in at the beginning of the course, indicating that they had a pretty accurate idea of what the discipline required. what was the most interesting, was that nearly 35% of the students changed 2 or 3 forensic disciplines of interest which indicates that the students were exposed to more disciplines than they initially knew about, or the discussion of the scientific requirements shifted the students interested towards a new field. conclusion it is evident that the perception of criminal/forensic science tv shows has a significant impact on the careers that students pursue in college. the introduction to forensic science course at ucf provides the necessary information for students to make appropriate decisions about their future career in forensic science or another career field. having real-world exposure and access to different fields to open up new opportunities, is a necessary aspect of education that should accompany more traditional j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge education coursework. this can be summed up by one student’s comment, “a lot was rejected for me… it just makes you think how much it can crush someone’s dreams when they learn that what’s on tv isn’t the same as reality”. irb information this research study was conducted under the ucf institutional review board number sbe-1612358. acknowledgements the authors would like to thank, dr. malcolm butler, dr. erin saitta, katherine cruz-deiter, and joseph sturgess at ucf for their assistance on this study. 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(dissertation). alliant international university, los angeles, ca, 2015. 15. mcmanus, se. influence of the csi effect on education and mass media (thesis). university of central florida, orlando, fl, 2010. 16. kluger, j, cray d, mcdowell j, bower a, song s, van dyk d, et al., how science solves crimes. time 10/21/2002, 2002, pp 36-43. 17. cole, sa, dioso-villa r. csi and its effects: media, juries, and the burdon of proof. n engl law rev 2007; 41:435. 18. cole, sa, dioso-villa r. investigating the 'csi effect' effect: media and litigation crisis in criminal law. stanf law rev 2009; 61:13351373. 19. national research council committee on identifying the needs of the forensic sciences community, strengthening forensic science in the united states: a path forward. national research council: 2009. 20. levy, p, petrulis r. how do first-year university students experience inquiry and research, and what are the implications for the practice of inquiry-based learning? stud in high educ 2012; 37:85-101. 21. kuhn, d. is direct instruction an answer to the right question. educa psycholog 2007; 42:109113. j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 supplemental information 1. academic degree summary this is a summary of the academic degrees of the students who have taken this course since 2011. these degrees are the declared degrees of the students when they started the course. table s1: percentage of degrees of the students who took the introduction to forensic science class, per year. where “s” designates the spring semester and “f” designates the fall semester. degree 2011 s 2012 s 2013 s 2013 f 2014 f 2015 f 2016 f 2017 f accounting / pre-accounting 0.7 1.2 adv/public relations 0.6 aerospace engineering 0.5 anthropology 1.4 3.6 2 2.3 1.8 0.6 applied science 0.6 biology 2.1 1.8 2 3.8 2.9 0.6 1 1.7 biomedical science 0.7 4.8 1.3 2.4 2.4 1.6 1.1 biotechnology 1.2 0.8 chemistry 1.4 1.8 2 4.5 2.4 3 1.6 6.1 computer science 0.6 criminal justice 2.1 13.8 20.4 6.8 8.3 14.8 10.9 9.5 electrical engineering 0.6 elementary education 0.7 0.6 1.2 0.5 emerging media 0.7 1.2 english 0.6 0.5 environmental engineering 0.7 event management 0.6 film 0.5 finance / pre-finance 0.6 0.6 forensic science 82.4 59.9 60.5 73.7 64.7 60.4 75.5 70.4 graduate non-degree 0.6 0.6 health sci: pre-clinical 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.8 2.4 0.5 health sciences bs 0.6 health services adm bs 0.8 history 0.6 hospitality management 0.6 information technology 0.6 interdisciplinary studies 1.4 0.6 5.3 0.8 5.3 3.6 1.6 5 int'l and global studies 0.6 0.8 0.6 journalism 0.6 legal studies liberal studies 1.2 mathematics 0.7 1.5 management 0.6 marketing 0.6 medical lab sciences 1.2 mechanical engineering nursing 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.8 1.8 0.6 philosophy 0.6 physics 0.8 political science 0.6 psychology 1.8 1.3 1.5 1.8 1 real estate religion & cultural studies 0.6 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 science education 4.9 2.4 1.3 0.8 2.4 2 0.6 secondary education 0.6 social science 0.6 spanish 0.7 sports & exercise science 0.6 theatre studies 0.5 ugrd sus transient 0.5 1.1 undecided stem 0.5 2.2 undecided health & public affair 0.5 undeclared 0.6 0.7 1.8 1.8 stem majors 90.8 75.5 69.9 89.8 77.2 72.4 80.7 81.1 stem non-majors 9.2 24.5 30.1 10.2 22.8 27.6 19.3 18.9 forensic majors 82.4 59.9 60.5 73.7 64.7 60.4 75.5 70.4 forensic non-majors 17.6 40.1 39.5 26.3 35.3 39.6 24.5 29.6 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 2. initial set of in-class survey questions (2015) the first iteration of the preand post-course surveys that were conducted in 2015 is presented in tables s2 and s3. pre-course survey questions (2015): table s2: pre-course survey questions that were presented in 2015 question answer options why did you sign up for this course? i plan to major in forensic science i’m just interested and want to learn more about the subject it is a required course for my major it is an elective course in my major other if you were to apply to a forensic-science based job today, which of the following areas interests you the most? (choose only one answer) anthropology attorney/judge crime scene inv. digital forensics dna/blood typing document examination drugs entomology firearms fire debris/explosive/fiber latent prints medical examination police detective toxicology i don’t know none, don’t want to pursue fs how important is it that a police detective has a strong background in scientific knowledge to perform his or her job? 1 = unimportant 2 = slightly important 3 = moderately important 4 = important 5 = very important how important is it that a crime scene technician has a strong background in scientific knowledge to perform his or her job? 1 = unimportant 2 = slightly important 3 = moderately important 4 = important 5 = very important how important is it that a forensic digital examiner has a strong background in scientific knowledge to perform his or her job? 1 = unimportant 2 = slightly important 3 = moderately important 4 = important 5 = very important how important is it that a drugs examiner has a strong background in scientific knowledge to perform his or her job? 1 = unimportant 2 = slightly important 3 = moderately important 4 = important 5 = very important how often do you watch crime dramas such as csi, ncis, etc. or other shows on tv which may have a forensic scientist character or use forensic science in the field? very often often occasionally rarely very rarely think about what you have seen on tv about forensic science. do you think you have a good idea of what forensic scientists actually do during criminal investigations? definitely probably maybe/maybe not probably not definitely not how strong do you think you are in math and science? very strong fairly strong average fairly weak very weak generally speaking, what do you hope to learn in this class? open answer essay © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 post-course survey questions (2015): table s3: post-course survey questions that were presented in 2015 question answer options if you weren’t interested in a forensic science discipline initially, are you interested in one now? (choose only one answer) yes no not applicable, i have always been interested in fs based on what you learned in this course, did you switch your primary forensic interest (choose only one answer) yes no i have decided not to pursue a forensic science career not applicable, i never wanted to pursue a career in fs if you were to apply to a forensic laboratory today, which one position would you apply for out of the following traditional areas? (choose only one answer) anthropology attorney/judge crime scene inv. digital forensics dna/blood typing document examination drugs entomology firearms fire debris/explosive/fiber latent prints medical examination police detective toxicology other (dentistry, engineering, accounting, etc.) none, don’t want to pursue fs if you went into this forensic discipline, based on the information you learned in this course, how confident are you that you could examine a piece of evidence in your field of interest. (choose only one answer) example: if you were interested in finger print analysis, could you match a known fingerprint to a print from a crime scene? 90 – 100% 80 – 90% 70 – 80% 60 – 70% less than 60% i don’t think i could examine evidence today not applicable, i am not pursuing a fs career thinking back to the beginning of this course and what you have learned in this course, do you think you were initially affected by the csi effect? yes partially no what did you learn in this class that has removed any "csi effect" that you might have had. if nothing has changed, please write "n/a" in the space. open answer essay which of the following best represented what you have gained out of this course? (choose only one answer) more information about my forensic interest more information about another area of forensic science more information about all areas of forensic science nothing what was the activity in this course that most affected your decision about pursuing or not pursuing a career in forensic science? (select only one answer) the assigned readings the presenters/presentations the mid-term the classroom discussions © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 3. second set of in-class survey questions (2016-2017) to better compile the responses given by the students, the questions were streamlined and updated in 2016 and used again in 2017 (tables s4 and s5). pre-course survey questions (2016-2017): table s4: pre-course survey questions that was presented in 2016-2017 question answer options why did you sign up for this course? i am interested in a forensic science career i’m just interested and want to learn more about the subject it is a required course for my major it is an elective course in my major other if you were to apply to a forensic-science based job today, which of the following areas interests you the most? (choose your top three) anthropology attorney/judge crime scene inv. digital forensics dna/blood typing document examination drugs entomology firearms fire debris/explosive/fiber latent prints medical examination police detective toxicology i don’t know none, don’t want to pursue fs based on a scale of 1 to 5, how important is it for a person to have a strong background in scientific knowledge to perform each of the following jobs? a. police detective: b. crime scene technician: c. latent print examiner: d. digital evidence examiner: e. drugs examiner: 1 = unimportant 2 = slightly important 3 = moderately important 4 = important 5 = very important how often do you watch crime dramas such as csi, ncis, etc. or other shows on tv which may have a forensic scientist character or use forensic science in the field? very often often occasionally rarely very rarely think about what you have seen on tv about forensic science. do you think you have a good idea of what forensic scientists actually do during criminal investigations? definitely probably maybe/maybe not probably not definitely not how strong do you think you are in science? very strong fairly strong average fairly weak very weak how strong do you think you are in math? very strong fairly strong average fairly weak very weak generally speaking, what do you hope to learn in this class? open answer essay © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 post-course survey questions (2016-2017): table s5: pre-course survey questions that was presented in 2016-2017 question answer options were you interested in a forensic science based job when you began this course? yes no are you interested in a forensic science based career now? yes no not applicable, i have always been interested in fs based on what you learned in this course, have you switched your primary forensic interest? yes no i have decided not to pursue a forensic science career and pursue a fundamental science career (e.g. chemistry, biology, physics, math, etc.) i have decided not to pursue a forensic science career and pursue a non-scientific degree. not applicable, i never wanted to pursue a career in fs if you were to apply to a forensic-science based job today, which of the following areas interests you the most? (choose your top three) anthropology attorney/judge crime scene inv. digital forensics dna/blood typing document examination drugs entomology (bugs) firearms fire debris/explosive/fiber latent prints medical examination police detective toxicology other (dentistry, engineering, accounting, etc.) i don’t know none, don’t want to pursue fs if you went into this forensic discipline, based on the information you learned in this course, how confident are you that you could examine a piece of evidence in your field of interest. (choose only one answer) example: if you were interested in finger print analysis, could you match a known fingerprint to a print from a crime scene? 90 – 100% 80 – 90% 70 – 80% 60 – 70% less than 60% i don’t think i could examine evidence today not applicable, i am not pursuing a fs career based on a scale of 1 to 5, how important is it for a person to have a strong background in scientific knowledge to perform each of the following jobs? a. police detective: b. crime scene technician: c. latent print examiner: d. digital evidence examiner: e. drugs examiner: 1 = unimportant 2 = slightly important 3 = moderately important 4 = important 5 = very important thinking back to the beginning of this course and what you have learned in this course, do you think you were initially affected by the csi effect? yes partially no what did you learn in this class that has removed any "csi effect" that you might have had. if nothing has changed, please write "n/a" in the space. open answer essay which of the following best represented what you have gained out of this course? (choose only one answer) more information about my forensic interest more information about another area of forensic science more information about all areas of forensic science nothing other what course activity helped you decided to pursue or not pursue a career in forensic science? open answer essay © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 4. external reviewer’s in-class survey questions these are the questions that were asked by the external reviewer to the class towards the end of the semester. the faculty member of the class was not provided the raw answers. 1. tell me about a typical day in your introduction to forensic science course? 2. what advice would you give to other students who decided to take this class? 3. how would you compare this forensic science course to other science courses? © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 5. external reviewer’s extra credit assignment below are the questions that were in the online assignment for the students as provided by the external reviewer to the class towards the end of the semester. the faculty member of the class was not provided the raw answers. forensic science extra credit questions you are invited to share your thoughts about your introduction to forensic science class. by answering the following questions, you are providing your participation consent. you will earn the maximum number of extra credit points if you provide quality answers for all of the questions. please share your first and last names so that you can be given credit for completing this assignment. (so that your answers can be anonymous, your name will not be included in the downloaded data.) question answer options (if given) what is your gender? female male what is your current age? what is your current classification? freshman sophomore junior senior graduate other _____ what is your current major? what is your race? american indian/alaska native asian black/african american hispanic/latino multi-racial native hawaiian/other pacific islander white other ______ why did you take the introduction to forensic science course? have you ever watched any of the csi television shows or shows based on forensic science? what aspects of the csi shows (or other shows based on forensic science) were validated or rejected after taking this course? what aspects of this class would you change or remove? what aspects of this class would you keep the same? how has this class influenced your career decision in terms of pursuing forensic science as a career? how has this class influenced your career decision in terms of pursuing a career outside of forensic science? overall, what are your feelings about forensic science after taking this class? are there any final thoughts or topics we did not cover that you can share? © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 6. raw data of the change in degrees below is a snapshot of the changes in degrees that occurred in the first semester and the first year after taking the course. the four changes observed were: 1) from a forensic science degree to another degree, 2) from another degree to forensic science, 3) from one science degree to another science degree (other to other) and 4) no effect observed since the changes were not made between science courses. changes in red represented the largest changes observed. the percent change per line indicates the percentage of change within that group. the bolded number and percentage beneath each of the four groups represent the number of students that changed in the entire population of students who took the class (n = 1,299). © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge j forensic sci educ 2019, 1 table s6: pre-course survey questions that were presented in 2016-2017 © 2019 journal forensic science education bridge