CuboCube: Student creation of a cancer genetics e-textbook using open-access software for social learning

Puya Seid-Karbasi; Xin C Ye; Allen W Zhang; Nicole Gladish; Suzanne Y S Cheng; Katharina Rothe; Jessica A Pilsworth; Min A Kang; Natalie Doolittle; Xiaoyan Jiang; Peter C Stirling; Wyeth W Wasserman

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2001192

CuboCube: Student creation of a cancer genetics e-textbook using open-access software for social learning

PLoS Biol. 2017 Mar 7;15(3):e2001192. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2001192. eCollection 2017 Mar.

Authors

Puya Seid-Karbasi¹, Xin C Ye^{1

2

3

4}, Allen W Zhang^{1

3

4

5

6}, Nicole Gladish^{1

2

3

4}, Suzanne Y S Cheng^{1

3}, Katharina Rothe^{1

2

7}, Jessica A Pilsworth^{1

2

8}, Min A Kang¹, Natalie Doolittle¹, Xiaoyan Jiang^{1

2

7}, Peter C Stirling^{1

2

7}, Wyeth W Wasserman^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
² Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
³ BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Provincial Health Services Authority and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
⁴ Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
⁵ Department of Molecular Oncology, BC Cancer Agency, Provincial Health Services Authority and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
⁶ Graduate Program in Bioinformatics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
⁷ Terry Fox Laboratory, BC Cancer Agency, Provincial Health Services Authority and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
⁸ Michael Smith's Genome Science's Centre, BC Cancer Agency, Provincial Health Services Authority and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Abstract

Student creation of educational materials has the capacity both to enhance learning and to decrease costs. Three successive honors-style classes of undergraduate students in a cancer genetics class worked with a new software system, CuboCube, to create an e-textbook. CuboCube is an open-source learning materials creation system designed to facilitate e-textbook development, with an ultimate goal of improving the social learning experience for students. Equipped with crowdsourcing capabilities, CuboCube provides intuitive tools for nontechnical and technical authors alike to create content together in a structured manner. The process of e-textbook development revealed both strengths and challenges of the approach, which can inform future efforts. Both the CuboCube platform and the Cancer Genetics E-textbook are freely available to the community.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Access to Information*
Neoplasms / genetics*
Social Learning*
Software*
Students*
Textbooks as Topic*

Grants and funding

MOP-82875/CIHR/Canada