MSE 2212 Required activities

Back to MSE 2212 home page

Each student enrolling in MSE 2212 will be required to complete the activities listed below.

This is not an exhaustive list of course components; the items listed here are the ones that are most important for students to understand and agree to beforehand.

DNA testing with commercial company, a process including …

  • Providing a personal sample (spit sample) that you will send to AncestryDNA for analysis prior to the start of the semester
    • As of Oct 2021, the College will cover the cost of the AncestryDNA test
    • We will require each student to pay $20 for Ancestry’s Traits utility
  • Receiving DNA results and sharing those and your tree with the instructors
  • Analyzing student’s own DNA results with regard to family history and origins, and living DNA relatives
    • students who happen to have previously completed a DNA test with any of the major providers (such as FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, or 23-and-me) can make use of those results in the course … but we’ll still need you to complete an AncestryDNA test
    • if you already have AncestryDNA test results, you do not need to do another test

DNA testing “in house”: bitterness lab, involving …

  • Providing a personal sample (cheek swab) from which students will extract their DNA
  • Amplifying their DNA for genotype analysis

Pedigree construction: traditional genealogy research, involving …

  • Researching vital records (birth, marriage, death) for immediate family (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents…)
  • Constructing a family tree using this information
  • Adding additional ancestors based on further research … as far back as possible

Page last updated: 26 Oct 2021