Abstract:

Purpose:
This article describes methodology steps to transfer the experience of a team of researchers to a bioengineering grade students. The formal and educational interpretation of the evolution in real time of a pandemic, with a huge worldwide impact, is made through the vision of a group of specialists who present the rigorously scientific method process to tackle this issue during a virology class session; from the data collection, passing by the model building, until discussions on results, to end up at a formal article drafting for a standard specialised international journal.

Methodology:
The expert researchers play the "master team" rol and sets the guidance according to a challenge-based learning-teaching, deploying active training methods which require students to be engaged in their own learning process through inquiring activities, reasoning, verification and conclusive thoughts on their tasks. The master team bring up this pandemic real case and draws attention to the observance of highlight aspects, such as concerning on this serious illness impacts, the way of posing problem, data source harnessing, range of available methods and challenge milestones.

Results:
The master team has conveyed how to tackle a serious social problem, such a pandemic, from the point of view of reasoning and stemming on the mathematical methods. Students followed an exercise related to the experience exposed. Students felt motivated to participate in trying to seek a precise evolution model to hint a future evolution with the high commitment that such a world concern deserves. Among big data relations on the pandemic evolution, they tried one of the suggested models, and discuss results between them. The final communication was required be written by groups of co-authors, in the form of a standard scientific article. In addition, they had to perform an oral exhibition with critical review by master team.

Conclusion:
Challenge-based learning-teaching might be the best methodology for incipient researchers because of a major enjoyment and motivation effects on the individual and, moreover, a better understanding and reinforce the concepts being taught. Learning how to conduct epidemic outbreak analysis is a core competency for microbiology students.. The replication of the master's skills united to the students creative involvement and their attitude bent on the challenge accomplishment, have been enormously enriching to learn cognitively from their own experience, strengthen by the satisfaction of successfully coming to fruition a deep and complex researching. It is hoped that this new teaching-learning model will advance our understanding about what it takes to educate skilled and knowledgeable researchers in diverse biology branches.

Keywords:

Covid-19, virology, epidemic, Challenge-based learning, researcher, inquiring, participating, involvement.