Both lecture and laboratory courses of biochemistry are important professional courses for undergraduates with biology related majors. Course optimization and update is crucial but challenging, especially for the laboratory course. Although taught separately, here we showed a strategy to bridge the two courses and promote the improvement of both.…

In science class, students learn by making and living information, enabling them to make sense of knowledge effectively and permanently and to associate it with daily life. Applied science courses make learning more qualified. While science teaching is carried out in application areas such as laboratories, virtual laboratories are used with the…

Providing opportunities for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics undergraduates to engage in authentic scientific practices is likely to influence their view of science and may impact their decision to persist through graduation. Laboratory courses provide a natural place to introduce students to scientific practices, but existing…

When conducting biological investigations, experts constantly integrate their conceptual and quantitative understanding of variation with the design and analysis of the investigation. This process is difficult for students, because curricula often treat these concepts as separate components. This study describes the effect of a curricular…

Modern research often requires collaboration of experts in fields, such as math, chemistry, biology, physics, and computer science to develop unique solutions to common problems. Traditional introductory undergraduate laboratory curricula in the sciences often do not emphasize connections possible between the various disciplines. We designed an…

For over a century, genetic arguments for the existence of racial inequality have been used to oppose policies that promote social equality. And, over that same time period, American biology textbooks have repeatedly discussed genetic differences between races. This experiment tests whether racial terminology in the biology curriculum causes…

We present a guided-inquiry biology lesson, using the plant-rhizobium symbiosis as a model system. This system provides a rich environment for developing connections between the big ideas in biology as outlined in the College Board's new AP Biology Curriculum. Students gain experience with the practice of scientific investigation, from…

We present an innovative course-based undergraduate research experience curriculum focused on the characterization of single point mutations in p53, a tumor suppressor gene that is mutated in more than 50% of human cancers. This course is required of all introductory biology students, so all biology majors engage in a research project as part of…

We revised a sophomore-level genetics class to more actively engage the students in their learning. The students worked in groups on quizzes using the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) and active-learning projects. The IF-AT quizzes allowed students to discuss key concepts in small groups and learn the correct answers in class. The…

Major advances in fundamental science are developed using model systems. Classic examples of model systems include Mendel's work with the common garden pea ("Pisium sativa"), classic inheritance work by Morgan with the fruit fly ("Drosophila"), developmental studies with the nematode ("C. elegans"), and transposable elements in maize ("Zea…

Louisiana Tech University has an integrated science curriculum for its mathematics, chemistry, physics, computer science, biology-research track and secondary mathematics and science education majors. The curriculum focuses on the calculus sequence and introductory labs in biology, physics, and chemistry. In the introductory biology laboratory…

To enhance bioengineering in the chemical engineering curriculum, a Unit Operations experiment simulating the hemodialysis of creatinine was implemented. The blood toxin creatinine was used for developing a more realistic dialysis experiment. A dialysis model is presented that allows students to assess the validity of model assumptions. This work…

Described is an experiment used in an undergraduate biochemistry laboratory involving inducing rickets in chicks and correlating the disease to a reduction in vitamin D-dependent calcium binding protein. Techniques involved are hormone induction, protein isolation, and radioisotope methodology. (Author/DS)

This project originated with the desire to offer general biology students a laboratory experience which emphasizes scientific thinking rather than a review of lecture content. To create investigative laboratories without many of the practical problems of their implementation, this project uses a combination of "methods modules" for…

Describes a course for science education majors that explores the uses of computer-interfaced experiments in a variety of interesting activities. Several examples of biology experiments are given. (ZWH)