Inquiry-based laboratory course improves students' ability to design experiments and interpret data

We redesigned our intermediate-level organismal physiology laboratory course to center on student-designed experiments in plant and human physiology. Our primary goals were to improve the ability of students to design experiments and analyze data. We assessed these abilities at the beginning and end of the semester by giving students an evaluation tool consisting of an experimental scenario, data, and four questions of increasing complexity. To control for nontreatment influences, the improvement scores (final minus initial score for each question) of students taking both the laboratory and the companion lecture course were compared with those of students taking the lecture course only. The laboratory + lecture group improved more than the lecture-only group for the most challenging question. This evidence suggests that our inquiry-based curriculum is achieving its primary goals. The evaluation tool that we developed may be useful to others interested in measuring experimental analysis abilities in their students.     

生物化学实验线上线下混合式教学建设与实践

线上线下混合式教学是未来高校实验教学模式改革的方向之一。混合式教学具有体系性强、知识点可重复、学生自主学习及师生互动多等特点。浙江大学线上线下混合式教学生物化学实验课程包含大型开放式网络课程(massive open online course, MOOC)、线下综合性系列实验和自主实验设计与实践。该课程的混合式教学建设与实践表明,实验课程的混合式教学有助于扩充实验教学内涵,建设标准化的实验教学预习、过程与考核机制,并推动实验课程的共享应用。     

Developing experimental design and troubleshooting skills in an advanced biochemistry lab

Two skills critically important to all scientists are the ability to design good experiments and to troubleshoot experiments that do not yield the expected results. In spite of their importance, however, these skills are rarely taught as a part of the undergraduate science curriculum. This deficiency was addressed by creating an advanced biochemistry laboratory course that focuses on the development of experimental design and troubleshooting skills. The course provides students with the opportunity to design and evaluate their own experiments through semester-long independent projects that have a common theme (in this case, protein purification, but any theme could be used). Students plan their projects and carry through the experiments by consulting the primary research literature. The instructor provides minimal input in troubleshooting situations, instead allowing the student to think through and implement alternative solutions. A 2-year survey of the course revealed that students were often frustrated but felt the course significantly improved their experimental laboratory skills as well as introducing them to “real-world” laboratory experience. They further indicated that they preferred the approach used in this course to directed “cook-book” laboratory experiences.     

北京大学微生物学实验课模块化教学的探索

微生物学是一门重要的生命科学分支学科,并在很大程度上促进了其他分支学科如分子生物学等的发展。在北京大学新的教学体系下,微生物学实验课被提前到大学一年级本科生选修。为了保证一年级本科生能够掌握微生物学基础实验技术,达到良好的学习效果,作者在参考了国内各综合性大学所编写的微生物学基础实验教材之后,认真梳理了教材中相关微生物学基础实验,明确了微生物基础实验课的教学要求和目的:学生能掌握微生物学基础实验技术并能初步运用这些技术解决实际问题。根据新体系中教学目的,作者重新设计和丰富了微生物基础实验内容,进行了模块化教学的实验教学安排,增强了课程的整体性、连贯性、实用性和开放性,提高了学生学习的兴趣,实现了教学目的。     

Reduction through education: the insight of a trainer

One of the articles contained within European Council Directive 86/609/EEC states that "Persons who carry out experiments or take part in them, and persons who take care of animals used for experiments, including duties of a supervisory nature, shall have appropriate training". In effect, this article stipulates that only competent individuals are allowed to work with laboratory animals. At least three groups of individuals can be identified with different responsibilities toward experimental animals: animal technicians, scientists, and veterinarians/animal welfare officers. The responsibilities and duties of the individuals within each of these categories differ. This paper focuses on the training of scientists. The scientist designs, and often also performs, animal experiments. Therefore, scientists must be educated to develop an attitude of respect toward laboratory animals, and must be trained so that, if an experiment must be performed with animals, it is designed according to the highest possible scientific and ethical standards. In The Netherlands, the law stipulates that scientists intending to work with animals must have completed a course in laboratory animal science. This compulsory course started in 1986. The Department of Laboratory Animal Science at Utrecht University is responsible for the national coordination of this course. Participants must have an academic degree (at the level of MSc) in one of the biomedical sciences, such as biology, medicine or veterinary medicine. Although the course is an intensive 3-week, 120-hour long course, which covers both technical and ethical aspects of laboratory animal experimentation, it cannot provide full competence. It is designed to provide sufficient basic training and knowledge to enable students to design animal experiments, and to develop an attitude that will be conducive to the implementation of the Three Rs. However, full competence will always require further training that can only be acquired as a result of practical experience gained while working in the field of laboratory animal research. Evaluations subsequent to the course have revealed that more than 98% of the students regard the course as indispensable for all scientists working in a research area where animal experiments are performed. They agree that the course not only contributes to the quality of experiments and to the welfare of animals, but also to a decrease in the number of animals used in experiments.     

本科生“分子生物学实验”课程设计的改革与探索

"分子生物学实验"是分子生物学理论课配套的实验课。掌握分子生物学基本实验技术是生命科学对新时代人才发展的基本需求。上海科技大学通过整合教学资源与实验室资源,对传统本科生"分子生物学实验"的教学内容和体系进行调整,建立了一套基础实验与前沿实验相结合、验证性实验和自主设计性实验相结合的教学体系,为提高本科生"分子生物学实验"课程教学质量和培养综合型人才奠定了基础。     

Comparing biology majors from large lecture classes with TA-facilitated laboratories to those from small lecture classes with faculty-facilitated laboratories

The teaching faculty for this course sought to address their own concerns about the quality of student learning in an impersonal large lecture biology class for majors, the difficulties in getting to know each student by name, and difficulties in soliciting answers and reactions from the students during the lecture. Questions addressed by this study were, Do active-learning activities in a small and personal lecture setting enhance student learning more than active-learning activities in large impersonal lectures? and Are students more satisfied with an educational experience in a small and personal lecture setting? Based on faculty perceptions of how they best relate to their students, the prediction was that the students in the experimental group with small lecture classes and increased direct contact with the teaching faculty would learn physiological principles better than the students in the control group in the large impersonal lecture portion of the course. One of the laboratory sections of this large enrollment biology course was randomly selected to be taught with separate small lectures by the teaching faculty. In addition, the teaching faculty participated in the laboratory with these students during their experiments correlated with the lecture material. The students in both groups were compared by pre- and posttests of physiological principles, final course grades, and class satisfaction surveys.     

高职院校微生物实验改革探索

微生物实验课程是一门基础的专业实验课程。针对高职院校微生物学实验教学中存在的问题,通过对学生能动性的提高、教学内容的完善、实验操作技能的提升、考核方式的改革以及综合性实验的开设等方面的探讨,深化微生物学实验教学改革。     

微生物学开放性实验的探索与研究

微生物学是生物工程专业的主干课程,其对学生的实践能力要求很高,目前实验教学中,验证性实验较多,而综合性、设计性实验相对不足的问题很突出。为了更好地提高学生的微生物学实验技能,培养学生在较高的层次上发现问题并解决问题的能力,从2006学年起,微生物学实验课程在原教学计划的基础上增加了一个开放性综合大实验——环境中微生物的分离纯化培养及鉴定大实验,要求学生独立查阅文献、设计实验方案,并在教师的指导下完成整个实验过程,并将此综合实验与学校创新大赛相结合,提高了学生的兴趣和积极性。通过此项训练,学生对微生物学的操作技能有了显著的提高,其独立解决问题及团队协作能力也得以增强。经过5年的实践,证明该模式取得了良好的教学效果。     

A novel approach to physiology education for biomedical engineering students

It is challenging for biomedical engineering programs to incorporate an indepth study of the systemic interdependence of cells, tissues, and organs into the rigorous mathematical curriculum that is the cornerstone of engineering education. To be sure, many biomedical engineering programs require their students to enroll in anatomy and physiology courses. Often, however, these courses tend to provide bulk information with only a modicum of live tissue experimentation. In the Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering Department of the University of Rhode Island, this issue is addressed to some extent by implementing an experiential physiology laboratory that addresses research in electrophysiology and biomechanics. The two-semester project-based course exposes the students to laboratory skills in dissection, instrumentation, and physiological measurements. In a novel approach to laboratory intensive learning, the course meets on six Sundays throughout the semester for an 8-h laboratory period. At the end of the course, students are required to prepare a two-page conference paper and submit the results to the Northeast Bioengineering Conference (NEBC) for consideration. Students then travel to the conference location to present their work. Since the inception of the course in the fall of 2003, we have collectively submitted 22 papers to the NEBC. This article will discuss the nature of the experimentation, the types of experiments performed, the goals of the course, and the metrics used to determine the success of the students and the research.     

The introduction of metagenomics into an undergraduate biochemistry laboratory course yielded a predicted reductase that decreases triclosan susceptibility in Escherichia coli

Traditional undergraduate science classes often include a laboratory component aimed at enabling the students to experience the classroom topics firsthand. Typically, these experiments are chosen because they have known outcomes that will clearly demonstrate particular aspects of scientific theory. While this approach has its benefits in skill development and concept reinforcement, the lack of novelty inherent in repeating experiments that have been repeated for many years does not accurately convey the feeling of true scientific discovery to the students. In this work, we have designed and implemented a series of experiments into an undergraduate biochemistry curriculum that incorporates the opportunity for scientific discovery, while simultaneously creating an environment for learning routine laboratory techniques. Through this set of experiments, students enrolled in the course were successful in identifying and beginning to characterize an unknown bacterial gene that confers increased tolerance to triclosan on its host.     

浅谈在生物化学实验中培养学生的数据处理与分析能力

在生物化学实验中,教师应该重视培养学生的数据处理与分析能力。教师可以通过课堂讲解、课堂设问和实验设计等结合的方式,培养学生建立数据与单位的概念,指导学生掌握有效数字的计算,同时引导学生使用基本的软件工具分析处理数据,最终运用统计学的定量与分析得到可靠合理的实验结果。     

The use of scenario-based-learning interactive software to create custom virtual laboratory scenarios for teaching genetics

Mutagenesis screens and analysis of mutant phenotypes are one of the most powerful approaches for the study of genetics. Yet genetics students often have difficulty understanding the experimental procedures and breeding crosses required in mutagenesis screens and linking mutant phenotypes to molecular defects. Performing these experiments themselves often aids students in understanding the methodology. However, there are limitations to performing genetics experiments in a student laboratory. For example, the generation time of laboratory model organisms is considerable, and a laboratory exercise that involves many rounds of breeding or analysis of many mutants is not often feasible. Additionally, the cost of running a laboratory practical, along with safety considerations for particular reagents or protocols, often dictates the experiments that students can perform. To provide an alternative to a traditional laboratory module, we have used Scenario-Based-Learning Interactive (SBLi) software to develop a virtual laboratory to support a second year undergraduate course entitled "Genetic Analysis." This resource allows students to proceed through the steps of a genetics experiment, without the time, cost, or safety constraints of a traditional laboratory exercise.     

The Productivity of the Scots Heather (Calluna vulgaris) in the Calluna-Ulex minor Complex of Ashdown Forest,Sussex

A radically different approach to experimental work has been adopted in a first-year biology course at Macquarie University. Since 1967 students have done about one-third of their practical work at home. This paper indicates how the home experiment approach is now implemented with about 200 students of widely differing backgrounds. The essential features of this approach are identified and attention is drawn to the fact that home experiments, properly managed, can overcome many of the shortcomings of conventional first-year biology courses.     

《水的净化》一节教学的创新设计

在初中综合科学“水的净化”教学过程中,本着“以人为本、培养能力”为宗旨,进行探究性教学实验。通过营造探究氛围、自主设计实验、评选优秀学习小组和形成性评价等过程,培养了学生自主学习、主动探究的能力,对于提高师生的素养不失为一种积极的探索。     

Guided development of independent inquiry in an anatomy/physiology laboratory

Student-originated projects are increasingly utilized in the biology laboratory as a means of engaging students and revitalizing the laboratory experience by allowing them one to two weeks to collect data on a manipulated variable of their choice by use of an introduced technique. Such experiments fail as good models of investigative learning when they place more emphasis on novel ideas than on hypothesis testing, experimental design, statistical rigor, or use of the primary literature. In addition, students get used to the routine and tend to design the same type of simplistic experiments in each course unless challenged. Laboratories in a Comparative Anatomy and Physiology course at the University of St. Thomas were reorganized to encourage the development of investigative skills in a stepwise fashion throughout the semester. Initial labs concentrated on experimental design and statistical analysis, then use of the primary literature in interpretation of the data was emphasized, and finally, students were asked to design their experiments and analyze their data on the basis of models from the primary literature.     

Student‐led field studies of herbivory: Hands‐on experiences for remote (or in‐person) learning

Challenging students to independently design and implement experiments is a powerful way to teach the scientific method while engaging with STEM‐related course material. For ecology and organismal biology, such experiences often take the form of field work. The COVID‐19 pandemic presented formidable challenges for instructors of such courses: How can students conduct any experiments, much less ones of their own design, when they might not even have access to campus? Here we describe a student‐led field project exploring invertebrate herbivory in terrestrial plant systems. Designed to flexibly accommodate student groups working either in‐person, remotely, or both, the project would be suitable for invertebrate biology, plant biology, or general ecology courses at the college or high school level. We describe our implementation in two sections of a sophomore‐level course, provide specific advice based on our experiences, make suggestions for future improvements or adaptations, and provide all the written materials that instructors would need to implement this in their own teaching.     

Laboratory demonstration of vascular smooth muscle function using rat aortic ring segments

This laboratory exercise uses a simple preparation and a straightforward protocol to illustrate many of the basic principles of vascular biology covered in an introductory physiology course. The design of this laboratory allows students to actively participate in an exercise demonstrating the regulation of arterial tone by endothelial and extrinsic factors. In addition, this hands-on laboratory allows students to gather data using well-known basic biomedical research techniques. Specifically, students are introduced to an isolated organ-chamber technique that is widely used to study cellular mechanisms of many tissues including vascular smooth muscle contraction and dilation. On the basis of student evaluations, participation in the experiments and interpreting data reinforce lecture materials on smooth muscle and endothelial cell function and illustrate mechanisms regulating vascular tone. Students come away with a greater understanding of vascular biology, a deeper appreciation of integrative physiology, and an understanding of the process of conducting tissue-chamber experiments.     

荧光显微成像在医学细胞生物学实验教学中的应用探索

医学细胞生物学是医学院校本科生的重要基础学科之一,其实验课程教学工作的改革与创新具有重要意义。本文深入分析了医学细胞生物学实验课程现状,认为课程普遍存在目的不明确、内容不新颖、缺乏整体性、临床联系少等问题。荧光显微成像技术是细胞生物学研究中的关键技术,利用这一技术设计具有整体性的科研实验对于培养医学生操作能力和科研素养具有重要意义。顺铂(cisplatin)为当前肿瘤联合化疗中最常用的药物之一,由于其抗癌机制涉及细胞增殖、细胞凋亡、细胞骨架等一系列细胞生物学知识,且与临床联系紧密,非常适合用于综合性实验设计。实验方案拟使用BrdU染色、Hoechst33258染色及鬼笔环肽染色法,分别检测人肺癌细胞系A549顺铂处理后细胞增殖、细胞凋亡及细胞骨架重排情况。实验完成后,鼓励学生通过查阅文献得出综合的实验结论。希望能够通过科研与教学相融合的方式,更好的激发医学生的学习热情,提高医学生的科研素质,培养全方位的医学人才。     

以技术为主线开设药学类专业微生物学综合实验

以技术为主线开设药学类专业微生物学综合实验,能够帮助药学专业的学生更好地掌握微生物最基本的操作技能,了解微生物实验的基本流程,加深对微生物知识的理解,增强学习兴趣和创新能力,培养出药学微生物生产实践、教学科研全面的人才。