Curriculum Improvements in Undergraduate Physiology Laboratories

该设备增加了一门有两个目标的课程：向职业生涯早期的学生介绍科学过程的本质，以及减少生理学实验室对脊椎动物的依赖。独特的无脊椎动物实验展示了基本的基本原理，在某些情况下，学生们可以看到在脊椎动物身上不容易演示的现象。这些练习旨在提高批判性思维和量化技能，介绍微型计算机在实验室的使用，并教授科学方法。学生根据实验手册提供的指导原则设计许多实验协议。学生以科学论文的形式撰写报告，以熟悉科学文献的标准格式，并提高他们的书面交流技能。设计了一种创新的方法来分发新的生理学实验室练习；这些材料将通过发表的论文、全国会议上的海报和计算机程序来传播，而不是传统的学生实验手册。然后，教师可以根据他们的实验室情况修改练习，并创建适合他们的学生群体和可用资源的个性化学生手册。这些设备包括海水和环境室、分光计、显微镜、渗透压计、离心机、氧气监测器、记录仪、肌电图仪、前置放大器以及装有打印机和软件的计算机。

The equipment augments a course which has two goals: to introduce students early in their career to the nature of the scientific process, and to decrease reliance on vertebrates in physiology laboratories. The unique invertebrate experiments demonstrate essential basic principles and in some cases allow students to see phenomena which cannot be easily demonstrated in vertebrates. The exercises are designed to enhance critical thinking and quantitative skills, introduce the use of micro- computers in the laboratory, and teach scientific methodology. Students design many of the experimental protocols within guidelines provided by the lab manual. Students write their reports as "scientific papers" to acquaint them with the standard format of the scientific literature and to enhance their written communication skills. An innovative approach has been designed for distribution of the new physiology laboratory exercises; instead of a traditional student lab manual, the material will be disseminated via a combination of published papers, posters at national meetings, and computer programs. Instructors can then modify the exercises for their laboratory situations and create personalized student manuals suited to their student populations and available resources. The equipment includes a sea-water and environmental chamber, spectrophotometers, microscopes, osmometer, centrifuge, oxygen monitors, recorders, myographs, pre-amplifiers, and computers with printers and software.