Introducing DNA and Molecular Concepts into the Undergraduate Curriculum in a Women's College

9451674斯普拉特威廉伍兹女子学院（WWC）是一所拥有120年历史的私立文理学院，位于密苏里州中部。该提案要求51，056美元的赠款，由学院提供同等捐款，用于为本科生物实验室购买设备。这项建议满足了双重需要。首先，生物学领域的科学进步速度超过了许多机构的能力，特别是中西部的小型农村大学。 特别是，这些学校在提供最先进的DNA，细胞和分子生物学概念方面存在不足。 其次，在过去的七年里，威廉·伍兹的学生被送到邻近的威斯敏斯特学院（以前都是男生）学习数学/科学课程，向学生传达了数学和科学是“男性领域”的信息。在新的管理下，该学院一直致力于将强大的数学/科学回归校园，并为此投入了大量资源，包括聘请一名终身教职的全职生物学教师和恢复生物实验室。该提案要求NSF支持设备，使学院能够（1）开发一个上层细胞和分子生物学课程，在WWC校园内为William Woods和威斯敏斯特学生授课，（2）开发一个DNA模块，插入WWC恢复的普通生物学I讲座和实验室课程。通过在WWC的传播讲习班，为这些课程开发的课程材料将与地区大学和高中教师分享。

9451674 Spratt William Woods College for Women (WWC) is a 120-year-old private liberal arts college located in mid-Missouri. This proposal requests a $51,056 grant, to be matched by an equal contribution from the college, to purchase equipment for the undergraduate biology laboratory. The proposal responds to a dual need. First, scientific advances in the field of biology are proceeding at a rate that has outstripped the ability of many institutions to keep pace, especially small, rural colleges in the Midwest. Particularly, these schools are deficient in delivering state-of-the-art concepts of DNA, cellular and molecular biology. Second, for the past seven years, William Woods students have been sent to neighboring Westminster College (formerly all male) for math/science courses, conveying the message to students that math and science are "male fields". Under a new administration, the college has been working to return a strong math/science presence to campus and has committed substantial resources toward this end, including employing a tenure-track full-time biology faculty member and restoring a biology laboratory. This proposal requests NSF support for equipment that will enable the college to (1) develop an upper level cellular and molecular biology course to be taught on the WWC campus for both William Woods and Westminster students and (2) develop a DNA module for insertion into WWC's reinstated General Biology I lecture and laboratory courses. Through a dissemination workshop at WWC, the curricular materials developed for these courses will be shared with area college and high-school faculty.