CAREER: Project Lab, A Research-Intensive Laboratory Course

9600864米勒资金被要求在圣克拉拉大学开发、实施和评估一门创新的实验室课程，在该课程中，本科生将参与一个有监督的研究项目。这一研究项目与首席调查员实验室中正在进行的研究直接相关。本课程将命名为“专题实验室”，每年授课一个季度。每年，本课程将侧重于适合研究项目特定阶段的研究活动。这门课程的增加将加强圣克拉拉大学本科生的科学教育，提供实际的实验室经验和接触真实的研究问题。具体地说，学生们将研究土壤线虫--秀丽线虫中的细胞如何选择自己的命运。在任何一年，学生都会接触到几种不同类型的实验技术和程序。此外，本提案所要求的设备将加强南加州大学的科学设施，使学生能够接触到最先进的技术。学生将参与当年项目实验课程中每个实验的设计、实施和数据分析。此外，还将布置和讨论与研究项目直接相关主题的主要文献中的论文。在本季度末，学生将吸收他们的数据，并以海报演示的形式向班上其他人展示。每年，几名学生将在当地的本科生研究会议上展示他们的海报，一些学生将参加地区或国际线虫会议的海报会议。最后，在学年剩余时间和暑假期间，参加该课程的两到三名本科生将在PI的指导下继续他们的研究。这些长期的研究经验将为高积极性的学生提供密集的研究机会，同时提高他们的批判性思维能力。他的项目的目标是：1)向南加州大学的大量本科生提供直接的研究经验2)激励、吸引和留住合格的学生(特别是女性和少数族裔)攻读生物科学的研究生3)促进批判性思维4)加强南加州大学的科学设施以支持现代技术5)了解线虫的细胞命运是如何规定的

9600864 Miller Funds are requested to develop, implement, and evaluate an innovative laboratory course at Santa Clara University in which undergraduate students will participate in a supervised reserach project. This research project is directly related to ongoing research in the laboratory of the principal investigator. The course will be named "Project Lab" and will be taught for one quarter each year. Each year, the course will focus on research activities appropriate for that particular stage of the research project. The addition of this course will enhance the science education of undergraduate students at Santa Clara University by providing hands-on laboratory experience and exposure to real research problems. Specifically, students will study how cells choose their fates in the soil nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. In any particular year, students will be exposed to several different types of experimental techniques and procedures. Furthermore, equipment requested in this proposal will enhance SCU science facilities to allow students access to state-of-the-art technologies. Students will participate in the design, implementation, and data analysis of each experiment included in that year's Project Lab course. In addition, papers from the primary literature on topics directly related to the research project will be assigned and discussed. At the end of the quarter, students will assimilate and present their data as a poster presentation to the rest of the class. Each year, several students will present their posters at a local undergraduate research conference and some will paricipate in a poster session at a regional or international C. elegans conference. Finally, during the rest of the academic year and summer, two or three undergraduate students who have participated in the course will continue their research under the supervision of the PI. These extended research experiences will provide intensive research exposure to highly motivated students, in addition to sharpe ning their critical thinking skills. The goals of his project are: 1) to provide direct research experience to a significant number of undergraduate students at SCU 2) to motivate, attract, and retain qualified students (particularly women and underrepresented minorities) to pursue graduate studies in the biological sciences 3) to promot critical thinking 4) to enhance SCU science facilities to support modern technologies 5) to understand how cell fates are specified in C. elegans