Incorporation of Cell and Tissue Culture Techniques and Environmental Physiology into the Undergraduate Curriculum

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The purpose of this project is to continually enhance the educational opportunities available in biological sciences and to improve efficiency of instruction in the classrooms and laboratories. The project has a far-reaching impact on the campus which has extended beyond the Biological and Physical Science Department. As a direct result of the project, two new courses, Environmental Science and Ecology have been added to the curriculum. This enhancement also involves the purchase of two labline environmental chambers, three ecology study chambers, and two plant growth racks, which are all housed in the lab classrooms in Nestor Hall. Upon development of the environmental science course, the Environmental Technology Department made a decision to require it for all of their technical students as a basic related course. All equipment has been integrated into the biology curriculum across the board and is being utilized to its fullest capacity. The videomicroscopy system is being used to teach dissection techniques, to teach microscopy techniques, and to study specific specimens as a group for discussion. Especially significant is the dimension that this equipment adds to the two introductory-level, nonlaboratory courses. Videomicroscopy is such a successful teaching technique that the college has purchased additional systems so that the technique can be made available to any faculty member. The department has recently purchased photoprinters to capture images from the monitors. These images may then be used on quizzes, exams, hand-outs, etc. Interactive computer/video applications are continually being developed using the Media Argus Master Authoring software and hardware purchased. In anatomy, these applications are being used as supplements to lecture material and also, more recently, to provide alternative teaching methods to those students opposed to the dissection of animals. Applications in invertebrate biology are also in use. The results of this project have been disseminated in workshops presented at both the departmental and divisional levels. The authoring software has been widely viewed and interest in developing interactive software applications has grown across campus.