Undergraduate Investigation and Experiences in Physiology and Neuroscience

该项目涉及生理学和神经科学课程的改革，旨在更有效地培养学生的生理学基础知识，科学探究和独立调查的方法。教授的角色不是提供预先指定数量的事实来记忆，而是提供经验，提高学生自学的能力，并对动物王国普遍存在的基本生理原理进行更批判性和分析性的思考。初级水平学生的实验室研究经验涉及人体生理变量的无创测量。高年级本科生的研究经验以活体无脊椎动物或脊椎动物或动物组织为中心。该项目包括购买六个生理工作站，每个工作站包括一台Apple MacIntosh Performa计算机和MacLab计算机软件和硬件，用于获取和分析生理数据。这些工作站使学生能够提出并执行各种各样的动手调查，这些调查有助于巩固他们在课堂上学到的概念，并使他们对科学探究的原则和方法有更大的了解。具体来说，核心动物学的学生使用这些工作站来研究人体肌肉生理学、循环和呼吸的原理。生理学学生可以研究动物器官系统的特性，这些特性导致了内部环境的稳态。神经科学专业的学生可以探索产生静息电位、动作电位、突触电位和突触可塑性的可兴奋细胞的细胞现象。

This project involves the implementation of changes in the programs of Physiology and Neuroscience that are designed to train students more effectively in the fundamentals of physiology and in the methods of scientific inquiry and independent investigation. The role of the professor is not to present a prespecified number of facts for memorization, but instead to provide experiences that enhance student ability to teach themselves and think more critically and analytically about fundamental physiological principles that are common throughout the animal kingdom. Laboratory research experiences of introductory-level students involve the noninvasive measuring of human physiological variables. Research experiences of upper-level undergraduates are centered around the use of live invertebrate or vertebrate animals or animal tissues. The project includes the purchase of six physiological workstations, each including an Apple MacIntosh Performa computer and MacLab computer software and hardware for acquiring and analyzing physiological data. These workstations enable students to propose and perform a wide variety of hands-on investigations that serve to reinforce concepts they have learned in class and give them a greater appreciation for principles and methods of scientific inquiry. Specifically, students in Core Zoology use these workstations to study principles of human muscle physiology, circulation, and respiration. Physiology students can investigate the properties of animal organ systems that result in homeostasis of the internal environment. Neuroscience students can explore the cellular phenomena of excitable cells that give rise to resting potentials, action potentials, synaptic potentials, and synaptic plasticities.