RESEARCH LINK-The Development of Research-based Labs for Introductory Biology and a WWW Site to Support Nation-wide Exchange and Discussion of Experimental Data

本科生研究理事会是一个拥有近4,000名成员的全国性组织，为850多所主要本科院校的教师提供支持和网络，它将领导组织RESEARCH-LlNK--一个国家中心，用于开发和交流基于研究的生物学实验室。RESEARCH-LINK将建立一个正式的本科生和教师网络，允许通过WWW主页设计实验，共享数据和解释结果。目前，一个主要的障碍，防止引入基于研究的实验室是缺乏一个国家信息交换中心持续访问教师，提供实验系统和现场测试的实验室，可以很容易地纳入一个普通的生物实验室，将允许学生，在3-4实验室会议，思考和行动像科学家。研究链接将允许教师直接与实地测试实验室的作者沟通，以解决问题和回答询问。该网络将包括全国各地主要本科院校校园内的教师同行，以及从目前带头建立和维持具有强有力的研究组成部分的课程的骨干中挑选的导师/顾问。一系列研讨会将选择，开发和传播一组经过实地测试的研究核心，这些核心将包括遗传学，细胞生物学，植物和动物生理学，生态学/行为学和进化学的研究实验室集合，教师可以选择整合到生物学入门课程中。该项目将遵循一个压倒一切的原则，即任何标准的普通生物学实验室都应致力于教授科学的本质，并向学生介绍科学的思维过程和方法，如制定和检验假设，设计和进行实验，分析和解释数据，以及交流结果。

The Council on Undergraduate Research, a national organization of almost 4,000 members that provides support and networking for faculty at over 850 primarily undergraduate institutions, will provide the leadership for organizing RESEARCH-LlNK--a national center for the development and exchange of research-based labs for introductory biology. RESEARCH-LINK will establish a formal network of undergraduate students and faculty that will permit collaboration in designing experiments, sharing data, and interpreting results via a WWW HomePage. Currently, a major obstacle preventing the introduction of research-based labs is the lack of a national clearinghouse continuously accessible to faculty, that provides models of experimental systems and field-tested laboratories that can be easily incorporated into a general biology laboratory that will allow students, during 3-4 lab sessions, to think and act like scientists. RESEARCH-LINK will permit faculty to communicate directly with authors of field-tested labs to work out problems and answer inquiries. The network will include faculty peers on the campuses of primarily undergraduate institutions across the country and selected mentor/consultants from the cadre of those now taking the lead in building and sustaining curricula with a strong research-based component. A series of workshops will select, develop, and disseminate a group of field-tested RESEARCH CORES that will consist of a collection of research-based labs in genetics, cell biology, plant and animal physiology, ecology/behavior, and evolution that faculty can select for integration into an introductory biology course. The project will be guided by the overriding principle that 3-4 weeks of any standard general biology laboratory should be devoted to teaching the nature of science and introducing students to the thought processes and methods of science such as formulating and testing hypotheses, designing and conducting experiments, analyzing and interpreting data, and communicating results.