Theory and Application of Molecular Biology Throughout the Undergraduate Biology Curriculum

科学是调查和经验的；科学教学应反映这一现实。一门成功的生物学课程应该在整个课程中都包含研究性内容。调查经验的一个重要方面是学生接触到该学科的工具。这一点在分子生物学领域尤为重要，因为分子生物学已经彻底改变了整个生物学领域。该项目将分子生物学的理论和技术教学整合到整个生物学课程中，从进化论和生态学的第一门课程到毕业论文研究项目。本项目提供的新设备是实验室分子生物学教学的标准设备。课程已被修订，在现有课程中包括分子生物学实验，并增加了两门以分子生物学为重点的新课程。分子生物学也可以整合到学院修订后的通识教育课程中，从一级课程开始教授学生科学知识；在二级课程中提供跨学科的、动手的、研究性的实验室经验；最后是一个跨学科的顶点课程，将所学的理论和技术应用于现实世界的问题。生物学科学荣誉课程采用导师制教学，也以分子生物学为中心主题。这个项目为其他机构，尤其是小型的文理学院，提供了一个将分子生物学整合到各个层次的课程中的模式。新课程和新设备大大提高了该大学面向21世纪的生物教学能力。*

Science is investigative and experiential; the teaching of science should reflect this reality. A successful biology curriculum should have investigative components throughout the program. An essential aspect of the investigative experience is that students be exposed to the tools of the discipline. Nowhere is this more important than in molecular biology, a field that has revolutionized all of biology. This project integrates teaching the theory and techniques of molecular biology throughout the biology curriculum, from the first course in Evolution and Ecology through the capstone, Senior Thesis research project. The new equipment provided through this project is standard and essential to teach molecular biology in the laboratory. The curriculum has been revised to include molecular biology laboratories in existing courses, and two new courses, focused on molecular biology, have been added. Molecular biology also can be integrated into the revised, General Education curriculum of the college, which begins teaching students about science in Level I courses; provides an interdisciplinary, hands-on, investigative laboratory experience in Level II courses; and culminates with an interdisciplinary, capstone course that applies the theory and techniques learned to real-world problems. The Science Honors Program in biology, taught by the tutorial method, also has molecular biology as its central theme. This project serves as a model for how other institutions, especially small, liberal arts colleges, can integrate molecular biology into all levels of their curriculum. The new curriculum and equipment enhances significantly the university's ability to teach biology into the 21st century. *