Seeing is Believing: Unification of Biology Curriculum

眼见为实：生物学课程的统一

• 批准号: 9851242
• 负责人: A. Malcolm Campbell
• 金额: $ 3.78万
• 依托单位: Davidson College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1998
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1998-07-01 至 2001-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9851242&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Seeing; Believing; Unification; Biology; Curriculum

The objective of this proposal is to enable the Davidson College Biology Department to implement its new mission and vision statements (see appendix V) and to unify the cell and molecular curriculum. Students will use phase contrast microscopes to make quantitative measurements, design experiments with appropriate controls, interpret and communicate their results. This "hands-on" approach will extend to non-majors laboratory courses (a graduation requirement for all students) as well. Furthermore, students will conduct independent research with the microscopes and image analysis equipment allowing them a more realistic experience to learn the unknown by conducting experiments. The unification of the curriculum is based upon using isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) as a model enzyme in all cell and molecular laboratory courses. This unification will enable students to see how different approaches to a common protein can extract different kinds of information. For example, where and when is IDH expressed in a developing embryo? To answer this question, students will use phase contrast microscopy and image analysis to measure the expression of IDH as determined by the formation of a colored product. This will be integrated with experiments in introductory biology, genetics, and biochemistry so students can see the synergy between disciplines that students often think of as separate and unrelated--"seeing is believing." In addition, the unifying concept has initiated several collaborations among faculty to develop new investigatory labs. The immediate impact will be on students who take these courses and begin to see biology as a continuum of knowledge that is interrelated. The long-term impact will be on other biology departments which can use our innovations to unify their curricula too. The ultimate outcome will be a population of students who learn by doing experiments that are exciting and informative and which reveal an understanding of biology that is larger than can be provided by individual c ourses

本提案的目的是使戴维森学院生物系能够实施其新的使命和愿景声明（见附录五），并统一细胞和分子课程。学生将使用相衬显微镜进行定量测量，设计具有适当控制的实验，解释和交流他们的结果。这种“动手”的方法也将扩展到非专业的实验室课程（所有学生的毕业要求）。此外，学生将使用显微镜和图像分析设备进行独立研究，使他们能够通过进行实验获得更真实的体验来了解未知事物。课程的统一是基于使用异柠檬酸脱氢酶（IDH）作为所有细胞和分子实验室课程的模型酶。这种统一将使学生能够看到不同的方法如何对一个共同的蛋白质可以提取不同类型的信息。例如，IDH在发育中的胚胎中何时何地表达？为了回答这个问题，学生将使用相差显微镜和图像分析来测量IDH的表达，这是由有色产品的形成决定的。这将与介绍生物学，遗传学和生物化学的实验相结合，这样学生就可以看到学生经常认为是独立和无关的学科之间的协同作用-“眼见为实。“此外，统一的概念已经启动了教师之间的几个合作，以开发新的实验室。直接的影响将是对学生谁采取这些课程，并开始看到生物学作为一个连续的知识是相互关联的。长期的影响将是对其他生物部门，可以使用我们的创新，以统一他们的课程太。最终的结果将是一群通过做实验来学习的学生，这些实验是令人兴奋的和信息丰富的，并且揭示了比单个课程所能提供的更大的生物学理解。