Equipment for an Inquiry-Based, Quantitative Undergraduate Neurobiology Laboratory

一个本科生神经生物学实验室正在升级，以允许基于计算机的数据采集和分析，以及允许学生进行细胞内记录。这两项改进促进了神经生物学概念和技术的探索，并扩大了实验室课程的影响，通过促进实验室课程中的学生向神经生物学学生在课堂上的演示。此外，与所要求的设备进行的练习提供了问题探索和说服技能的练习，因为学生将设计实验，收集数据并为他们的同龄人准备他们的结果演示文稿。 基于计算机的数据采集和分析系统通过允许数据量化来显着改进实验室，减少了设置实验的时间，并允许学生专注于所研究的概念。 此外，该设备还有助于学生的研究项目。这些实验室的改进最初影响了几组学生：那些在实验室课程，那些没有实验室的讲座课程，以及希望进行本科研究的学生。 希望这个项目也将提高本科生实验室的经验，在大学的所有生物学专业，发现是成功的技术，通过其他教师。

An undergraduate neurobiology laboratory i being upgraded to allow computer-based data acquisition and analysis, as well as allow students to perform intracellular recordings. These two improvements promote exploration of neurobiological concepts and techniques, and broaden the impact of the laboratory course by facilitating demonstrations by the students in the laboratory course to neurobiology students in the lecture-only class. Additionally, the exercises made possible with the requested equipment provide practice with problem-probing and persuasion skills, as the students will design experiments, collect data and prepare presentations of their results for their peers. The computer-based data acquisition and analysis system significantly improves the laboratory by permitting quantification of data, decreases the time to set up experiments, and allows students to focus on the concepts under investigation. In addition, this equipment facilitates student research projects. These laboratory improvements are initially impacting several groups of students: those in the laboratory course, those taking the lecture course without the laboratory, and students who wish to perform undergraduate research. It is hoped that this project will also improve undergraduate laboratory experiences for all biology majors at the University, as the techniques found to be successful are adopted by other instructors.