Implementation of Research Oriented Laboratories in the Biology General Education Program

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The goal of this project is to implement a progressive series of laboratories in an introductory cellular biology course at Converse College, an all-women's college serving the state of South Carolina and much of the Southeast United States. The introductory course is now a part of the general education program (GEP) because the Biology Department felt a need to offer such a course to its students preparing to be K-12 teachers. As in all of GEP courses, this introductory level course serves education majors and will satisfy the biological science requirement that prospective teachers must meet for certification. Further, this course serves an introductory course in the biology majors' curriculum and is a prerequisite for upper level biology classes. The main focus of the project is to improve the laboratory portion of the course by providing support to emphasize an experimental and investigative format in the laboratory. This format is adapted from the "guided inquiry" approach described by D'Avanzo and McNeal in Student-Active Science: Models of Innovation in College Science (Saunders College Publishing). Throughout the laboratories, students are using the same novel model of study (a parasitized caterpillar) so that they perceive a progression in their studies. Students are asked to observe, formulate, and test hypotheses concerning different aspects of the model of study rather than to simply apply a technique for the sake of doing so. In this way students become more familiar with the scientific process, are exposed to more sophisticated, yet commonly used, technologies, and explore various important biological concepts ranging from homeostasis to cell-cell communication. The addition and completion of experimental work in this course will help those students who spend their careers teaching students in grades k-12 to better understand the scientific process while becoming familiar with new and basic technologies in cell biology, a subject that is becoming increasingly important in public school education. These exercises also guide biology majors towards potential independent research projects that they initiate during their sophomore or junior years. The model of study is engaging, safe, fascinating, and rather inexpensive to maintain. As a result, this model has the potential to be taken to the k-12 classroom in South Carolina. It is believed this investigative approach will improve pre-k-12 students' attitudes toward science and, therefore, the impression of science that they will give to their own students.