Inquiry-Based Plant Science Education through Hands-on Molecular Biology Laboratory

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Biological Sciences (61)Through a major curriculum revision effort and with the assistance of outside consultation, the Department of Biology has implemented the use of current teaching methods and the constructivist learning method by implementing hands-on course experiences across the curriculum. Investment by the university in educational technology and lab instrumentation has moved us toward goal attainment. Through this project, the plant science courses in the department are being updated and revised to meet the institutional goal of providing students with contemporary research experiences in biology. Botany, Plant Physiology and Laboratory Methods in Biology and Biotechnology are being updated to include inquiry-based laboratory experiences performed by peer groups using the techniques of modern molecular biology and plant materials. Each course includes a semester-long project as a means of providing experience in "doing science" and thus enhancing the confidence of students in their lab skills and content mastery. In this way, we are adapting several research protocols, instruments, and the long-term process of discovery traditionally found only in research laboratories to meet the needs of introductory students and are implementing these student-focused experiments in the introductory biology classroom. These methods are further adapted to meet the needs of upper level students who revisit these plant-focused techniques while completing more complex and independent research projects in more advanced courses.