Improving Student Understanding and Retention through Investigative Laboratories in Biotechnology

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Biological Sciences (61) .While the techniques of biotechnology have become quite standard, the application of biotechnology to solve "real world" problems is widely diverse and sophisticated. Unfortunately, the exposure most students have to biotechnology during their academic career is largely theoretical and is incorporated into lecture courses rather than laboratory courses. Those techniques that are taught in laboratories tend to be routine and lack connection to contemporary research topics of interest to students. This project is focused on adapting the techniques of biotechnology to the special needs of agricultural biology and wildlife management. The animal science curriculum will be expanded to include investigative, hands-on laboratories centered around wildlife management, animal tracking, selective breeding, pathology and disease, clinical animal pathology, small animal management, and dairy and livestock improvement. The establishment of a student molecular biology laboratory will also increase the number of students participating in laboratory courses taught in collaboration with Thomas Jefferson University and researchers from the Thomas Jefferson Center for Biomedical Research located on the Delaware Valley College campus.