Enhancing the Biochemistry Curriculum Through Project-based Laboratories

生物科学(61)由于目前在生物化学方面取得的重大进展，我们开设了生物化学专业，最近增加了一名研究发育驱动的基因表达变化的发育生物学家，这一专业得到了加强。生物化学专业的课程是这样设计的，随着学生在该专业取得进步，他们对课本的依赖程度会降低，并更容易掌握主要的文献资料。逐渐地，学生成为课堂上真正的参与者，而不仅仅是消费者，直到最后，在他们的顶峰研讨会课程中，学生和教职员工一起成为合作学习者。这门课程为学生和教职员工带来了新的兴奋。目前的项目旨在改变生物化学专业的实验室设计和仪器设备，使这些学生对实验室具有类似的高度好奇心、独立性和自信心。我们结合了三个基于项目的实验室体验，使学生能够在实验室中调查他们在课堂上感到兴奋的相同问题。一个项目延伸到几门课程，并展示了几个学科如何共同促进对单个生物过程的理解。另一个项目揭示了新的生化工具如何被用来回答发育生物学中古老的问题。第三个项目展示了有机化学如何对我们理解生物体中的调节过程变得越来越重要。高灵敏度的非放射性分析在基础研究中得到了广泛的应用。这些正在被改编，并被引入生物化学本科实验室的新研究领域。接触最先进的研究和敬业的教师使学生能够发展沟通和团队合作技能，这将在他们的研究生职业生涯中得到高度重视。

Biological Sciences (61) Because of the significant advances in biology now being made at the biochemical level we have created a Biochemistry Major, which has been enhanced recently with the addition of a developmental biologist who studies developmentally-driven changes in gene expression. The courses within the biochemistry major are designed so that as students progress through the major they become less dependent on their textbooks and more comfortable with primary literature sources. Gradually, students become genuine participants, not just consumers, in the classroom until finally, in their capstone seminar course, students and faculty are cooperative learners together. This course has brought a new level of excitement for both students and faculty. The current project aims to change the laboratory design and instrumentation available to Biochemistry majors so that these students achieve a similar high level of curiosity, independence, and confidence in the laboratory. We are incorporating three project-based laboratory experiences that allow students to investigate the same questions in the laboratory that they find exciting in the classroom. One project extends through several courses and demonstrates how several disciplines collectively contribute to the understanding of a single biological process. Another project reveals how new biochemical tools are being employed to answer age-old questions in developmental biology. A third project demonstrates how organic chemistry has become increasingly important to our understanding of regulatory processes in organisms. Highly sensitive non-radioactive assays are being widely used in basic research. These are being adapted and being introduced into new areas of investigation for undergraduate laboratories in biochemistry. Access to state of the art research and committed faculty enables students to develop communication and teamwork skills that will be highly valued in their postgraduate careers.