Student-designed experimental investigations and integrated symposium for the undergraduate neurobiology, ethology, and physiology laboratories

在接下来的几年里，中田纳西州立大学的神经生物学、动物行为学和普通生理学课程将根据以下目标进行重组：增加学生参与实验设计；2. 提高学生的批判性思维和表达能力；3. 培养将生物学提炼到细胞和分子水平，然后将其重新组装到器官系统和有机体水平的心理过程；4. 将三门独立的课程整合为学生研讨会；5. 更新目前在实验室练习中使用的技术。这些目标的预期结果包括提高对学习的兴趣和成功，以及在理解较小尺度细节的同时保持机体功能“大局”的能力增强。教师将提供背景信息和程序指导，而不是简单地规定一套已知结果的实验。教师的角色将转变为顾问和鼓励者，让学生体验到专业研究人员所经历的科学的真实过程和本质。我们将鼓励学生在一个学期的课程范围之外继续他们的实验，最终形成本科论文。设备要求的重点是建立基于Macintosh计算机的生理数据采集和分析工作站，其中许多工作站使用MacLab硬件和软件。普通生理学课程的学生将用比较的方法探索器官系统的生理学和体内平衡。动物行为学课程的学生将获得研究行为的细胞生理基础的实践经验。神经生物学课程的学生将探索神经系统的细胞现象，包括静息电位、动作电位和突触电位的基础，以及运动控制和感觉知觉等有机体现象。神经生物学的实验室部分从未在MTSU教授过，因此它的实施将需要大量的资本设备投资。MacLab系统因其声誉、多功能性和“用户友好”而被选中。

Over the next few years the Neurobiology, Ethology, and General Physiology courses at Middle Tennessee State University will be restructured with the following Goals in mind: 1. to increase student involvement in design of laboratory experiments; 2. to improve student skills in critical thinking and presentation; 3. to develop the mental process of distilling biology down to the cellular and molecular level then reassembling it into organ system and organismal levels; 4. to integrate three separate courses into a student symposium; 5. to update the technologies currently being used in the lab exercises. Expected outcomes of these goals include improved interest in and success at learning, and an increased ability to retain the "big picture" of organismal function while still comprehending the smaller-scale details. Instructors will provide background information and procedural guidance, rather than simply prescribing a set of experiments with known outcomes. The instructor's role will shift to one of advisor and encourager, allowing students to experience the true process and nature of science as it is experienced by professional researchers. We will encourage students to continue their experiments beyond the scope of the one-semester class, leading to undergraduate theses. The focus of the equipment request is to establish Macintosh computer-based physiological data acquisition and analysis work stations, many of which utilize MacLab hardware and software. Students in the General Physiology course will explore the physiology and homeostasis of organ systems using a comparative approach. Students in the Ethology course will gain practical experience in studying the cellular physiological basis of behaviors. Students in the Neurobiology course will explore cellular phenomena of the nervous system, including the bases for resting potentials, action potentials, and synaptic potentials, and organismal phenomena such as motor control and sensory perception. A laboratory component for Neurobiology h as never been taught at MTSU, thus its implementation will require a substantial capital equipment investment. The MacLab system was chosen for its reputation, versatility and "user-friendliness."