An Advanced Laboratory in Biological Physics

生命科学的研究正变得越来越跨学科。越来越多的生物和生物医学科学家正在使用物理科学家、数学家和工程师开发的新工具和技术。 与此同时，越来越多的物理学家和工程师正在生物和生物医学领域寻求职业生涯。 认识到这些趋势，国家小组敦促下一代生命科学家的培训应更紧密地结合生物科学与物理科学和数学。 该项目通过开发和测试涉及生物物理学的高级物理实验室实验，直接促进物理学和生物学在本科教育中的整合。正在设计和实施四个新的学生实验，探索实验物理学的生物应用。 这些实验室训练本科生使用最先进的物理技术来测量和探测单个生物分子和单个活细胞的特性。 实验包括通过观察布朗运动来测量单个DNA分子的大小，通过凝胶电泳探测DNA分子的弹性，使用荧光相关性来测量生物分子之间相互作用的强度，以及建造“激光镊子”来测量游泳细菌产生的力。该项目设想，范围广泛的机构（从研究型大学到小型学院）能够向其学生提供类似的培训经验，正在编写可与其他机构的物理系教师和工作人员分享的教学材料。 这些材料通过美国物理教师协会（AAPT）和国家科学数字图书馆（NSDL），并通过在国家和地区专业会议上的演讲，加强了这些实验经验向更广泛的物理教学界的传播。 这项工作的更广泛的影响也得到了加强，通过开放式实验室沉浸，通过国家高级实验室物理协会（ALPhA）协调，从其他机构的教员的培训。实验的教育影响正在确定一个正式的评估方案，使用学生评估学习收益（SALG）工具和学生访谈。

Research in the life sciences is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. More biological and biomedical scientists are using new tools and techniques that have been developed by physical scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. At the same time, growing numbers of physicists and engineers are seeking careers in biological and biomedical fields. Recognizing these trends, national panels have urged that the training of the next generation of life scientists should much more closely integrate the biological sciences with the physical sciences and mathematics. This project directly serves to enhance the integration of physics and biology in undergraduate education by developing and testing advanced physics laboratory experiments involving biological physics. Four new student experiments that explore biological applications of experimental physics are being designed and implemented. These labs train undergraduate students in the use of state-of-the-art physics techniques to measure and probe the properties of individual biological molecules and individual living cells. Experiments include measuring the size of individual DNA molecules by observing Brownian motion, probing the elasticity of DNA molecules through gel electrophoresis, using fluorescence correlations to measure the strength of interactions between biomolecules, and building "laser tweezers" to gauge the forces generated by a swimming bacterium. The project envisions a wide range of institutions (from research universities to small colleges) being able to provide similar training experiences to their students, and instructional materials are being written that can be shared with physics faculty and staff at other institutions. Such materials enhance the dissemination of these experimental experiences to the broader physics teaching community through the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and the National Science Digital Library (NSDL), and through presentations at national and regional professional meetings. The broader impact of this work is also enhanced by the training of faculty members from other institutions through open-house laboratory immersions, coordinated through the national Advanced Laboratory Physics Association (ALPhA). The educational impact of the experiments is being determined by a formal evaluation program using both a Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) instrument and student interviews.