Learning and retaining science content may be increased by applying the basic science material to real-world situations. Discussing cases with students during lectures and having them participate in laboratory exercises where they apply the science content to practical situations increases students' interest and enthusiasm. A summer course in…

Students are provided with a mystery concerning dogs that are paralyzed. This motivates a laboratory exercise to measure parameters from the dog's "blood" to determine whether the paralysis is due to pesticide poisoning or an autoimmune attack on nerve myelin. Most of the materials are available from the grocery store. The real-world nature of the…