The laboratory course is an excellent venue to apply content, practice inquiry, improve critical thinking, practice key clinical skills, and work with data. The use of inquiry-based course projects allows for students to propose open ended questions, form a hypothesis, design an experiment, collect data, analyze data, draw conclusion, and present…

Written scientific communication, such as laboratory reports, are important components of undergraduate education within the sciences. Since most Horticultural Science majors offer lecture- and lab-based courses, students often write laboratory reports for many courses across the curriculum and these reports comprise a large percentage of the…

Sophomore liberal arts and engineering students enrolled in a course to learn and practice some basic chemical engineering side by side. The course was developed around the theme of indigo dyeing, which has an interesting history, fascinating chemistry and is accessible to all students. The students participated in a variety of active learning…

Using an action research model, biology faculty examined, implemented, and evaluated learner-centered instructional strategies to reach the goal of increasing the level of student achievement in the introductory biology course BIO 181: Unity of Life I, which was characterized by both high enrollments and a high DFW rate. Outcomes included the…

We have undertaken an integrated and collaborative approach to developing foundational skills of students in a first year, Introductory Biology course. The course is a large lecture and laboratory course with enrollments ranging from 800-1000 per year. Teaching and Learning experts were brought into the course as weekly "Foundation Skills for…

Inquiry-driven lab exercises require students to think carefully about a question, carry out an investigation of that question, and critically analyze the results of their investigation. Here, we describe the implementation and assessment of an inquiry-based laboratory exercise in which students obtain and analyze novel data that contribute to our…

Undergraduate research experiences have been shown to enhance the educational experience and retention of college students, especially those from underrepresented populations. However, many challenges still exist relative to building community among students navigating large institutions. We developed a novel course called "Entering…

Discusses possible reasons for the variations in current biochemistry laboratories (including staff expertise, equipment limitations, no laboratory textbook with modern experiments, and diverse student backgrounds). Also proposes a more uniform coverage of subject areas and techniques by providing a sample course format. (JN)

Describes a freshman level physics laboratory course which includes elements of mathematical statistics. (SL)

Discusses the philosophy and organization of an introductory college physics course that emphasizes laboratory experiments. Also presents a brief outline of the laboratory work. (MLH)

Describes an introductory laboratory physics course covering dynamics, fields, and waves. The course involves six hourrs of laboratory work and six hours of self-study every two weeks. Understanding concepts rather than laboratory techniques is stressed. (MLH)

Describes a laboratory teaching technique in which a single topic (in this case, bipolar junction transistors) is studied over a period of weeks under the supervision of one staff member, who also designs the laboratory work. (MLH)

Describes the use of videotapes to eliminate or shorten in-lab instruction and prevent interruption of a laboratory session with additional or forgotten instruction. Lists equipment needed for videotape programs and for a thirteen unit audio-visual laboratory. (GS)