scholarly journals From proposal to poster: course-based undergraduate research experience in a physiology laboratory course

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-463
Author(s):  
Jonathan P. Rennhack ◽  
Valerie S. VanRyn ◽  
James M. Poteracki ◽  
Erica A. Wehrwein
Keyword(s):  
Human Physiology ◽  
Clinical Skills ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Michigan State University ◽  
State University ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Laboratory Course ◽  
Draw Conclusion ◽  
Physiology Laboratory ◽  
Analyze Data

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 their findings. This comprehensive experience is ideal for a capstone (senior level) laboratory course that is the culmination of 4 yr of study in the degree. At Michigan State University, the capstone laboratory has incorporated a formal course-based research experience in human physiology. The rationale and logistics for running such an experience are described in this paper.

INQUIRY-BASED LABORATORY COURSE IMPROVES STUDENTS’ ABILITY TO DESIGN EXPERIMENTS AND INTERPRET DATA

2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcella J. Myers ◽  
Ann B. Burgess
Keyword(s):  
Human Physiology ◽  
Experimental Analysis ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
Laboratory Course ◽  
Designed Experiments ◽  
Initial Score ◽  
Physiology Laboratory ◽  
Challenging Question ◽  
Design Experiments ◽  
Analyze Data

We redesigned our intermediate-level organismal physiology laboratory course to center on student-designed experiments in plant and human physiology. Our primary goals were to improve the ability of students to design experiments and analyze data. We assessed these abilities at the beginning and end of the semester by giving students an evaluation tool consisting of an experimental scenario, data, and four questions of increasing complexity. To control for nontreatment influences, the improvement scores (final minus initial score for each question) of students taking both the laboratory and the companion lecture course were compared with those of students taking the lecture course only. The laboratory + lecture group improved more than the lecture-only group for the most challenging question. This evidence suggests that our inquiry-based curriculum is achieving its primary goals. The evaluation tool that we developed may be useful to others interested in measuring experimental analysis abilities in their students.

scholarly journals Combining novel research and community-engaged learning in an undergraduate physiology laboratory course

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah K. Woodley ◽  
Peter E. Freeman ◽  
Tiffany D. Ricketts
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
College Level ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Engaged Learning ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
Laboratory Course ◽  
Physiology Laboratory ◽  
Physiology Students

To better prepare physiology students for 21st century careers, we incorporated classroom-based undergraduate research experiences and service learning/community-engaged learning (SLCE) into a college-level physiology laboratory course. The interventions were incorporated over 4 yr and assessed using validated surveys of student-reported learning gains related to attitudes toward science, the scientific process, and career paths. Students reported the greatest learning gains in those years when students did novel research oriented around a common theme of water quality. The gains were greater than those of a matched cohort that participated in an apprentice-style summer undergraduate research experience. With respect to the SLCE related to youth science literacy, students provided evidence of learning related to academics, personal growth, and civic mindedness. For example, many expressed discomfort about being in a new situation, often describing the differences between themselves and the youth with whom they interacted. However, students also grew in confidence about collaborating with people who were different from them and in their role as the “scientist.” Limitations of the study include the quasi-experimental design and the incorporation of multiple interventions at the same time. Future studies should examine improvement in content acquisition and competency-based learning skills. Nonetheless, these results suggest that both novel research and SLCE increase student learning in the context of an undergraduate physiology laboratory course. Many of the learning gains observed with the SLCE are particularly important for physiology students, many of whom aspire to careers in health sciences, where they will be regularly working with nonscientists.

Designing Authentic Undergraduate Research Experiences in a Single-Semester Lab Course

2015 ◽  
Vol 77 (7) ◽  
pp. 526-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Mennella
Keyword(s):  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Laboratory Course ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Undergraduate Research Experiences ◽  
Green Fluorescent ◽  
Scheduled Time

The importance of a robust undergraduate research experience has been demonstrated time and again. However, too few undergraduates engage in genuine research and leverage this opportunity. Here, I present a laboratory course in cell and molecular biology that is designed to mimic a true research project. Students work through a 10-step experimental design culminating in the construction, expression, and visualization of microtubules fused to green fluorescent protein in baker's yeast. The steps of this project include the isolation of the tubulin gene from yeast genomic DNA, the cloning of that gene into an expression vector, the amplification of this plasmid in E. coli, and the expression of fluorescent tubulin in yeast. Controls and validation steps are embedded throughout the project, as they would be in a genuine research project. This laboratory course more closely resembles a one-semester undergraduate research experience than a typical lab course. However, because this course reaches a much larger number of students compared with undergraduate research opportunities, it provides students with a valuable research experience that remains confined to the scheduled time block of a typical lab course. In this way, many of the benefits of research are experienced by a large number of undergraduates.

Tools for Modern Mathematics: A Course to Introduce Experimental Mathematics

2019 ◽  
pp. 235-239
Author(s):  
Debra L. Hydorn
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Michigan State University ◽  
State University ◽  
Mathematics Students ◽  
Experimental Mathematics ◽  
Experimental Phase ◽  
Programming Tools ◽  
Students First ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Modern Mathematics

The accessibility of computational methods and resources has made it easier to include undergraduates in mathematical research projects. However, based on the traditional form of mathematics education, many students aren’t confident in developing their own research questions or conjectures. Originally created to introduce students to programming tools (R, Mathematica and MATLAB), this course has evolved into an introduction to experimental mathematics. Students first learn the fundamentals of programming along with algorithmic structures and methods of simulation. Then, following the approach used by the Summer Undergraduate Research Institute in Experimental Mathematics at Michigan State University, students participate in (1) an experimental phase, where they use algorithms and simulations to produce output, (2) a conjecture phase, where they review their output to identify potential relationships and patterns, and (3) a 2nd experimental phase where additional output is produce to determine if any of their conjectures are still viable. The focus of the course is on developing students’ ability to pose research questions and their ability to use computational tools to address those questions.

In To Africa: Teaching Nanoscience to Undergraduates in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 1320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian H. Augustine ◽  
Orde Q. Munro
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Laboratory Course ◽  
Kwazulu Natal

ABSTRACTThere has been considerable interest in developing curricular programs and materials for teaching undergraduate courses in nanoscience in the United States and other developed countries in the past decade. Materials science and nanoscience research programs are growing in developing countries in South America, Africa and Asia. However, there still exists a significant disconnect between the research efforts in developing countries and undergraduate coursework. This report will focus on the teaching of an upper-division one semester lecture/laboratory course developed at James Madison University (JMU) called “The Science of the Small: An Introduction to the Nanoworld” taught in the School of Chemistry at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg (UKZN-PMB), South Africa in 2009 through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar program. We report insights into the preparation needed to teach a cutting-edge laboratory course in South Africa. Also addressed will be some of the challenges of teaching an instrument-intensive laboratory course in a developing country, academic preparation of the typical native isiZulu-speaking UKZN undergraduate student compared to a typical U.S. student, and pre and post attitudes and content assessment of students who were enrolled in the course. Further discussed will be observations of post-apartheid science and math education in South Africa, and the beginning of a pilot program bringing South African undergraduate students to the U.S. to gain undergraduate research experience.

scholarly journals Preferences for Developing Undergraduate Research in Pakistani Universities: Student Teachers’ Perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fayyaz Ahmed Faizi ◽  
Muhammad Athar Hussain
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Theory To Practice ◽  
Research Involvement ◽  
Proper Consideration ◽  
Analyze Data

Undergraduate Research (UGR) is an important component in the curriculum of good ranking universities at present. It encompasses a continuous process of research engagements during undergraduate studies. Involving undergraduate students in research helps in linking theory to practice, understanding research processes and determining career choices. However, promoting UGR in universities in Pakistan requires proper consideration and planning. This study was aimed at identifying research preferences of undergraduate students and improving UGR in Pakistani universities. As students are the most important stakeholder in UGR, the data were collected from 2168 undergraduate students randomly selected from four large universities in Rawalpindi-Islamabad. The research instrument used was a questionnaire developed, pilot tested and validated before its use in this study. The data were converted into percentages and crosstabs using SPSS to analyze data. We found that undergraduate students expressed strong preference for research involvement and were willing to work any part of the week for gaining research experience. The students preferred field research as compared to research in lab or desk work. The students’ views and preferences on crosstabs helped in devising strategies for improving UGR in universities in Pakistan.

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