The Laboratory Program for BISC207/208

The Laboratory Program for
BISC207-208 INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY I & II in the Department of Biological Sciences

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BACKGROUND

Beginning with the 1998-1999 academic year we initiated changes in our laboratory program in Introductory Biology that, when completed in 2001, will have transformed the lab experience the student receives. These changes have been made possible with funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to the University of Delaware.

OBJECTIVES

The transformation is intended to:

Foster a collaborative learning environment. Collaborative learning refers to students working in groups on a scientific question requiring investigation where significant portions and directions must be determined by the students. Students learn techniques and then apply them to investigations that progress from highly structured to less structured.
Use inquiry-based instruction in which students are engaged in all aspects of the scientific process: forming a testable hypothesis or scientific question, choosing appropriate methods, obtaining and manipulating data, drawing conclusions, and communicating results.
Provide students with a means to collect data quickly and accurately, thereby allowing more than one trial to be accomplished and more than one question to be addressed within the time limit of one meeting (3 hours).
Provide students with investigations and equipment that have a high 'fiddle factor', that is, can be easily extended into several different group projects.
Teach students the skills necessary for careful and effective use of research-grade equipment and computers in scientific inquiry.

LABORATORY PLAN

Photos

A. Structure

A master plan has been developed for the BISC207/208 technology upgrade currently funded by HHMI. The plan has the following components:

The number of student teams per room is increased from 5 to 6, and the number of students in each team is decreased from 4 to 3.
Each student team has a workstation containing a set of tools, which includes a laptop PC connected to the campus network, an external 17" computer monitor, a binocular compound microscope, a binocular stereomicroscope, a heated water bath, and a spectrophotometer.
Each pair of teams (3 pairs per room) shares a top loading electronic balance.
Each room (of 4 rooms) has a TA workstation comprised of a desktop computer with a video capture board, CD writer, and Zip drive, a 17" computer monitor, a trinocular compound microscope, a trinocular stereomicroscope, a DV camcorder connected to a microscope and to the computer by a firewire, and a flexcam.
Student teams are able, with the click of a switch, to display on their external computer monitor data from their laptop or input from the TA's computer.
The TA is able to send from their workstation to every student workstation (1) supplemental instructions as a text document, PowerPoint slides, or demonstration, and (2) images from student microscope slides or larger objects.
The TA is able to download digital still camera images to their desktop computer and make them available to students.
Students are able to give oral reports supplemented with PowerPoint slide shows sent to each student workstation from the TA workstation.

The following diagram shows the connections between components of the student and TA workstations. This plan was tested this summer (2000) and found to work well from both the TA and student perspectives. Equipment purchased with funds from HHMI is indicated on the diagram.

B. Philosophy

BISC207

In BISC207 labs, the students learn how to use all of the technology present at each workstation while working at the biological levels of molecules and cells. The computer has replaced the microscope as the most important bit of technology, and it is used in every lab in some form, i.e., recording and storing data, collecting data with electronic sensors, and preparing data for presentation.

During the first several labs in BISC207 we begin with an observation or an idea. The lab manual is set up in such a way that for each lab a hypothesis is clearly stated and a simple experiment is suggested for the students to run to test the hypothesis. The intent of this is twofold. First, the students sharpen their thought processes with respect to how science works. Secondly, it is a way that we can introduce students to the technology at their workstation. It would be foolish to only give them a sensor for detecting carbon dioxide and tell them to run an experiment with a plant. On the contrary, we build on something they know from lecture and their reading, e.g., that plants reduce carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and that light is required for this process. Then, we state the hypothesis that IF photosynthesis is dependent on light, THEN increasing the light intensity should increase the rate of photosynthesis. That, of course, leads to the use of the electronic probes and experimental set-up. The experiments are testing a hypothesis that is intuitively clear to them and at the same time they are learning how the computer can be used to collect and store data. When the experiment is finished we take them through a step-by-step procedure in which they learn how to analyze the data they have collected.

After several labs in which we "guide" the students (cooperative learning mode), we then shift to a major investigative lab (collaborative learning mode). With the help of their Laboratory Instructor they design their own experiment. An example of an hypothesis that was tested in the fall of 1999 is the following. IF carbon dioxide is the molecule that is reduced in photosynthesis, THEN we predict that the rate of photosynthesis will increase if we provide the plants (at a constant light intensity) with air that has increasingly higher levels of carbon dioxide. This is a major lab in the sense that students not only design their own experiment but they also write a formal lab report that summarizes their findings. Writing assignments (different components of a formal lab report) during the previous labs prepare the students for writing a full formal lab report.

Beginning in fall 2000 all students will be required to use MS Excel for all tables and graphs incorporated into their reports.

BISC208

In BISC208 students continue to develop science skills started in BISC207 while at the same time working with biological material and concepts at the level of organisms, populations, and communities. Hypotheses or scientific questions are no longer provided and students must generate their own.

Starting in spring 2001 all students will be required to use MS PowerPoint for oral presentation of results.

C. Implementation Tables 1 and 2 present the technology employed and proposed in investigations ('labs') in BISC207 and 208 during the HHMI grant period. In the tables, where 'computer' is listed alone it is being used primarily for data analysis (MS Excel) or transfer and manipulation of digital images. When 'computer' is joined to another device with a + symbol, (e.g. computer+Qubit Probe) it means that the computer and device are physically connected and depend on each other. In the year 2000-2001, the 'microscope+digital video camera+computer' entry refers to one instructor workstation per room with these devices.

There are trends in the information provided in the tables.

Computer-based technology was introduced (piloted) into honors sections (Hodson), and successes exported into the conventional sections.
The conventional and honors sections are coming closer together with respect to types of investigations and use of technology. [Honors labs still distinguish themselves from conventional in the depth of inquiry and use of faculty as lab instructors.]
Computers are increasingly being used for data acquisition and/or analysis, and electronic probes are used in roughly three-quarters of the investigations.

TABLE 1. BISC207 LAB TECHNOLOGY
TOPIC	TECHNOLOGY USED (HHMI YEAR 1)
	FALL 1998 (conventional)	FALL 1998 (honors)	SPRING 1999 (conventional)
Termite Behavior
Spectrophotometry - protein	Spectrophotometer	Same as conventional	Spectrophotometer
Osmosis	Balance	Same as conventional	Balance
Enzymes		Spectrophotometer	Spectrophotometer
Photosynthesis	Microscope, Chromatography, Spectrophotometer	Computer+Qubit Probe, Chromatography	Microscope, Chromatography, Spectrophotometer
Cell Structure	Microscope	Same as conventional	Microscope
Mitosis	Microscope	Same as conventional	Microscope
Procaryotes (honors only)		Microscope
Group Projects	All of the above	All of the above	All of the above
Project Reports (honors only)		Computer+Video Projector
Final Exam (Practical)	All of the above	All of the above	All of the above

TOPIC	TECHNOLOGY USED (HHMI YEAR 2)
	FALL 1999 (conventional)	FALL 1999 (honors)	SPRING 2000 (conventional)
Termite Behavior		Computer
Spectrophotometry - protein	Spectrophotometer	Computer, 96-Well Plate Reader	Spectrophotometer
Osmosis	Balance	Computer, Balance	Balance
Enzymes		Computer, 96-Well Plate Reader
Photosynthesis	Computer+Qubit Probe	Same as conventional	Computer+Qubit Probe
Cell Structure	Microscope	Computer, Microscope	Microscope
Mitosis	Microscope	Computer, Microscope	Microscope
Procaryotes (honors only)		Computer, Microscope
Group Projects	All of the above	All of the above	All of the above
Project Reports (honors only)		Computer+Video Projector
Final Exam (Practical)	All of the above	All of the above	All of the above

TOPIC	TECHNOLOGY PROPOSED (HHMI YEAR 3)
	FALL 2000 (conventional)	FALL 2000 (honors)	SPRING 2001 (conventional)
Using MS Excel	Computer	Same as conventional	Computer
Termite Behavior	Computer	Same as conventional	Computer
Spectrophotometry (protein)	Computer+Spectrophotometer	Same as conventional	Computer+Spectrophotometer
Osmosis	Computer, Balance	Same as conventional	Computer, Balance
Enzymes (nitrogenase)	Computer+Qubit Probe	Same as conventional	Computer+Qubit Probe
Photosynthesis	Computer+Qubit Probe	Same as conventional	Computer+Qubit Probe
Virtual Genetics (FlyLab)	Computer	Same as conventional	Computer
Chromosomes (mitosis)	Computer+Microscope+DV Camera	Same as conventional	Computer+Microscope+DV Camera
Group Projects	All of the above	Same as conventional	All of the above
Project Reports (written)	Computer	Same as conventional	Computer
Final Exam (Practical)	All of the above	Same as conventional	All of the above

TABLE 2. BISC208 LAB TECHNOLOGY

TOPIC	TECHNOLOGY USED (HHMI YEAR 1)
	FALL 1998 (conventional)	SPRING 1999 (conventional)	SPRING 1999 (honors)
Moss/Fern Life Cycle	Microscope	Microscope	Same as conventional
Corn Borer Development	Microscope	Microscope	Same as conventional
Predator/Prey Simulation
Functional Plant Anatomy	Microscope	Microscope	Same as conventional
Plant Transpiration	[not done in fall]	Computer+Qubit Probe	Same as conventional
Plant Reproduction	Microscope	Microscope	Same as conventional
Earthworm Circulation	Microscope	Microscope	Same as conventional
Vertebrate Respiration	ND	Computer+Qubit Probe	Same as conventional
Animal Anatomy (2 labs)	Microscope	Microscope	Microscope, Computer, Digital Still Camera
Group Projects (2 labs)	All of the above	All of the above	All of the above
Project Reports			Computer+Video Projector
Final Exam (Practical)	All of the above	All of the above	All of the above

TOPIC	TECHNOLOGY USED (HHMI YEAR 2)
	FALL 1999 (conventional)	SPRING 2000 (conventional)	SPRING 2000 (honors)
Moss/Fern Life Cycle	Microscope	Microscope	Same as conventional
Using MS Excel	ND	Computer	Same as conventional
Predator/Prey Simulation		Computer	Same as conventional
Functional Plant Anatomy	Microscope	Microscope	Same as conventional
Plant Transpiration	Computer+Qubit Probe	Computer+Qubit Probe	Same as conventional
Earthworm Circulation	Microscope	topic not done	Same as conventional
Vertebrate Respiration	Computer+Qubit Probe	Computer+Qubit Probe	Same as conventional
Animal Anatomy (2 labs)	Microscope	Microscope	Microscope+Digital Still Camera
Group Projects (2 labs)	All of the above	All of the above	Same as conventional
Project Reports (oral or posters)		Computer+Video Projector (oral)	Computer, Digital Still Camera (posters)
Final Exam (Practical)	All of the above	All of the above	Same as conventional

TOPIC	TECHNOLOGY PROPOSED (HHMI YEAR 3)
	FALL 2000 (conventional)	SPRING 2001 (conventional)	SPRING 2001 (honors)
Moss/Fern Life Cycle	Computer+Microscope+DV Camera, Computer+Flexcam	Computer+Microscope+DV Camera, Computer+Flexcam	Same as conventional
Predator/Prey Simulation	Computer	Computer	Same as conventional
Functional Plant Anatomy	Computer+Microscope+DV Camera, Computer+Flexcam	Computer+Microscope+DV Camera, Computer+Flexcam	Same as conventional
Plant Transpiration	Computer+Qubit Probe	Computer+Qubit Probe	Same as conventional
Vertebrate Respiration	Computer+Qubit Probe	Computer+Qubit Probe	Same as conventional
Animal Anatomy (2 labs)	Microscope+Digital Still Camera	Microscope+Digital Still Camera, Computer+Flexcam	Same as conventional
Group Projects (2 labs)	All of the above	All of the above	Same as conventional
Using MS PowerPoint	Computer	Computer	Same as conventional
Project Reports (oral or poster)	Computer	Computer	Same as conventional
Final Exam (Practical)	All of the above	All of the above	Same as conventional

CONCLUSIONS

Students are exposed to and prospering in cooperative and collaborative learning environments.
All aspects of the scientific process are present, from designing an investigation to reporting it. Students may not recognize or appreciate this now but will at some future time (based on comments from older students).
Students are empowered to collect high quality data quickly and easily. However, during the 30-60 minutes of data collection in real time, some students become bored while watching data appear on the computer screen. We need to find ways to keep the minds of these students engaged.
The technology-based investigations, especially photosynthesis, provide more variables on which to base group projects that have an expectation of generating useful and biologically relevant data.
Learning to use technology is an important activity. Most students are successful and very pleased with themselves. A few students struggle and leave discouraged, which is to be expected and probably can not be avoided.

The expert assistance of John Acuff and Susan Campbell in developing investigations and laboratory workstations is gratefully acknowledged.