ERIC Number: EJ1068682
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1470-8175
EISSN: N/A
Known Structure, Unknown Function: An Inquiry-Based Undergraduate Biochemistry Laboratory Course
Gray, Cynthia; Price, Carol W.; Lee, Christopher T.; Dewald, Alison H.; Cline, Matthew A.; McAnany, Charles E.; Columbus, Linda; Mura, Cameron
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, v43 n4 p245-262 Jul-Aug 2015
Undergraduate biochemistry laboratory courses often do not provide students with an authentic research experience, particularly when the express purpose of the laboratory is purely instructional. However, an instructional laboratory course that is inquiry- and research-based could simultaneously impart scientific knowledge and foster a student's research expertise and confidence. We have developed a year-long undergraduate biochemistry laboratory curriculum wherein students determine, via experiment and computation, the function of a protein of known three-dimensional structure. The first half of the course is inquiry-based and modular in design; students learn general biochemical techniques while gaining preparation for research experiments in the second semester. Having learned standard biochemical methods in the first semester, students independently pursue their own (original) research projects in the second semester. This new curriculum has yielded an improvement in student performance and confidence as assessed by various metrics. To disseminate teaching resources to students and instructors alike, a freely accessible "Biochemistry Laboratory Education" resource is available at http://biochemlab.org.
Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Biochemistry, Science Laboratories, Inquiry, Science Curriculum, Science Experiments, Computation, Molecular Structure, Science Achievement, Achievement Gains, Science Instruction, Curriculum Development
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Virginia
Grant or Contract Numbers: DUE-1044858; MCB-0845668; MCB-1350957