An undergraduate biochemistry laboratory course with an emphasis on a research experience

Abstract

In their junior or senior year, biochemistry majors at the University of Detroit Mercy are required to take a two-credit biochemistry laboratory course. Five years ago, the format of this course was changed from structured experiments to a more project-based approach. Several structured experiments were included at the beginning of the course because not all students were familiar with computer-based statistics and graphics programs or fundamental biochemical techniques. Finally, students were given an enzyme purification assignment and a test/control project. In the latter project, students were provided with tissue from test and control animals and were expected to propose and test a parameter that they hypothesized might be different between the two tissues. For both projects, student teams were required to search the literature, submit and orally defend their proposals, perform the experiments, and submit a report. For all experiments except the test/control project, students submitted a written report in the style of a journal paper. A poster presentation was required for the test/control project. In course evaluations, the students cited a high degree of satisfaction with the project-based approach.Keywords: Problem-based experiments, independent projects, experimental design, poster presentations, research reports.Problem-solving abilities and experimental design are important skills for any scientist, but they are not taught in laboratory courses where students simply follow an explicit set of instructions to obtain results. Problem-based learning is a method in which students are presented with a goal that can be reached through different paths.1 As students work toward the goal, they acquire problemsolving, self-directed learning and team skills.1 Unless the curriculum requires an independent research project, students who do not elect undergraduate research do not have the opportunity to hone such skills in traditional, "cookbook" laboratories. Problem-based laboratories have recently been implemented in introductory through advanced biochemistry courses [2-5] and have involved experiments that include exploration of the Beer-Lambert law [2], protein purification [3,6], mapping uncharacterized mutations of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans [4], and studying various properties of a single enzyme [5]. These mini-projects occupy from one laboratory session [2] to the entire semester [3][4][5].In the mid-1990s, the faculty of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Detroit Mercy implemented project-based laboratories across the curriculum with the goal of incorporating one or more open-ended assignments of increasing difficulty into each laboratory course. In this way, even students who do not elect to undertake independent research are exposed to a wide variety of protocols and instrumentation in a professional, research-like environment. In their junior or senior year, biochemistry majors are required to take a twocredit, one-semester biochemistry laboratory course, which is conc...

Known structure, unknown function: An inquiry‐based undergraduate biochemistry laboratory course

“…Published reports and peer‐reviewed studies indicate that undergraduate science education must change from traditional, memorization‐based instruction to a more experience‐based form of learning . These studies find that students who engage in inquiry‐based learning develop better reasoning skills and more deeply enjoy research and laboratory work, versus students taught using traditional methods .…”

Teaching undergraduate research

“…Other groups have developed models for conducting undergraduate research in various institutions and disciplines. These include incorporation of research within a course or between the courses3–6, collaborations with research institutions7, a peer teaching system that ties together the laboratory with feeder courses and cocurricular organizations and uses supervisory staff members8, and a capstone course focused on scientific literature review and critique9.…”

Non‐stop lab week: A real laboratory experience for life sciences postgraduate courses

“…Moreover, it facilitates the development of scientific thinking, exposes the students to scientific discovery, and encourages them to follow a scientific research career [6]. Several approaches can be undertaken to successfully provide a laboratory experience to undergraduate and graduate students: from a "cookbook" 2-hour class to a several week project based [6,7]. To fulfill the needs of laboratory experience in the Molecular Biomedicine master program at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, since 2012, a 1-week intensive laboratory module was created: the Non-Stop Lab Week (NSLW).…”