Implementing a Project-Based Genetic Laboratory

Adelphi University, Garden City NY

Investigators

Abstract

Biological Sciences (61) In an effort to improve students' understanding of genetics, their long-term retention of genetic concepts, and their ability to think, work, and analyze scientific problems independently, the genetics laboratory course at Adelphi University is being substantially modified. The revised course emphasizes open-ended project-based learning, and consists of two projects, one focusing on genetics and one on molecular biology. In the first project, an adaptation of a plant physiology lab developed by Dr. Jonathan Monroe of James Madison University, mutants of Arabidopsis are isolated and characterized genetically and physiologically. In the second project, an adaptation of a lab developed by Dr. Daphne Preuss of the University of Chicago, an Arabidopsis mutation is mapped using molecular markers. In both projects, students work in small groups on challenging problems. Under the instructor's guidance, they master technical skills, understand and pursue approaches to genetic problems, and use the scientific literature to develop their own set of experiments. These inquiry-based projects increase student intellectual involvement in the course and thereby should improve student learning. Colleagues in the Adelphi Office of Research, Assessment, and Planning are assessing the outcomes of the course improvements. Results are being disseminated to the science departments and Adelphi community through workshops, discussions, and presentations, and at a national conference.