Advances in Physiology Education, Vol 260, Issue 6 25-S28, Copyright © 1991 by American Physiological Society
Integrating undergraduate laboratories into the curriculum
L. E. Burnett
Department of Biology, University of San Diego, California 92110.
Developing a curriculum that integrates laboratory, field, and
nonlaboratory experiences requires solid planning, cooperation, and
compromise among the faculty members in a department. This is especially
true for laboratory experiences where basic skills and familiarity with the
different groups of plants and animals carry over to upper-division
courses. In an introductory Principles of Biology laboratory, for example,
exercises can be designed to give students a clear idea of a statistical
distribution and the consequences of random molecular motion. Both concepts
are used in nearly all upper-division courses to some extent. Some
important but "mechanical" features of courses within a curriculum, such as
adopting within the department a single format for writing a scientific
paper, will go a long way in tying together different laboratory
experiences. Other similar but simpler ideas are to develop appendexes to
laboratory exercises that can be used in introductory and upper-division
courses, e.g., how to do dilutions, the use of SI units, etc. The latter
may be a good way to stimulate departments to think more carefully about
continuity and consistency in the design of the overall curriculum.
Continuity of instruction from lower-division to upper-division courses and
among upper-division courses requires communication between instructors at
all levels.
