BIOG 1500

Investigative Biology Laboratory

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2024-2025 Catalog.

Designed for biological sciences majors to provide lab experience with emphasis on processes of scientific investigations and to promote communication, literacy and collaboration in science. Students gain expertise in methods including instrumentation used by biologists to construct new knowledge. Lab topics include genetics, evolution, ecology, biochemistry, and molecular biology.

Forbidden Overlaps Forbidden Overlap: due to an overlap in content, students will receive credit for only one course in the following group: BIOG 1500, BIOSM 1500, PLSCI 1420.

Last 4 terms offered 2025SP, 2024FA, 2024SU, 2024SP

Outcomes

• To expose students to realistic scientific questions and encourage critical thinking, teach how to design hypothesis-based experiments, choose appropriate statistical test(s), analyze data, and interpret results.
• To fill students' scientific "tool box" by demonstrating mastery of modern lab techniques and scientific methods that can later be applied across varied biological systems and scales.
• To teach students how to find relevant scientific information using appropriate library tools, and to communicate effectively using both written and oral formats.
• To teach students how to think through a scientific process with their research group while acquiring conceptual knowledge and understanding the benefits and challenges of collaborative work.
• To teach how to use discovery science to explore patterns in nature, and understand the importance of accuracy and precision.
• To provide students with the opportunity to learn and apply fundamental biological information in the context of the course modules.

Distribution Category (BIO-AG, OPHLS-AG)

When Offered Fall, Spring, Summer.

Comments Biological sciences majors must take course for a letter grade.

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