Biological Sciences (61) One of the greatest challenges in the development of scientific curricula is to develop courses that teach students important scientific concepts while fostering critical thinking and hypothesis testing skills. The faculty and administration of the Natural Science Division at Hope College believe that "science is best learned by doing". With the recent commitment by the college to establish a neuroscience program, our objective is to develop a research-oriented neuroscience laboratory that will facilitate student understanding of neuroscience concepts and support the divisional emphasis of nurturing critical thinking skills. This new laboratory will continue to build on students' prior investigative laboratory experience, wherein students are first trained in a scientific technique (using structured lab exercises) and then use that technique to complete a long-term project based on their own hypothesis and experimental design. We are adapting the structured labs from two complimentary neuroscience lab programs currently being used at other undergraduate institutions: 1) The Crawdad Program, which is currently being used by institutions such as Cornell University and Williams College, introduces students to modern neurophysiology techniques including electrophysiology. 2) A Laboratory Manual of Leaning and Memory Experiments currently being used at Wesleyan College and Kent State University, presents students with experimental techniques used at the organismal level to study behavior and learning. The resources used in this neuroscience lab are also be utilized by students in the advanced physiology and introductory biology courses.
