9451698 Grimes A major challenge of Colleges and Universities is to teach the "process of science" to undergraduates. The best way to learn science is to do it. For this, one needs curiosity, questions, hypotheses and some tools. To provide these components to our undergraduates, we propose a course "Methods in Modern Biology," that will be team taught by cell, molecular, developmental, and evolutionary biologists. This course will teach students how to ask rational scientific questions, search for solutions, and find the answers to those questions using a wide variety of techniques. An SEM is essential in our plan because it will provide: 1. a link between molecular and evolutionary processes with complex morphologies; 2. an effective demonstration of the complementarity of techniques; and 3. a graphic, easily achieved, and often beautiful product that provides a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, and excitement for students. To encourage information exchange among undergraduates, we will establish an electronic mail network and newsgroup (SEMLAB). Using SEMLAB, students at Hofstra can exchange reciprocally ideas, problems, solutions, techniques, etc. with students and faculty at other internet nodes. SEMLAB should stimulate the interests of our students, because they actually will become members of the "scientific community."
