This project radically redesigns a traditional introductory General Zoology laboratory to emphasize critical thinking and exposure to the scientific process of inquiry through investigation. It also lays a foundation for building the student skills and interests needed to motivate undergraduate students to become involved in research projects. After an Internal assessment of the University's Biology Department, deficiencies were found in student understanding of Science as a process (similar problems have been identified on the national level by a variety of reports). Numerous changes have been implemented across all course levels; but a key component of the department's corrective plan targets introductory-level courses. Students' first year of science was too often an uninspiring experience of rote or passive learning and formula "cookbook"' laboratory experiments, in which the outcomes were known before the lab work began. Under this Project, the curricula and its laboratory experiences are redesigned to engage students in an active learning process, using ''"inquiry"-based labs. The emphasis of the laboratories is shifted from the instructor, facts and procedures, to students, concepts and processes. Labs become open-ended investigations, in which students hypothesize, interpret data, communicate and defend their results. Technology is used both in the lab and in the field, on introductory-level experiments ranging from a trout stream's ecology to an innovative genetic study of corn snakes. Faculty will be aided in assessing the program by three semester's in-depth data on student performance, compiled prior to any curricular changes.
