The project includes a set of laboratory investigations which emphasize the impact of molecular biology and computer technology on diverse biological fields. The experiments introduced into General Biology, Ecology, Cell Biology, Genetics, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology courses are investigative, discipline-specific, and build in their levels of difficulty and independent student work as the course level increases. Several of the investigations are based on prior independent student research projects. Students are actively engaged in the process of science as they design and conduct DNA amplification experiments to test hypotheses, use electronic media for data collection, and analyze their results in the context of internet resources arising from the emerging field of bioinformatics. Student laboratory reports are created using a novel electronic conferencing system. A project home page includes the laboratory procedures used and examples of student laboratory reports, serving as a vehicle for communicating project results to the educational community. A commitment has been made by Modern Biology, Incorporated, to market the discipline specific DNA amplification investigations resulting from the project as experimental kits. The kits will provide high school and college classrooms nation-wide with the materials and procedures needed to give students first-hand experience with technology that is reshaping biology. Students preparing to be teachers are also involved in the courses and special workshops to investigate incorporation of these techniques into their future classrooms.
