Our Objective
The main focus of this proposal is to transform the laboratory component of the basic General Biology course into a research experience through the creation of a research in action experience program in Biology. The traditional laboratory course will be transformed into a meaningful hands-on research experience with all the elements of a basic science research laboratory. We will move away from the traditional, fragmented, recipe-type laboratory course using a constructivist approach where concepts are integrated into a meaningful, coherent learning experience and where students are no longer passive recipients of knowledge but practitioners of the art of science. Our course will thus become a research-oriented one that simulates a research laboratory early in the students' academic life thus setting the foundation for a solid science education. Our objectives are aligned with the recommendations of the Bio 2010 report by the National Academies' National Research Council which states that "to better prepare students for careers in biology, especially biomcdiral research, colleges and universities should re-evaluate their curricula" and teaching approaches for biology majors'* (NRC, 2003)
Our Vision
In our commitment to transform the status of biology laboratories, we have elaborated a vision of the kind of research experience that is needed, the essence of which is conveyed in the following scenario: a typical biology course laboratory becomes one where students are actively engaged in genuine research projects, whose results cannot be predetermined by a laboratory manual experiment. The laboratory professor and his students become part of a research team with a mentor-mentoree relationship. The investigations are not limited nor confined to the physical structure known as "the laboratory", but encompass a broader scenario that includes field investigations, literature research in the Internet and the Institution's library, among others. The investigations are carried out in the context of Puerto Rico's localresources giving pertinence to their learning. Projects have an interdisciplinary character, not just among the natural sciences but among other disciplines that are impacted by the scientific endeavor, and vice versa, such as the social sciences, the arts, humanities and languages. Results are not just reported in a lab notebook, but disseminated campus-wide tlirough poster presentations and other means at the end of the semester where students describe their work. Professors use effective class assessment- techniques and adopt a constructivist approach in their teaching. They become engaged in action research, and then-findings are published in peer-reviewed journals. Future science teachers take this course as part of their teacher preparation program and transmit these experiences to their own students helping close the gap between K-12 and university-level education.