Design of New Courses and Contributions to the Program
I have contributed to the potential course offerings at Columbia Union College* in a number of ways. Briefly, I have developed a new Immunology course, team-taught two Honors science courses, added a service-learning component to the Senior Seminar course, revived the Developmental Biology course, and added a research component to the Microbiology course.
- In the summer of 2005, I designed a new Immunology course (BIOL 494 Topics: Immunology). This class was first taught in the fall of 2005, and has been taught in subsequent fall semesters. This course is beneficial to students interested in professional programs such as Medical, Dental, and Physical Therapy programs. This course is designed to give students an introduction to the beauty and complexity of the immune system. Therefore, the focus is on the basic content knowledge, as well as the application of this knowledge to current issues such as tissue transplantation, cancer immunotherapy, allergies, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, and HIV infection.
In the fall of 2007, this course was revamped to incorporate several case studies (obtained from "Problem-based Learning", Gorczynski and Stanley, 2006) in order to increase student exposure to “real world” problems, while enhancing their learning. The power of case studies was demonstrated in this course as students struggled to clarify concepts that had previously only been memorized. Although no empirical data was obtained, the use of case studies enhanced student engagement in this course. An additional benefit of the group activities was the development of social skills including teamwork, negotiation, and listening skills; skills that will assist the students in their future career goals.
- In the spring of 2007, I team-taught the Honors course Diseases in History (BIOL/HIST 294H), with Dr. Joan Francis. Although this course has previously been offered in the department of History, Political Studies, and Philosophy, in the spring of 2007, the course was modified to include both a history and science component, and was offered to the Honors students. The students could take the course to fulfill either a History or Science credit, however, all students participated in all lecture and laboratory components of the class. The class took field trips to the National Museum of Health and Medicine at Walter Reed and the Natural History Museum in downtown Washington, DC, as well as learning basic microbiology and molecular biology techniques in the laboratory. The blend of science and history in the class was unique, and contributed to the richness of the experience for all involved.
- I co-developed and team-taught the Honors course Contemporary Issues in Bioethics (BIOL/PHIL 494H). This course was co-developed and team-taught with Dr. Melvin Roberts, and was first offered in the spring of 2008. Similar to the Honors “Diseases in History” course, students could take “Contemporary Issues in Bioethics” to fulfill either a Philosophy or Science credit, however, all students participated in all lecture and laboratory components of the class. The course examined current biotechnologies such as the use of stem cells, DNA fingerprinting, genetically engineered foods, animal/human biomedical testing, and global warming. Students investigated the science underlying each technology, while discussing the ethical issues surrounding the use of the technology.
- The addition of a service-learning component to the capstone Senior Seminar (BIOL 491/CHEM 491) class has added a unique aspect of experiential learning for the science majors. The following is a description of the project that was written for the Academic Dean for a board meeting in the fall of 2006. For further information regarding this teaching change, please see the service-learning description as well as the syllabus.
Senior Seminar Teaching Projects – Biology & Chemistry:
One of the projects for our Senior Seminar (BIOL 491 and CHEM 491) class this semester is for the seniors to design and implement a science exercise for middle-school students. The senior Biology and Chemistry students are divided into groups of four, and each group is responsible for designing, planning, and implementing two separate age-appropriate science experiments. Each week a different group takes their science exercise to the 6th grade class at George E. Peters SDA Elementary School. This school has been very receptive to our seniors, due to the previous work by Dr. Marlon Rhem who regularly visits and presents chemistry experiments to the middle-school students there.
The CUC seniors have planned a mix of biology and chemistry experiments for the 6th grade students. The first group of seniors examined the properties of gases using mentos-soda geysers. The second group used blood typing as an example of heredity (note – this was done using “fake” blood from Wards Scientific Inc). The third group will be using modeling clay to build models of DNA, continuing the study of heredity. Another chemistry experiment will complete the first round of experiments; the 6th grade students will be making polymers (slime) that week. Future exercises will include dissections of preserved organisms, microbiology exercises, and additional chemistry experiments.
Although still in the early stages, this project has shown great potential, and both parties have benefited from this arrangement. It is difficult to resist the enthusiasm of the 6th graders, and the CUC students are returning to campus excited about science. The seniors are getting positive feedback regarding science and their ability to share this topic with others, while the 6th graders are getting hands-on exposure to widely different topics in science. The CUC seniors are also getting exposure to alternative career opportunities as they plan and implement these science exercises. These positive benefits will serve the seniors well as they prepare to graduate and take their place in society.
- Although not a new course, I have revived the Developmental Biology (BIOL 410) course. This is a fascinating course that is particularly applicable to pre-medical students, but is of interest to all students entering the professional fields, as well as to biologists in strictly research fields. In the fall of 2006, I worked with 4-H personnel in Frederick County, MD to obtain fertilized chicken eggs for the laboratory portion of the course, so that students could investigate the effects of environmental factors on early vertebrate development. Further improvement of the laboratory portion of this class will be expedited by the addition of digital cameras to the lab microscopes.
- The addition of a research component to the Microbiology (BIOL 150) course has enhanced student engagement in the laboratory portion of the course. Traditionally, greater than 90% of the Microbiology students are Nursing majors who will interact extensively with microorganisms during their career. However, since nurses are not typically responsible for the identification of pathogens, the customary “cook-book” microbial identification laboratory sessions are of little value to these students. Therefore, in the spring of 2008, following examination of current science teaching methodologies, I re-designed the laboratory portion of the course to include a small-group research project. Two to three students work together to design, plan, execute, and interpret an original research project. Following completion of their projects, each group writes a formal laboratory report, in addition to creating a poster and giving an oral presentation to their classmates. This requirement emphasizes the importance of written and oral communication in the sciences, while allowing the students to investigate topics of personal interest.
The addition of the research projects has increased student engagement in the laboratory. Students enjoy the opportunity to ask “real-world” microbiology questions, and are challenged to learn the course material as they design and execute their research protocols. Throughout the course, students enjoy learning about their classmates’ experiments, and are proud of their own experiments; they enjoy sharing the results of their testing with their classmates – as well as with friends and family outside the course. Due to the positive feedback from the students, I will continue to include the research projects in the laboratory component of the Microbiology course.