BIO2010 Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists (2003) / Chapter Skim
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5. Enabling Undergraduates to Experience the Excitement of Biology
5. Enabling Undergraduates to Experience the Excitement of Biology
Pages 87-100
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From page 87... ...
Many research scientists regard their undergraduate research experience as a turning point that led them to pursue research careers (Doyle, 2000; Hakim, 2000; Rothman and Narum, 19991. By working as a partner in an active research group, undergraduates experience the rewards and frustrations of original research.
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From page 88... ...
A written thesis as a product of the undergraduate research experience can be an opportunity for a student to learn to review a field and coherently describe his or her contribution. Such undergraduate research sometimes leads to peer-reviewed publications and student presentations at national and international scientific meetings.
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From page 89... ...
The mentor guides the student in all aspects of the scientific process, including literature searches, experimental design, construction and/or operation of scientific equipment, carrying out experiments, and interpreting results. The mentor also assists the student in professional development, including giving course advice, discussing career path options, and introducing students to key individuals at graduate institutions.
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From page 90... ...
Biotechnology companies, as well as established pharmaceutical and agricultural chemistry companies, have a major stake in the vitality and quality of undergraduate education for future research biologists. Industry will employ many life sciences majors in the years ahead.
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From page 91... ...
For example, Cold Spring Harbor has carried out for many years an Undergraduate Research Program that has been very successful in encouraging students to enter the profession, and has given others an appreciation of how research is done. Colleges and universities should make maximum use of such research opportunities, and both public and private research institutes should be encouraged to develop undergraduate research programs.
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From page 92... ...
Through such courses, biology students can retain and increase their interest in the field. Recent advances in biological research are exciting; exposing students to the current research at an early stage in their education will help them to see this excitement.
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From page 93... ...
51. One program that advocates the idea of engaging students by presenting science in context is called SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities)
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From page 94... ...
INCREASING THE DIVERSITY OF FUTURE RESEARCH BIOLOGISTS To increase the number of qualified students considering a career in biological research, the committee discussed diversifying the applicant pool through two ways: increasing the number of students who are majoring in other sciences and making the life sciences more accessible to students of both sexes and from all populations.
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From page 95... ...
THE EXCITEMENT OF BIOLOGY 95 Making Biology Attractive and Accessible to Majors in Other Sciences Undergraduates majoring in the physical sciences, mathematics, and computer science will constitute an even larger proportion of the research community in the life sciences in the years ahead because of the heightened importance of these disciplines for biological research and the reach of many aspects of the life sciences into these other disciplines. The committee recommends that these students be given a sense of the excitement of biology
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From page 97... ...
Quantitatively oriented students should be permitted to take advanced mathematics and computer science courses in place of biology courses in meeting degree requirements. Biophysics major programs typically provide this flexibility, and new computational biology programs are also likely to do so (Case Study #121.
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From page 99... ...
htm Increasing the Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender Diversity of Life Science Majors The retention and graduation of African American, Hispanic, and Native American students continues to be low. An NSF-sponsored project has shown that the most frequently cited reason for students of all backgrounds leaving science was the poor quality of the teaching they encountered in their science courses.
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From page 100... ...
Interdisciplinary topics that reflect real examples of how science helps to alter and understand the world help convey that excitement. Interdisciplinary topics are also among the most studied today and undergraduate students who begin to grasp the connections between the various approaches to science will be well positioned to contribute to future research.
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