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Lake Washington Institute of Technology

Lake Washington Institute of Technology (Kirkland, WA) is excited to participate in this exciting opportunity for student research in the classroom. We have decided to implement the CURE version of student research, which involves implementing novel research at the class-level. We have chosen a Cellular Biology course to integrate this model into as well as an Introduction to General Chemistry course in the future.

 

Cellular Biology

Our plan is to re-design our Cellular Biology curriculum to support aspects of novel research into every weekly lab, cumulating in an integrated project that involves DNA technology in regards to fish identification. The process has already begun with the re-design of each weekly lab, from scientific method to biotechnology. From there, we will develop protocol for students to gather fish DNA, isolate the DNA, and run electrophoresis (and hopefully sequencing) to help support identification hypotheses. This project has stemmed from faculty research in marine biology and from the need for state agencies to correctly identify native Washington fish (as identification and misclassification is a common issue). We hope that the data will be a deliverable to state agencies and that students will be excited about the real-world contributions they will be making to research and ecology.

Introduction to General Chemistry

​​For this course we hope to develop research that links together concepts of environmental chemistry, sustainability, and climate change. We will design labs to use equipment such as a gas chromatograph, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, and other biotechnology. Issues of public health and community health will also be integrated to help establish real-world connections and implications of climate change.

Vision and Change Implementation

 

Integrate Core Concepts and Competencies throughout the Curriculum

  • Introduce the scientific process to students early, and integrate it into all undergraduate biology courses

  • Define learning goals so that they focus on teaching students the core concepts, and align assessments so that they assess the students’ understanding of these concepts 

  • Relate abstract concepts in biology to real ­world examples on a regular basis, and make biology content relevant by presenting problems in a real ­life context 

 

Focus on Student ­Centered Learning

  • Engage students as active participants, not passive recipients, in all undergraduate biology courses

  • Use multiple modes of instruction in addition to the traditional lecture

  • Ensure that undergraduate biology courses are active, outcome oriented, inquiry driven, and relevant

  • Facilitate student learning within a cooperative context

 

Promote a Campus wide Commitment to Change

  • Mobilize all stakeholders, from students to administrators, to commit to improving the quality of undergraduate biology education

  • Advocate for increased status, recognition, and rewards for innovation in teaching, student success, and other educational outcomes

 

Engage the Biology Community in the Implementation of Change

  • Promote more concept­ oriented undergraduate biology courses, and help all students learn how to integrate facts into larger conceptual contexts 

  • Ensure that all undergraduates have authentic opportunities to experience the processes, nature, and limits of science

High Impact Practices Implementation

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Undergraduate Research

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