Course Objectives:

The overall objective of this laboratory is to give students experience with laboratory techniques that can be applied to the planning, execution and presentation of a research project. All experiments will be done by teams of 2-3 students. The laboratory is organized around four major topics, each of which will take several weeks: inheritance patterns, genetic variation at the molecular level, the genomes of prokaryotes and organelles, and genetic regulation. Instructions for various laboratory techniques will be posted in the Contents section of the WebCT. You will be assigned the writing of one laboratory report for each of these four groups of activities.

On completion of this course, the student should be able to:

• formulate and to make predictions following from a simple hypothesis.
• design experiments to test predictions of a hypothesis.
• choose and construct appropriate modes of data display.
• read and explain simple data displays of different types.
• read, understand and explain scientific arguments presented in the professional literature.
• consult genetics databases to obtain information about the structure, location and function of genes.
• apply descriptive statistics to a data set.
• apply simple statistical analysis to a data set.
• explain the principles underlying the basic laboratory techniques covered in this course.
• execute the basic laboratory procedures covered in this course.
• work with others in the execution of an extended research project.
• practice laboratory safety.
• keep a complete and well-organized laboratory notebook.
• write a clear and concise laboratory report in scientific style.

Pedagogical Strategies:

In addition to those general strategies outlined in the General Course Information, learning in the laboratory will be fostered by the instructor as follows:

• exposition of the principles and techniques related to each laboratory procedure.
• supervision and guidance of students as they learn and practice these procedures.
• engagement with the student in discussion of experimental design.
• demonstration of data display and analysis procedures.
• directed analysis of professional literature.
• instruction in the use of genetics databases.
• explanation and demonstration of laboratory safety.
• explanation and demonstration of scientific writing, including record keeping and report writing.

Course and University Policies: See Main Syllabus

Evaluation and Grading:

• Students are expected to attend all laboratory sessions and to arrive on time. Since you will be working in teams, your absence makes more work for your team members.
• Missed laboratories may be made up depending on the availability and robustness of project materials. However, the student should not anticipate that a makeup will be possible for any given missed laboratory.
• Each student will maintain and turn in a dedicated laboratory notebook, which must include all information related to laboratory activities. Any bound notebook is acceptable. Laboratory handouts should be kept in a separate looseleaf binder. Notebooks must be left with the instructor at the end of every laboratory session, and will be periodically checked and evaluated. Only laboratory-related information should be included in the notebook. This information might include background information, project goals, notes on procedures (including laboratory handouts), raw and summarized data, and your interpretive comments. For projects in which class data is collected, both the individual and class data must be recorded in the notebook. This notebook will be worth 40% of your laboratory grade. See the web site below for tips on maintaining a good laboratory notebook: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/notebook/notebook.html
• Each student will write 8 laboratory summaries and two formal laboratory reports. Topics and due dates for the reports will be announced during the semester and posted on the WebCT Course Calendar. Although you will be working with other students in setting up experiments and collecting data, each member of a laboratory team must produce an independent summaries and reports for laboratory work. Collectively the lab summaries and reports will be worth 40% of the laboratory grade.
• Late summaries will not be accepted. Credit for late reports will be reduced by 20% for each day that the report is late, including weekends. No reports will be accepted more than 5 days after the initial deadline.
• A final laboratory exam will be given, covering procedural and analytical principles. This exam will be worth 20% of your laboratory grade.

Note: the schedule indicated above is tentative. Laboratory projects may be rearranged as necessary to accomodate the availability of equipment or the somewhat unpredictable behavior of living organisms.