Involving Students in Curriculum Development : Design of a New Genetics Laboratory

Abstract

In Fall 2017, the Biology Department introduced a new laboratory-based genetics course. To develop the course, we modified a team-based approach successfully used in the past. During the summer, I tested and revised protocols, researched background literature, and gave feedback from a student perspective. We also figured out how long it took do experiments and other activities for the students to make a course schedule. During the first offering of the course, I served as a student academic apprentice. Although we found some drawbacks to our modification of the team-based approach, the involvement of a student in course development helped the course run more smoothly in its initial offering and be more interesting for the enrolled students.