遺傳學原理的實作與應用

實驗課程對於對於大學生進入生命科學領域來說至關重要,然而許多傳統實驗課程設計往往與真正研究脫節,因此對於吸引學生與幫助學生踏入研究領域的幫助往往有限,為了讓提昇實驗課對於學生的幫助,本課將透過模擬真正研究進程來規畫整學期之課程主軸,並透過小組教學模擬實驗室的分工合作與促進組員間的腦力激盪,最後透過多方面評量來給出學生最終成績,期望能讓學生了解真正的研究是如何來進行,且提高學生進入研究領域的興趣。大學的生命科學知識和高中最大的不同在於課堂所學知識將不再僅限於教科書上的書寫,大學生將有機會自己參與在生命科學的研究領域。以本課程「酵母菌遺傳學法則」為例,基本的遺傳學概念如孟德爾遺傳學法則在學生們高中時期就有所接觸,但是如何透過實際實驗來去證明並歸納出遺傳法則的概念相當的薄弱,這基本是源自於學生缺乏直接透過實驗證明孟德爾遺傳學法則的機會,因此我們將課程設計成模擬當初孟德爾的研究進程,期望能以此加深學生對於遺傳學的理解並讓學生能夠了解一個完整研究的進行過程。Mendelian inheritance has widely been considered as a fundamental genetics concept in the modern biology classroom. With a growing awareness that contemporary genetics is broader in content, we aim to implement instructional techniques based on educational research on active learning and backward design. The course will introduce students to molecular genetics and synthetic biology within the context of semester-long research projects in Mendel’s principles. Each course project includes both theoretical background material as well as detailed yeast experimental procedures. All of the experiments have been thoroughly tested with a senior group of students serving roles as teaching assistants. Future courses can benefit from wider adoption of this project, more emphasis on the biological design of curricula as a science, and new methods of assessing student development on research career.