Statement of Rationale:
This course will provide a research experience in biochemistry for majors. Students will research a problem, design an experiment and obtain results. Students will communicate their results in both written and oral formats. The course is designed to teach students how research in biochemistry and chemical biology is conducted. It will have four parts - didactic, experimental, data analysis and presentation of results. The students will spend about 8 weeks planning and doing laboratory research in teams of 2 or 3. Each group will design their own project and the bio-chemicals and chemicals needed will be different for the different groups depending on what each group plans to do in the lab. Regardless, each group will use basic biochemical instruments, and many bio-chemicals and chemicals in their work. As the bio-chemicals and chemicals can only be used once, they have to be purchased specifically for this class. Furthermore, many bio-chemicals are unstable and have an expiration date. They cannot be stored for long time periods and used in successive years. This makes it necessary to have a materials fee for their purchase.
Justification for the proposed Course Fee:
Based on the laboratory experiments in this course, $100 per student will cover the cost of consumables, chemicals and any breakage or damage to equipment that might occur in a typical semester.