Teaching Real Science

Many of the things that are central to real research are not the things we are getting undergraduates to do. If we want to use “real” research in teaching and also “teach science the way we do science,” we need to radically rethink how we involve undergraduates in research activities and how we incorporate research activities into formal class work. We need to think creatively about how we can meaningfully incorporate primary literature into our courses and how we can engage students in hypothesis building and testing and proposal writing. Perhaps we could teach courses with titles like “From Proposal to Publication” to our first-year biology and chemistry students and focus on research skills rather than memorizing facts. Or, we could at least downplay memorization and introduce the facts in a research environment rather than classroom context. If we taught courses this way, our students would have a better chance of acquiring the skills essential to “real” research and a better understanding of how we “do science.”

References

1. Handelsman, J., Ebert-May, D., Beichner, R., Bruns, P., Chang, A., DeHaan, R., Gentile, J., Lauffer, S., Stewart, J., Tilghman, S. M., and Wood, W. B. (2004) Scientific Teaching. Science 304, 521–522.

J. Ellis Bell (jbell2@richmond.edu) is professor of chemistry and chair of the biochemistry and molecular biology program at the University of Richmond. He is also chair of the ASBMB Education and Professional Development Committee.

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