Workshop Genetics Home Page

Welcome to the Susquehanna University Workshop Genetics Home Page! The goal of the Workshop Genetics Project is to increase student comprehension of and enthusiasm for genetics by replacing traditional labs and lectures with more interactive, problems-based learning. Workshop Genetics is an adaptation of the Workshop Biology format developed for general education at the University of Oregon, and makes use of the Team-Based Learning strategies described by Larry K. Michaelsen, Arletta B. Knight, and L. Dee Fink. It was developed using funding from the National Science Foundation's Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Program and by generous support from both the Susquehanna University Summer Partner's Program, and the Animal Breeding and Genetics section at Cornell University.

Workshop Genetics replaces traditional labs and lectures with team-based learning activities and investigative labs. Examples of each of these activities can be found by clicking on the links to the left (investigative labs are imbedded in the module mysteries). The course itself is divided into three subject modules: Mendelian Genetics, Nucleic Acid Structure and Function, and Evolutionary Genetics.

Each subject module is introduced to students by posing a module mystery. Through a series of readiness assurance activities, short lectures, and team-based problem-solving sessions, students then acquire the skills and knowledge they will need to solve the module mystery. Ultimately, students design and perform experiments to solve the module mystery during investigative labs, and present their results to each other in poster format.

This course was taught for the first time during the fall, 2001 semester, and is continually under revision. Thus, this page will be frequently updated as activities, assessment materials and data become available. If you have any questions, comments or ideas, please do not hesitate to contact the project coordinator.

Current Workshop Project Members and Courses:

Dr. Tammy Tobin, Project Coordinator: Workshop Genetics, Susquehanna University

Dr. Thomas Peeler: Workshop Genetics, Susquehanna University