Adding Authenticity to Inquiry in a First-Year, Research-Based, Biology Laboratory Course.

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are an effective way to integrate research into an undergraduate science curriculum and extend research experiences to a large, diverse group of early-career students. We developed a biology CURE at the University of Miami (UM) called the UM Authentic Research Laboratories (UMARL), in which groups of first-year students investigated novel questions and conducted projects of their own design related to the research themes of the faculty instructors. Herein, we describe the implementation and student outcomes of this long-running CURE. Using a national survey of student learning through research experiences in courses, we found that UMARL led to high student self-reported learning gains in research skills such as data analysis and science communication, as well as personal development skills such as self-confidence and self-efficacy. Our analysis of academic outcomes revealed that the odds of students who took UMARL engaging in individual research, graduating with a degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) within 4 years, and graduating with honors were 1.5-1.7 times greater than the odds for a matched group of students from UM's traditional biology labs. The authenticity of UMARL may have fostered students' confidence that they can do real research, reinforcing their persistence in STEM.

Competency-based reforms of the undergraduate biology curriculum: integrating the physical and biological sciences.

The National Experiment in Undergraduate Science Education project funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a direct response to the Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians report, which urged a shift in premedical student preparation from a narrow list of specific course work to a more flexible curriculum that helps students develop broad scientific competencies. A consortium of four universities is working to create, pilot, and assess modular, competency-based curricular units that require students to use higher-order cognitive skills and reason across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Purdue University; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and the University of Miami are each developing modules and case studies that integrate the biological, chemical, physical, and mathematical sciences. The University of Maryland, College Park, is leading the effort to create an introductory physics for life sciences course that is reformed in both content and pedagogy. This course has prerequisites of biology, chemistry, and calculus, allowing students to apply strategies from the physical sciences to solving authentic biological problems. A comprehensive assessment plan is examining students' conceptual knowledge of physics, their attitudes toward interdisciplinary approaches, and the development of specific scientific competencies. Teaching modules developed during this initial phase will be tested on multiple partner campuses in preparation for eventual broad dissemination.

Characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci for two species of phyllostomid bats from the Greater Antilles (Erophylla sezekorni and Macrotus waterhousii).

We developed 12 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the buffy flower bat (Erophylla sezekorni) and 10 loci for Waterhouse's big-eared bat (Macrotus waterhousii). In E. sezekorni, we tested 65 individuals from three islands, Cuba, Exuma, and Abaco. Mean number of alleles per locus was 10.7 (range 5-20). In M. waterhousii, we tested 39 individuals from one island, Exuma. Mean number of alleles per locus was 6.9 (range 4-13). We will use these markers to study the phylogeography and mating system of these species.

AL-12182, a novel 11-oxa prostaglandin analog with topical ocular hypotensive activity in the monkey.

A series of 11-oxa prostaglandin analogs was evaluated for FP receptor binding and activation. Several compounds having aryloxy-terminated lower chains were found to be potent agonists. Topical ocular dosing of AL-12182, the isopropyl ester prodrug of the potent agonist 13, lowered intraocular pressure in the monkey by 40% accompanied by minimal conjunctival hyperemia in the rabbit. AL-12182 was synthesized on multigram scale starting with D-sorbitol.

Demography of the western harvest mouse, Reithrodontomys megalotis, in eastern Kansas.

Reithrodontomys megalotis was live-trapped on three open field grids in eastern Kansas from August 1979 to August 1982. One grid was a control on which normal demography was monitored, and two were experimental grids where periodic removal of residents allowed the investigation of the demographic and fitness consequences of emigration. Popullations on the control grid showed an annual cycle in numbers, reaching peaks in density during the winter of each year, falling to low densities during the summer. Low summer densities were attributed, at least partially, to low trappability of R. megalotis during periods of high resource abundance. Reproduction was initiated in the spring of each year at approximately the same time as the emergence of new vegetative growth, and ceased in late fall of each year. The trappable population was composed almost entirely of adults, and the sex ratio was skewed significantly toward females. A statistically significant negative association between the number of M. ochrogaster residents and the reproductive activity of female R. megalotis residents was found. A canonical correlation analysis revealed a common seasonal component to the demography of the two species, and possible interspecific affects. Emigrating R. megalotis were a nonrandom sample of the population, with emigrants more likely to be subadult and juvenile males when compared to residents. No association was detected between the numbers of M. ochrogaster colonizing the removal grid and the numbers of R. megalotis colonizing the same removal grid, or between the number of M. ochrogaster residents on the control grid and the numbers of R. megalotis colonizing the removal grids. However, the number of R. megalotis residents on the control grid is positively correlated with the number of R. megalotis on the removal grids.

The Influences of Conspecific and Heterospecific Residents on Colonization.

To determine if dispersing prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster, are prevented from establishing home ranges in habitat already occupied by conspecifics or potentially competitive species, voles were introduced into enclosed populations of: the same species; southern bog lemmings, Synaptomys cooperi; cotton rats, Sigmodon hispidus; or an empty enclosure. The results indicated that colonization by dispersing voles was negatively affected by resident conspecifics. Introduced females were more strongly affected than males during the vegetative growing season but not during the nongrowing season when reproductive activity is typically low. Resident bog lemmings also negatively affected colonization by dispersing voles. However, both sexes of introduced voles were similarly affected in both seasons. There was no evidence of postcolonization competitive effects, suggesting that interspecific competition does not occur between established resident individuals. Cotton rats, which have only recently become part of the small mammal community in Kansas, did not adversely affect colonization by dispersing voles or have adverse post-colonization effects on their survival and reproduction. The ability of residents to inhibit colonization by another species may facilitate the coexistence of M. ochrogaster and Synaptomys cooperi by retarding the competitive exclusion of either species until annual fluctuations in reproduction and density create an abundance of suitable but unoccupied space. This type of coexistence is similar to the storage effect in lottery models of competitive coexistence.

Are transferrin and leucine aminopeptidase electromorphs reliable genetic markers in the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster?

The reliability of TF and LAP electromorphs as genetic markers in Microtus ochrogaster was examined by taking 18 voles captured in the wild during the summer and subjecting them to winter conditions for one month. During this time voles were bled each week and their plasma scored for TF and LAP phenotypes using starch gel electrophoresis. There were no changes in the mobility of the TF and LAP electromorphs in the same animal when fresh samples were used for electrophoresis. However, there were a few inconsistencies in scoring phenotypes when plasma was frozen for 10 weeks or longer. Reasons for the contradictory results obtained by McGovern and Tracy (1981) in the same species is discussed.

Demographic attributes of dispersing southern bog lemmings (Synaptomys cooperi) in eastern Kansas.

Demographic attributes of southern bog lemmings colonizing two removal grids were compared with those of residents on neighboring control grids over a two year period in eastern Kansas. There was a positive association between the number of lemmings colonizing the removal grids and density of the control grids. Overall, 41% of the losses from the two control grids was accounted for by dispersal. The following differences were observed comparing residents with dispersers: 1) a greater proportion of males colonized the removal grids, 2) a lower percentage of adult females colonizing the removal grids were in breeding condition, whereas the reverse was true for subadult females, and 3) a greater proportion of subadults colonized the removal grids. These results are consistent with those obtained for other microtine species."I don't understand", said the scientist, "why you lemmings all rush down to the sea and drown yourselves". "How curious", said the lemming. "The one thing I don't understand is why you human beings don't" - from Intervie with a Lemming by James Thurber.