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BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 329

INTRODUCTION TO EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES

07-2

INSTRUCTOR Doug Wilson B9239 291-3020 dwilson@sfu.ca

PRE-REQUISITES: LOWER DIVISION CORE COURSES ARE ASSUMED, PARTICULARLY CHEM 121 AND 122, PHYS 102, STAT 201 AND MBB 221.

TEXT: No text. Textual material is provided in the lab handouts.

A biologist is often faced with the task of measuring a complex biological phenomenon or some physical aspect of an organism's environment. How does one choose a technique that provides a valid measure of the phenomenon? Once the measurement is obtained, what does it actually mean, considering the underlying principles of the measurement and the uncertainty that surrounds any measurement? How do we express measurements to the scientific community?

The overriding goal of this course is to develop competence in biological measurement. Some specific objectives are: (1) to provide experience in learning a new technique or instrument and to bolster your confidence to do so; (2) to provide the understanding necessary for the intelligent application of a technique; (3) to provide experience in doing laboratory and field experiments, including planning and execution of experiments, record keeping, data analysis, data interpretation and report writing.

The course involves two lectures per week and a lab period. On weeks 4 and 8 there will be a class research project that employs principles covered in the previous weeks.

EVALUATION AND GRADING:

Lab worksheets 25 %

Formal lab reports 30 %

Exams (3 at 15 % each) 45 %