Experimental Design in Neurobiology

This activity was created to enable students to become independent researchers in a laboratory setting, and takes four weeks to complete. Over the course of a semester, students perform the activity three times, working with a different model organism each time: C. elegans, rodents, and Drosophila. The material covered in the lecture component of the course provides students with background information on relevant theories and experimental techniques that they will use to complete the activity.

Students begin by conducting a literary search and identifying an outstanding neurobiological question they would like to answer. Using lecture material and the experiments they practice in the lab component of the course, students design their own experimental plan to address their neurobiological question. They then perform their experiments, analyze the results, and come up with an answer to their question based on their data. Frequent feedback from the instructor, teaching assistant and peers ensures that students have sufficient guidance throughout the activity.

This course is intended to provide students with an understanding of the scientific method through the lens of neurobiology. Students will learn how to identify a research question from scientific literature, design and carry out experiments to address that question, and to come up with a plausible answer based on their experimental results. By carrying out the scientific method themselves, students gain a deeper understanding of how experimental evidence relates to established facts in neurobiology.