When I first started at Longwood, I had very little knowledge on how to conduct experiments without specific instructions. In high school, I was given specific parameters to test and exact rules for methodology. I still liked the process but I never got to really plan anything on my own. This changed at Longwood, right off the bat in my Biology 120 class. One of the first experiments we got to perform in the lab was on the growth of fast plants, Brassica rapa. In class, we had been learning about growth requirements and why plants are able to survive different environmental conditions. For our first lab, we were able to choose our own variable to test plant growth. I thought this was so interesting because every group in the lab chose something different. For my group, we tested incandescent bulbs versus fluorescent bulbs. We had two experimental groups and one control. It was so fun to set up our own experiment, as well as decide how to measure growth and how often. It was really up to us to decide how to make this work. This really bolstered my understanding of experimental design quickly. I think the reason I am so comfortable with designing my own experiments now is from the confidence I gained during this project. Here is a link to the methods section of my research paper for the fast plants.
Further on in my academic career, I was able to continue this trend of creating my own experimental design and drawing conclusions. The best recent example of this would be my animal behavior class that I took in Fall 2021. This class was my favorite so far. I love very hands-on labs, and for this lab I got to choose my own model organism to test a behavior. After conducting a good amount of background research my group and I decided that we would want to work with Fiddler crabs. It was especially cool to set up their habitat with everything they need to be healthy and happy. I was scared to pick them up at first but got the hang of it eventually. Our group decided to test stranger versus neighbor behavior and it was difficult to figure out exactly how to do this. Eventually we came up with a system to keep track of crabs in separate tanks to ensure the best results. I learned that we can also rely on previous publications to create methodology that works. This made our lab run a lot smoother. At the end, I was able to also draw solid conclusions because I could interpret statistical data that we had calculated. Using a solid experimental design along with statistical analysis allows for good conclusions to be drawn. I really enjoyed this course and the freedom we were given to explore the experimental process, even if my own data was insignificant. Here is a link to the methods section for my crab project.