Students will be able to evaluate, interpret, and apply experimental design and draw valid conclusions from experiments.
One of the first topics that gets stressed as you start a biology degree is experimental design. It is important to be able to put together a thorough and detailed experimental design. Starting with describing your scientific question and hypothesis to focus on a specific area of study. Moving towards creating the methodology that can be used to test the hypothesis. After which you have to interpret, analyze, and describe your findings. Creating a successful experimental design also entails being able to pull conclusions from your results. This has been an integral aspect of my education here at Longwood. Understanding the importance of well thought out experimental designs is taught from the very beginning.
One of the courses that helped solidify this topic for me towards the beginning of my academic journey here at Longwood was my Introduction to Ecology and Evolution course. During this course, we were assigned to complete a semester-long experiment that required us to design the experiment. For my group, we decided to investigate the the difference in death rates between sex, race, and location using surviviorship curves. As a group we had to decide our topic, where we were going to retrieve our data from, and what statistical analysis we would use to make conclusions with. Completing this project allowed me to grow in my confidence while creating an experimental design even after we were hit with challenges with our chosen datasets. This final presentation can be found below.
Another class that allowed me to grow in my confidence in creating experimental design was the Genetics course in which we were assigned to create an experiment to alter the genome of a fruit fly. For this project, my group had to choose which fruit fly gene we wanted to focus on, create a scientific question, determine how we would target and alter the gene, and we had to describe potential conclusions that could be made. After completing this experiment, my group members and I not only advanced our lab skills, but we also were able to practice creating an experiment and all the aspects that come along with it. This final presentation can be found below.
BIOL 324 – Final Poster Presentation
As a part of your final semester as a Longwood biology student, you are required to take a Senior Capstone course. During this course, you are assigned to write a research proposal in which you have to describe the experiment you want to conduct, the needed background information, the potential pitfalls of the experimental design, and the potential conclusion that can be drawn. Completing this assignment has allowed me to see how my experimental design abilities have grown since I started my degree. Being able to pick out potential pitfalls of my own experimental design was something that seemed daunting at the beginning of my degree but now, I have so much more confidence in my abilities. This final research proposal can be found below.
BIOL 488 – Final Research Proposal
Being able to see my progress throughout my degree has allowed me to feel more confident as it comes to a close. Learning about how to properly design and conduct experiments has been one of my favorite aspects of my education here at Longwood. Longwood can be seen to challenge its students by allowing them to take over their education and run into setbacks and problems. Being able to learn to overcome these setbacks and challenges is where my real education came from.