Teaching a process-driven, laboratory-based introductory biology course that integrates across biological disciplines

Background/Question/Methods An ever more challenging issue for biologists is how to introduce students to the field biology, given both the amount of material now seen as fundamental as well as the growing interdisciplinary nature of the field. The Biology Department at Vassar College decided to completely restructure its introductory courses, using an integrative, cross-disciplinary, topic and system focused approach. Our Introductory Biology course is now lab-based, and the semester is divided into three interdisciplinary modules that address issues at multiple scales. One of the modules explores the genes-to-behavior connection in C. elegans. A second examines different selective pressures on cyanide production in white clover at both geographic and local scales, incorporating both the biochemistry and genetics of cyanide production in clover. The third module focuses on the effect of environmental heterogeneity on soil microbial biodiversity in local sites with different current or historical land use patterns. In addition to covering core biological concepts, we use these modules to teach a range of skills including observation in the lab and in the field, experimental design and hypothesis testing, data collection, statistical analysis and graphing, and scientific communication in writing and speaking. Results/Conclusions Student assessment of the course indicates that they are learning both skills and concepts with this process-based approach to teaching introductory biology.