Meeting Abstract

P2.57  Tuesday, Jan. 5  The Use of Mock NSF-type Grant Proposals as the Capstone Assignment in Upper-Level Biology Courses. ITAGAKI, H.; Kenyon College itagaki@kenyon.edu

For over a decade, I have been using mock NSF-type grant proposals as the capstone assignment in my 300-level cell biology and neurobiology courses. For the students, the process is broken down into discrete steps of: finding a topic of interest; doing the background reading; and writing a short review of the literature read. This is followed by asking and writing about the appropriate next questions based on their understanding of the reading, followed by the design of appropriate experiments to test those questions. These mock grant proposals are then peer-reviewed, and the comments are then incorporated into a final draft which is then graded. The advantages of this type of assignment in enhancing scientific skills include: the need by the students to gather new information from the primary and secondary literature and to distill it; the need for synthetic thought by the students in figuring out the next interesting questions; and the need by the students to understand the appropriate scientific techniques needed in order to test those questions. The outcomes have been good, with most students being challenged to extend their skills; the students also report a great sense of accomplishment in the process. In addition, the students who have gone on the graduate school also report that they have an easier time in the process due to this type of assignment.