Collaborative Research in Teaching: Collaboration between Laboratory Courses at Neighboring Institutions

The concept of collaboration is central to many scientific endeavors. Here we present a model for collaborative research between laboratory courses in behavioral neuroscience at different institutions (or for that matter, multiple classrooms at a single institution). This course design engages undergraduate students in novel scientific research inside the classroom, and in discussion of that research between classrooms. In addition to exposing students to scientific collaboration, teaching these courses in tandem allows for the sharing of a number of resources while allowing collection of potentially publishable data and training students to conduct continuing independent research. For the 2003 and 2004 school years, we have run in collaboration the Laboratory in Brain and Behavior course at Colby College and the Laboratory in Behavioral Neuroscience: Learning and Memory course at Bowdoin College. The students enrolled in these courses have conducted primary, novel research projects designed by the instructors using animal subjects. Students learn experimental design, and surgery, behavioral testing, and histological techniques. Enrollments are limited in these courses, so having both groups of students perform the same protocols increases the number of subjects in these studies, and therefore, the statistical power of the experiment. The physical distance between the schools requires that technology be used to bring students in the two courses together. We have used threaded discussion groups accessible to students at both schools for everyday exchange of methodological information and have used videoconferencing for “lab meetings” addressing methodological issues and data analysis.