iology students approach teaching laboratories with mixed emotions. For some, laboratory courses are windows on the world of science, allowing them to gain experience with the techniques, concepts, and emotions that go with real research. For others, laboratories are exercises in preordination, a tedious derivation of answers that are already known to questions that do not seem important. Often, the best laboratory experience is one in which students pursue their own research under faculty guidance. In fact, given the success of undergraduate research, more and more faculty members have begun asking: Why not make teaching laboratories more like research projects? Instead of just showing students what it is like to do science, why not confront them with real problems and ask them to come up with their own solutions? Students presented with such a challenge must develop traits such as curiosity, creativity, and perseverance — the very attributes essential in science. They also hone skills, such as problem solving and using computers to manipulate equipment, that may get short shrift elsewhere in the curriculum. Most important, they are more engaged than in "cookbook" laboratories, enhancing not only their knowledge of biology but also their confidence in themselves. This third chapter of "Beyond Bio 101" looks at how a number of institutions have been adopting different approaches to investigative laboratories and are making the transition from conventional laboratories. A survey of laboratories reveals that many biology laboratories still are large, underfunded, and taught largely by teaching assistants, while the stories of undergraduate researchers demonstrate the benefits to be realized through independent research projects. The electronic laboratory is becoming a reality as new computers programs gain the ability to mimic laboratory experiences — a trend exemplified by the interactive lab manual developed at the University of California-San Diego. Finally, faculty members have focused on the challenge of assessment in trying to measure whether — and how — investigative laboratories and other innovative teaching techniques really affect learning.

The Laboratory Experience Different Approaches Making the Transition A Survey of Labs Undergraduate Researchers The Electronic Laboratory The Interactive Lab Manual The Challenge of Assessment A World Of Opportunity Changes in the Classroom Faculty in the Crossfire Women and Minorities The Many Paths to Success