Bill Coleman, University of Hartford
Though this activity is designed for more advanced, specialized students, it is a good example of how a scientific investigation can involve library and other published resources, rather than a traditional wet lab set-up.
My goals for this activity are for students to relate course content to a medical situation, to write correctly, and to use writing as a way of thinking and investigation. The lecture (and text) material is about bacterial structure, function and physiology. I first give students an article titled "The Bacteria behind Ulcers" (Blaser, M., Scientific American, Feb. 1996). In class, using the article as needed, students write for 5 - 10 minutes on the following question (it's best to do it at the end of class!):
What are the characterisitics of the microorganisms H. pylori which enable it to persist in the human host? How has it adapted to life in its host?
The next question I give them is:
A study of male twins infected with H. pylori indicates that there is a broad diversity of intestinal problems ranging from mild discomfort to pre-cancerous conditions. Further, the brother often did not have the same symptoms. Why? (Hint: Indicate the roles of genes described for this microorganism.)
This assignment takes them to the Medscape site on the Internet and reading a clinical study of Pseudomonas infection ("It's not easy being green"). This will parallel their studies in general microbiology in lecture and lab and prepare them, also, for investigation of the literature in order to pose a problem for research in medical microbiology. This is part of a larger course goal to acquire and use the language of this field and to think about all kinds of infections, including those infections emerging now.