Research 
BIOL 468W Research Methods Math and Science

My LeADERS Research course was BIOL 468W Research Methods Math and Science. This is a writing-intensive course for preservice math and science teachers. Some of the objectives of this course include: 

• Address practices required to provide empirical answers to research questions, including qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, modeling, argumentation with evidence, and constructing explanations.

• Develop a mastery of writing in a scientific discipline related to a student’s major

• Collect qualitative and quantitative study data based on an independently designed project related to the student’s major and use statistical methods to analyze and evaluate research results.

 

This course was a requirement for my major, but is a valuable experience for future STEM teachers as it provides the opportunity to practice in the field of science I will teach to my students. As a biology teacher, I felt it was important to have experience conducting research in the field so that I could gain firsthand experience of the scientific process that I will express the importance of to my students. I was able to design multiple experiments in increasing complexity which grew my skills in curious thinking, developing procedures, running experiments, statistical analysis, and communicating results. 

 

The most extensive project I did for this course was my final research project which took place over one month. I was able to choose what I wanted to research within reason and under the guidance of my instructor. I was enrolled in a microbiology course and a course on fundamental biomolecules during the semester I took this class, so I decided to research the effect of artificial sweeteners on bacteria found in the human body. I grew three different bacteria in a broth mixture and tested four different artificial sweeteners, then measured the broth through absorbance and visual turbidity. The components of my project were as follows: 

• Complete a research proposal that includes an abstract, literature review, hypothesis, and a materials and methods section. 

• Make the broth and dissolve each of the artificial sweeteners, and glucose as a control, into water which could then be added to the broth. 

• Pipette the broth and sweetener mixture into labeled test tubes and inoculate the mixture with bacteria

• Incubate the tubes and record the results

• Complete a writeup of the final project incorporating the components of the proposal as well as statistical analysis of the results, graphs when necessary, and a discussion of the results 

• Present the results of the project in class in a 15-minute presentation that summarizes all aspects of the project

• Make any revisions to the project based on peer-review feedback

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