Testing the five-second rule

This session runs in the Spring semester of Level 1, for students on Molecular Biosciences degree programmes. Up to this point they have had some light-touch experience of experimental planning (e.g. designing primers, choosing restriction digest enzymes, determining controls), but this is the first time that they have to design their own experiments from scratch, including method development, variables and technical/biological repeats. They work in groups of four and so gain experience of teamwork, as they are encouraged to divide the tasks and responsibilities between them.

We walk the students through the process of designing an experiment, with different focuses each day, otherwise they simultaneously try to test out every possible method on every variable and with lots of replicates, and quickly become overwhelmed. This provides students with a good basis for their Level 2 experimental design sessions, which are much more complex in terms of scientific understanding, material preparation, and time management.

The project runs over four sessions.

Designed / developed by Elizabeth Alvey (contact e.alvey@sheffield.ac.uk), Emily Bailes, Janet Cronshaw, and Melanie Stapleton