Integration of Digital Learning Tools into Experimental Molecular Biology

Our 7.002 subject, Fundamentals of Experimental Molecular Biology, introduces students to the practice of biological research through two components: a weekly meeting with guest faculty and a weekly laboratory session of basic molecular biology experiments. To enable access to outside departments and to increase the faculty-student discussion component, we will restructure Experimental Molecular Biology for the 2019-2020 academic year. We propose that the integration of an MITx website will aid in the restructuring by (1) facilitating a more efficient use of laboratory time, (2) addressing the wide gap in background knowledge through self-paced content, and (3) providing an interface through which we can introduce students to quantitative biological analyses without an undue time burden for a six-unit subject.