We have developed inquiry-based courses in plant and developmental biology using readily available resources for the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Students “choose-their-own adventure” in a format that develops critical thinking, experimental design and scientific communication as they learn and integrate core biological concepts. Students design genetic screens to identify mutants affecting a specific developmental process, undertake special skill-building labs, and conduct their own experiments to characterize the mutants. They also choose “virtual” experiments to perform and must rationalize their experimental choices. Students organize data from their real and virtual experiments to construct figures for their final presentation. They experience how a biological question can be broken down into component parts that can be addressed with different experiments and techniques. We provide here examples of a “virtual” exercise and a skill-building lab.
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