摘要：Effective undergraduate teaching has always been a challenge. In 1987 Chickering & Gamson published the seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education, which was highly used and recommended by most practitioners, yet teaching basic science was still difficult. It is not easy to convey that in science negative results are as important as positive results. In fact, sometimes interpretation and troubleshooting are more important than the experiment itself. In order to make the students feel the importance of science and the importance of every experiment they are doing, the laboratory component of the course was designed as a small project through which they were taught important lessons. Every time an experiment failed, we (instructors) pointed out how it could serve the purpose of the project and how each result, whether positive or negative, leads us to another step and a better understanding of the project's goal. Other than the technical aspects of designing the course, we made sure that there's a strong bond between every student and us without compromising discipline, as it is the way to success and great achievements. Everyone had a talent and a skill that needed to be sculptured to unleash the great scientist –we believe- was in him or her. Our goal was to create an image and to set an example of how a scientist should be; manners, attitude, discipline and perseverance. By the end of the semester, the students were able to interpret, troubleshoot and report the results they collected throughout the whole semester in consolidated reports that mimicked published research papers. More importantly, they learned how to be scientists and they enjoyed learning science.
