Developing a Biophysics CURE Course Focused on Developing AMO Technologies for use in Biochemical Applications

ISLAND CURE is a new collaborative project that uses multi-disciplinary approaches in science experimental design and science pedagogy. This collaborative interdisciplinary CURE project includes faculty and students from the physics, chemistry, and biology departments at Northwestern College (NWC) and the Laser Teaching Center (LTC) at Stony Brook University. In the first phase of this project, the students in the biophysics class worked to design and build an IR optical tweezers setup and custom inverted microscope. The students in the class collaborated with students in the biochemistry class who were doing a parallel CURE. Students learned both physics hardware and AMO skills as well as the intersection of biochemistry and physics. Further students had the experience of collaborating with external universities by interacting with students at the LTC in Stony Brook. In this presentation, I will discuss the structure of the course and the scientific and pedagogical outcomes.