Sarah Herhold's ISAT Blog

A few things to start off with:
1. Today I bought a “JMU-Integrated Science and Technology” sweatshirt. Nerdy.
2. Beware of breaks. Any amount of days off usually means lots of exams to get there.
3. It’s getting colder. I don’t like the cold unless it snows.

It’s pretty funny. If you’re an ISAT major, you get to know all the people in the program pretty quickly: you eat at festival a lot, you pretty much live in the ISAT building, and now you can dress the same! They were selling these sweatshirts near the main entrance, and I saw at least 5 other people wearing them today.

So, from last time, what do I mean when I talk about ISAT labs and Biology labs? If you are in high school, you might not know that science classes at the university level not only have lecture periods, but generally involve a separate weekly laboratory section as well. The laboratory can be taught by a different teacher, and it usually counts as about a third of your total grade in the class. That said, in the biology major, lab periods are THREE HOURS LONG. In ISAT, they are usually half that.

Why are they different? So far my experience has been that in biology courses, the lab is long enough to run typical lab procedures. This means that if you start an agarose gel electrophoresis procedure, you sit there until its done, maybe work on something else in the meantime, and then finish up with staining and getting your photograph all in one sitting. In fact, multiple procedures are usually completed.

How pretty! One I made a year or so ago! (In biology)

In the ISAT lab I’m taking this semester, the teacher’s assistants (TA’s) take over after you get the gel started, and you get a printout/photo of your results the next class. You see how its done, try it yourself, and usually get to see the equipment used to finish the procedure and how it works.

I find that the ISAT laboratory periods provide you with a working knowledge of how real world lab’s are operating. The gory details are spared for those who want to learn them in the upper level courses, and at the same time everyone is exposed to the basic principles. This allows ISAT courses to cover a broader spectrum of information in a limited amount of time.

This trend is one of the ISAT program’s strong points. Students have 7 sectors (or interest areas) to choose from, and you have to pick three to pursue for your major. The one you are most interested in becomes your concentration. This process gives you a background in multiple areas, which is extremely useful in understanding how your concentration is related to other technical fields.

End point being, ISAT lets you choose which gory details you want to get involved with, which is often more control than offered by other programs. Oh, and when I say watch out for breaks, I mean it. I had 4 exams in the past 5 school days. Plus projects. You earn your time off apparently.

Happy Thanksgiving!