We offer a short-term course (6 days in 2 weeks) for 1st and 2nd year undergraduate students, which provides practical experience in identifying tuna fish species. The curriculum is designed to help both humanities and science major students to understand life science terms such as DNA, PCR, and various sequencing technologies through molecular biological analysis. Moreover, students will acquire the necessary experimental skills and discussion methods for analyzing data, where "scientific thinking" would be trained. Also, guest lecturers are invited to special seminars that are held during lecture hours.
It is complicated to classify tuna (sushi, fillets, blocks) by taste or shape unless you are a fish expert. Then, how do we determine the type of tuna accurately and reproducibly?
In this practical course, we will first receive a tuna fillet or sushi as a specimen. Next, we will analyze the tuna using molecular biological methods to determine which tuna species it is. Finally, we will give a mini-presentation on our results in this course.
"Thinking training"
In addition to the above flow, individuals/groups are given simple assignments that even beginners can understand, individualized attention to the participating students' learning achievement and experimental progress. We cannot easily find the answer by searching the Web or browsing past print collections. Also, Each student/group needs to design and conduct various experiments.
"thinking training" that will be added to the work content of the prescribed practical flow, the experience of challenging tasks for which the answers are not fixed. We hope that students will enjoy the stay in this course.
