ACU Biology Dept. I n Dr. Jim Nichol's biology labs, students are not told to be quiet. I teach my own labs, and I believe the laboratory setting is the perfect situation for students to interact and learn from each other. Nichols likens his laboratory to a kitchen in which the students are told to bake a cake and are given the ingredients, but not told exactly how to make the finished product.
Students sometimes get frustrated because they are comfortable being told exactly what to do.
But we encourage them to talk to one another, ask questions, figure things out. We are always there, however, to help them if they become discouraged and to give them a push in the right direction. Nichols' special research interests are animal physiology and cell biology, both of which have led him to study water balance in animals, blood pressure, heart malformations in rats and turtles, and other projects that may have direct applications to humans. But I do research because it gives me credibility with the students when I'm willing to go in there and make mistakes, and try again, just like I encourage them to do. Besides his abilities as a teacher and researcher, Nichols also has a special talent as a writer.