Senkbeil's article describes an inquiry-based laboratory experience which was developed and presently utilized in the undergraduate biochemistry courses at Salisbury State. The laboratory experience requires students to do background reading, and to develop protocols and flow charts for analysis of an unknown carbohydrate before actually doing the experiment.
Students learn more by doing than by watching.
Students commonly comment that this is one of the most time-consuming labs, but also the most satisfying because of a sense of accomplishment and completion. The laboratory experience was initially presented at a poster session at the 1997 annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in San Francisco.