Table 6 Representative quotes from the focus groups regarding student thoughts on the changes made to the laboratory portion of the course

“It was the first time I ever had a lab where it was ‘for this lab you are going to make your own experiment and make bacteria evolve.’ So I was like ‘I don’t know….’ I thought the course was going to be a lot easier, but I’m glad I took it.”

“It was a learning curve. I learned from a lot of my mistakes [general agreement]. In that sense it was a not a failure in the end. I got some results but at the same time all the failures added to my understanding.”

“That’s the whole point though, that’s science. That’s what annoys me about every other class. You follow the guidelines then don’t get anything out of it. Science doesn’t work like that.”

“I don’t think he’s going to mark whether or not we were successful. Definitely not, but a lot of people were thinking that. They have to get it out of their minds. It’s the process that you’re going through that you’re getting marked on. The fact that you’re going through the hit and miss and everything like that. That was great.”