CyberBridge is designed to help students transition from high school to the first year of Life Sciences courses at Harvard University. The Life Sciences concentrations include Biological Anthropology, Chemistry, Chemical and Physical Biology, Human Evolutionary Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Neurobiology, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and Social and Cognitive Neurosciences. More information on the Life Sciences concentrations may be found online on the undergraduate education site. In addition, pre-medical students not concentrating in the Life Sciences typically take several courses in the Life Sciences.
We have found that equally talented entering freshmen may have vastly different high school experiences in biology and chemistry. Students who have taken advanced placement (AP) biology and/or chemistry are typically well prepared academically for the first year, while talented students without a strong science background often have more difficulty.
CyberBridge teaches concepts from AP biology and AP chemistry that are fundamental to success in the two introductory Life Sciences courses, Life Sciences 1a (Chemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology) and Life Sciences 1b (Genetics, Genomics, and Evolution). These concepts will be covered in the introductory courses, but students who are already familiar with them will be able to concentrate on the more difficult concepts presented.
CyberBridge is divided into several topic areas, each with a tutorial and an assessment quiz. Students may start with the tutorial or the quiz, and may switch between them at any time. Students may use as much or as little of the CyberBridge as they like. Well-prepared students may not need the CyberBridge. Students with a moderate background can use it to learn about or refresh their memory on specific topics. Students with a minimal background may want to use it extensively. Use of the CyberBridge is completely optional and anonymous. Students who arrive on campus with a minimal background in chemistry and biology will be encouraged to enroll in Life and Physical Sciences A (Foundational Chemistry and Biology), which is designed to prepare students for Life Sciences 1a and 1b.
While the CyberBridge is designed for entering Harvard freshmen with an interest in Life Sciences, we hope it will be useful to a wide variety of learners.