Designed to teach the basic concepts, terminology and methods of plant tissue culture to the hobbyist, student, teacher, commercial grower and other interested people. Includes on-line lectures on basic plant physiology and culture methods and hands-on laboratory exercises to learn and practice the techniques. These labs can be performed in a typical kitchen or school classroom. Sources of needed supplies will be provided; students will need to purchase supplies to complete the exercises. Course must be completed within 6 months to earn CE credit.
  

This course is designed to meet the educational needs of the hobbyist, student, teacher (who wants to add new technology to their classroom) and the commercial grower (who wants to determine if tissue culture propagation techniques might be useful in their business).

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, the student will:

1. Be able to discuss the significance of plant tissue culture to the nursery and agricultural crop industries;
2. Identify and apply basic plant growth theories to plant tissue culture techniques;
3. Perform simple plant tissue culture techniques in a classroom or home kitchen;
4. Communicate with laboratory facilities around the world, and individuals involved in these techniques, via online lectures, chat room discussions with guests, and a plant tissue culture listserv.
    

Required Materials:

Students may sign up at any time during the semester.   Course must be completed within 6 months to earn continuing education credit. Delivery of the course will be primarily through internet based instruction including text, graphics, communication with the instructor, assessment via short quizzes, written laboratory reports, and interaction on the internet (chat room, email, listservs). Some activities will involve set-up and performance of culturing techniques, and interaction with the instructor regarding the results.
 

Evaluation: The student’s successful completion will be determined by:

1. Submission of homework assignments at the end of each lesson.
2. Participation in the chat room and a listserv.
3. Completion of hands-on experiments as evidenced in submitted lab reports.

Students will receive either "credit" or "non-credit" for the entire course, based on the successful completion of the activities described above. No partial credit will be offered.

Upon successful completion of all course requirements, the student will be given a certificate of completion as verification of receiving credit for this course.
 

Instructors will be evaluated at the end of this course. Students are asked to be honest and contribute comments that will be used in the creation of an ongoing professional development plan for the instructor.

Carol M. Stiff, Ph.D.
905 Champions
Lufkin, TX 76901
936-699-3551
Fax 936-699-3553
cstiff@austincc.edu