NCJ Number
141708
Journal
Crime Laboratory Digest Volume: 19 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1992) Pages: 107- 132
Date Published
1992
Length
26 pages
Annotation
A forensic science course offered at Williams College was used primarily as a vehicle for introducing non-science majors to the ways in which actual scientists work, define a problem, collect data, analyze results, and present those results. The course covers timely topics, is structured to stimulate student interest, and allows hands-on exposure through the laboratory work.
Abstract
The course includes a full-scale laboratory program in which students are assigned to an investigative unit. Each unit is responsible for investigating a particular crime scene and analyzing the physical evidence obtained on-site. The curriculum for the course introduces the concepts of forensic science, the crime scene, and physical evidence collection. The nature and purposes of expert testimony, disclosure and discovery rights and obligations, and the expert's role at the trial are also discussed. The curriculum places a heavy emphasis on chemistry, covering atomic structure, inorganic analysis, neutron activation analysis, firearms and toolmarks, chemical bonds, and nomenclature. Students learn about physical properties, organic chemistry and analysis, biochemistry, and neurochemistry and drugs. Other forensic topics covered include alcohol intoxication, toxicology, serology, and DNA profiling. 1 table, 36 references, and 2 appendixes