Scholarship of teaching within the context of discipline-based teaching involves incorporation of research into teaching and learning activities via stimulation of curiosity of students by capturing the vibrancy and relevance of science in the classroom and teaching what science is through enquiry based learning1,2. Microbiology since the Pasteur days has been a discipline with a rich history of connecting research and teaching. Pasteur created pedagogic of the discipline by promoting the value of laboratory research for the individual and the society to grow and improve in harmony with the works of the nature1,3,4. Since the microbiology continued to build on his “basic research inspired” teaching concept by incorporating it into the teaching practices1,3,4

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology teaching at the University of the Sunshine Coast has established its foundational pedagogies by incorporating Pasteur’s basic research-inspired teaching concept into the course to enable students to transfer theory into design and apply innovative microbial technologies to provide solutions for regional problems. Students within the program have been encouraged to construct their own knowledge through establishing connections between regional needs and the program's theoretical content to play a major role in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly regional development as a graduate.

1. Handelsman, J. (2002). Microbiology as a change agent in science education. ASM News, 68 (4): 163-167.
2. Healey M. (2000). Scholarship of Teaching in Higher Education: a discipline-based approach. In Higher Education Research & Development, Volume 19, Number 2, pp. 169-189(21). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
3. Handelsman, J., Houser, B.J. and Kriegel, H. (1997). Biology brought to life: a guide to teaching students how to think like scientists. Wm. C. Brown Publishers, Inc., Dubuque, Iowa.
4. Stokes, D.E. (1997). Pasteur's Quadrant Basic Science and Technological Innovation. Brookings Institution Press.