An undergraduate environmental microbiology course was used to examine the hypothesis that students could best grow as biologists, inform career decisions, and experience the scientific process by engaging in a collaborative, research-based laboratory format. Students learned how to use scientific literature to formulate relevant questions and hypotheses and develop detailed experimental research proposals. They collected, analyzed, interpreted, and presented original scientific data in the form of a research-poster conference. Course objectives were measured using two Likert-style surveys, and the resulting data supported the original hypothesis of this work.