Forensic Investigation: Crime Scenes & Case Strategy

• Screen biological evidence and examine how DNA profiles are produced and compared

• Develop, lift, photograph, and compare latent fingerprints

• Document mock crime scenes with photographs, sketches, notes, and measurements

• Examine firearms, bloodstain-pattern, trace, drug, and toxicology evidence

• Study digital-evidence preservation, acquisition, extraction, and interpretation

• Process two team crime scenes and present evidence-based findings

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Document and process a crime scene while protecting evidence from contamination

• Apply selected serology, DNA, fingerprint, and trace-evidence methods

• Interpret and present forensic findings with appropriate limits and legal context

You’ll leave with your mock-scene documentation, team findings presentation, and a certificate of completion.

Students receive a University of Texas branded certificate of completion at the end of the program.

Forensic science depends on careful methods because evidence can be altered, contaminated, or misunderstood. Documenting a scene before collecting an item preserves context. Comparing a questioned sample with a known sample requires consistent procedures, and interpreting a result requires students to distinguish what the evidence supports from what remains uncertain.

These practices strengthen observation, scientific reasoning, recordkeeping, and communication. Team crime-scene work also shows why specialists must coordinate across disciplines. Explaining findings to a class mirrors the responsibility forensic professionals have when communicating with investigators, attorneys, or a court. The same habits support laboratory science, research, criminal justice, and evidence-based decision-making.

For students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade.

If forensic stories make you wonder what really happens in a laboratory, this course offers a closer look. Biology, chemistry, and law meet in the task of explaining what physical evidence can show.

Expect laboratory and evidence-handling procedures, team scenes, real-case discussions, readings, and occasional assignments. Careful documentation and clear explanations are as important as finding a clue.

Studying on UT Austin’s Forty Acres campus gives high-school students a substantive introduction to academic life in Austin, Texas. Courses draw from popular undergraduate fields and Austin specialties. Full-day academies offer concentrated study, while classes across the program take place in campus classrooms and laboratories and may include guest speakers and fieldwork around Austin.

The experience extends beyond class for both residential and commuting students. Residential students live in Jester Hall, eat at J2, a popular campus dining hall, and take part in activities that may range from a star party at PMA to time at Gregory Gym, Zilker Park, South Congress, or an Austin FC match. Students gain independence, meet peers, and leave with a clearer view of college life, possible directions for future study, and what it can feel like to be a Longhorn.