Bio2010

Biological sciences have been revolutionized, not only in the way research is conductedâ€"with the introduction of techniques such as recombinant DNA and digital technologyâ€"but also in how research findings are communicated among professionals and to the public. Yet, the undergraduate programs that train biology researchers remain much the same as they were before these fundamental changes came on the scene. This new volume provides a blueprint for bringing undergraduate biology education up to the speed of today's research fast track. It includes recommendations for teaching the next generation of life science investigators, through: Building a strong interdisciplinary curriculum that includes physical science, information technology, and mathematics. Eliminating the administrative and financial barriers to cross-departmental collaboration. Evaluating the impact of medical college admissions testing on undergraduate biology education. Creating early opportunities for independent research. Designing meaningful laboratory experiences into the curriculum. The committee presents a dozen brief case studies of exemplary programs at leading institutions and lists many resources for biology educators. This volume will be important to biology faculty, administrators, practitioners, professional societies, research and education funders, and the biotechnology industry.

"Math and bio 2010 grew out of 'Meeting the Challenges: Education across the Biological, Mathematical and Computer Sciences,' a joint project of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), the National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education (NSF DUE), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the American Society for Microbiology (ASM)."--Foreword, p. vi

Vols. for 1963- include as pt. 2 of the Jan. issue: Medical subject headings.

Even though contemporary biology and mathematics are inextricably linked, high school biology and mathematics courses have traditionally been taught in isolation. But this is beginning to change. This volume presents papers related to the integration of biology and mathematics in high school classes. The first part of the book provides the rationale for integrating mathematics and biology in high school courses as well as opportunities for doing so. The second part explores the development and integration of curricular materials and includes responses from teachers. Papers in the third part of the book explore the interconnections between biology and mathematics in light of new technologies in biology. The last paper in the book discusses what works and what doesn't and presents positive responses from students to the integration of mathematics and biology in their classes.

There is a gap between the extensive mathematics background that is beneficial to biologists and the minimal mathematics background biology students acquire in their courses. The result is an undergraduate education in biology with very little quantitative content. New mathematics courses must be devised with the needs of biology students in mind. In this volume, authors from a variety of institutions address some of the problems involved in reforming mathematics curricula for biology students. The problems are sorted into three themes: Models, Processes, and Directions. It is difficult for mathematicians to generate curriculum ideas for the training of biologists so a number of the curriculum models that have been introduced at various institutions comprise the Models section. Processes deals with taking that great course and making sure it is institutionalized in both the biology department (as a requirement) and in the mathematics department (as a course that will live on even if the creator of the course is no longer on the faculty). Directions looks to the future, with each paper laying out a case for pedagogical developments that the authors would like to see.

Now more than ever, biology has the potential to contribute practical solutions to many of the major challenges confronting the United States and the world. A New Biology for the 21st Century recommends that a "New Biology" approach-one that depends on greater integration within biology, and closer collaboration with physical, computational, and earth scientists, mathematicians and engineers-be used to find solutions to four key societal needs: sustainable food production, ecosystem restoration, optimized biofuel production, and improvement in human health. The approach calls for a coordinated effort to leverage resources across the federal, private, and academic sectors to help meet challenges and improve the return on life science research in general.

This book provides an introduction to two important aspects of modern bioch- istry, molecular biology, and biophysics: computer simulation and data analysis. My aim is to introduce the tools that will enable students to learn and use some f- damental methods to construct quantitative models of biological mechanisms, both deterministicandwithsomeelementsofrandomness;tolearnhowconceptsofpr- ability can help to understand important features of DNA sequences; and to apply a useful set of statistical methods to analysis of experimental data. The availability of very capable but inexpensive personal computers and software makes it possible to do such work at a much higher level, but in a much easier way, than ever before. TheExecutiveSummaryofthein?uential2003reportfromtheNationalAcademy of Sciences, “BIO 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future - search Biologists” [12], begins The interplay of the recombinant DNA, instrumentation, and digital revolutions has p- foundly transformed biological research. The con?uence of these three innovations has led to important discoveries, such as the mapping of the human genome. How biologists design, perform, and analyze experiments is changing swiftly. Biological concepts and models are becoming more quantitative, and biological research has become critically dependent on concepts and methods drawn from other scienti?c disciplines. The connections between the biological sciences and the physical sciences, mathematics, and computer science are rapidly becoming deeper and more extensive.

While there is consensus that institutions need to represent their educational effectiveness through documentation of student learning, the higher education community is divided between those who support national standardized tests to compare institutions’ educational effectiveness, and those who believe that valid assessment of student achievement is based on assessing the work that students produce along and at the end of their educational journeys. This book espouses the latter philosophy—what Peggy Maki sees as an integrated and authentic approach to providing evidence of student learning based on the work that students produce along the chronology of their learning. She believes that assessment needs to be humanized, as opposed to standardized, to take into account the demographics of institutions, as students do not all start at the same place in their learning. Students also need the tools to assess their own progress. In addition to updating and expanding the contents of her first edition to reflect changes in assessment practices and developments over the last seven years, such as the development of technology-enabled assessment methods and the national need for institutions to demonstrate that they are using results to improve student learning, Maki focuses on ways to deepen program and institution-level assessment within the context of collective inquiry about student learning. Recognizing that assessment is not initially a linear start-up process or even necessarily sequential, and recognizing that institutions develop processes appropriate for their mission and culture, this book does not take a prescriptive or formulaic approach to building this commitment. What it does present is a framework, with examples of processes and strategies, to assist faculty, staff, administrators, and campus leaders to develop a sustainable and shared core institutional process that deepens inquiry into what and how students learn to identify and improve patterns of weakness that inhibit learning. This book is designed to assist colleges and universities build a sustainable commitment to assessing student learning at both the institution and program levels. It provides the tools for collective inquiry among faculty, staff, administrators and students to develop evidence of students’ abilities to integrate, apply and transfer learning, as well as to construct their own meaning. Each chapter also concludes with (1) an Additional Resources section that includes references to meta-sites with further resources, so users can pursue particular issues in greater depth and detail and (2) worksheets, guides, and exercises designed to build collaborative ownership of assessment.The second edition now covers: * Strategies to connect students to an institution’s or a program’s assessment commitment* Description of the components of a comprehensive institutional commitment that engages the institution, educators, and students--all as learners* Expanded coverage of direct and indirect assessment methods, including technology-enabled methods that engage students in the process* New case studies and campus examples covering undergraduate, graduate education, and the co-curriculum* New chapter with case studies that presents a framework for a backward designed problem-based assessment process, anchored in answering open-ended research or study questions that lead to improving pedagogy and educational practices* Integration of developments across professional, scholarly, and accrediting bodies, and disciplinary organizations* Descriptions and illustrations of assessment management systems* Additional examples, exercises, guides and worksheets that align with new content