challenges of biology education for the 21st century - beyond bio2010 symposium, may 21, 2010
DESCRIPTION
Dr. Jay Labov, from the National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council, talks about how undergraduate biology education must change to meet the challenges of the 21st centuryTRANSCRIPT
Challenges of UndergraduateBiology Education for the 21st Century
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIESNational Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine
National Research Council
Jay Labov National Academy of Sciences
National Research Council Washington, DC
[email protected] http://nationalacademies.org
AAAS Community College ForumLessons Learned About Biotechnology Education
February 17, 2011
PURPOSES OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
To advance science and technology
To advise government
on applications of science and engineering to policy
on policy for science, engineering, and health care
NAS ACT OF INCORPORATION: 1863
• Added to the end of the Act,“... shall, whenever called upon by any department of the Government, investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art ...”
• “... but the Academy shall receive no compensation whatever for any services to the Government of the United States.”
As a result of the charter’s restrictions, the U.S. National Academies are a private, non-profit organization that is independent from the U.S. Government and whose work depends on volunteers.
Sources of studies:•Federal Government (Congress, Agencies)•States•Private Sources (e.g., Foundations)•Internal support (endowments)•Board-generated proposals
For access to all National Academies’ reports:
http://nap.edu
624 586 574 589 633
63206001 5908 5946
6340
0
1000
2000
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4000
5000
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7000
FY '05 FY '06 FY '07 FY '08 FY '09
# Committees:
# Committee Members:
NUMBER OF NRC/IOM COMMITTEES AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS *
FOR THE PERIOD JANUARY 1, 2005 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2009
*Excludes Liaison Representatives, PGA's associateship and fellowship panels, and TRB's technical activities.
SOURCE: CMIS
Premise 1:
Improving Undergraduate Science Education is Not Rocket
Science
Premise 1:
Improving Undergraduate Science Education is Not Rocket
Science
It’s a LOT harder!
“A good hockey player plays where the puck is.
A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”
Wayne Gretzky
Premise 2:
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Given the radical changes in the nature of the science of biology and what we have
learned about effective ways to teach, this is an opportune time to address the
biology we teach so that it better represents the biology we do.
– Transforming Undergraduate Education in Biology: Mobilizing the Community for Change, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Education. www.visionandchange.org
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NRC Board on Life Sciences (2003)Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists
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NRC Board on Life Sciences
(2009).
A New Biology for the 21st Century: Ensuring the United States Leads the Coming Biology Revolution
American Association for
the Advancement of
Science
National Science
Foundation(2010)
Vision and Change in
Undergraduate Education
National Research Council (2002)
Learning and Understanding: Improving Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science in U.S. High Schools
NRC Board on Life
Sciences (2003)Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists
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A New Biology for the 21st Century:Addressing & Affecting Urgent Problems
• FOOD:FOOD: Nearly a billion Nearly a billion undernourished in ’07; still increasing, undernourished in ’07; still increasing, especially where the food supply is especially where the food supply is already inadequatealready inadequate
• ENVIRONMENT:ENVIRONMENT: Human activities Human activities are stressing, altering and destroying are stressing, altering and destroying ecosystems on which we relyecosystems on which we rely
• ENERGY:ENERGY: Transportation fuels Transportation fuels depend almost fully on limited non-depend almost fully on limited non-renewable resourcesrenewable resources
• HEALTH:HEALTH: Healthcare decisions based Healthcare decisions based on statistics; rely on costly on statistics; rely on costly technologies that may not benefit a technologies that may not benefit a given individualgiven individual
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A New Biology for the 21st Century: 4 areas of interdisciplinary focus
• Food– Generate food plants to adapt and
grow sustainably in changing environments
• Environment– Understand and sustain ecosystem
function and biodiversity in the face of rapid change
• Energy – Expand sustainable alternatives to
fossil fuels
• Health– Understand individual health
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A New Biology for the 21st Century: Why Now?
A moment of unique opportunity –A moment of unique opportunity –
• Integration of subdisciplines within Integration of subdisciplines within biologybiology
• Cross-discipline integration: life Cross-discipline integration: life science research by physical, science research by physical, computational, earth scientists, computational, earth scientists, engineersengineers
• Technological advances enable Technological advances enable biologists to collect data biologists to collect data unprecedented in quantity and unprecedented in quantity and qualityquality
• Past investments providing value Past investments providing value beyond what was expected beyond what was expected
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A New Biology for the 21st Century: Findings
• The New Biology Initiative provides an opportunity to attract students to science who want to solve real-world problems.
• The New Biologist is not a scientist who knows a little bit about all disciplines, but a scientist with deep knowledge in one discipline and a “working fluency” in several.
• Highly developed quantitative skills will be increasingly important.
• Development and implementation of genuinely interdisciplinary undergraduate courses and curricula will both prepare students for careers as New Biology researchers and educate a new generation of science teachers well versed in New Biology approaches. (p. 89)
WHY CHANGE? WHY NOW?
Biology is in transition
Science education is in transition
Society is in transition
Increasing need for both broadly educated, integrative biology professionals as well as biologically literate citizens
Education must change to meet the potentials and demands of the new biology and to realize the promise of science to society in the future
C. Brewer, U MT, 2/2010
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Student-Centered Classrooms and Learning Outcomes
• Introduce scientific process early and integrate it throughout all undergraduate biology courses
• Research experiences should be an integral component of biology education for all students, regardless of major
• Active, outcome-oriented, inquiry-driven and relevant courses
• Define learning goals and align assessments to focus on conceptual understanding - use data to improve and enhance learning
• Ignite the passion for learning in our students
C. Brewer, U MT, 2/2010
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• Engage us• Challenge us
• Help us develop critical thinking, analytical and communication skills
• Provide opportunities for research experiences and/or designing our own experiments
• Use analogies, NOT jargon• Make learning relevant• Give us ownership of our learning• Infect us with your enthusiasm about
the natural world• Make your learning goals
transparent to us
Frederico Unglaub, Student, Universityersity of Colorado
And Most Importantly: What Students Said…
… Tie what we’re learning into the Big Picture. Why is this important? Where did this come from (i.e., original literature)? Where does it fit in real life? And
how does this relate to what we’re learning in other classes? ….C. Brewer, U MT, 2/2010
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AP RedesignBiology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics (2013-16)
• Science Panels– Big Ideas / Unifying
Themes – Enduring
Understandings– Competencies– Evidence Models
(Formative Assessments)
• Evidence of Learning• The student can use representations
and models to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.
• The student can use mathematics appropriately
• The student can engage in scientific questioning
• The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence
• The student can work with scientific explanations and theories
• The student is able to transfer knowledge across various scales, concepts, and representations in and across domains
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10129&page=R1
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AAMC/HHMI Committee Defines Scientific Competencies for Future Physicians
Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians recommends that medical and premedical education evolve from a static listing of courses to a dynamic set of competencies…This … will encourage the development of innovative and interdisciplinary science curricula, maintain scientific rigor, and allow premed students at the undergraduate level the flexibility to pursue a strong liberal arts education.
Association of American Medial Colleges & Howard Hughes Medical InstituteJune, 2009
http://www.hhmi.org/grants/sffp.html
In a great irony, the academy itself may be the last obstacle to improving the quality of biology education for all students. Thus, raising the profile of science education within biology departments and ensuring that the academic culture values both faculty teaching and student learning should be everyone’s highest priorities, truly a cultural change on many campuses.
C. Brewer, U MT, 2/2010