MATH IS A TOOL

(Psst, It Doesn’t Matter Whether or Not You Like It)

Bio-Link Summer Fellows 2007Lisa SeidmanMadison Area Technical College

• DNA is present in a stock solution at a concentration of 1 μg/mL.

• You need 50 pg of DNA for a reaction. How much of the stock do you need?

Convert the weights to the same unit:

61 g/mL 10 pg/mL.

610 pg 50 pg1mL ?

? = 0.00005 mL = 0.05 μL

WHAT DOES STUDENT NEED TO KNOW?

• What is a microgram, picogram, and so on• Conversion strategy• Distinguish concentration and amount• Strategy to calculate amount needed• Understand dilutions• Contextual information• What the question is asking

MATH APPLICATIONS• Math itself is relatively simple -- multiplication,

division, fractions

but…• Lots of applications – vital tool

• “Hands-on applications”, all “word problems”

• Math problems arise when students are focusing on something else

• Vocabulary, context unfamiliar

• Units essential and are often unfamiliar

• Errors have serious consequences

RESULT

• Students often frustrated

• Math barrier to success for many

• High attrition in first semester of program

APPROACHES TO HELP STUDENTS WITH MATH

• Sending students to take math courses either before beginning program courses or concurrently

• Unsuccessful

The Biotechnologist The Mathematician

Math is a Tool Math is Beautiful

NEXT APPROACH

• Evaluated needed math skills and incorporating into first lab class:– Ratios and proportions– Metric system– Graphing– Concentration and dilution– Growth curves– Mean and standard deviation

NOT THE ANSWER

Because: • Too much time taken from lab skills• Not enough math time for some students• Too much time for others, want to do

biotechnology

SUCCESSFUL SOLUTION

• New course in biotechnology laboratory math– Required for some students based on test

scores– Addresses needs in a biotech lab -- Math as a

tool– Low key– Lots of practice– Independence– Collaborative

COURSE HAS IMPROVED STUDENT SUCCESS

• Students develop confidence, reflected on evaluations

• Students’ skills improved • Students’ attitudes improved• Lower attrition in first lab classes• Some students go on to take more math

courses

WHY DID WE CREATE OUR OWN COURSE?

– ** Logistic, scheduling **

– Technical math serves several programs and they have different needs

LATEST APPROACH

• Required for all students • On-line, independent study version is

available