Commentary: Teaching biochemistry and molecular biology in 3D: The new next generation science standards

Abstract

When I think of teaching in 3D, my thoughts go understanding and manipulating protein structure models, diagrams, metabolic maps, and other images. Indeed, being able to “see in 3D” is a skill that is vital to understanding biochemistry and molecular biology, as is the ability to “zoom” between the macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic levels of resolution 1. But there is another “3D” that we as biochemical educators should be aware of: the “three dimensions” presented in the Framework for K-12 Science Education 2 that form the basis of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The “three dimensions” of framework are science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts. These “three dimensions” are found in all years of the proposed curriculum, and are developed at a deeper level as students progress. Each of the standards in the NGSS incorporates all three of these aspects. The NGSS standards were released on April 9, 2013 by a broad-based team from 26 states 3, and will presumably shape the elementary and high school science curricula and experiences for students in those states and beyond, although only two states have formally adopted them so far. Comparing to the vision and change in undergraduate biology education 4 and the ASBMB concept inventory project 5 can not only help us understand where our students are coming from, they also help us critically examine our own structure, standards, and strategies for educating students. The first dimension, science and engineering practices, emphasizes how scientists and engineers conduct investigations and build models and theories about the natural world. The eight practices listed in Fig. 1. These are mostly proficiencies, focusing on experimental, mathematical, and critical thinking skills. The practices are meant to dovetail with the disciplinary core ideas. This interconnectedness of process skills and content was explicitly stated in the framework 2: “students cannot fully understand scientific and engineering ideas without engaging in the practices of inquiry and the discourses by which such ideas are developed and refined. At the same time, they cannot learn or show competence in practices except in the context of specific content.” Vision and Change (V&C) also included a list of core competencies and disciplinary practices that is similar to the NGSS competencies; however, it groups the skills associated with conducting experiments into one broad category, and adds additional categories about connecting to other scientific fields and society at large (Fig. 1). The disciplinary core ideas are fundamental, unifying concepts that have broad importance across Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields or are a key organizing concept of a single field, key to understanding or investigating more complex ideas, connect to real life or societal concerns that require scientific or technical knowledge, or be teachable and learnable at many levels of depth and sophistication. The four categories of disciplinary core ideas are physical sciences, life sciences, earth and space sciences, and engineering design. The life sciences disciplinary core ideas are listed in Table 1. Compared to the core concepts of V&C, the NGSS separates the concepts of heredity and evolution, while V&C separates the NGSS's “Structures and Processes” into three separate topics, structure/function; pathways and transformations of energy and matter; and information flow, exchange and storage. In both the NGSS and V&C, the core concepts can be interpreted on a cellular, organismal, and ecological level. Crosscutting concepts are fundamental ideas that are found throughout STEM fields, and are listed in Table 2. While these concepts have been found as underlying concepts in previous recommendations [“themes” in Science for All Americans (AAA 1989) and Benchmarks for Science Literacy (1993), “unifying principles” in National Science Education Standards (1996), and “crosscutting ideas” NSTA's Science Anchors Project (2010)], including them as a separate category was a conscientious decision by the committee to ensure that students would be exposed to these fundamental ideas in an intentional manner. There is not a parallel category in V&C, but the ongoing work on foundational concepts by the ASBMB (see the special section in this issue “Foundational Concepts and Assessment Tools for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Educators, Part 1: Essential Concepts and Skills.”) emphasizes how biochemistry and molecular biology are rooted in mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry. The crosscutting ideas allow students to connect ideas from different fields of science and prepare them for interdisciplinary work by providing a common language and understanding. The standards are set up so that the practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts are interwoven. Table 3 shows how this is done in one of the high school standards on heredity. While not all of any one category are present in a single standard, the practices and crosscutting concepts are taught each year, and the core ideas are presented at least once every three years. The NGSS places much greater emphasis upon how science is done. Instead of hands on work being the final wrap-up of the unit (if there is time), the emphasis on process moves observation and experimentation to the beginning of the unit, and embeds it throughout the discussion. This change may have significant impact on how we assess student mastery of the subject; will state annual standardized tests and college entrance examinations reflect this increased emphasis on process and depth instead of fact acquisition and breadth? Will it change student expectations for what science is when they get to the college level? One of the striking features of the NGSS is the emphasis on curricular coherence and repeated exposure to important topics, both within and among courses. Instead of science being viewed as a collection of distinct facts, it emphasizes overarching principles and depth of study. Topics are covered with increasing sophistication in over several years—for example, the heredity standard is included in first grade, third grade, middle school, and high school. The first grade theme is “how are parents and their children similar and different?” while the third grade themes include “How do organisms vary in their traits? How are plants, animals, and environments of the past similar or different than current plants, animals and environments?” The middle school level introduces the mechanics of traits being passed from one generation to the next, while the high school level builds on this to include variation among members of a species or family. This is an area where colleges and university level programs may learn from the K-12 learning community. Faculty often say, “that was taught in (name a prerequisite course) so I don't need to cover it,” when presenting it, even briefly, at a more sophisticated level may both cement the prior learning and assist in understanding the current topic 6. All together, the NGSS provide a coherent set of “big ideas” in science. The emphasis on depth and the process of science can help students understand how discoveries are made. There are, however, always concerns; will emphasis on these core ideas mean there are other topics that are not discussed? How will they be implemented, both in the classroom and in how learning is assessed? How widely will the standards be adapted? As a community of educators, we can think about how to both support these changes in K-12 science education and how it may affect future generations of collegiate students. The parallels between the NGSS and the work done by the Research Coordination Networks in Undergraduate Biology Education (RCN-UBE) (described in this issue) committee described in this issue are remarkable. Considering the work was done essentially in parallel, the inclusion of core content, skills, and underlying understanding by both shows the importance of all three dimensions at all levels of learning.