Reinventing Introductory Biology with an Emphasis on Skills, Thinking, and Research

Abstract

In our work at the College of Saint Scholastica, we used a backwards design model to develop a new sequence of introductory biology courses to better prepare students for upper division work in the biology major. We present here our alternative model to the traditional year‐long introductory biology survey sequence for biology and biochemistry majors. Our three course introductory sequence for Biology majors now includes a science‐process, skills‐based course BIO 1115 Global Challenges: Scientific Solutions, a one semester survey course BIO 1125 Foundations in Biology, and a course based undergraduate research experience (CURE) BIO 1116 Novel Antimicrobial Discoveries in partnership with the Small World Initiative.A key aspect of our introductory curriculum is a focus on student skills, thinking, and research, both in the CURE Novel Antimicrobial Discoveries and in Global Challenges. Global Challenges uses the topic of climate change to help students develop skills needed for success in the biology major. In this course, the learning outcomes include: Collaborate effectively on a team and also develop skills in independent learning, Find informative sources, assess their relevance, and evaluate their claims, Produce clear, effective, evidence‐based writing, Prepare and deliver engaging and effective presentations, Be able to identify answerable questions, and select and evaluate suitable solutions, when confronted ‐with complex, open‐ended problems, Use awareness of different climate change experiences for peoples of different regions/cultures/economic status in problem solving. The learning outcomes for these courses connect closely with the competencies outlined in the 2011 Vision and Change: A Call to Action report1. These competencies include: ability to apply the process of science; ability to use quantitative reasoning; ability to use modeling and simulation; ability to tap into the interdisciplinary nature of science; ability to communicate and collaborate with other disciplines; and ability to understand the relationship between science and society. Here we describe the activities and assessments used to assist students in achieving these learning outcomes and present data describing the successes of students in both improving their process of science skills and developing an identity as a scientist.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.