Seven Pillars of Biology Literacy: A Proposal for What Secondary School Teachers Might Teach & What College Instructors Should Reinforce

Abstract

Recently, while serving on a panel at a state science-teacher conference, I was asked to describe what secondary school biology teachers should do to best prepare students for college . This seemed a particularly intriguing question, because in a former life I taught middle and high school biology and I now teach biology courses for majors and nonmajors at a large state university. I also quickly recognized that I couldn't fully address this important issue quickly; thus, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to do so here. Of course, this is not a definitive list but rather a conversation-starter for me – and, hopefully, for ABT readers. Immediately, I had more questions than answers! What is this work we call biology? How should educators tell the story of life? What are the major milestones in biological discovery that expanded our knowledge of life on Earth? What role, if any, should the grand narrative of the formation of the universe and complexity play in biology education? What does it mean to be human? Students need content, but they also require skills and even …