Transcript PPT - the American Society for Cell Biology

The Changing National Landscape of
Science Education
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Engineering
Institute of Medicine
National Research Council
Jay Labov
National Academy of Sciences
National Research Council
Washington, DC
Putting Scientific Teaching Into Practice
ASCB Workshop, December 3, 2011
[email protected]
http://nationalacademies.org
National Perspectives on
Undergraduate Education in Biology
Learning Goals
•
Recognize that you are not alone!
•
Become familiar with recent national reports on the
improvement of undergraduate education in biology and
STEM more generally.
•
Briefly explore the intersection between education and
policy.
•
Appreciate the influence of K-12 education on what you
do and your role in influencing K-12 education.
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!
Premise 2:
“A good hockey player plays where the puck is.
A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to
be.”
Wayne Gretzky
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
6
Recognize that you are not alone!
NRC Board on Life
Sciences
(2003)
NRC Center for
Education (2002)
NRC
Board on
Life
Sciences
(2009).
NRC Board On Science
Education (2011)
NRC Board On Science
Education (2011)
8
Association of American
Medical Colleges &
Howard Hughes Medical
Institute
(2009)
College Board (2011)
American Association for the
Advancement of Science &
National Science Foundation
(2011)
9
National Research Council 2000
National Research Council 2003
10
A New Biology for the 21st Century:
Why Now?
A moment of unique opportunity –
• Integration of subdisciplines within
biology
• Cross-discipline integration: life
science research by physical,
computational, earth scientists,
engineers
• Technological advances enable
biologists to collect data
unprecedented in quantity and
quality
• Past investments providing value
beyond what was expected
11
A New Biology for the 21st Century:
Implications for Science Education
• 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)
12
AP Redesign
Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics (2012-16)
• Evidence of Learning
•
•
•
•
• Science Panels
– Big Ideas / Unifying
•
Themes
– Enduring Understandings •
– Competencies
– Evidence Models
(Formative Assessments)
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
13
Similarities in Thinking:
AP Biology Redesign (2011):
Vision and Change (2011)
•
•
•
•
•
The process of evolution drives the
diversity and unity of life.
Biological systems utilize free energy
and molecular building blocks to
grow, to reproduce and to maintain
dynamic homeostasis.
Living systems store, retrieve,
transmit and respond to information
essential to life processes.
Biological systems interact, and
these systems and their interactions
possess complex properties.
•
•
•
•
The diversity of life evolved over
time by processes of mutation,
selection, and genetic change.
Basic units of structure define the
function of all living things.
The growth and behavior of
organisms are activated through the
expression of genetic information in
context.
Biological systems grow and change
by processes based upon chemical
transformation pathways and are
governed by the laws of
thermodynamics.
Living systems are interconnected
and interacting.
14
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
15
Hughes Medical Institute
The redesigned AP curriculum focuses
on merging content with the 21st
century skills needed for college and
career
Transmission of information between neurons
occurs across synapses.
The student can create representations and
models of natural phenomena and systems
The student is able to create a visual
representation to describe how nervous
systems transmit information.
Performance
Performance
ssessment
ccountability
Intersection Between
Education and Policy
• Increased emphasis on STEM education as an
economic driver and the basis for maintaining
international competitiveness
• Increased calls for accountability in higher
education
– National levels
– State Levels
Science Education and
Our Economic Future
“If I take the revenue in January and look again
in December of that year, 90% of my
December revenue comes from products
which were not there in January.”
Craig Barrett, Chairman of Intel
“Rising Above the Gathering Storm” (NAS, NAE, and IOM, 2007)
"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be
those who cannot read and write, but those
who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."
Alvin Toffler, American Writer and Futurist
WhyShifting
21st Century
Skills?
Job Market
20th Century
21st Century
1 – 2 Jobs
10 – 15 Jobs
Job
Requirement:
Mastery of
One Field
Critical Thinking
Across
Disciplines
Teaching
Model:
Subject
Matter
Mastery
Integration of 21st
Century Skills into
Subject Matter
Mastery
Assessment
Model:
Subject
Matter
Mastery
Integration of 21st
Century Skills into
Subject Matter
Mastery
Number of
Jobs:
Courtesy of Linda Froschauer
Appreciate the influence of K-12
education on what you do and your
role in influencing K-12 education
My Knowledge of K-12 Science Standards
A. I have examined national and my state’s standards
for my discipline and have used that information in
preparing for my introductory courses.
B. I’ve skimmed either the national or my state’s
standards.
C. I know that such standards exist but have not
looked at them.
D. There are actually standards for K-12 science?
24
Teacher Education and National Standards
“Not long ago, a college chemistry professor
grew angry with the way her daughter’s high
school chemistry class was being taught. She
made an appointment to meet with the teacher
and marched with righteous indignation into the
classroom—only to discover that the teacher
was one of her former students.”
National Research Council (1998)
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
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
And Most Importantly: What Students Said…
Frederico Unglaub, Student, Universityersity of
Colorado
• 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
… 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
28
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