1, 2, 3, 4: Infusing Quantitative Literacy into Introductory Biology

Autor/inn/en	Bray Speth, Elena; Momsen, Jennifer L.; Moyerbrailean, Gregory A.; Ebert-May, Diane; Long, Tammy M.; Wyse, Sara; Linton, Debra
Titel	1, 2, 3, 4: Infusing Quantitative Literacy into Introductory Biology
Quelle	In: CBE - Life Sciences Education, 9 (2010) 3, S.323-332 (10 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1931-7913
DOI	10.1187/cbe.10-03-0033
Schlagwörter	Research Universities; Numeracy; Course Content; Biology; Science Instruction; Computation; Mathematics Skills; College Science; Science Process Skills + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Forschungseinrichtung; Rechenkompetenz; Kursprogramm; Biologie; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Mathmatics achievement; Mathematics ability; Mathematische Kompetenz
Abstract	Biology of the twenty-first century is an increasingly quantitative science. Undergraduate biology education therefore needs to provide opportunities for students to develop fluency in the tools and language of quantitative disciplines. Quantitative literacy (QL) is important for future scientists as well as for citizens, who need to interpret numeric information and data-based claims regarding nearly every aspect of daily life. To address the need for QL in biology education, we incorporated quantitative concepts throughout a semester-long introductory biology course at a large research university. Early in the course, we assessed the quantitative skills that students bring to the introductory biology classroom and found that students had difficulties in performing simple calculations, representing data graphically, and articulating data-driven arguments. In response to students' learning needs, we infused the course with quantitative concepts aligned with the existing course content and learning objectives. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by significant improvement in the quality of students' graphical representations of biological data. Infusing QL in introductory biology presents challenges. Our study, however, supports the conclusion that it is feasible in the context of an existing course, consistent with the goals of college biology education, and promotes students' development of important quantitative skills. (Contains 5 tables and 4 figures.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Society for Cell Biology. 8120 Woodmont Avenue Suite 750, Bethesda, MD 20814-2762. Tel: 301-347-9300; Fax: 301-347-9310; e-mail: ascbinfo@ascb.org; Website: http://www.ascb.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10