The Changing National Landscape of Science Education

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIESNational Academy of Sciences

National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine

National Research Council

Jay Labov National Academy of Sciences

National Research Council Washington, DC

jlabov@nas.edu http://nationalacademies.orgPutting Scientific Teaching Into Practice

ASCB Workshop, December 3, 2011

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!

“A good hockey player plays where the puck is.

A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”

Wayne Gretzky

Premise 2:

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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

Recognize that you are not alone!

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NRC Board on

Life Sciences (2009).

NRC Center for Education (2002)NRC Board on Life

Sciences (2003)

NRC Board On Science Education (2011)NRC Board On Science

Education (2011)

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American Association for the Advancement of Science &

National Science Foundation(2011)

Association of American Medical Colleges &

Howard Hughes Medical Institute(2009)

College Board (2011)

10National Research Council 2000 National Research Council 2003

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A New Biology for the 21st Century: Why Now?

A moment of unique opportunity –A moment of unique opportunity –

• Integration of subdisciplines within Integration of subdisciplines within biologybiology

• Cross-discipline integration: life Cross-discipline integration: life science research by physical, science research by physical, computational, earth scientists, computational, earth scientists, engineersengineers

• Technological advances enable Technological advances enable biologists to collect data biologists to collect data unprecedented in quantity and unprecedented in quantity and qualityquality

• Past investments providing value Past investments providing value beyond what was expected beyond what was expected

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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)

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AP RedesignBiology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics (2012-16)

• Science Panels– Big Ideas / Unifying

Themes – Enduring Understandings– Competencies– Evidence Models

(Formative Assessments)

• Evidence of Learning• 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

Similarities in Thinking:AP Biology Redesign (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.

Vision and Change (2011)

•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.

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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 Hughes Medical Institute

June, 2009http://www.hhmi.org/grants/sffp.html

The redesigned AP curriculum focuses on merging content with the 21st

century skills needed for college and career

The student is able to create a visual representation to describe how nervous systems transmit information.

Transmission of information between neurons occurs across synapses.

The student can create representations and models of natural phenomena and systems

Performance

Performance

ssessmentccountability

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

20th Century 21st Century

1 – 2 Jobs 10 – 15 Jobs

Critical Thinking Across

Disciplines

Integration of 21st

Century Skills intoSubject Matter

Mastery

Mastery ofOne Field

SubjectMatter

Mastery

Number ofJobs:

JobRequirement:

Teaching Model:

SubjectMatter

Mastery

Integration of 21st

Century Skills intoSubject Matter

Mastery

Assessment Model:

Why 21st Century Skills?Shifting Job Market

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?

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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

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• 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

Frederico Unglaub, Student, Universityersity of Colorado

And Most Importantly: What Students Said…

… 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

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