Toward Integration: From Quantitative Biology to Mathbio-Biomath?

Abstract

In response to the call of BIO2010 for integrating quantitative skills into undergraduate biology education, 30 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Program Directors at the 2006 HHMI Program Directors Meeting established a consortium to investigate, implement, develop, and disseminate best practices resulting from the integration of math and biology. With the assistance of an HHMI-funded mini-grant, led by Karl Joplin of East Tennessee State University, and support in institutional HHMI grants at Emory and University of Delaware, these institutions held a series of summer institutes and workshops to document progress toward and address the challenges of implementing a more quantitative approach to undergraduate biology education. This report summarizes the results of the four summer institutes (2007–2010). The group developed four draft white papers, a wiki site, and a listserv. One major outcome of these meetings is this issue of CBE—Life Sciences Education, which resulted from proposals at our 2008 meeting and a January 2009 planning session. Many of the papers in this issue emerged from or were influenced by these meetings.

Developing a Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS): Measuring Undergraduates’ Evaluation of Scientific Information and Arguments

“…(2007) into multiple-choice questions and provided students with short-answer questions that asked them to interpret information from graphs commonly seen in media reports found in periodicals such as the New York Times . We suggest that interested readers explore curricular resources at the National Institute of Mathematical and Biological Sciences (2012), as well as a recent report describing best practices for integrating mathematics in undergraduate biology (Marsteller et al. , 2010).…”

“…, 2008; Chevalier et al. , 2010; Marsteller et al. , 2010; Colon-Berlingeri and Borrowes, 2011; Brickman et al.…”

On the Edge of Mathematics and Biology Integration: Improving Quantitative Skills in Undergraduate Biology Education

“…Therefore, opportunities to bring faculty together prove to be invaluable for facilitating the spread of knowledge, enabling partnerships to form, and bridging the gap between biology and mathematics. Interdisciplinary workshops have helped shape the field (NRC, 2009; Marsteller et al , 2010; Making Biomath Happen, 2012). Future gatherings of educators are critical for sharing practices and exploring the rich variety of ways mathematics and biology intersect.…”

Using student feedback to improve student attitudes and mathematical confidence in a first year interdisciplinary quantitative course: from the ashes of disaster!

“…Whilst the relevance of interdisciplinary science applications with a mathematicstechnology centric has gained increasing recognition and near universal acceptance (see for example [2,3,4,24]), the practical challenges associated with the development and delivery of these interdisciplinary science programs and individual courses remain formidable.…”