Reimagining the Introductory Math Curriculum for Life Sciences Students

Autor/inn/en	O'Leary, Erin Sanders; Sayson, Hannah Whang; Shapiro, Casey; Garfinkel, Alan; Conley, William J.; Levis-Fitzgerald, Marc; Eagan, M. Kevin; Van Valkenburgh, Blaire
Titel	Reimagining the Introductory Math Curriculum for Life Sciences Students
Quelle	In: CBE - Life Sciences Education, 20 (2021) 4, Artikel 62 (20 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1931-7913
DOI	10.1187/cbe.20-11-0252
Schlagwörter	Introductory Courses; Calculus; Mathematics Curriculum; Biological Sciences; STEM Education; Undergraduate Students; Mathematics Instruction; Mathematics Skills; Mathematical Models; Relevance (Education); Academic Achievement; Achievement Gap; Majors (Students); Student Interests; Transformative Learning; Interdisciplinary Approach + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Einführungskurs; Analysis; Differenzialrechnung; Infinitesimalrechnung; Integralrechnung; Abwasserbiologie; STEM; Mathematics lessons; Mathematikunterricht; Mathmatics achievement; Mathematics ability; Mathematische Kompetenz; Mathematical model; Mathematisches Modell; Relevance; Relevanz; Schulleistung; Studieninteresse; Pädagogische Transformation; Fächerübergreifender Unterricht; Fächerverbindender Unterricht; Interdisziplinarität
Abstract	Calculus is typically one of the first college courses encountered by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. Calculus often presents major challenges affecting STEM student persistence, particularly for students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM. For life sciences majors, calculus courses may not offer content that is relevant to biological systems or connect with students' interests in biology. We developed a transformative approach to teaching college-level math, using a dynamical systems perspective that focuses first on demonstrating why students need math to understand living systems, followed by providing quantitative and computational skills, including concepts from calculus, that students need to build and analyze mathematical models representing these systems. We found that students who complete these new math courses perform better in subsequent science courses than their counterparts who take traditional calculus courses. We also provide evidence that the new math curriculum positively impacts students' academic performance, with data that show narrowing of the achievement gap, based on students' math grades, between student subgroups in the new math courses. Moreover, our results indicate that students' interest in the concepts and skills critical to the quantitative preparation of 21st-century life sciences majors increases after completing the new contextualized math curriculum. (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	2024/1/01