Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-2013
Abstract
We report on the development of a life sciences curriculum, targeted to undergraduate students, which was modeled after a commercially available physics curriculum and based on aspects of how people learn. Our paper describes the collaborative development process and necessary modifications required to apply a physics pedagogical model in a life sciences context. While some approaches were easily adapted, others provided significant challenges. Among these challenges were: representations of energy, introducing definitions, the placement of Scientists’ Ideas, and the replicability of data. In modifying the curriculum to address these challenges, we have come to see them as speaking to deeper differences between the disciplines, namely that introductory physics—for example, Newton's laws, magnetism, light—is a science of pairwise interaction, while introductory biology—for example, photosynthesis, evolution, cycling of matter in ecosystems—is a science of linked processes, and we suggest that this is how the two disciplines are presented in introductory classes. We illustrate this tension through an analysis of our adaptations of the physics curriculum for instruction on the cycling of matter and energy; we show that modifications of the physics curriculum to address the biological framework promotes strong gains in student understanding of these topics, as evidenced by analysis of student work.
Publication Title
CBE Life Sciences Education
Volume
12
Issue
2
First Page
215
Last Page
229
Required Publisher's Statement
© 2013, American Soc Cell Biology. View original article at CBE Life Sciences Education
Recommended Citation
Donovan, Deborah A.; Atkins, L. J.; Salter, I.Y.; Gallagher, D.J.; Kratz, R.F.; Rousseau, J.V.; and Nelson, G.D., "Advantages and Challenges of Using Physics Curricula as a Model for Reforming an Undergraduate Biology Course" (2013). Biology Faculty and Staff Publications. 8.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/biology_facpubs/8
Subjects - Topical (LCSH)
Life sciences--Curriculum--United States; Curriculum planning--United States; Biology--Undergraduates--Study and teaching (Secondary); Physics--Curricula--United States; Biology--Curricula--United States
Geographic Coverage
United States
Genre/Form
articles
Type
Text
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
