Biology as an Interdisciplinary Science
PKAL 2002 Summer Institute - Cluster I
May 29 - June 1, 2002

Workshop Abstract

This workshop is for faculty and curriculum developers responsible for shaping, implementing and evaluating programs for undergraduate students in all fields of biology. Its design recognizes the rapid changes in the traditional "biology" world and considers how those changes should transform the 21st century undergraduate biology curriculum. Biologists are bringing a more integrative approach to dealing with the complex problems facing our world, and this change is having an impact on how and what students learn in undergraduate biology classrooms and labs. This interdisciplinary thrust points toward new kinds of questions within the research community and suggests new tools and approaches to engaging students as they learn, including innovative uses of technologies and pedagogies that help students see the real-world relevance of what they are learning in the classroom and lab.

The objectives of this workshop are to examine some current approaches to transforming the undergraduate biology curriculum and to show how they can be applied to a variety of courses on campuses of different sizes and missions. One powerful tool to be presented is the "case study," a pedagogical approach that can be adapted for different purposes (e.g., a module in an existing course and/or the basis for a new course), as well as for different types of courses for majors and non-majors.

In addition to sessions exploring "what" is to be taught and "how" it is to be taught, discussions about the logistical and administrative challenges to exploring and implementing new approaches will be threaded throughout workshop sessions. Particular attention will be given to how to create case studies that integrate biological concepts and put them in the context of contemporary needs of science and society; how such case studies can link lectures, experiments, course assignments and tests, and how to assess the value of this approach. A model of a departmental self-evaluation will also be presented.

In concert with other Cluster I workshops, the sessions in Interdisciplinary Biology Workshop will explore: a) creating a general education course (for majors and non-majors) built around a theme. The example to be presented examines the Nile River and the building of the Aswan Dam from the perspective of biology, engineering and politics; b) creating courses and programs to improve the familiarity of undergraduate students in biology with the mathematical and computational sciences, particularly as fields such as bioinformatics and genomics flourish; and c) incorporating cross-cultural elements into case studies and curricular programs.

Sessions will include:

• Cross-Cultural and Interdisciplinary Biology Courses
• Making Undergraduate Science Education Relevant and Interdisciplinary for Non-Majors
• Interdisciplinary Biology and the Case Study Approach
• Faculty Development
• Preparing Students for a Global Workplace

Workshop Planners

Kerry A. Brenner, Workshop Leader, National Research Council
J. Ellis Bell, University of Richmond
Spencer A. Benson, University of Maryland College Park
Katayoun Chamany, New School University
Louis J. Gross, University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Bernard C. Madison, University of Arkansas
M. Patricia Morse, University of Washington
Frederick B. Rudolph, Rice University
Robert T. Yuan, University Maryland College Park

Collaborating Associations

American Institute of Biological Sciences
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

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