biocore guide: a tool to interpret the core concepts of vision and change for general biology majors...

BioCore Guide: A tool to interpret the

core concepts of Vision and Change for general biology majors

Sara E. BrownellSchool of Life Sciences

Arizona State University

Alison Crowe, Scott Freeman, and Mary Pat WenderothDepartment of Biology

University of Washington

Imagine a “typical” biology faculty member assigned to an undergraduate curriculum committee.

Goal of committee: Articulate a set of learning outcomes for graduating biology majors

Where to begin?

2011 AAAS report

Product of >500 biology faculty nationwide

Outlined a set of core biological concepts

Core biological concepts:

EVOLUTION

INFORMATION FLOW

STRUCTURE FUNCTION

TRANSFORMATIONS OF ENERGY AND MATTER

SYSTEMS

From Vision and Change (AAAS 2011):

EVOLUTION

From Vision and Change (AAAS 2011):

EVOLUTION

Need more specific guidelines on core concepts

Sub-discipline specific efforts to delineate core concepts

of Vision and Change

Most biology departments are general biology departments

We set out to delineate the core concepts for graduating general biology major

(not a specialist in a sub-discipline)

No current guidelines exist for general biology

Core concepts: Evolution, Information Flow, Structure Function,

Transformations of Energy and Matter, and SystemsVision

and Change (2011)

Principles: Common features of core concepts that

cross sub-disciplinary boundaries

Statements: Sub-discipline specific interpretation of

core concepts for general biology majors

Eco/EvoPhysMol/Cell

BioCore Guide(2014)

Questions:Specific questions

based onstatements

Assess student understanding

Core concepts: Evolution, Information Flow, Structure Function,

Transformations of Energy and Matter, and Systems

Principles: Common features of core concepts that

cross sub-disciplinary boundaries

Statements: Sub-discipline specific interpretation of

core concepts for general biology majors

Vision and

Change (2011)

BioCore Guide(2014)

Eco/EvoPhysMol/Cell

Questions:Specific questions

based onstatements

BioMaps general biologyprogrammatic

assessment(~2015)

Core concepts: Evolution, Information Flow, Structure Function,

Transformations of Energy and Matter, and Systems

Principles: Common features of core concepts that

cross sub-disciplinary boundaries

Statements: Sub-discipline specific interpretation of

core concepts for general biology majors

Vision and

Change (2011)

BioCore Guide(2014)

Eco/EvoPhysMol/Cell

Questions:Specific questions

based onstatements

BioMaps general biologyprogrammatic

assessment(~2015)

1.Process of creating BioCore Guide2.How departments can use BioCore Guide3.Your own copy of BioCore Guide

BioCore Guide(2014)

Process for creating BioCore GuideIterative grassroots process

Systematically collected and incorporated feedback

~25 faculty

Phase 1: Began with “typical” faculty input

to promote buy-in

Iteratively revised 6 times

Phase 2: Elicited feedback from 200 biologists at 100

institutions nationally

EVOLUTION

INFORMATION FLOW

STRUCTURE FUNCTION

TRANSFORMATIONS OF ENERGY AND MATTER

SYSTEMS

BioCore Guideis the product of over 240 biologists

90% agreement among 184 faculty that statements are scientifically accurate and important for a biology major to know

How can biology departments

use the BioCore Guide?

•Set learning goals for individual classes

•Identify holes in the current curriculum

•Use in advising students

•Modify for use at own institution

•Use as a conversation starter

Let’s take a look at the BioCore Guide

EVOLUTION

Core concept

How to read the BioCore Guide

EVOLUTION

Three major sub-disciplines of biology

How to read the BioCore Guide

EVOLUTION

Overarching Principles

How to read the BioCore Guide

EVOLUTION

Statement

How to read the BioCore Guide

EVOLUTION

Mol/Cell statements

How to read the BioCore Guide

Core concepts: Evolution, Information Flow, Structure Function,

Transformations of Energy and Matter, and SystemsVision

and Change (2011)

Principles: Common features of core concepts that

cross sub-disciplinary boundaries

Statements: Sub-discipline specific interpretation of

core concepts for general biology majors

Eco/EvoPhysMol/Cell

BioCore Guide(2014)

Questions:Specific questions

based onstatements

Assess student understanding

Questions?