Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education

Description:

In July 2009, using the findings of these regional conversations as a starting point, NSF and AAAS, with the guidance of an advisory board, hosted an invitational conference on Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education that attracted more than 500 biology faculty, college and university administrators, representatives of professional societies, and students and postdoctoral scholars from around the country. During the national conference, participants built on the earlier conversations to make recommendations about (1) what students should know and be able to do in the set of courses that make up the biology curriculum; (2) innovative pedagogy and the integration of authentic research experiences into individual courses and biology programs overall; (3) assessment; (4) professional development for both current and future faculty; (5) the kinds of changes that are needed at the institutional level; and (6) tools to facilitate and support change at various levels (e.g., courses, programs, institutions, etc.). The coauthors of this report used the recommendations that arose from these deliberations as the foundation for the report. Thus, cutting across diverse subdisciplines and institutions, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education represents the collective wisdom of hundreds of leading life scientists who contributed to the conversations around the country and then joined with other leading biology faculty, administrators, and undergraduates at the invitational conference.