Quantitative Sciences Curriculum for Life Science Students

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The objective of this proposal is to develop, evaluate, and publicize a curriculum in quantitative studies for undergraduates in the life sciences. This curriculum will emphasize the great utility of quantitative approaches in analyzing biological problems, will utilize many examples from recent biological research, and serve a dual role of both introducing new quantitative methods and reinforcing key concepts in modem biology. A variety of software will be evaluated and utilized in the curriculum to enhance the problem-solving aspects of the courses. This will enable students to experiment with alternative key biological assumptions in mathematical models and analyze the resultant quantitative and qualitative behavior of these assumptions. The curriculum to be developed will include an entry-level sequence as well as a second-year set of courses. A workshop of researchers and educators in quantitative biology will be held as part of the initial stages of the development in order to develop a set of basic quantitative and biological concepts that should be included in the curriculum. A few of the attendees at this workshop will serve as an advisory board for the remainder of the projected proposal period. Over the three years of the proposal, the new curriculum will be developed, appropriate software evaluated, pilot studies run, and results of the project publicized. A monograph compiling detailed syllabi, lesson plans, and software evaluations will be published and distributed to quantitative and life science departments throughout the U.S.