A Slice of Life: An Introductory Biology Course

我们提出了一个项目，旨在提高北亚利桑那大学和亚利桑那州以少数民族为主的社区学院、纳瓦霍社区学院、皮马社区学院和科奇斯社区学院本科生的科学素养。该项目有四个主要的重点：(1)我们打算重组一门面向非专业学生的生物学入门课程，以提高学生的科学素养和他们对多学科方法解决现实世界问题的理解。本课程的实验室部分将为学生提供进行基于探究和以研究为导向的科学的机会。(2)我们会透过为研究生助教和教职员举办专业发展研讨会和实践工作坊，在北大和三间社区学院推行系统性的改革。这些讲习班将探索为非专业生物学入门课程制定相关和实质性课程框架的新方法。3)我们将通过一个实验设计来测试入门生物学的重组，这将使我们能够确定对于两种类型的学术社区，州立综合性大学和亚利桑那州的社区学院样本来说，什么是最有效的设计。4)我们将跟踪教师和他们的学生，对课程的影响进行纵向研究。我们的项目--生活的一部分：生物学入门课程--代表了一种课程开发的试验性方法，它将决定非专业生物课程的“有效”。

We propose a project designed to increase the scientific literacy of undergraduate non-majors at Northern Arizona University and community colleges in Arizona with predominantly ethnic minority populations, Navajo Community College, Pima Community College, and Cochise Community College. The project has four major foci: (1) We intend to restructure an introductory biology course for non-majors so that it enhances students' scientific literacy and their understanding of multidisciplinary approaches to real-world problems. The laboratory component for the course will provide students the opportunity to do inquiry-based and research-oriented science. (2) We would effect systemic change at NAU and the three community colleges by developing and implementing professional development seminars and practical workshops for graduate teaching assistants and faculty. These workshops would explore new approaches to developing relevant and substantive curricular frameworks for introductory biology for non-majors. 3) We would test the restructuring of introductory biology through an experimental design that will enable us to determine what is the most effective design for two kinds of academic communities, state comprehensive university and a sample of community colleges in Arizona. 4) We would follow faculty and their students in a longitudinal study of the course's impacts. Our project -- A Slice of Life: An Introductory Biology Course -- represents an experimental approach to curriculum development that will determine "what works" in non- majors biology courses.