Learning Biology Through Relevant Questions

（61）求知欲驱使人们学习比他们认为可能的多得多的东西。这就是为什么一个相关的问题，一个适合学生参考框架的问题，是一个强大的学习工具。我们的目标是让学生，无论是理科生还是非理科生，都能有这样的科学学习经历，通过这种经历，他们将获得终身学习所需的研究技能和信心。纽约州立大学宾厄姆顿分校正在开设一门生物学课程，让高年级理科学生和非理科学生组队为高中生提出的问题寻找答案。回答诸如“为什么我的眉毛很短，而我的头发却可以长？”这样的问题，让学生们对遗传学、细胞周期和激素控制进行了有趣的研究。就像在没有学术界限的日常生活中一样，学生们将跨越相关话题，如性别差异和文化美的概念。这项工作要求仔细区分事实和推论，有效的沟通和创造力。这是一个研讨会课程，学生在计算机上开发一个实际的CDROM，该部门正在生产的屏幕。评估学生进行研究、有效沟通和应用计算机技术的能力。学生们是否通过这门课程获得了学习科学的信心还有待确定。这只是生物学和其他科学系列课程中的第一个，这些课程在科学教育中使用相关问题和计算机技术。本课程的前提是基于并改编了Boyer重塑本科教育委员会所倡导的“最佳实践”（通过指导而不是信息传递指导下的基于发现的学习）、关于建构主义教育的文献以及关于服务学习价值的文献。这是“科学贯穿课程”迈出的重要一步，这是我们从美国国家科学基金会（NSF）拨款开始的全学院改革计划，也是纽约州立大学宾厄姆顿分校对我们国家对科学知识渊博的公民和领导者的需求的回应。

Biological Science (61)The need to know drives people to learn much more than they think possible. This is why a relevant question, a question that fits within a student's frame of reference, is a powerful tool for learning. The goal is for students, science as well as non-science majors, to have just such a learning experience in science through which they will gain the research skills and confidence needed for lifelong learning. S.U.N.Y. Binghamton is creating a Biology course where upper-level science and non-science majors team up to find answers to questions posed by high school students. Answering a question such as "Why are my eyebrow hairs short while the hair on my head can grow long?" engages students in fascinating research into genetics, cell cycles and hormonal control. As in daily life where academic boundaries do not exist students will cross over into relevant topics such as gender differences and cultural concepts of beauty. The work is calling for careful distinction between fact and inference, effective communication and creativity. This is a workshop course where students develop screens on the computer for an actual CDROM that the department is producing. Students' abilities to carry out research, communicate effectively, and apply computer technologies, are being evaluated. It is being determined whether students gained confidence in learning science through this course. It is intended that this is only the first in a series of courses in Biology and the other sciences that uses relevant questions and computer technologies in science education. The premise for the course is based on and is an adaptation of "best practices" advocated by the Boyer Commission Reinventing Undergraduate Education [Learning based on discovery guided by mentoring rather than transmission of information], literature on constructivist education, and on literature on the value of service-learning. This constitutes a significant step in Science across the Curriculum, our program of Institution-wide reform that started with an NSF grant, S.U.N.Y. Binghamton's answer to our national need for scientifically sophisticated citizens and leaders.