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人口为主的社区学院、纳瓦霍社区学院、皮马社区学院和科奇斯社区学院非专业本科生的科学素养。该项目有四个主要重点：(1)我们打算重组非专业的生物学入门课程，以提高学生的科学素养和他们对现实世界问题的多学科方法的理解。本课程的实验部分将为学生提供进行探究性和研究性科学研究的机会。(2)我们将通过为研究生助教和教师举办和实施专业发展研讨会和实践讲习班，在NAU和三所社区学院实现系统性变革。这些研讨会将探索新的方法，为非专业的生物入门课程制定相关的和实质性的课程框架。3)我们将通过一项实验设计来测试生物学入门课程的重组，该设计将使我们能够确定哪种设计最有效，适用于两种学术团体，州立综合大学和亚利桑那州的社区学院样本。4)我们将跟踪教师及其学生，对课程的影响进行纵向研究。我们的项目——生活的片段：生物学入门课程——代表了课程开发的一种实验方法，将确定在非专业生物学课程中“什么有效”。

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.