Improving Biology Education for Non-science Majors: Environmental Change and Carbon Dynamics as the Focus of Inquiry-based Laboratories

生物科学(61)为了实现教授非科学专业学生的目标，不仅是我们从科学中学到的知识(即内容)，更重要的是这些知识是如何获得的(科学过程)及其与现实世界问题的相关性，我们正在采用基于探究的实验室调查方法，用于我们在新英格兰大学为非科学专业学生开设的普通生物学课程(每年约150名学生)。与大多数“食谱”实验练习形成鲜明对比的是，在实验练习中，研究问题的答案是事先知道的，学生的表现是通过遵循指令的能力以及学生与预期结果的接近程度来判断的，而基于探究的活动让学生参与不确定结果的开放式调查，从而模仿科学研究的实际进行方式。尽管开放式、探究式实验的价值得到了广泛的认可，特别是在高级课程中，但这种实验在科学入门课程中很少使用。尽管如此，我们对在我们的非专业生物课程中使用探究性实验的潜在成功充满信心，因为之前的努力将探究性引入中学生物课程(生物科学课程研究)，随后这种方法被输出到介绍性的大学生物实验室(例如，Leonard 1982,1983,1989)。我们正在实施一系列新的探究式探索，学生们就陆地和水生碳循环对人为变化的反应进行实验研究，因为这些问题(例如，全球变暖对森林或海洋碳通量的影响)将生物学置于现实世界的背景下，并阐明了生物学多层次研究(即从细胞到生态系统)的重要性。鉴于这些新的实验室练习要求学生完成科学方法的主要步骤，包括利用现代分析设备设计和进行实验，我们的学生获得了科学探究方法和过程的第一手经验，以及对技术在科学中的作用的欣赏。我们正在评估这项改革努力在改善学生对科学的态度、对生物学原理的理解以及基本实验室和批判性思维技能发展方面的有效性，方法是向新实验室和以更传统的“食谱”方式教授的实验室的学生管理几个自行设计和外部可用的评估工具。为了确保尽可能广泛地传播我们实验室改革项目的成果，我们将通过一系列研讨会、讲习班、会议报告和出版物，与地方、区域和国家各级的同事分享我们的经验。

Biological Sciences (61) To accomplish the goals of teaching non-science majors not only what we know from science (i.e., content), but more importantly how that knowledge is acquired (the process of science) and its relevance to real-world problems, we are adapting the inquiry-based approach to laboratory investigation for use in our general biology course for non-science majors at the University of New England (approximately 150 students a year). In stark contrast to most "cookbook" lab exercises, in which the answers to research questions are known in advance and student performance is judged by the ability to follow instructions and how closely students approximate the anticipated results, inquiry-based activities engage students in open-ended investigations with uncertain outcomes, thus mimicking how scientific research is actually conducted. Although the value of open-ended, inquiry-based labs is widely recognized, particularly in upper division courses, such labs are infrequently used in introductory science courses. Nonetheless we are confident in the potential success of using inquiry-based labs in our non-majors biology course because of previous efforts to infuse inquiry into the secondary school biology curriculum (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study), and the subsequent export of this approach to introductory college biology labs (e.g., Leonard 1982, 1983, 1989). We are implementing a series of new, inquiry-based explorations, in which students conduct experimental research on the response of terrestrial and aquatic carbon cycles to anthropogenic change, because these issues (e.g., the effects of global warming on carbon flux from forests or oceans) place biology in a real-world context and illustrate the importance of multiple levels of study in biology (i.e., from cells to ecosystems). Given that these new laboratory exercises require students to work through the majors steps of the scientific method, including designing and conducting experiments utilizing modern analytical equipment, our students obtain first-hand experience with the methods and process of scientific inquiry, as well as an appreciation for the role of technology in science. We are evaluating the effectiveness of this reform effort on improving students attitudes towards science, comprehension of biological principles, and the development of basic laboratory and critical thinking skills, by administering several self-designed and externally available assessment instruments to students enrolled in the new laboratories, and in labs taught in a more traditional, "cookbook" manner. In order to insure the broadest dissemination possible of the results of our laboratory reform project, we will share our experiences with colleagues at local, regional and national levels through a series of seminars, workshops, conference presentations and publications.