Learning Biology Through Relevant Questions

生物科学（61）对知识的需求驱使人们学习比他们认为可能的更多的东西。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。我们的目标是为学生，科学以及非科学专业，有这样的学习经验，通过科学，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正在开设一门生物学课程，在这门课程中，高年级的科学和非科学专业的学生合作寻找高中生提出的问题的答案。问一个问题，如“为什么我的眉毛短，而我的头发可以长？”“让学生参与对遗传学、细胞周期和激素控制的迷人研究。在日常生活中，学术界限不存在，学生将跨越到相关的主题，如性别差异和美的文化概念。这项工作要求仔细区分事实和推理，有效的沟通和创造力。这是一个工作坊课程，学生在计算机上开发屏幕上的实际光盘，该部门正在生产。正在评估学生进行研究、有效沟通和应用计算机技术的能力。目前正在确定学生是否通过这门课程获得了学习科学的信心。它的目的是，这只是在生物学和其他科学，在科学教育中使用相关的问题和计算机技术的一系列课程的第一个。该课程的前提是基于博耶委员会重塑本科教育倡导的“最佳实践”的改编[基于指导而不是信息传输的发现的学习]，建构主义教育的文献，以及关于服务学习价值的文献。 这构成了跨课程科学的重要一步，我们的机构范围内的改革计划始于NSF赠款，S.U.N.Y.宾厄姆顿对我们国家对科学成熟的公民和领导人的需求的回答。

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.