Integration of Informatics and Quantitative Concepts in Biology at UPR

描述(由申请人提供)：这项提议的目标是提高波多黎各大学里约热内卢校区生物学专业本科生的量化和信息学技能。它与MARC U*STAR计划的目标一致，该计划旨在增加在STEM领域之一接受研究生教育的少数族裔学生的数量。国家研究委员会在其题为《BIO2010：转变未来研究生物学家的本科教育》的报告中指出，生物学专业的本科生需要接受更多量化和跨学科的教育。生物系根据这一建议和正在进行的全面课程修订，制定了几项解决这一问题的战略。这项建议旨在将量化和信息学的概念和技能纳入整个生物学课程。本科实验室课程之所以成为目标，是因为它们为我们的学生提供了一个完美的环境，为他们提供量化和跨学科的研究类活动。此外，我们将通过介绍新的跨学科课程来丰富我们的学术课程，使我们的学生能够更好地为他们未来的学术或专业目标做好准备。我们建议的具体目标是： (1)设计促进生物专业学生量化技能发展的课程序列。 (2)在生物实验课程中融入定量和计算技能。 (3)增加生物系的生物信息学和跨学科课程。 (4)教师和辅助人员的跨学科培训。 建议的改变将纳入生物系正在进行的全面课程修订中，因为我们预计这些改变将有助于提高学生对生物研究的兴趣，并显著提高学生的竞争力，特别是那些正在攻读研究生课程的学生。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this proposal is to increase the quantitative and informatics skills of undergraduate Biology majors at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. It is aligned with the objective of the MARC U*STAR Program which is to increase the number of minority students that pursue graduate education in one of the STEM fields. The National Research Council in its report "BIO2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists" identified the need for Biology majors to receive a more quantitative and interdisciplinary education as undergraduates. The Department of Biology, following this recommendation and an ongoing comprehensive curricular revision, has delineated several strategies to address this issue. This proposal aims to incorporate quantitative and informatics concepts and skills throughout the Biology curriculum. Undergraduate laboratory courses are being targeted as they provide the perfect environment to offer our students quantitative and interdisciplinary research-like activities. In addition, we will enrich our academic offerings by describing new interdisciplinary courses to allow our students to be better prepared for their future academic or professional goals. Our proposed specific aims are: (1) Design a course sequence that will promote the development of quantitative skills in biology majors. (2) Integration of quantitative and computational skills into Biology laboratory courses. (3) Increase the bioinformatics and interdisciplinary course offerings in the Biology Department. (4) Interdisciplinary training of faculty and support personnel. The proposed changes will be integrated into the Biology Department's ongoing comprehensive curricular revision as we expect that they will contribute to increase students' interest in biological research and significantly improve our student competitiveness, particularly of those who pursue graduate studies.