High-School Biology Today and Tomorrow (1989) / Chapter Skim
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Part III: Curriculum: Perspectives and Content
Part III: Curriculum: Perspectives and Content
Pages 111-148
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PART III Curriculum: Perspectives and Content l
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Second was insight into the structure of the genetic material, DNA, which opened the way to the broad range of both techniques and fundamental understanding of basic biological processes that are encompassed by the term "molecular biology." The first of these events provided a new and profoundly important way to view the natural world. The second has led to such enormous progress that virtually for the first time in the history of our science we can ask meaningful experimental questions about such central problems as how a fertilized egg develops into a functional adult organism and how a collection of neurons can learn and remember.
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Not for a total want of trying. There have been commendable and temporarily or locally effective efforts, of which the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study project is the most noteworthy.
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The Bradley Commission on History In the Schools has recently called for more emphasis on broad trends and questions and on the teaching of critical thinking, rather than the memorization of facts without context. Less than 2 weeks ago, Kenneth Jackson, the commission chairman, was quoted as saying that "history should not be just a mad dash through the centuries with teachers trying desperately to get to the 1980s before school lets out in June" (New York Times, 1988b)
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New York: New American Library. New York Times.
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in human genetics in 1975 from SUNY, Stony Brook. He joined the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study in 1977 and has been its director since 1985.
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Prewitt's view of scientific literacy requires a different set of assumptions about the selection of content and pedagogy for the biology curriculum. No longer can we assume that the structure of the discipline will
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· An understanding of major concepts from a varied of disciplines. The conceptual boundaries that once separated the major scientific disciplines are fast eroding, and the biology curriculum must acknowledge that one must understand chemistry, physics, and biology to comprehend the impact of science on human affairs and the complexity of the science-related issues that confront us as a collective.
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Indeed, it is increasingly difficult even for professional scientists to tell where one ends and the other begins. A recent report prepared by BSCS for the National Center for Improving Science Education (1988)
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The objectives listed above are subsumed by the more global goals of improved quality of life and personal development that are important objectives for general education. HUMAN ECOLOGY Which of the many possible conceptual approaches to biology will best help students and teachers to achieve the foregoing objectives?
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Students examine the ecological relationships that sustain such problems by investigating such concepts as the cultural structure of the population in question, population growth and carrying capacity (Hardin,
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In each case, students examine both the capabilities and limitations of science and technology and confront the possibility that some problems, such as population growth, may have no technological solutions (Hardin, 1968~. Students also explore the growing tendency of technology to influence basic research and, therefore, theory formation (Markle and Robin, 1985; Newman, 1988~.
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has shown that "eleventh-grade students who reported classroom activities that were challenging and participatory were likely to have higher science proficiency" (Mullis and Jenkins, 1988~. Unfortunately, the data show that such instruction is "relatively rare." Improvement of the biology curriculum requires that teachers abandon their traditional role as purveyors of information and become facilitators of learning.
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Teachers must be trained to handle controversy in the classroom and to lead activities and discussions that help students to examine all sides of a given issue. THE LOYAL OPPOSITION Because the amount of opposition to change is generally directly proportional to the degree of change proposed, there will be considerable opposition to my proposed restructuring of the high-school biology curriculum.
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Bybee (1984) , however, in emphasizing the importance of human ecology in biology education, stated: Courses, units, or lessons with an emphasis on human ecology should be required of all students.
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A recent meeting of science educators from 40 countries confirmed the universal need for a change in the content and methods of science education. Although the problems of developing countries differ from those of the developed world, science educators around the world recognize the impact of science and technology on rapid and continuous change, and they feel that their citizens must be prepared to manage that change.
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We do not need any more evidence than that already accumulated to convince us that our present approach to education- the biology curriculum included, perhaps most especially is not meeting the needs of learners. The 1986 NAEP assessment (Mullis and Jenkins, 1988)
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1987. Curriculum development at the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study.
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1988. Rethinking the science curriculum, pp.
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1b help convince you that this pessimistic picture accurately describes the current state of affairs, let me share with you instructional objectives for life science and biology stated in the Montgomery County (Maryland) public-school program of studies.
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From Life Science (Ramsey et al., 1986, pp. 44-45~: Basic Cell Structure Cells are made of protoplasm and its products.
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Small structures in this area are suspended in the cytoplasm. Note the archaic word "protoplasm" used freely in Life Science.
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William Mayer calls this necrology, instead of biology. Last summer, seven experienced teachers met for 2 weeks to consider the following question: What should every graduate of Montgomery County public schools know about science and technology, and when should it be taught?
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For life science, such an activity might be development of a model spacecraft that would support human life for an extended period in space. The work-group participants suggested that the project be organized as a cooperative effort within a class, with small groups considering various aspects, such as waste disposal, recycling, and environmental requirements.
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136 HIGH-SCHOOL BIOLOGY TABLE 3 "Humans and Beans Additional Plant Topics Plants: Structure and function Maintenance Origins: Human history Genomes and gene pools Variation Characterization and classification Evolution Life cycle: Reproduction Differentiation Development Maturation Aging Functions: Homeostasis Organ systems Feedback mechanisms Energy requirements Nutrient requirements Learning process: Skills Behavior Physical health: Definitions Maintenance and homeostasis Disorders, symptoms, and treatment Germ theory of disease Mental health: Cultural Social Coping mechanisms Stress and prolonged disturbance Treatment Death and dying Human presence: Population Resources Survival Domestication of plants Seed-plant development Hormone influence and auxins Food plants Plant diseases-rusts and blights Plant maintenance-wilt, turgor, and life expectancy Forestry and food supply
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A final review of evolutionary theory becomes the culminating unit and serves to unite all of biology under one explanatory theory. ~ s but the first step In our attempt to unite life science and biology TABLE 4 The Living Environment (Proposed Tenth-Grade Biology Curriculum)
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1986. Life Science.
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· What kind of biology should be taught? · What is the social importance of biology education?
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In this article, one scientist commented that, "If 80 percent of the papers weren't written, the progress of science wouldn't be affected at all." First-year biology students must indeed feel as if they are drowning when confronted with the deluge of detail in so many of today's biology textbooks. What would be the effect on biology education if publishers decided to reduce by 80% the additions they make to new textbooks?
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Inevitably, they come to regard biology and other areas of science as irrelevant to their lives or too complicated to understand, even if they suspect that it Is relevant. How has the state of biology education progressed to the point where textbooks are so thick that students can hardly carry them home?
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In the decade after World War II, science educators began to recognize that science education must be freed from the intellectual strait jacket in which it had been so long confined. Sputnik was the ultimate catalyst: the federal government began giving top priority to the development of programs in science education that would "put us ahead of the Russians." The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS)
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There is, however, a backbone of biological thought based on the three great theories of biology: cell theory, gene theory, and evolutionary theory. These theories must be the foundation of all biology education.
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Students are capable of understanding these concepts, and it is satisfying to help them to do so. In addition to the three main theories of biology, a particularly useful theory for high-school biology teaching is the cell symbiosis theory, promoted most notably by Lynn Margulis of Boston University.
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Use living animals to investigate processes of life. Borrowing freely from Alexander Pope, "the proper study of biology the science of life-is life." WHAT IS THE SOCIAL IMPORTANCE OF BIOLOGY EDUCATION?
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Morris Shamos, a former president of National Science Teachers Association, wrote that the goal of scientific literacy for all citizens would be difficult to achieve, and efforts to attain it would be counterproductive, turning off many students as they are required to learn vast arrays of facts, scientific history, and other data that have little meaning for them in any part of their lives. Instead, he said, teachers should try to foster within them an appreciation of the scientific process.
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Biological Sciences Curriculum Study.
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