Meeting Abstract

57.2  Saturday, Jan. 5  Integrating Biology Experimental Activity Modules into introductory physics (IBEAM) REESE, Scott/A*; KRIVOSHEEV, Tatiana; BURNETT, Stephen; PRATTE, John; Kennesaw State University; Clayton State University; Clayton State University; Arkansas State University sreese3@kennesaw.edu

Modern biology has grown beyond a simple description of life around us. To be successful at answering questions about life, a biologist must be able to work with quantitative investigations into the foundations that govern evolutionary relationships. Thus, the greatest breakthroughs in the last half-century were by integrative biologists (e.g. Richard Axel or Linda Buck), those that understood how physics and chemistry give us explanations for much that we see in the living world. Unfortunately, students of biology often fail to see the connections between the sciences that they are required to take. They compartmentalize the information they are taught and often fail to bring previous learning with them from other course work. Thus, IBEAM, http://ibeam.kennesaw.edu/, (Integrating Biology Experimental Activity Modules with Introductory Physics) is working to create successful materials explicitly showing students where physics and biology intersect. These materials can be used in introductory physics courses (especially those populated by biologists) and in upper-division biology courses where the connections are most prominent. Comprehensive assessment of these materials suggests that students are better able to make connections among courses and often feel more confident in combining disciplines, though their ability to work complex problems does not seem to be affected.