Meeting Abstract
The increasingly quantitative nature of biology has led to calls for a revolution in undergraduate biology education in which data analysis and quantitative skills receive greater emphasis. We sought to integrate quantitative thinking into our two-semester introductory biology courses through the development and use of 11 quantitative modules, presented in weekly 50-minute active-learning class sessions, which apply mathematical thinking to biological problems covered concurrently in the course, ranging from ecology and evolution to cellular and molecular biology and physiology. Each module presents a particular biological context followed by a series of questions through which students quantitatively analyze the premised situation. Modules also include pre-class exercises designed to review the mathematical concepts needed to successfully complete the module. Modules were assessed using a pretest/posttest design; the test assessed students’ quantitative competencies as well as attitudes. Student attitudes were largely unchanged by our modules due to a ceiling effect in which over 90% of incoming students felt that quantitative approaches were important for biology. Students showed significant performance gains in all semesters in quantitative numeracy; significant gains in all semesters in their ability to interpret data presented in both table and figure form; and significant gains in 3 of 4 semesters in their ability to make inferences about natural phenomena using mathematical models. The improvements seen in our study support the use of stand-alone modules to improve quantitative proficiency among students. Our modules are freely available and we invite interested instructors to use them.
