There is widespread agreement within the scientific and education communities that undergraduate biology curricula fall short in providing students with the quantitative and interdisciplinary problem-solving skills they need to obtain a deep understanding of biological phenomena and be prepared fully to contribute to future scientific inquiry. MathBench Biology Modules were designed to address these needs through a series of interactive, Web-based modules that can be used to supplement existing course content across the biological sciences curriculum. The effect of the modules was assessed in an introductory biology course at the University of Maryland. Over the course of the semester, students showed significant increases in quantitative skills that were independent of previous math course work. Students also showed increased comfort with solving quantitative problems, whether or not they ultimately arrived at the correct answer. A survey of spring 2009 graduates indicated that those who had experienced MathBench in their course work had a greater appreciation for the role of mathematics in modern biology than those who had not used MathBench. MathBench modules allow students from diverse educational backgrounds to hone their quantitative skills, preparing them for more complex mathematical approaches in upper-division courses.

Vol. 9, No. 3

September 01, 2010

141-377

Metrics

Downloads & Citations

Downloads: 1038

Citations: 34

History

Submitted: 15 March 2010

Revised: 8 June 2010

Accepted: 20 June 2010

Information

© 2010 K. V. Thompson et al. CBE-Life Sciences Education © 2010 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to all the faculty who helped develop ideas for the modules and used them in their classes. We also thank Leslie Ries, Katie Schneider, Tanya McLean, David Boothe, Aleksandra Ogurtsova, Awais Malik, Li Zhu, and Mike Landavere for their help in developing the modules and GoEun Na for assistance with pre- and posttest validation. Two anonymous reviewers provided feedback that greatly improved the manuscript. Support for this project was provided by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Science Education Program grant to the University of Maryland; a National Science Foundation Course; Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement grant (DUE–0736975); an instructional improvement grant from the University of Maryland Center for Teaching Excellence; and the College of Chemical and Life Sciences.

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