Vision and change in undergraduate biology education: a call to action presentation to faculty for undergraduate neuroscience, july 2011

Abstract

The biology of the 21(st) century requires a revolution in teaching that corresponds to the revolution that the discipline experienced in the last decades of the 20(th) century. Consensus is not a tradition in the many disparate subdisciplines that constitute modern biology, but the demands of effective instruction prompted an unprecedented series of conversations among all the stakeholders of undergraduate biology education. A culminating conference resulted in consensus on both the form and substance of modern biology courses: They should emphasize repeatedly five core concepts and six core competencies in a student-centered, inquiry-driven pedagogy modeled on a number of "best practices." The conference report can serve as a guide to individual faculty members, departments, and institutions seeking to reform their teaching practices.

Keywords: assessment; backwards design; curriculum reform; professional development; professional societies; scientific teaching; student-centered learning; undergraduate education.