BioCore Guide: A Tool for Interpreting the Core Concepts of Vision and Change for Biology Majors

Abstract

Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education outlined five core concepts intended to guide undergraduate biology education: 1) evolution; 2) structure and function; 3) information flow, exchange, and storage; 4) pathways and transformations of energy and matter; and 5) systems. We have taken these general recommendations and created a Vision and Change BioCore Guide-a set of general principles and specific statements that expand upon the core concepts, creating a framework that biology departments can use to align with the goals of Vision and Change. We used a grassroots approach to generate the BioCore Guide, beginning with faculty ideas as the basis for an iterative process that incorporated feedback from more than 240 biologists and biology educators at a diverse range of academic institutions throughout the United States. The final validation step in this process demonstrated strong national consensus, with more than 90% of respondents agreeing with the importance and scientific accuracy of the statements. It is our hope that the BioCore Guide will serve as an agent of change for biology departments as we move toward transforming undergraduate biology education.

Figure 1.

Conceptual framework for interpreting the core concepts of Vision and Change. Based on the core concepts of Vision and Change, the BioCore Guide consists of two levels: principles and statements. Specific questions based on the statements can be developed to assess student understanding of these concepts.

Figure 2.

The development process for the BioCore Guide. In this two-phase process, we began developing the BioCore Guide by soliciting input from faculty at the University of Washington. We then obtained feedback from biologists and biology educators nationally. In total, the BioCore Guide was iteratively revised six times.

Figure 3.

BioCore Guide: a nationally validated tool for interpreting the core concepts of Vision and Change. We present the principles and statements that encompass the BioCore Guide, which have been built by more than 200 people in the biology community. The columns represent the three major subdisciplines of biology (molecular/cellular/developmental biology, physiology, and ecology/evolutionary biology), which are also depicted on a biological scale from the molecular to the ecosystem level. Each concept is represented by a separate box, with a set of overarching principles that cross subdisciplinary boundaries at the top and then two to three statements for each of the subdisciplines. (Continued on next page)

Figure 3.

BioCore Guide: a nationally validated tool for interpreting the core concepts of Vision and Change. We present the principles and statements that encompass the BioCore Guide, which have been built by more than 200 people in the biology community. The columns represent the three major subdisciplines of biology (molecular/cellular/developmental biology, physiology, and ecology/evolutionary biology), which are also depicted on a biological scale from the molecular to the ecosystem level. Each concept is represented by a separate box, with a set of overarching principles that cross subdisciplinary boundaries at the top and then two to three statements for each of the subdisciplines. (Continued on next page)

Figure 3.

BioCore Guide: a nationally validated tool for interpreting the core concepts of Vision and Change. We present the principles and statements that encompass the BioCore Guide, which have been built by more than 200 people in the biology community. The columns represent the three major subdisciplines of biology (molecular/cellular/developmental biology, physiology, and ecology/evolutionary biology), which are also depicted on a biological scale from the molecular to the ecosystem level. Each concept is represented by a separate box, with a set of overarching principles that cross subdisciplinary boundaries at the top and then two to three statements for each of the subdisciplines. (Continued on next page)