National Academies Press: OpenBook

High-School Biology Today and Tomorrow (1989)

Chapter: Front Matter

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1989. High-School Biology Today and Tomorrow. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1328.
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HIGH-SCHOOt BIOLOGY TODAY AND TOMORROW Papers Presented at a Conference WALTER G. ROSEN, EDITOR Committee on High-School Biology Education Board on Biology Commission on Life Sciences National Research Council NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington, D.C. 1989

National Academy Press . 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. . Washington, D.C. 20418 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee~responsible for the report were chosen for their special competence and with regard for appropriate balance. This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The conference High-School Biology: Today and Tomorrow was organized by the Board on Biology of the National Research Council's Commission on Life Sciences. The views in this book are solely those of the individual authors and are not necessarily the views of its sponsors. Support for the publication of these papers was provided by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Bethesda, Maryland. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data High-school biology: today and tomorrow / Committee on High-School Biology Education, Board on Biology, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council. p. cm. Papers from a conference held Oct. 1988, in Washington, D.C. ISBN 0-309-04028-0 1. Biology Study and teaching (Secondary)- Congresses. I. National Research Council (U.S.~. Committee on High-School Biology Education. QH315.H615 574'.071/2-dc20 89-13141 CIP Copyright ~ 1989 by the National Academy of Sciences No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or private use, without written permission from the publisher, except for the purposes of official use by the U.S. government. Cover photos: (top) Photograph by James Sherwood; (bottom) Microphotograph of the alga, Volvox aureus. Courtesy, National Science Teachers Association. Printed in the United States of America

COMMITTEE ON HIGH-SCHOOL BIOLOGY EDUCATION TIMOTHY H. GOLDSMITH (Chairman), Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut CLIFTON POODRY Mice Chairman), University of California, Santa Cruz, California R. STEPHEN BERRY,* University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois RALPH E. CHRISTOLLL;RSEN, Smith Kline and French Laboratories, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania JANE BUTLER KAH[LE,* Miami University, Oxford, Ohio MARC KIRSCHNER, University of California, San Francisco, California JOHN ~ MOORE, University of California, Riverside, California DONNA OLIVER,* Elon College, Elon College, North Carolina JONATHAN PIEL, Scientific American, New York, New York JAMES T. ROBINSON,* Boulder, Colorado MARY BUDD ROWE, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida JANE SISK, Calloway County High School, Murray, Kentucly DAVID T. SUZUKI, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada WILMA TONEY, Manchester High School, Manchester, Connecticut DANIEL B. WALKER, San Jose State University, San Jose, California Special Advisors JOHN HARTE, University of California, Berkeley, California PAUL DEHART HURD, Palo Alto, California Former Members EVELYN E. HANDLER (Chairman, 1987-1988), Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts MICHAEL H. ROBINSON (1987-1988), National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C. National Research Council Staff JOHN E. BURRIS, Study Director DONNA M. GERARDI, Sta~Associate WALTER G. ROSEN, Consultant NORMAN GROSSBLATT, Editor LINDA D. JONES, Senior Secretary * Member, Conference Program Committee · . - 111

BOARD ON BIOLOGY FRANCISCC) J. AYALA (Chairman), University of California, Irvine, California NINA ~ FEDOROFF, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Baltimore, Maryland TIMOTHY H. GOLDSMITH, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut RALPH W. F. HARDY, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York ERNEST G. JAWORSKI, Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri SIMON A. LEVIN, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York HAROLD A. MOONEY, Stanford University, Stanford, California HAROLD J. MOROWITZ, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia MARY LOU PARDUE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts WILLIAM E. PAUL, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland DAVID D. SABATINI, New York University, New York, New York MICHAEL E. SOULE, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan MALCOLM S. STEINBERG, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey DAVID B. WAKE, University of California, Berkeley, California BRUCE M. ALBERTS (er officio), University of California, San Francisco, California National Research Council Staff JOHN E. BURRIS, Director 1V

COMMISSION ON LIFE SCIENCES BRUCE M. ALBERTS (Chairman), University of California, San Francisco, California PERRY L. ADKISSON, Texas A&M University System, College Station, Texas FRANCISCO J. AYALA, University of California, Irvine, California J. MICHAEL BISHOP, G. W. Hooper Research Foundation, San Francisco, California FREEMAN J. DYSON, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey NINA ~ FEDOROFF, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Baltimore, Maryland RALPH W. F. HARDY, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York RICHARD J. HAVEL, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California LEROY E. HOOD, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California DONALD F. HORNIG, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts ERNEST G. JAWORSKI, Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri SIMON ~ LEVIN, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York HAROLD ~ MOONEY, Stanford University, Stanford, California STEVEN P. PAKES, Southwestern Medical School (University of Texas), Dallas, Texas JOSEPH E. RALL, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland RICHARD D. REMINGTON, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa PAUL G. RISSER, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico RICHARD B. SETLOW, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York TORSTEN N. WIESEL, Rockefeller University, New York, New York National Research Council Staff JOHN E. BURRIS, E'cecut~ve Director v

V1 PREFACE The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organiza- tion of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The Na- tional Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and rec- ognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appro- priate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Samuel O. Thier is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Acade- my of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and ad- vising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the princi- pal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

Preface In the spring of 1988, the Board on Biology and its parent body, the Commission on Life Sciences of the National Research Council, initiated a study of the state of high-school biology education. The recognition that things are amiss had been developing for some time, and the legal disputes over the teaching of evolution several years ago had sharpened the Board's sense of the complexity of the problem. The timely and generous financial support of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute allowed this study to begin. The Committee on High-School Biology Education, consisting of sci- entists and educators, is undertaking the study, and its report will be issued soon. One of the committee's first tasks was to organize a conference to provide extensive background information that would inform its delibera- tions. A program committee identified general subjects to be addressed: objectives of biology education and measurement of achievement, cur- riculum perspectives and content, instructional procedures and materials, teacher preparation, institutional barriers, and implementation. Each was examined by a panel of speakers. Each panel was chaired by a committee member, who provided brief opening comments. The goal of the confer- ence, held in October 1988, was so effectively realized that we feel that the papers given should be available to a wider audience; they appear in this volume as given at the conference, lightly edited for consistency of presen- tation. The papers embody the research and opinions of their authors and do not reflect the opinions or judgments of the Committee on High-School Biology Education or the National Research Council. · - V11

· . . V111 PREFACE Invitations to attend the conference were extended to teachers and administrators from across the country, and many teachers traveled consid- erable distance at their own expense to attend. On behalf of the committee, I would like to acknowledge the devotion and professionalism exhibited by that sacrifice. Whatever the failings of our educational system (and, as this volume attests, the failings are many), there is a cadre of dedicated teachers who remain our best hope for change. In organizing the conference, we indicated our wish to hear not only from panelists, but also from the audience. In addition, the audience was invited to submit written comments to the committee for consideration after the conference. By the middle of the first day, it had become clear that insufficient time had been allotted for audience participation, and the ensuing spontaneous and heartfelt demonstration of frustration from many of the teachers in the audience stimulated us to adjust the schedule. Unfortunately, this volume cannot reflect the long and fruitful evening shared by teachers and members of the committee, starting with dinner and not ending for many of us until the following morning. That informal session punctuated dramatically- and in a manner that cannot be conveyed by chapters in a book not only the smothering conditions under which many teachers work, but the dedication and imagination that the very best teachers still manage to bring to their profession. Walter Rosen recruited the speakers according to the objectives out- lined by the program committee. Donna Gerardi, Barbara Christensen, and Linda Jones provided essential planning and logistical support, and Norman Grossblatt and Walter Rosen prepared the papers for publication. Since the conference in October 1988, Evelyn Handler, the committee's original chair, has found it necessary to resign from the committee, and I have replaced her. We all thank her for her early stewardship of the study, which was so well launched with the conference. Timothy H. Goldsmith, Chairman Committee on High-School Biology Education

Contents PAdRT I O PE NIN G AdDDFUESS ACID FUESP O N SES 1 OPENING ADDRESS 3 Evelyn E. Handler 2 CHANGING CONCEPTIONS OF THE LEARNER: IMPLICATIONS FOR BIOLOGY TEACHING ........ Audrey B. Champagne 3 LITERACY, NUMERACY, AND GLOBAL ECOLOGY 17 John Harte 4 "ALL IS FOR THE BEST IN THE BEST OF POSSIBLE WORLDS." Archie E. Lapointe THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION IN MEDICINE: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS OF HIGH-SCHOOL BIOLOGY Janet D. Rowley HIGH-SCHOOL BIOLOGY TRAINING: A PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYER'S VIEW Harvey S. Sadow IX ..10 .21 ....30 ...37

x PART II OBJECTIVES OF BIOLOGY EDUCATION AND MEASUREMENT OF ACHIEVEMENT 7 ISSUES IN OBJECTIVES AND EVALUATION....... James 1: Robinson 8 ASSESSING STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF BIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS....................... Charles W Anderson 9 THE ADVANCED-PLACEMENT BIOLOGY EXAMINATION: ITS RATIONALE, DEVELOPMENT, STRUCTURE,AND RESULTS........ Walter B. MacDonald 10 THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTEREST IN SCIENCE. Jon D. Miller 11 WHAT HIGH-SCHOOL JUNIORS KNOW ABOUT BIOLOGY: PERSPECTIVES FROM NAEP, THE NATION'S REPORT CARD .................. Ina~S.Mullis 12 THE NABT-NSTA HIGH-SCHOOL BIOLOGY EXAMINATION: ITS DESIGN AND RATIONALE Barbara Schulz PART III CURRICULUM: PERSPECTIVES AND CONTENT 13 THE EVOLUTION OF BIOLOGY AND ADAPTATION OF THE CURRICULUM ............................... Timothy H. Goldsmith 14 HUMAN ECOLOGY: RESTORING LIFE TO THE BIOLOGY CURRICULUM .......................... Joseph D. Mclnerney 15 DEVELOPING A SYNTHESIS BETWEEN SEVENTH-GRADELIFE SCIENCE AND TENTH-GRADE BIOLOGY................. Wayne A. Mayer 16 BIOLOGY EDUCATION: ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS ........ Frances S. Vandervoort CONTENTS ......... 45 ..... 55 ......... 71 ..79 ............. 91 .100 .. 113 .......... 117 ..... 131 .. .139

CONTENTS PART IV INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES AND MATERIALS 17 TO WEED OR CULTIVATE WHICH? ....................... Mary Budd Rowe 18 BIOLOGY LEARNING BASED ON ILLUSTRATIONS........ Robert ~ Blystone 19 TEACHING HIGH-SCHOOL BIOLOGY: MATERIALS AND STRATEGIES .................................................. Rodger ~ Bybee 20 A NEW KIND OF MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AS AN INSTRUMENT OF INFORMAL HIGH-SCHOOL EDUCATION IN BIOLOGY.................................. E. Kay Davis 21 MESSING ABOUT IN SCIENCE: PARTICIPATION, NOT MEMORIZATION .................. Candace L. Julyan PART V TEACHER PREPARATION 22 BIOLOGY TEACHER EDUCATION: PANACEA OR PITFALL....... Jane Butler Kahle 23 PROFESSIONAL TEACHERS FOR HIGH-SCHOOL BIOLOGY............................................. Alphonse Buccino 24 BIOLOGY TEACHER TRAINING: PREPARING STUDENTSFOR TOMORROW............................. Patricia C. Dung 25 STANDARDS FOR THE PREPARATION AND CERTIFICATION OF BIOLOGY TEACHERS . . . William C. Rid 26 CURRENT ISSUES IN BIOLOGY EDUCATION FOR TEACHERS ........................................... Elsie C. Ryder xi 151 155 65 . 178 .... 184 ....... 197 ......... 201 . 213 219 .234

· . X11 CONTENTS PART VI ACCOMPLISHING CURRICULAR CHANGES INSTITUTIONAL BARRIERS 27 EDUCATIONAL REFORM? ARE WE SERIOUS? NO, BUT WE HAD BETTER BE................. John ~ Moore 28 INSTITUTIONAL BARRIERS TO SCHOOL CHANGE....... Peter ~ Airasian 29 STATE POLICY TOOLS FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM BARRIERS OR LEVERS FOR CHANGE? ............... Jane Armstrong 30 DILLL;RENT SCHOOLS: SAME BARRIERS Grace S. Taylor .. .. . Part VII Accomplishing Cumcular Changes' Implementation 31 PROBLEMS AND ISSUES IN SCIENCE-CURRICULUM REFORM AND IMPLEMENTATION Paul DeHart Hurd 32 CHANGING PRACTICE IN HIGH SCHOOLS: A PROCESS, NOT AN EVENT Gene E. Hall CHANGE IN SCHOOLS: A CONTEXT FOR ACTION Deborah Muscella 34 CREATING AND NURTURING CURRICULUM CHANGES: SOME MODELS THAT SPEAK TO THE FUTURE 324 Francis M. Pottenger III .245 .252 266 278 ...... 291 . . 298 ..... 313 INDEX . . .. 337

HIGH-SCHOOI BIOIOGY TODAYAND TOMORROW

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Biology is where many of science's most exciting and relevant advances are taking place. Yet, many students leave school without having learned basic biology principles, and few are excited enough to continue in the sciences. Why is biology education failing? How can reform be accomplished? This book presents information and expert views from curriculum developers, teachers, and others, offering suggestions about major issues in biology education: what should we teach in biology and how should it be taught? How can we measure results? How should teachers be educated and certified? What obstacles are blocking reform?

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