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Go to previous page BioCalc: A Model for Teaching Calculus to Biology Students Go to next page

Endnotes


  1. These results are from an assessment of BioCalc Math 120 conducted in 2001 by the staff of the Howard Hughes Program at UIUC. For a copy of the report or for additional information, contact the Hughes Program Office at 217-244-1984, 429 Natural History Building, UIUC, Urbana, IL 61801.

  2. According to Wilson (1995), a learning environment is a place where learners may work together and support each other as they use a variety of tools and information resources in their pursuit of learning goals and problem-solving activities. This definition of learning environment is informed by constructivist theories of learning.

  3. Seymour and Hewitt (1997) point out that
      'Weed-out' is a long-established tradition in a number of academic disciplines, but it is dominant in all S.M.E. majors. It has a semi-legitimate, legendary status.... 'Weed-out' strategies are perceived as a test for both ability and character and are the main mechanism by which S.M.E. disciplines seek to find those students presumed to be the most able and interested. There are no references to weed-out systems in official literature.... Switchers [students who leave their first choice major] who reported that they were 'weeded out' typically went on to explain which aspects of the 'weed-out' process had been critical in their decision to leave... problems with curricular pace and load, the effects of assessment and grading practices, and the competitive atmosphere to which these practices contribute. (pp. 122-23)

  4. At the time of our interviews (February, 2000), the School of Life Sciences was in the process of reorganizing into two separate schools: the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology and the School of Integrative Biology. The split became official in July, 2000. For the purpose of clarity and to reflect reality at the time of our interviews, we will refer to the unified School of Life Sciences (SOLS).

  5. Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2000-2001 Campus Profile. Enrollment information is available online.

  6. Professor Lazarowitz left UIUC in 1998 and is currently Professor of Plant Pathology at Cornell University.

  7. Deborah Hughes-Hallet (1998) notes that typically "courses taken in other departments have to be approved by the major field, but the content is seldom closely supervised by the major field."

  8. A report by the National Research Council (1986) characterized calculus education as "out of date in content, unimaginative, poorly organized for students with different interests, and not reflecting recent advances in the understanding of teaching and learning" (cited in Alexander, Burda, & Millar, 1997).

  9. At the core of the problem is a lack of communication and cooperation between the departments that use math in applied situations, like life sciences, and the math departments that often teach a more "pure" form of mathematics. As Deborah Hughes-Hallett (1998) has pointed out, this apparent disjunction has a deleterious effect on the way non-math majors perceive the function and usefulness of math to their particular fields: "From the point of view of the students, they will not see their subjects as interrelated unless the faculty does and unless the faculty takes the trouble to present them that way."

  10. This assessment was completed shortly before the publication of this case study. In keeping with the accuracy of the information presented to us during the time of our interviews (February, 2000), we have opted not to present the results in the main body of the case study. Instead, we summarize the results of the BioCalc assessment in an appendix, Discussion 2.

  11. More information on the Indicators project is available.


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