Enhancing Interdisciplinary Attitudes and Achievement via Integrated Biology and Chemistry

Authors

• Ying Guo, Georgia Gwinnett CollegeFollow
• Pat Uelmen Huey Dr., Georgia Gwinnett CollegeFollow
• David P. Pursell, Georiga Gwinnett CollegeFollow

Abstract

Success in undergraduate biology courses relies upon a firm grounding in chemical principles. We sought to raise students’ awareness of the connection between these two disciplines and to improve their understanding of each by carrying out a pilot project that integrated the curricula of Principles of Chemistry II (CHEM1212K) and Principles of Biology I (BIOL1107K) during the Fall 2016 semester. The study involved two course pairs: one section of each course delivered in the traditional non-integrated manner and a second pair of sections that were integrated across the chemistry and biology disciplines in both the scope and sequence of the content delivery. Both integrated and non-integrated sections were taught by the same instructors, who have expertise in both chemistry and biology to ensure a full understanding of both courses’ content. Attitudinal surveys administered at the beginning and end of the semester showed that students in the integrated BIOL/CHEM section of our pilot study appreciated the delivery of an integrated curriculum and improved their awareness of the connections between the two disciplines. End-of-course assessments of topic mastery demonstrated improvements in the integrated students’ capacity to understand and apply both biology and chemistry topics compared to students in the non-integrated sections.

First Page

19

Last Page

33

DOI

10.20429/stem.2017.010104

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Guo, Ying; Huey, Pat Uelmen Dr.; and Pursell, David P. (2017) "Enhancing Interdisciplinary Attitudes and Achievement via Integrated Biology and Chemistry," Proceedings of the Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (Archived): Vol. 1, Article 4.
DOI: 10.20429/stem.2017.010104
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/stem_proceedings/vol1/iss1/4

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