From Vision to Change: Educational Initiatives and Research at the Intersection of Physics and Biology

In this editorial we link the articles published in this Special Issue with the framework from Vision and Change and summarize findings from the editorial process of assembling the Special Issue.The authors of Vision and Change (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 2011 ) issued the following call to action to biologists, physicists, chemists, and mathematicians:

To ensure that all students graduate with a basic level of scientific literacy and meet the challenges raised in Bio 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists (2003), Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians: Report of the AAMC-HHMI Committee (2009), A New Biology for the 21st Century (2009), and similar reports, biologists, physicists, chemists, and mathematicians need to look thoughtfully at ways they can introduce interdisciplinary approaches into their gateway courses. (AAAS, 2011 , p 54)

The articles that comprise this special issue of CBE—Life Sciences Education (LSE) take important steps toward responding to this call by describing teaching and learning at the intersection of biology and physics. Broadly defined, the work aims to encourage the development of genuine interdisciplinary understanding, or “the capacity to integrate knowledge and modes of thinking in two or more disciplines or established areas of expertise to produce a cognitive advancement … in ways that would have been impossible or unlikely through single disciplinary means” (Boix Mansilla and Duraisingh, 2007 , p. 219). Indeed, many of the most exciting recent breakthroughs in the life sciences have occurred at the intersection of these established disciplines. Physical laws help to predict, describe, and explain biological phenomena occurring at molecular to ecosystem levels, and the development of new physical tools helps to visualize these phenomena in new and informative ways. Thus, the Vision and Change report stresses the urgency for undergraduate biology and physics educators to develop, assess, and revise content materials, pedagogical strategies, and epistemological perspectives for encouraging student learning in interdisciplinary biology and physics classes.We received more than 50 abstracts in response to the call for this special issue, and we are pleased to publish 10 Articles, four Essays, and eight Features reflecting the state of educational transformation at the intersection of biology and physics. Several articles describe integration of physics into biology curriculum or biology into physics curriculum that goes beyond simple provision of examples from the respective disciplines (e.g., Batiza et al., Christensen et al., Svoboda Gouvea et al., O’Shea et al., Thompson et al., Breckler et al.). A number of articles address cross-cutting themes, such as problem solving (e.g., Hoskinson et al.) and energy (e.g., Cooper and Klymkowsky, Svoboda Gouvea et al.), the application of mathematical laws to biological phenomena (e.g., Redish and Cooke), epistemology (e.g., Watkins and Elby), and assessment as a powerful tool for driving curriculum change, in this case the integration of physics and biological thinking (e.g., Svoboda Gouvea et al., Momsen et al., Thompson et al.). Other articles reflect research crossing disciplinary boundaries to introduce research approaches (e.g., Watkins and Elby, Momsen et al.) or innovative curriculum models (e.g., Manthey and Brewe, Donovan et al., Thompson et al.) to help students develop reasoning strategies that move beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. The Hillborn and Friedlander essay highlights potential impacts of cross-disciplinary collaboration in education on the revised Medical College Admission Test.We were pleased by the number of articles coauthored by physicists and biologists working in teams to examine and recommend new directions for the future of biology education. These teams brought a richness and depth of knowledge in both disciplines that made it possible to move instruction and research forward at the intersection of the disciplines. Together, these articles start to provide the evidence base for responding to the calls for interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Further, they provide opportunities to compare and contrast education and epistemologies in biology and physics, allowing for more informed integration of knowledge from these disciplines.     

The Law of Mass Communications

David G. Clark and Earl R. Hutchinson, Mass Media and the Law: Freedom and Restraint (Wiley-Interscionco, $12.95)

John M. Kittross and Konnoth Harwood, Free & Fair: Courtroom Access and the Fairness Doctrino (Journal of Broadcasting, Temple University, $3.95)

Paul W. MacAvoy's The Crisis of the Regulatory Commissions: An Introduction to a Current Issue of Public Policy (Norton, $5.95; paper, $2.95)

Eric Moon, Book Selection and Consorship in the Sixties (Hawker, $10.95)

Edward De Grazia's Censorship Landmarks (Hawker, $19.75)     

The Relationship Among Principal “Venturesomeness”, a Stress on Excellence,and the Personal Engagement of Teachers and Students

We proposed a causal relationship between teachers’ perception of principal leadership behavior, school culture, and teacher and student commitment. We hypothesized that a concept we called principal “venturesomeness” would be related to a school culture that stresses accomplishment and mastery, which in turn would be related to teacher commitment, which in turn would predict student commitment to school. We define principal venturesomeness as the extent to which principals are seen as being willing to take risks, are innovative in their approach to instructional leadership, and in general display and encourage achievement‐oriented behavior. The model was tested in two different samples. The first sample was third‐ through six‐grade teachers and students from schools in Arizona. The second sample was third‐ through fifth‐grade teachers and students from Florida. The model was tested using LISREL VI. Many similarities existed between the models in the two samples. Principal Venturesomeness was a strong predictor of an Accomplishment Culture, which in turn was a strong predictor of Teacher Commitment. Contrary to our hypothesis, no relationship existed between Teacher Commitment and Student Commitment. The summary fit statistics indicate that the model did not explain the data adequately. The χ²/df ratio was greater than a rule‐of‐thumb 5.0 and the goodness‐of‐fit index was less than a rule‐of‐thumb .9 in both studies. Although the studies indicated some interesting conceptual relationships, it appears that the proposed model does not adequately explain the theoretical relationships between teacher perceptions, school culture, and teacher and student commitment. The studies do suggest one research direction not yet explored in the literature. That is, the relationship between teacher commitment and student commitment. More empirical work exploring how teacher commitment relates to student outcomes is encouraged.     

Relating Gestures and Speech: An analysis of students' conceptions about geological sedimentary processes

Advances in cognitive science and educational research indicate that a significant part of spatial cognition is facilitated by gesture (e.g. giving directions, or describing objects or landscape features). We aligned the analysis of gestures with conceptual metaphor theory to probe the use of mental image schemas as a source of concept representations for students' learning of sedimentary processes. A hermeneutical approach enabled us to access student meaning-making from students' verbal reports and gestures about four core geological ideas that involve sea-level change and sediment deposition. The study included 25 students from three US universities. Participants were enrolled in upper-level undergraduate courses on sedimentology and stratigraphy. We used semi-structured interviews for data collection. Our gesture coding focused on three types of gestures: deictic, iconic, and metaphoric. From analysis of video recorded interviews, we interpreted image schemas in gestures and verbal reports. Results suggested that students attempted to make more iconic and metaphoric gestures when dealing with abstract concepts, such as relative sea level, base level, and unconformities. Based on the analysis of gestures that recreated certain patterns including time, strata, and sea-level fluctuations, we reasoned that proper representational gestures may indicate completeness in conceptual understanding. We concluded that students rely on image schemas to develop ideas about complex sedimentary systems. Our research also supports the hypothesis that gestures provide an independent and non-linguistic indicator of image schemas that shape conceptual development, and also play a role in the construction and communication of complex spatial and temporal concepts in the geosciences.     

On Comparing Transition Rate Gains

Reuterberg, S.‐E. 1985. On Comparing Transition Rate Gains. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 29, 175‐190. Making transition rate gains comparable is a problem because it is much more difficult to change a very high or very low transition rate than to change a rate near the proportion 0.50. It is shown that measures based on the proportions themselves — i.e. the difference between proportions, the proportion ratio and the residual gain ratio — do not make the gains comparable. Instead a non‐linear transformation has to be done. Two such transformations are discussed: probits and logits. As shown in the report, they both make the transition gains comparable.

A problem more important than the choice of transformation is that of sample error. Therefore, a statistical test is to be recommended. It is shown that log‐linear models are an appropriate test for this purpose.     

American Crucible: Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century

Modern Literature for Oral Interpretation: a practice book for Vocal Expression. 418 pp. Gertrude; E. Johnson. The Century Co., 1920.

Public Speaking. By Clarence Stratton, Ph.D. New York, 1920. Henry Holt and Company. Pp. 342. $1.48.

A Manual of Debate and Oral Discussion. By James Milton O'Neill. Published by the Century Company. 303 pages.

Sources of Effectiveness in Public Speaking. Psychological Principles Practically Used in Developing Ability to Speak. By C. Edmund Neil, Professor of Public Speaking in Boston University and Newton Theological Institution. Hinds, Hayden &; Eldredge, Inc., 1920; 590 pages.

University Debaters’ Annual. Phelps, 1919–1920. The H. W. Wilson Co., New York.     

False Equivalency: Think Tank References on Education in the News Media

This study explores the use and presentation of information and research on education by the news media. Using content analysis, this study compares four types of think tanks—contract research, academic, advocacy, and mixed academic and advocacy—and shows how the news media represented each one as a source of research, facts, and figures on education. The findings from this study show that the news media presented all the think tanks as credible sources of research, facts, and figures on education, regardless of the extent to which each think tank emphasized policy and political advocacy over the professional norms of academic research.     

Education,gift and reciprocity: a preliminary discussion

This paper analyzes the importance and role of the reciprocity relationship in education. It presents a review on the mobilization of the principle of reciprocity—in the anthropological but also sociological and economic senses—in educational processes, especially in adult education. The study is divided into three parts. The first part analyzes the importance of reciprocity in education according to Mauss and to the theory of reciprocity. The second part discusses recent contributions on the role of reciprocity relationships in adult education, expanding Piaget’s perspective on the relation between autonomy and cooperation in education and learning. The third part illustrates this approach with three case studies in Brazil.