Abstract

Many students complete both math and science courses without ever making a connection to real activities and/or opportunities outside the classroom. The curriculum and activities we are planning for a math/biology linked learning community will give students just this opportunity. In our shared activities, “Sound Science,” students will engage in meaningful "active learning" during "lecture" time as opposed to the passive learning of listening to a lecture and taking notes.

Expected student outcomes:

Students will collect, organize and analyze data related to the health of Puget Sound;

Students will experience the design of experiments in the sciences;

Students will experience applying mathematics to real biological issues that affect their lives;

Students will gain confidence with mathematics, modeling and computer use; and

Students will develop an awareness of the personal and professional usefulness of mathematics, biology and modeling.

Clearly, this will create opportunities to deepen and reinforce the mathematics (modeling) students have learned in their math and biology classes, apply it in context, and understand its greater importance and application in their lives, meeting the goals of Mathematics Across the CC Curriculum. We believe that the benefits to students will be profound. Statistics students will act as consultants to the biology students. Biology students will in turn act as software analysts to help analyze trends as models are created.