Physics – Physics Education
Scientific paper
2011-09-23
Physics
Physics Education
19 pages
Scientific paper
Educators and policy-makers have advocated for reform of undergraduate biology education, calling for greater integration of mathematics and physics in the biology curriculum. While these calls reflect the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of biology research, crossing disciplinary boundaries in the classroom carries epistemological challenges for both instructors and students. In this paper we expand on the construct of authenticity to better describe and understand disciplinary practices, in particular to examine those used in physics and biology courses. We then apply these ideas to examine an introductory biology course that incorporates physics and mathematics. We characterize the uses of interdisciplinary tools in this biology course and contrast them with the typical uses of these tools in physics courses. Finally, we examine student responses to the use of mathematics and physics in this course, to better understand the challenges and consequences of using interdisciplinary tools in introductory courses. We link these results to the reform initiatives of introductory physics courses for life-science students.
Coffey Janet E.
Cooke Todd J.
Redish Edward F.
Watkins Jessica
No associations
LandOfFree
Disciplinary authenticity: Enriching the reforms of introductory physics courses for life-science students does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Disciplinary authenticity: Enriching the reforms of introductory physics courses for life-science students, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Disciplinary authenticity: Enriching the reforms of introductory physics courses for life-science students will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-723834