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Committee on Undergraduate Biology Education to Prepare Research Scientists for the 21st Century, National Research Council. Bio2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003. 208 pp. Paper: $29.95. ISBN: 0-309-08535-7.
The premise of the new NRC study is that the undergraduate experience in biology is lagging seriously behind "how biologists design, perform and analyze experiments" (p. 1). This gap will make it difficult to prepare our students to pursue careers in biomedical research. The study represents our best exploration to date of just how much the nature of scientific investigation is changing and how little this remarkable shift is reflected in what undergraduates learn and how they learn. Although this report is about biology, it also raises serious questions about how we present all of our disciplines to our undergraduate students. It is well worth serious consideration by educators in a variety of other fields as well. Although the primary focus of Bio2010 is on how to prepare the next generation of biomedical scientists, the issues themselves are relevant to a much broader audience. What should all of our students know about science? Can we find ways for our students to learn science the way researchers learn science?
How is science changing? The major influence on the sciences is the impact of the remarkable new computing power and the development of new forms of mathematical analysis that...