Call for Papers for a Special Issue of CBE—Life Sciences Education: Education at the Intersection of Physics and Biology
Recent reports have called for curricular changes that integrate physical sciences in the education of life science and premedical students. The National Research Council report, BIO2010, emphasizes quantitative and computational training for future biologists. Vision and Change, led by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Science Foundation, states that biologists must develop sufficient expertise in physics to address complex issues in the life sciences. Scientific Foundations of Future Physicians, prepared by a joint committee of the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, clearly articulates that prospective medical students will be required to apply major principles of physics to explain biological processes and disease pathologies, as well as the physical mechanisms of major technologies used in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. Multi- and interdisciplinary approaches are increasingly prevalent in science, with physicists modeling biological systems and biologists drawing more heavily on physics to understand fundamental processes within living organisms. Further, discipline-based education research provides a fertile ground for multidisciplinary research efforts.
The biology and physics communities have a unique opportunity to collaborate in responding to these calls for reform. To this end, CBE—Life Sciences Education (CBE-LSE; http://www.lifescied.org/) will publish a special issue in 2013 on the integration of physics and biology education. Topics that fit this issue include:
• Research on how students learn physics in biology classes and biology in physics classes,
• Evaluation of curricular or programmatic innovations that are evidence-driven and contribute to the national discussion about learning at the intersection of physics and biology,
• Examples of how physics education research is informing or can inform biology education research, and vice versa,
• Examples of curriculum shown to be effective in helping biology students to master physics concepts, and physics students to master biology concepts,
• Models and impacts of education programming and policy, such as graduate programs or undergraduate biophysics majors, that are informed by research on physics and biology teaching and learning, and
• Study of faculty professional development that promotes integration of physics and biology education.
Manuscripts are welcomed that detail qualitative, quantitative, and theoretical discipline-based education research, as well as the integration of physics and biology education in both formal and informal contexts.
Authors are strongly encouraged to submit a brief abstract (250 words or less) to the guest editors for this special issue, Eric Brewe (eric.brewe@fiu.edu) and Todd Cooke (tjcooke@umd.edu), by June 1, 2012.
Abstracts will be reviewed by the editors in consultation with Erin Dolan, editor-in-chief of CBE-LSE (eldolan@uga.edu), to determine fit with the theme and to ensure that a range of topics and perspectives are represented in the issue. Manuscripts submitted by September 1, 2012, will be guaranteed full consideration.
Manuscripts that are favorably reviewed but beyond the scope of this theme may be published in a different issue of the journal. If you have questions about this issue, please contact the guest editors or editor-in-chief.
About CBE – Life Sciences Education: CBE-LSE is an online journal published by the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) with partial support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute under the Creative Commons 3.0 agreement. CBE-LSE publishes peer-reviewed articles written by and for professionals engaged in biology teaching in all environments. The journal’s authors and readers include faculty at research universities who teach but do not view teaching as their primary mission, as well as those in primarily undergraduate institutions, museums and outreach programs, junior and community colleges, and K–12 schools, for whom teaching is a major focus.
