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Building Mathematical Models and Biological Insight in an Introductory Biology Course

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2011

A. E. Weisstein
A. E. Weisstein*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri 63501, USA
*
⋆ E-mail: weisstae@truman.edu
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Abstract

A growing body of literature testifies to the importance of quantitative reasoning skills in the 21st-century biology curriculum, and to the learning benefits associated with active pedagogies. The process of modeling a biological system provides an approach that integrates mathematical skills and higher-order thinking with existing course content knowledge. We describe a general strategy for teaching model-building in an introductory biology course, using the example of a model of an infectious disease outbreak. Preliminary assessment data suggest that working through the formal process of model construction may help students develop their scientific reasoning and communication skills.

Keywords

mathematical modelingeducationmathematical biologyepidemiology
Type
Research Article
Information
Mathematical Modelling of Natural Phenomena , Volume 6 , Issue 6: Biomathematics Education , 2011 , pp. 198 - 214
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2011

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