The Long Island economy is rapidly being transformed into one that is dominated by a large number of high-tech corporations, particularly in the biosciences. These companies need employees with a high degree of quantitative skills, though not traditional algebra skills. For the biosciences, it is no longer enough to produce students who know mathematics, but little biology, or who know biology, but little mathematics. This presents two simultaneous challenges: providing mathematics courses that serve the specific needs of the biological sciences and increasing the mathematics used in biology courses. This project is being conducted in collaboration with Suffolk Community College.
Intellectual Merit The first math course taken by biology students at both schools is typically a precalculus course; it is also the course taken by most students who have not yet decided on a major. To meet the mathematical needs of the biosciences, this project is developing an alternative version of precalculus that focuses on the mathematical topics that are essential for biology with a strong emphasis on mathematical models in biology. Simultaneously, a one-hour lab taught by biology faculty to accompany the precalculus course is being created where students conduct experiments that are directly related to the mathematical topics taught in the main course. This combination (1) provides a solid connection between the mathematics and its use in biology in the students' minds; (2) provides a strong mathematical foundation for the students in terms of subsequent quantitative developments in biology courses; (3) prepares students for the quantitative demands of today's jobs; and (4) provides the biology departments with the ability to expand the level of quantitative emphasis in courses. In addition, a significant level of professional development activities for both the math and biology faculty is being supported.
Broader Impact: There are currently many calls nationally to increase significantly the interface between biology and mathematics education, and this project serves as an innovative and valuable model for many other institutions to answer this challenge. It is also part of a broader effort at the two institutions to create a new mathematics curriculum that supports the biological sciences. Simultaneously, the project provides the biology department the ability to increase the level of mathematics used in its courses. The project plans to expand this project to encompass courses below precalculus (introductory statistics and college algebra) and above precalculus (the calculus course taken by biology students, differential equations courses with biological models, and biological and physical projects in the senior projects course for applied mathematics majors).
