SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS WORKSHOP ON A QUANTITATIVE SCIENCES CURRICULUM FOR LIFE SCIENCE STUDENTS* KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE FEBRUARY 6-8, 1992 SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS: 1. It is not sufficient to isolate quantitative components of the curriculum in a few courses on quantitative topics, but rather the importance of quantitative approaches should be emphasized throughout the undergraduate curriculum of life science students. This implies that courses typically considered part of the biology curriculum should contain quantitative components appropriate for the topics addressed in the course. Thus we should encourage the introduction of quantitative skills at all levels in the life science curricula. 2. As a means to foster the inclusion of more quantitative topics in the curriculum, it is proposed that a Primer of Quantitative Biology be developed to be used in conjunction with the typical General Biology sequence included in most life science curricula, with appropriate quantitative examples developed for each section of the course. This Primer would be at the level of high school mathematics, but would focus on examples of non-intuitive results of biological importance derived from quantitative approaches. 3. Exploratory data analysis should be included in several ways as part of a life science curriculum. This can be done as (i) part of laboratory exercises within a biology course; (ii) a short-course available for credit ; and/or (iii) a formal biometry course. The last option should be constructed around key biological questions, rather than statistical methods. 4. An entry-level quantitative skills course should be developed as a specialized year-long sequence for life science students. Discrete methods should be the first topics covered in this course, followed by the calculus, but the course should have a problem-solving emphasis throughout. 5. Upper-division modeling and biological data analysis courses should be encouraged, with extensive use of computers an integral part of such courses. Modules, based on diverse biological topics, for use in illustrating key quantitative concepts should be developed for these courses as well as for the entry-level course. * Supported by the National Science Foundation's Undergraduate Course and Curriculum Program through grant #USE-9150354 to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville For further information about the Workshop, or any aspect of this Curriculum Development Project, contact: Dr. Louis Gross Mathematics Department University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996-1300 (615)974-4295 (615)974-2461 (Secretary) (615)974-6576 (FAX) gross@math.utk.edu (INTERNET) gross@utkvx (BITNET)