Data literacy and quantitative skills cannot be acquired in a single mathematics or statistics course. To gain the skills necessary to engage in the type of statistical reasoning that resembles the scientific process, students must engage in statistical and data-based reasoning in all their natural and social science courses throughout the four years of their undergraduate education. Only through this sustained effort will students gain the knowledge and skills to make data the basis for developing arguments, reaching conclusions, or making decisions.
A critical component of successful integration of quantitative reasoning into life science curricula is faculty development and availability of suitable curricular materials. In 2006, the Numbers Count project teamed up with BioQUEST to develop mathematics and statistics modules, projects, and entire courses to make available curricular materials that can be integrated into science curricula. We addressed the critical gap of professional development for faculty by offering hands-on, experiential workshops for faculty to become familiar with the rich publicly available data resources and to learn how modern data analytics and visualization tools can be integrated into the classroom. The workshops focused primarily on gaining the experience and confidence for integrating mathematics and statistics into freshman-level biology courses.
With the founding of a new campus of the University of Minnesota in Rochester, we had the opportunity to test much of the materials in the classroom with students enrolled in a degree program in health sciences. The curriculum is now in its fourth year. We will provide an overview of the curriculum and address challenges and opportunities of implementing an integrated curriculum.
The Numbers Count project was supported through a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professors grant. All resources are freely available for download on the Numbers Count website.