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This month's feature article & a new ABT
department.
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| Article Type: | Editorial |
| Subject: |
Periodical publishing
(Services) Biology (Educational aspects) Sciences education (Management) |
| Author: | Leonard, William H. |
| Pub Date: | 10/01/2012 |
| Publication: | Name: The American Biology Teacher Publisher: National Association of Biology Teachers Audience: Academic; Professional Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Biological sciences; Education Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2012 National Association of Biology Teachers ISSN: 0002-7685 |
| Issue: | Date: Oct, 2012 Source Volume: 74 Source Issue: 8 |
| Topic: | Event Code: 360 Services information; 200 Management dynamics Computer Subject: Company business management |
| Product: | Product Code: 8522100 Biology NAICS Code: 54171 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences SIC Code: 2721 Periodicals |
| Geographic: | Geographic Scope: United States Geographic Code: 1USA United States |
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| Accession Number: | 303450256 |
| Full Text: |
This month's editorial is an opportunity for me to point out
two important entries in this issue. The first is Rodger Bybee's
Feature Article on the next generation of national biology standards.
Many NABT members know Rodger as an active biology educator, a member of
the staff and later Executive Director of the BSCS. Rodger was also
later called upon to lead in the development of the National Science
Education Standards (NSES) at the National Academy of Sciences. About a
year ago, I asked Rodger (whom I have known well for over 30 years and
who is a long-term NABT member) if he would write an article for the ABT
on the current status of the biology standards. He happily obliged with
an update on where the national biology standards are headed. This is
important because the NSES have been a major influence on biology
curriculum development and state and local development of K-12 biology
standards for the past three decades. They have also been influential in
the biology curricula of many other countries. This Feature Article discusses the correspondence and distinctions between scientific and engineering practices, the new organization of proposed core biology content (namely structures and processes, ecosystems, heredity, and evolution), the new cross-discipline science concepts such as cause and effect, and, finally, implications for teaching the life sciences. In short, it represents the future of biology education worldwide. It is important that we continue to review our curriculum standards because of the changing nature of what we know in biology, what new research tells us about how students best learn, and the dynamics of our school settings. Thank you, Rodger, for this and all your other contributions to biology education. The second item that I would like to call to your attention is a new ABT department that will be added to Book Reviews, Classroom Materials Reviews, Classroom Media Reviews, and Sacred Bovines. You may remember that our May issue contained the very last Biology Today by Maura Flannery, who is retiring. The new department, Addiction & the Brain, is in no way intended to replace Biology Today. This new department will begin with a leading question of importance today in the field of addiction, followed by a research-based response from a biological perspective. It is authored by a diverse group of faculty from the University of Washington: Linda Martin-Morris, Helen Buckland, and Susanna Cunningham. As a basis for understanding addiction, this first article focuses on the brain's reward system, also known as the pleasure center or motivation system, which is the foundation for life-maintaining but also addictive behaviors. Subsequent articles will explore the influence of genetics, learning, risk and protective factors, stress, and specific neurotransmitters, such as glutamate. I hope that this new department can add to your and your students' understanding of the complex nature of the many contemporary issues of addiction. DOI: 10.1525/abt.2012.74.8.2 |
| Gale Copyright: | Copyright 2012 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. |
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