You may be interested in attending the following upcoming workshop at the Mathematical Biosciences Institute at Ohio State University (June 1-2, 2007):
"Over the Fence: Mathematicians and Biologists Talk About Bridging the Curricular Divide" Two of the presenters are authors of the leading texts for teaching calculus to biology majors. See http://www.mbi.osu.edu/2006/eduwdescription.html for details and how to apply. ------------------------------------------- This conference will bring together mathematics and biology educators who have developed successful biology-in-mathematics curricula with those who wish to develop such programs. The major goals of the conference are: *Understand how to incorporate applications of and connections with biology into the undergraduate mathematics curriculum, and conversely. *Understand how to accomplish this in different types of institutions, from small liberal arts colleges to large research universities. We will address opportunities for and benefits of, as well as barriers and impediments to, cross-disciplinary curriculum development in each of these types of institutions. *Stimulate creation and revision of curricula that integrate mathematics and biology, the results of which will be published in MBI conference proceedings. *Initiate and foster a continuing learning community The conference will consist of plenary and invited talks by educators who have been successful in bridging mathematics and biology in the undergraduate curriculum. Conference participants will consist of collaborative pairs of mathematics and biology educators who have plans to pursue such a project at their own institutions. Specific topics to be addressed: *Who should teach these courses? Mathematical biologists or biological mathematicians? *Developing mathematics projects for biology students and biology projects for mathematics students. *Presentation of models of successfully instituted biology-in-mathematics and mathematics-in-biology programs . *Issues related to professional collaboration: What opportunities are available? What kind of "cross-training" is needed and how can one do it? How can we overcome communication, modes of inquiry and pedagogical differences? *The politics of curriculum change *What are some strategies for incorporating biology applications into mathematics courses that have multiple audiences, e.g., calculus or introductory statistics? *How do we respond to the issues raised in both the biology and mathematics communities by the appearance of the Bio 2010 report? *From the biologists' perspective, what is the role and future impact of mathematics in the biology curriculum? And where in the curriculum? *What software packages are available to support collaborative work? *How can undergraduate curriculum in mathematical biology meet the needs of industry? Best wishes, Gregg _________________________________________________________________________ Gregg Hartvigsen Associate Professor Jan 7 - May 4, 2007: Mathematical Biosciences Institute Ohio State University Math Building, 2nd Floor 231 W. 18th Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43210 614.688.3334 Permanent: Biology Department SUNY Geneseo 1 College Circle Geneseo, NY 14454 Office = ISC 344 Phone: 585.245.5448 Fax: 585.245.5007 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.geneseo.edu/~hartvig/ -------------------------------------------------- "Science is neither a philosophy nor a belief system. It is a combination of mental operations that has become increasingly a habit of educated peoples, a culture of illuminations hit upon by a fortunate turn of history that yielded the most effective way of learning about the real world ever conceived." (E.O. Wilson).
