BIOLOGY FOR REAL LIFE
Peggy Brickman (University of Georgia) and Cara Gormally (Gallaudet University)
Designed for nonmajors, Biology for Real Life guides students to learn biology within the context of current issues to become science-proficient citizens. The Codon Learning platform provides a highly-structured framework for students to develop the metacognitive skills and study habits they need to succeed in the course.
““The cost for students is much lower than publisher-generated courseware and it uses evidence-based practices for enhancing student learning.” ”
978-1-964854-04-5, $40 per semester
978-1-964854-05-2, $35 Per quarter
4-year access
See Pricing policies
IN this COURSE, STUDENTS…
develop more effective study habits through metacognitive practice
actively engage in structured rounds of self-testing in a personalized Study Path
structure their learning around transparent and measurable learning objectives
receive immediate feedback and focus on challenging concepts and skills
key features of this course
eight stand-alone units, which instructors can use in any order to customize a course
over 1400 auto-graded interactive assessment questions that include immediate feedback, span across Bloom’s taxonomy, and can be used for pre-class activities, homework assignments, or summative exams
materials aligned to transparent and measurable learning objectives and to a variety of open resources, including OpenStax, news articles, government data, and journal articles
UNITS
Genetic Testing
Sustainable Food Choices
Vaccines and Immunity
Ocean Ecosystems
Biodiversity, Culture, and the Tree-to-Toilet Pipeline
Gene Expression, Epigenetics, Cancer, and Diets
Metabolism, Enzymes, and Alcoholism
Antibiotic Resistance and the Microbiome
Additional units coming soon!
Human Sensory Experiences
Sex, Gender, Overpopulation, and Reproduction
Race is Not Biological
Anxiety, Antidepressants, and the Nervous System
Soil Composting and Restoration
meet The Authors
Dr. Peggy Brickman is a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor in Plant Biology at the University of Georgia, where she has instructed almost 30,000 introductory biology students over the past 25 years, usually in sections of general education courses with more than 300 students. In addition to developing curriculum to enhance science literacy, she researches methods to enhance collaborative learning in college classrooms and labs. Her interest in fostering professional development for college faculty began in 2004, when she was elected a National Academies Fellow in the Life Sciences. Over the past decade, she has continued to mentor graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty as a National Academies Speaker and Facilitator.
Dr. Cara Gormally is an Associate Professor of Biology at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the world’s only bilingual (American Sign Language and English) liberal arts college for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Their research concentrates on science literacy—with a focus on the majority of students who are not science majors—and understanding the role of identity in science teaching and learning. Dr. Gormally was an American Association of University Women Fellow.
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For more than a decade, the authors have collaborated on research, including the development of the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills and a complete set of learning objectives for Nonmajors Biology.