Assessing Differences in Students\u27 Experiences in Traditional versus Scientific Teaching-Based Biology Course

Introduction: The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA), located in Aurora Illinois, is a public, three- year residential high school for students who are academically talented in mathematics and/or science. Students apply in their freshman year and are chosen based on test scores and grades as well as other accomplishments, such as extracurricular projects or performances. About 10-15% of the sophomore class enters IMSA from the eighth grade. The sophomore program consists of three content- based, one-semester core courses in biology, chemistry, and physics, and one methods-in- science course. Sophomores take two science classes per semester. About 80% of the sophomores have had a previous biology course. We offer a placement test and approximately 9% place into a biology elective and the other 91% are enrolled in the Scientific Inquiries - Biology (SIB) course (Scheppler, Dosch, Styer, & Rogg, 2005)

Reconnecting the Sciences

During the last three years at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, we have been working on a partial reconstruction of Whitehead\u27s one subject matter, a course reconnecting biology, chemistry, earth and space sciences, and physics into an Integrated Science program