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Article: Biology education: under the microscope: examining the history and current state of biology education.
- Article from:
- The Science Teacher
- Article date:
- October 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 National Science Teachers Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Let me begin by making a statement that will undoubtedly challenge some readers: Biology is the most important science subject taught in school! I say this, not because I am a prior biology teacher and wish to defend my prior vocation, but because of some compelling conclusions that may be derived from a review of educational statistics.
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Consider the results of the High School Transcript Study (HSTS) (2002), which examined the actual coursework completed by a representative sample of those finishing high school in 1982, 1990, and 2000. If we focus on the science classes illustrated in Figure 1, a number of trends emerge. To start ...