Typical curricula in the STEM disciplines emphasize content knowledge, assuming that a majority of students in these disciplines will seek careers in areas where such content knowledge will be relevant. But faculty at a new undergraduate program in Biology at Azim Premji University (Bengaluru, India) found that students migrate to a much more diverse set of careers in the Life Sciences. This led the team, which includes Divya Uma, Sriram, Jayanti Ray-Mukherjee, Kaustubh Rau, and Sravanti Uppaluri, to develop a textbook that emphasizes a capacities-based approach to teaching Biology. This textbook, called iThinkBiology is a free online textbook that is targeted at the introductory college level. In this post, Joseph Satish V interviews one of the team members, Dr. Sravanti Uppaluri, about how the textbook came into existence and how it could change the way the connections between biology and society are taught to students.
Many congratulations on the release of the iThink Biology textbook, Dr. Sravanti! Despite coming from a research background, how did you get into teaching and working with undergraduates?
After completing my PhD, and a 3.5 year stint as a postdoc in the US, I thought a lot about where I could attempt to make the most impact. I wanted to work with undergraduates because I wanted to continue to do research. But, I wanted to do this at a smaller scale, asking simple questions, looking at local problems, and I did not want to be driven by publication pressure. In this sense there is a false dichotomy between research and teaching. Over the last few years I have realized that teaching undergraduate students is the reason I stay.
As I sit down to plan how and what I will teach, I always look for ways to entice students. I look for broader implications of the material across disciplines I teach. In this process, teaching has actually been instrumental in igniting my own curiosity and enthusiasm for science. In catering to my student’s needs, I think I have really grown as a scientist.
What motivated you and your colleagues to work on this supplementary resource for undergraduate students of biology?
We were founding members of a new undergraduate programme at Azim Premji University. It has been a tremendously rich experience for us for many reasons; we were able to experiment with programme and course structures, we have small sizes so we can personally nurture students as they progress through the programme.
However, we quickly realized that the diverse student body meant diverse desired outcomes. So we chose to create a resource that emphasized capacity building, over content. After much deliberation we identified 5 capacities (or competencies) that we felt any undergraduate student (of Biology) should have: Reading and Interpreting, Quantitative Reasoning, Practicing the Scientific Process, Knowledge of Scientific Tools, and Bridging Science, Society and the Environment. While the textbook teaches these capacities, it does so through the language of Biology. The content is used as the medium of instruction, and the capacities are the outcomes we hope to achieve.
In addition, all of the high production quality texts we used were based on Western examples. How would our students get excited by an example that had no context for them? How could they see the value of solving local problems if they did not even know what they were? These questions led us to creating iThink Biology – you could say the “i” stands for Indian. The resource is based almost entirely on Indian examples and on work done by Indian scientists. We explore biology through the four themes: landscapes and waterscapes of India, issues of human health that are relevant to the Indian population, the incredible biodiversity of India by reading about interactions between organisms, and finally food and agriculture.
The iThink Biology textbook discusses some of India’s scientific controversies (like Bt cotton) unlike other textbooks which remain silent on these matters. How were these case studies chosen? Does the iThink team foresee the risk of being labeled ‘pro’ or ‘anti’ in terms of certain technologies?
Header of chapter on Cotton in the textbook (Courtesy: iThink Biology)
We chose topics that we felt were conducive to capacity building. In speaking about technologies, we discuss the scientific process which includes discovery and then subsequent use of that discovery in a technology. We also view education as a path to independent thinking. Keeping this view in mind, we used ‘controversial’ topics, to demonstrate the nuances required to appreciate the advantages and limitations of science and technology. We make it a point not to take sides – we want students to weigh the issues and come to a decision themselves. We cite literature that presents multiple perspectives – an ideal scientific playground for students to learn to critically analyze the current body of knowledge.
Do you think historians and biologists could work together in creating such textbooks?
The answer is a resounding yes! Bringing a historical perspective together with a scientific understanding of any biological system is a fertile ground for the creation of educational material. We have missed bringing in ideas from the humanities and the social sciences when research is being conducted. I mention two reasons here.
In several chapters of iThink Biology the discovery is written as a narrative which includes mentions of the places, and brief biographical notes of the people involved. We do this to make the scientific enterprise much more tangible to students who otherwise would have no access at all. This historical perspective allows students to see that discoveries are made (for the most part) by ordinary people with ordinary lives.
In many chapters we discuss socioeconomic factors that drive our interactions with nature. For instance, in precolonial times, different regions of India were known for specific varieties of cotton fabrics. However, export demands, the industrial revolution, colonial policies etc., pressured farmers to grow a single species of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). This in turn has had huge ecological effects. The thematic organization of iThink Biology facilitates this kind of holistic learning approach where multiple, interdisciplinary narratives can be woven together to illuminate some aspect of biology.
Another valuable, and perhaps more obvious reason to collaborate with historians is to learn from our past, and try to foresee how new science and technology will impact us in the future.
How have students and other teachers responded to the iThink Biology textbook?
We have had very positive reviews from both teachers and students. People have appreciated the capability building approach, the narrative style of writing, the emphasis on the Indian context, and the use of appealing scientific illustrations. Since the book is in a web format, people have also appreciated the layout, the design features (including interactive assessment features), and the ease of navigation through the site.
Many people have also appreciated the fact that the iThink Biology is completely free to access (funded fully by Azim Premji University), and is optimized for all screen sizes. So viewing it is possible with minimal internet access, We think any motivated student of biology can read and learn from the text on their own.
iThink Biology is actually a lifelong project that is rich with possibilities for Biology education – from creating new assessment strategies, capacity building, interdisciplinary learning, local context content creation, etc. We are excited to see what the future holds.
Joseph Satish Vedanayagam is a Research Fellow (Honorary) at the Xavier Research Foundation, St. Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai (India). He is also a PhD Candidate in Science, Technology & Society Studies at the Centre for Knowledge, Culture & Innovation Studies, University of Hyderabad (India). His research explores the relations between the scientific activity of Jesuit priest-scientists in independent India and Catholic missionary spirituality in the postcolonial era.