The series of PECOP blogs has provided many examples of the positive changes that biology educators are making in what we teach and how we facilitate student learning. I would like to share a new program that was developed by a faculty team at Bastyr University.

We responded to the call for changes in biology education by developing an undergraduate program in integrated human biology that was launched in 2012. We used backwards design and competencies recommended in Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians: Report of the AAMC-HHMI Committee as a foundation to develop a progressive, premedical curriculum. The program competencies also align well with the AAAS/NSF Vision and Change core concepts and competencies. The IHB program competencies are listed in Table 1. We are continuing to use the program competencies and PULSE Vision and Change rubrics in our work to improve assessment at both the course and program level.

Integrated Human Biology Program Highlights

• The program includes a series of integrated human biology courses that require that students apply core concepts at multiple levels of complexity from cell and molecular to organismal in the context of organ systems.
• Students are also required to apply physical principles from physics courses to biological systems in the integrated human biology series and through a parallel biophysics series.
• The curriculum includes a required bioethics course and elective courses that require students to examine the applications of science to world problems.
• Courses are team-taught by a group of faculty from different sub-disciplines who collaborate to create course materials and exams.
• Classes are organized so that students are active participants.
• Competencies are assessed in courses in a variety of ways including projects, presentations, papers, and exams.
• All laboratories require students to participate in inquiry-based activities.
• A majority of IHB students have completed a research project and presented their work at a University Research Symposium.
• Student surveys have demonstrated that students appreciate the integrated approach to learning.
• The first class graduated from the program in 2014, and a majority of those students have entered medical school or are working in research.

Have you developed or revised a program or curriculum in response to initiatives aimed at improving life sciences education?  Please share your experiences and recommendations.

Lynelle Golden is a broadly trained physiologist who currently serves as Professor and Dean of the School of Natural Health Arts and Sciences at Bastyr University near Seattle Washington. She has more than 20 years of experience teaching junior/senior level physiology for biology majors and anatomy and physiology for allied health, nutrition and exercise science students. Her experience at Bastyr also includes teaching integrated case studies and physiology courses for medical students. While at Bastyr, Lynelle has been actively involved in curriculum development and revision. She has been a member of the teaching section of the American Physiological Society since 1986, and she currently serves as Chair of the Programming Committee for the APS Teaching Section. Lynelle earned an M.S. and a PhD in Life Sciences/Physiology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and she completed postdoctoral research in Cardiovascular Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.