Stimulated in large part by the advent of the Internet, research productivity in many academic disciplines has changed dramatically over the last two decades. However, the assessment system that governs professional success has not kept pace, creating a mismatch between modes of scholarly productivity and academic assessment criteria. In this…

Suggests that college biology programs prepare students to handle biosocial problems by offering courses in many different disciplines and in problem solving. (LS)

Described is an undergraduate biology course which uses exercises for teaching critical thinking. A line-of-reasoning model is presented. Evidence for the effectiveness of this approach is presented. (CW)