Learn Biology by Learning to Think like a Scientist
This pioneering text combines research-focused storytelling with the Socratic method to get students to think like practicing scientists. Each page of the book is designed in the spirit of active learning, asking students to apply critical thinking skills as they learn key concepts. Accounts of real researchers designing and analyzing real experiments, carefully punctuated by thoughtful questions and exercises, train introductory students in the process of DOING biology.
With input from over 20 student focus groups and an advisory board of expert biology educators, Scott Freeman has refined the Third Edition to fully tap into students’ interest, imagination, and learning abilities. The clear writing, lucid illustrations, and active-learning features of previous editions have been strengthened as a result of the meticulous research and revision process conducted with students and the advisory board. New study tools directly address two of the biggest learning challenges for introductory students: finding important information and recognizing whether or not they truly understand a concept. Praised for its sensible use of evolutionary analysis and molecular biology as unifying themes, the new edition has also been thoroughly revised for accuracy, clarity, and currency. The supplements package now includes exciting new BioFlix, the groundbreaking MasteringBiology self-tutoring and assessment system, and more.
Scott Freeman
Scott Freeman received his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Washington and was subsequently awarded an Albert Sloan Postdoctoral Fellowship in Molecular Evolution at Princeton University. His research publications explore a range of topics, including the behavioral ecology of nest parasitism and the molecular systematics of the blackbird family. Scott teaches the majors' general biology course as a Lecturer at the University of Washington. He assisted in the groundbreaking and influential redesign of the course, which emphasizes an inquiry-based appraoch and the logic of experimental design. With Jon Herron, Scott is co-author of the standard-setting Evolutionary Analysis, which over 50,000 students have used to explore evolution with the same spirit of inquiry. He is currently conducting research on how active learning and peer teaching techniques affect student learning.
Kim Quillin
Illustrator, Kim Quillin, combines expertise in biology and information design to create lucid and scientifically accurate visual
representations of biological principles. She received her B.A. in Biology at Oberlin College and her Ph.D. in Integrative Biology
(as a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow) from the University of California, Berkeley, and has taught undergraduate biology at both schools.
