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Reviewer:
Susan Zendzian
South High Community School
Worcester, Massachusetts
Textbook Name: BSCS Biology: A Human Approach, second edition (ISBN: 0-7872-8685-0)
Author: Biological Sciences Curriculum Study
Copyright: 2003
Cost: $55.00 for the student text
Publisher:
Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
4050 Westmark Drive
Dubuque, Iowa 52002
800 542-6657
Publisher's Web Site:
 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
Style of book: Nontraditional. You will not find vocabulary lists or section and chapter review questions, although there is a glossary and appendixes addressing lab safety and science techniques (e.g., journals, graphing, measurement, and use of the compound microscope).
Reading level: Very user-friendly. Each chapter has two connecting but distinct areas. First, the material and the activities engage students in the concepts and processes being studied. Then, readings about the content are grouped at the end of each chapter, in magazine format, and are much more readable than any science textbook I've ever used.
Ease of use for teacher: There is some difficulty getting up and running with this text (see "Weaknesses," below), but I would not want to go back to using a more traditional one. Although it is not "easier" to use initially, I think it will become so as time goes on.
Strongest features: This text has many strong features, but I will focus on the two that influenced why I decided to use it: reading level and organization.
- Reading level: The reading in A Human Approach is actually interesting and fun. Rather than the brutal, information-dense style most textbooks follow, the content readings are much more engaging and certainly less intimidating for the struggling or reluctant readers in my classes. The essays can be adapted to all ability levels: you can assign readings as homework to your more focused students and do reading/literacy strategies with your struggling readers. With the good mix of essays in each chapter, you can easily vary the length and depth of the reading assignments.
- Organization: The text is organized conceptually and begins with the unit "Evolution: Patterns and Products of Change in Living Systems." As a biology teacher, I had often wondered why evolution -- which is generally accepted to be the core theme of biology -- is stuck up at the back of most texts, until I realized that this placement probably reflects the creationism/evolution issue. I've always thought that evolution should be the first thing studied in a biology class, because it makes everything else make sense. Therefore, I was very happy to see that BSCS put evolution first. Other units in the book are also arranged by concept: Unit 2 is "Homeostasis: Maintaining Dynamic Equilibrium in Living Systems," unit 3 is "Energy, Matter, and Organization: Relationships in Living Systems," and so on. If students are to understand biology conceptually, this is a great text with which to start.
Weaknesses: The two biggest weaknesses so far are timing and assessment.
- Timing: This text requires you to change from the "teacher as dispenser of information" model to the "teacher as facilitator." That in itself is good, because there are few if any lectures, but it takes a lot longer to get through the material. Because this is my first year using the text, I cannot realistically say exactly how long it takes. However, I am rather concerned at this halfway point in the year that I will not get through all of the topics I should complete in order to address my state's curriculum standards for a ninth-grade introductory biology course.
- Assessment: Because all the traditional methods of assessment -- review questions, vocabulary lists, and so on -- are gone, the teacher has to decide which activities to assess and how to assess them. Each chapter includes a rubric for just one of the major activities students do; the others are up to the teacher. For pencil-and-paper teachers, like me, assessing reflective writing or performances (e.g., skits or panel discussions) is a new experience. Judging by the level of enthusiasm and engagement I see in my classes, however, I think that these types of assessment pieces are the way to go. Professional development and reading can help us learn to assess students in ways other than written tests and lab reports.
Ancillary materials: A CD-ROM library forms the basis for many of the activities, so you need at least one computer in your room when using this book. I also have access to a digital projector so we can watch and discuss the CD-ROM presentations together in class. There are transparencies, a Teacher Resource CD-ROM, a computerized test bank, and a binder-format Teacher Guide. Interestingly, there is no teacher's edition of the text itself. You can print out all of the rubrics and the handouts for activities from the CD-ROM.
Overall recommendation: There is a lot going for this text that I have not mentioned: Material is presented according to the 5E model of learning, which uses the latest research on how the brain acquires, processes, and stores new information. The activities themselves are very engaging and student-centered. This text facilitates getting into both the processes and the inquiry-based nature of science. It is a huge departure from encyclopedic, traditional fact-based textbooks.
Students may find the approach a bit disarming. My high-achieving students certainly were not used to the performance assessments. At one point this year, we discussed the challenges of assigning grades using assessments other than tests. The students felt that this compromised their learning. Based on their concerns, I thought about going back to a traditional text. However, after further thought, I decided to stay with this text. Despite the dramatic adaptations required in timing and assessment -- at least the first time through -- I am convinced that that BSCS Biology: A Human Approach is a groundbreaking textbook, and that this is the way we should be teaching biology to beginners.
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