We are very pleased to announce the release of the 12th edition of Biology. Michael Windelspecht is the managing author for the Mader Biology series of textbooks and the lead author on this edition of Biology. This edition of Biology was prepared with the modern digital classroom in mind, and fully integrates the McGraw-Hill suite of adaptive learning and digital assessment products.
Here is an overview of some of these changes:
The 12th Edition of Biology by Michael Windelspecht from Ricochet Science on Vimeo.
The cover of this text, of a lionfish in its natural habitat in the Pacific, was chosen not because of its beauty, but because it is an excellent example of the three themes of the text – evolution, the nature of science, and biological systems. Over the spring 2015 semester we will be releasing a series of articles on our RicochetScience site that takes a look at not only the lionfish as an invasive species, but also how scientists are studying the impacts of lionfish on the ecology of the Caribbean.
- Lionfish Invasion of the Caribbean – An overview of the history and magnitude of this problem.
- Ecological Impact of Lionfish – What exactly are the lionfish doing to the Caribbean ecosystem?
From the Preface:
The mission of Dr. Sylvia Mader’s text, Biology, has always been to give students an understanding of biological concepts and a working knowledge of the scientific process. However, like the world around us, the process of teaching science is changing rapidly. Increasingly, instructors are being asked to engage their students by making content more relevant, while still providing students with a firm foundation in those core principles on which biology is founded. These changes are clearly outlined in the AAAS/NSF report, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education (2009). The 11th edition of Biology was one of the first texts to address the principles of Vision and Change by integrating themes within the text. In this edition we expand on that effort with the development of a number of new resources and processes
Some of the our goals for this edition as follows:
1. utilization of the data from the LearnSmart adaptive learning platforms to identify content areas within the text that students demonstrated difficulty in mastering,
Unleashing the Power of Adaptive Learning: Heat Map Technology from Ricochet Science on Vimeo.
2. further development of the themes that connect the content of the text across multiple chapters,
3. development of a new series of videos and websites to introduce relevancy and engage students in the content,
4. refinement of digital assets to provide a more effective assessment of learning outcomes to enable instructors in the flipped, online, and hybrid teaching environments.
Unleashing the Power of Adaptive Learning: The Flipped Classroom from Ricochet Science on Vimeo.
If you would like to talk with the author about this text, please use our contact page and we will be in touch with you.
