Prioritization of the concepts and skills in quantitative education for graduate students in biomedical science

PLOS ONE · 12 authors, 8 centres

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TL;DR

Faculty from three biomedical science graduate programs identified 48 key papers for student comprehension, and analysis revealed that graphics, statistics, and discrete mathematics skills were prioritized over calculus-based concepts for graduate training.

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This study developed a novel, generalizable methodology to prioritize quantitative concepts and skills for biomedical PhD students based on faculty input. Faculty from three graduate programs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, each nominated one recent journal article they believed all PhD students should comprehend. Results showed significant variability in concept importance; 'Graphics' had the highest median importance, while 'Modeling' was least important. Specific skills like 'Bar chart/graph' and 'Hypothesis testing' were frequently rated 'very important'. The study highlights a disconnect between typical undergraduate quantitative training (e.g., calculus) and the skills faculty deem essential for graduate-level literature comprehension.

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research methods

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ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10138463

Prioritization of the concepts and skills in quantitative education for graduate students in biomedical science

PLOS ONE

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ABSTRACT

Abstract Substantial guidance is available on undergraduate quantitative training for biologists, including reports focused on biomedical science. Far less attention has been paid to the graduate curriculum and the particular challenges of the diversity of specialization within the life sciences. We propose an innovative approach to quantitative education that goes beyond recommendations of a course or set of courses or activities, derived from analysis of the expectations for students in particular programs. Due to the plethora of quantitative methods, it is infeasible to expect that biomedical PhD students can be exposed to more than a minority of the quantitative concepts and techniques employed in modern biology. We collected key recent papers suggested by the faculty in biomedical science programs, chosen to include important scientific contributions that the faculty consider appropriate for all students in the program to be able to read with confidence. The quantitative concepts and methods inherent in these papers were then analyzed and categorized to provide a rational basis for prioritization of those concepts to be emphasized in the education program. This novel approach to prioritization of quantitative skills and concepts provides an effective method to drive curricular focus based upon program-specific faculty input for science programs of all types. The results of our particular application to biomedical science training highlight the disconnect between typical undergraduate quantitative education for life science students, focused on continuous mathematics, and the concepts and skills in graphics, statistics, and discrete mathematics that arise from priorities established by biomedical science faculty. There was little reference in the key recent papers chosen by faculty to classic mathematical areas such as calculus which make up a large component of the formal undergraduate mathematics training of graduate students in biomedical areas.

CITATION EXPORT

Louis J Gross, Rachel Patton McCord, Sondra LoRe et al.. Prioritization of the concepts and skills in quantitative education for graduate students in biomedical science. PLOS ONE. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284982

AUTHORS

12 · 8 CENTRES

Louis J Gross, Rachel Patton McCord, Sondra LoRe, Vitaly V Ganusov, Tian Hong, W Christopher Strickland, David Talmy, Albrecht G von Arnim, Greg Wiggins, Yaser Mohammed Al-Worafi, Yaser Mohammed Al-Worafi, Yaser Mohammed Al-Worafi

1National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States America
2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States America
3Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States America
4UT-ORNL Graduate School of Genome Science and Technology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States America
5National Institute for STEM Evaluation and Research, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States America
6Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States America
7Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States America
8University of Science and Technology of Fujairah, YEMEN