Introducing the life sciences

Scott Freeman (University of Washington) and colleagues

Designed for majors, Introducing the Life Sciences provides a highly-structured framework in which students develop stronger study habits and metacognitive skills while meeting key learning objectives for content knowledge and skills development.

Introducing the Life Sciences replaces expensive textbooks and online homework systems. Its main goals are to help students learn how to study, learn to think like a scientist, and prepare themselves for upper-division courses and careers in the life sciences.

$48 per semester/$40 per quarter for 4-year access

See pricing policies

“
“Codon Learning’s brilliant platform will transform STEM education.””
— Jo Handelsman, Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and author of Scientific Teaching

Themes and features

Students receive the foundation of knowledge and skills they need to succeed in upper-division courses.

  • Every element of the Codon Learning curriculum aligns with explicit and measurable Learning Objectives that were evaluated by over 800 instructors in a National Science Foundation sponsored project.*

  • Students develop more effective study habits and metacognitive skills by engaging in rounds of self-testing in a personalized Study Path. They practice on thousands of auto-graded interactive assessment questions that provide immediate and detailed feedback.

  • Students learn from high-quality Readiness Readings prior to class to effectively engage in class. 

Instructors rely on course design frameworks to create high-structure courses that match their teaching style and approach.

  • Instructors customize class sessions by editing, deleting, or adding their own learning objectives, assessment questions, Readiness Readings, and in-class activities.

  • Instructors gauge students’ progress in our analytics dashboards to intervene with individual students or the class as a whole.

 *Kelly Hennessey and Scott Freeman recently posted a preprint of their National Science Foundation-funded study on Vision & Change-inspired lesson-level learning objectives for the majors’ introductory biology curriculum. Their project resulted in 163 nationally evaluated lesson level learning objectives that were identified via input from over 800 biology instructors around the US.

meet The Course director

Scott Freeman is Lecturer Emeritus at the University of Washington. The recipient of a UW Distinguished Teaching Award, he has published research on how innovative approaches to teaching science benefit all students, but particularly students from disadvantaged backgrounds. He is the author of the textbooks Biological Science and Evolutionary Analysis, which have sold over 500,000 copies and been translated into multiple languages, and the popular book Saving Tarboo Creek, which is for general audiences.