Faculty assumptions about the student characteristics required for success in introductory college biology

The clear and effective matching of post-secondary faculty requirements with incoming student characteristics is strongly related to undergraduate student success (National Research Council, 1996). It is especially a responsibility of secondary school biology teachers to prepare their students for introductory college biology (life science) requirements. If post-secondary faculty requirements for incoming student preparation are to be met, secondary teacher assumptions about what is required must be congruent with post-secondary faculty assumptions.; The purpose of this study was to learn how well matched high school biology teachers' assumptions about the knowledge, abilities, and dispositions necessary for success in introductory college biology courses are with the knowledge, abilities, and dispositions faculty teaching introductory college biology courses assume are essential to success.; The research questions were: (1) What are the secondary biology teachers' assumptions about the knowledge, abilities, and dispositions required for success in introductory college biology (life science) courses? (2) What are post-secondary biology teachers' assumptions about the knowledge, abilities, and dispositions required for success in introductory college biology (life science) courses? and (3) Do secondary biology teachers' assumptions about the knowledge, abilities, and dispositions required for success in introductory college biology (life science) courses match with those of post-secondary biology teachers'?; To answer these questions, faculty were interviewed individually and the results of the interviews summarized. Then all faculty participants met in focus groups to discuss the summary data. The study included life science faculty participants from secondary and post-secondary institutions. The results of this study indicated five major findings about faculty assumptions. First, secondary and post-secondary faculty do not have the same assumptions about the importance of prerequisite student characteristics; second, different philosophies underlie the approaches of secondary and post-secondary faculty to teaching biology; third, secondary faculty were temporally and physically isolated from contemporary faculty requirements in college biology; fourth, communication improved the relatedness of the assumptions expressed by participants; and fifth, the methodology chosen was unique in that it heightened the awareness of participants about the congruence of their assumptions with one another. The results point to future research possibilities and educational implications are drawn.