Interdisciplinary Quantitative Curriculum Development: Lessons from a 
Project in the Life Sciences

               Louis J Gross
         Professor of Mathematics and Ecology
         University of Tennessee - Knoxville
               gross@math.utk.edu

Supported by NSF GRANT USE-9150354 to the University of Tennessee

ABSTRACT: I will present a general procedure I advocate for reform of 
interdisciplinary programs designed to enhance the quantitative training 
of undergraduates. This is derived from results of an NSF-funded project 
with a goal of producing a flexible curriculum of quantitative courses 
for undergraduate life science students, able to be integrated with the
biological courses these students take and utilizing examples from
recent biological research, thus creating a unified curriculum which 
enhances a students appreciation of the utility of quantitative 
approaches to address problems in the life sciences. The curriculum 
serves a dual role of both introducing new quantitative methods and 
reinforcing key concepts in modern biology. In developing this currulum, 
I followed the CPA (CONSTRAINTS, PRIORITIZE, AID) Approach:
(a) Understand the CONSTRAINTS of the undergraduate programs developed 
by colleagues in other disciplines ;
(b) Work with these colleagues to PRIORITIZE the quantitative concepts 
their students really need, and ensure that your courses include these;
(c) AID these colleagues in developing quantitative concepts in their 
own courses that enhance a students realization of the importance of 
mathematics in their own discipline.

For additional information, see
http://www.math.utk.edu/~gross/quant.lifesci.html
For the Math Archives Life Sciences Page see
http://archives.math.utk.edu/mathbio/