We are pleased to make Doing Biology available online for teachers and students.

Now, even more than when we wrote these case studies in 1996, the history and nature of science seems to have a growing role in science education. Some teachers wonder how to convey such lessons. Our personal experience is now supported by accumulating research that case studies are effective if not essential vehicles for such lessons — about the nature of experiments, about the role of culture or personality in discovery, about interactions among alternative theories, etc. We also note the increasing recognition of the importance of problem-based learning (PBL), which engages students by presenting them with genuine problems to solve. These were all foundational to our approach.

The preface to our 1996 volume continues to be a clear statement of our philosophy and aims. Now, more than a decade later, we echo our hope that teachers will find the case studies useful supplements for teaching beyond the textbook, for teaching about doing biology.

 
Acknowledgements. We greatly appreciate the comments from many teachers who have found the case studies useful in their teaching. We would also like to thank Beth Wilbur at Pearson Publishing for making the copyright available to us for online distribution of the book.

Joel B. Hagen
Douglas Allchin
Fred Singer