2009-2010 Biology Curriculum Wiki

Group I -' Steve, Karen B, Mark B, & Barbara'

First pass at pros and cons of other 2 versions

Group II First pass at fleshing out proposal (may modify original version in response to discussions)

First pass at pros and cons of other 2 versions

Group III First pass at fleshing out proposal (may modify original version in response to discussions)

Dave, Pat and Malcolm

We like the idea of 200, 300, 400 courses
We think that big biologist should include some genetics and we think small biologists should include some diversity/ecology and statistics.
We think this would allow Karen Hales to be the only genetics instructor. Dave would offer micro once a year and Sofia would offer immunology once a year.
We propose that we team-teach more and design interdisciplinary courses. This would require faculty development where each of us offer mini-courses on special topics as needed. We could develop new teach-taught courses that accomplish faculty development as well as offering new courses.
Current ABC course division is not working. We propose n 200 level courses that would address the breath issues that could be team taught.
We think the holes that are in our curriculum could be filled as identified especially through team taught courses.
There are methods to keep assessment consistent for team-taught courses throughout the semester.
As indicated by the outside reviewers, our department has a mindset where each faculty member is an island and we prefer a metaphor of a network of interconnected nodes where we help each other.

Part II

We want students to be able to start the major after first year and be able to go abroad.
100 level courses need to combine some skills, some content, some excitement. Should be funnels and not filters. We want to utilize Mark Barsoum’s M&S center to help students make the transition from HS memorization to college critical thinking and extracting key concepts.
There is a difference between covering material and students learning material.
200 level courses add the breadth.
Chem 115 should be required before any 300 level courses.
300 level courses could be in-depth courses that explore an area
400 level courses have synthesis and/or full research experience.
The outside reviewers commented repeatedly about the departmental culture of not talking about difficult topics is stifling creativity. We think every course should be open to collaborative input.
We are scared of change, time taken from research, and going into an area where we are less comfortable. We think some time allocation is necessary to facilitate the transition.
We think the new interdisciplinary initiatives will require that we have time shifted, not added. One way to do that is have a 3+2 or 4+1 distribution, with majority in Biology and 2 or 1 in interdisciplinary area.

First pass at pros and cons of other 2 versions

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