Introductory Biology

Topics include levels of biological organization, biological diversity, plant and animal structure and function, and comparative study of structure-function relationships in living organisms.  BI 115 is one of the introductory courses required of biology majors and all pre-health students regardless of academic major. 
Laboratory exercises will emphasize the scientific process.  Students will apply the scientific method to experiments in organismal biology.  As a part of this process, students will conduct experiments to test hypotheses, collect and analyze data, and prepare a scientific paper or complete assignments on the experiments.  Some experiments will require students to work in lab at times other than the designated laboratory period.

Introductory science courses play a critical role in the recruitment and retention of undergraduate science majors. In particular, first year courses are opportunities to engage students in scientific practices and motivate them to consider scientific careers. We developed an introductory course using a semester-long series of
established laboratory experiments closely aligned with lecture topics that allow students to participate in a cognitive apprenticeship. In this course, students learn basic concepts in cell and molecular biology during lecture and apply their content knowledge and acquire research skills in the laboratory during a series of related experiments. The ongoing theme and course structure enable students to critically analyze their results each week as they would in a research laboratory. Assessment
results show that students gain an understanding of research and laboratory techniques and demonstrate evidence of knowledge transfer from the course to related scientific journal articles. Students also learn content equivalent to a more general molecular biology
course. Centering a course on a semester-long laboratory project can provide a solid foundation of content knowledge and an authentic introduction to scientific research.