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BUSAC Presentation to the Biology Division

BUSAC Presentation to the Biology Division. 2005-2006. Introductory Questions. Field of Interest. Are you happy at Caltech?. Are you happy as a biology major?. Interesting Trends…. More people happy as a biology major than as a Techer (78% vs. 60%)

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BUSAC Presentation to the Biology Division

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  1. BUSAC Presentation to the Biology Division 2005-2006

  2. Introductory Questions

  3. Field of Interest

  4. Are you happy at Caltech?

  5. Are you happy as a biology major?

  6. Interesting Trends… • More people happy as a biology major than as a Techer (78% vs. 60%) • People are happier with their major than with the school as a whole • Significant decrease in happiness during junior and senior years • What causes this downward trend?

  7. Structure and Content of the Biology Curriculum

  8. Average Satisfaction Rating

  9. Suboption Choices

  10. Student Comment/Suggestions • The suboptions would be helpful in giving students a focus. • More classes would need to be offered in different fields for suboptions to work. • There is student interest for the following suboptions: biochemistry, computational biology, molecular/cell biology, macro-biology, neurobiology

  11. Mechanics of the Curriculum

  12. Scheduling • Satisfaction Rating: 5.03 • Are Classes Appropriately Distributed Among the Three Terms?

  13. Scheduling (cont.) • Comments: • Introductory courses can conflict with core • Not enough to do third term sophomore year • Biology classes conflict with each other • Recommendations: • Move some first and second term classes to third term • Try to minimize time overlaps for biology classes

  14. Student Satisfaction

  15. Class Units • Overunited • Bi 8 (took the course prior to this year) • Underunited • Bi 117 • Bi 122 • Bi 123 • Bi 145

  16. Curriculum • Comments • Professors do not seem enthusiastic about teaching low level courses • Outlined “tracks” for students • More macrobiology • Suggestions: • Create a system of suboptions with guidelines • Update information in the course catalogue (Bi 8 & 9 listed as sophomore year classes)

  17. Teaching and Course Specifics

  18. Student Satisfaction

  19. Do advisors & professors respect your opinion? • Response: • Comments: • Sometimes appear annoyed or impatient • Seem more concerned about their research • Difficult to get in touch with them

  20. Suggestions for Improvement • Increase communication between professors and the TAs • Review homework sets before they are distributed • Increase communication between professors and students • More office hours from the professors • Publicize an ombudsperson at the beginning of the class • www.its.caltech.edu/~busac

  21. The worst part about being a biology major • 68% of the people that responded said that the introductory courses were the worst ones they had taken • Comments: • The intro courses do not prepare you well • Too little macrobiology • Professors are not passionate about teaching

  22. The worst part about being a biology major • Suggestions: • Reorganize Bi 8 and 9 so that Bi 9 can build off of Bi 8 or act as a continuation • Introduce more macrobiology courses • Encourage participation from the students • Have publicized office hours

  23. The best part about being a biology major • Bi 10, Ch 41, Bi 113, and Bi 117 are common favorites • Comments: • The research is amazing • You learn about the latest research in class • There are many options • The professors are better than in other departments

  24. Thank you for your time! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to e-mail Neha at das@caltech.edu

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